The African City A History
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loginThis unique book tries in a short format to give the reader a comprehensivepicture of cities in Africa from early origins to the present. It is comprehen-sive both in terms of time coverage, from before the Pharaohs to the presentmoment, and in that it tries to consider cities from the entire continent, notjust sub-Saharan Africa. Apart from factual information and rich descriptionmaterial culled from many sources, it looks at many issues, from why urbanlife emerged in the first place to how present-day African cities cope in diffi-cult times. Instead of seeing towns and cities as somehow extraneous to thereal Africa, it views them as an inherent part of developing Africa – indige-nous, colonial, and post-colonial – and emphasizes the extent to which thefuture of African society and African culture will likely be played out mostlyin cities. Different positions and debates amongst scholars on African citiesreceive considerable attention. The book is written to appeal to students ofhistory but equally to geographers, planners, sociologists, and developmentspecialists interested in urban problems.
