Postgraduate Course: African Cities (PGSP11346)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Postgrad (School of Social and Political Studies) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This module provides a contextual introduction to African cities in history and in contemporary research discourses. Through the examination of different historical contexts to city formation, and contemporary issues that influence city growth and development, the course aim is to familiarise students with the particularities of African cities. Whilst African cities have similarities with other cities in the South, there are specific circumstances and processes which have influenced African city development which this course highlights through its use of regional city case studies as means by which to understand the African city.
The course is delivered through a series of lectures-cum tutorial seminars. After the introductory lecture, in which the key themes or lenses through which African cities are introduced, future lectures will be based on these themes and illustrate these through the use of a number of regional citie as case studies discussed in connection with the theme being explored.
Students will be expected by week six of the course to choose to write an essay either on a chosen case study city or on a theme or aspect of African City formation/development of their choice. These will be presented in seminar style to the class.
Aims and Objectives
- To give students an understanding of the historical background to cities and urban development in sub-Saharan Africa, within a global context.
- To provide students with a knowledge of the contemporary theories associated with city dynamics, development and structures, with specific reference to the new ¿global¿ cities in the emerging countries.
- To enable students understand and acquire from African city case studies relevant information with which to undertake city comparisons and engage in critical urban analyses.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2012/13 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1)
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Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| Central | Seminar | Seminar Room 1, Chrystal Macmillan Building | 1-11 | | | | 09:00 - 10:50 | |
| First Class |
Week 1, Thursday, 09:00 - 10:50, Zone: Central. Seminar Room 1, Chrystal Macmillan Building |
| No Exam Information |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
1. Knowledge and Understanding
- Knowledge that covers and integrates most, if not all, of the main areas of a subject discipline- including their features, boundaries terminology and conventions.
- A critical understanding of the principal theories, principles and concepts
- A critical understanding of the principal theories, principles and concepts
- Extensive, detailed and critical knowledge and understanding in one or more specialisms, much of which is at, or informed by developments at the forefront.
- A critical awareness of current issues in a subject/discipline and one or more specialisms
2. Practice: Applied Knowledge and Understanding
- Use a significant range of the principal skills, techniques, practices and/or materials which are associated with a subject/discipline
- Apply a range of standard and specialized research or equivalent instruments and techniques of enquiry
- Plan and execute a significant project of research, investigation or development
- Demonstrate originality or creativity in the application of knowledge, understanding and/or practices.
3. Generic Cognitive Skills
- Apply critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis to issue wich are at the forefront of or informed by, developments at the forefront of a subject/discipline
- Identify conceptualise and define new and abstract problems and issues
- Critically review consolidate and extend knowledge, skills practices and thinking in a subject/discipline
4. Communication, ICT and numeracy skills
- Communicate using appropriate methods and media, to a range of audiences with different levels of knowledge/expertise
- Communicate with peers, more senior colleagues and specialists
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Assessment Information
Class presentation 10%
4000-word essay 90%
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Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Week 1: Introduction and Historical overview of African Cities
- Introduction to urban development in Sub Saharan Africa
- A history of pre colonial urban settlements in Africa
- The pre-colonial and colonial city
- Contemporary African cities a brief introduction
Week 2: City Demographics and Economics
- Population and Growth in Africa, a history
- Economic indicators of growth
- The millennium goals and urban life
- Urban Livelihoods
Week 3: City Infrastructure and Services
- Cities and services in the ¿colonies¿ an historic overview
- Sanitation and Services
- Health
- Education
Week 4: Case Study city 1 (W.African City- Lagos)
- A history of Lagos
- Colonial Lagos
- Lagos Futures
- Lagos wide and Close*
Week 5: Current debates & theories on cities
- The cities of 10 million
- Security and the city
- Slums, shacks, and shanty towns
- City Networks
Week 6: Student presentations
Week 7: Case study S. African City Johannesburg
- The pre- apartheid city
- Apartheid and its consequences
- Post 1994 Johannesburg
- Future Johannesburg
Week 8: Contesting space in the African city / case study city 3: Maputo
- Mozambican historical overview
- Maputo an introduction
- Housing and Planning issues in Maputo
- Contesting Spaces
Week 9: Case Study City 4 (E. African City) Zanzibar
- The connections of the littoral coastline
- Space place and time: historic Zanzibar
- Post independence Zanzibar
- Contemporary Zanzibar
Week 10: Future City Discourses
- The Global - Connected City
- City regions
- The invisible city dwellers
Week 11: Revision week
- Course Convenor available for individual student consultations related to essay assessment.
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| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Week 1: Introduction and Historical overview of African Cities
Readings:
- Freund B. (2007) The African City, A History, Cambridge Cambridge University Press, University,
- Coquery-Vidrovitch, Catherine, (2005) The history of African cities south of the Sahara : from the origins to colonization, New Jersey, Princeton,
- HOME, R. K. (1997) Of planting and planning : the making of British colonial cities, London, E. & F. N. Spon.
- State of the World¿s Cities, (2008) 2010/11 Bridging the Urban divide, London, Washington DC
Week 2: City Demographics and Economics
Readings:
- Planning sustainable cities :global report on human settlements, 2009
London; Sterling, Va. Earthscan, 2009
- UNDP/UN Habitat The State of African Cities (2010) 2010: Governance, Inequality and Urban Land Markets UN Habitat UNDP Annual Report
- Simone, A. For the city yet to come, urban life in four cities, Durham US, Duke University Press, 2004
Week 3: City Infrastructure and Services
Readings:
- Myers, Garth Andrew. Disposable cities : garbage, governance and sustainable development in urban Africa Aldershot , Ashgate, 2005
- State of the World¿s Cities, (2008) 2010/11 Bridging the Urban divide, London, Washington DC
- Falola and Salim African Urban Spaces in Historical Perspective, University of Rochester Press, NY 2005
Week 4: Case Study city 1 (W.African City- Lagos)
Readings:
- Echeruo, V.C. (1977) Victorian Lagos : aspects of nineteenth century Lagos life / London : Macmillan, 1977.
- Koolhaas, Mutations, Harvard project on the city, ACTAR France 2000
- Lagos Wide and Close video 2005
- Ayodeji, O. (2004) "Liverpool" of West Africa : the dynamics and impact of maritime trade in Lagos, 1900-1950 New Jersey, Africa World Press.
- Mann, Kristin, (2007) Slavery and the birth of an African city : Lagos, 1760-1900 Bloomington, Indiana University Press
- Lagos wide & close [videorecording] : an interactive journey into an exploding city / [producers, Bruno Felix and Femke Wolting ; director, Bregtje van der Haak]. (c.2005)
Week 5: Current debates & theories on cities
Readings:
- State of the World¿s Cities, (2008) 2010/11 Bridging the Urban divide, London, Washington DC
- Uduku and Bagaeen, Gated Communities () , London, Earthscan, 2009
- Huchzemeyer , M Tenement Cities, Johannesburg, Africa World Press, 2011
- Planning sustainable cities : global report on human settlements, 2009
London; Sterling, Va. Earthscan, 2009
- Sassen S. (2011) Open Source Urbanism, Domus op.ed., 29th June, 2011 (reprint from New City Reader)
Week 7: Case study S. African City Johannesburg
Readings:
- Murray M. J. City of Extremes, The Spatial Politics of Johannesburg, Johannesburg Wits University Press, 2011
- Chipkin C. Johannesburg Transition, Architecture and Society, from 1950, Johannesburg, STE publishers, 2008
- Christopher. A. J. (2001) the Atlas of Changing South Africa, London, Routledge
- Beavon, K, (2004) Johannesburg the making and shaping of the City, Pretoria, UNISA Press.
- Battle for Johannesburg DVD
Week 8: Contesting space in the African city / case study city 3: Maputo
Readings:
- Pevenne, J. (1995) African workers and colonial racism Mozambican strategies and struggles in Lourenço Marques, 1877-1962 Portsmouth, N.H. ; London : Heinemann : J. Currey
- Jenkins, Paul, (2001) Emerging urban residential land markets in post-socialist Mozambique :the impact on the poor and alternatives to improve land access and urban development : an action-research project in peri-urban areas of Maputo.
- Jenkins, Paul, (1999) Maputo city : the historical roots of under-development and the consequences in urban form. Edinburgh College of Art Research Paper ; 71,
Week 9: Case Study City 4 (E. African City) Zanzibar
Readings:
- Bissell, William Cunningham, Urban Design Chaos and Colonial Power in Zanzibar, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2011
- (ed) Sheriff A. (1995) The history and conservation of Zanzibar Stone Town, London, James Currey
- Shao I. (1992) The political economy of land reforms in Zanzibar, before and after the revolution , Dar Es Salaam, Dar Es Salaam Univeristy Press
Week 10: Future City Discourses
Readings:
- (2004) Reconsidering informality: perspectives from urban Africa: Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet,.
- Afro-regions : the dynamics of cross-border micro-regionalism in Africa, Stockholm : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, 2008.
- Broadman, H. G, et al. (2007) Africa's silk road : China and India's new economic frontier, Washington, DC : World Bank.
- Moss, V., (2010) Economic Integration in Southern Africa : role of transport corridors towards promoting broader regional economic cooperation in Southern Africa, Saarbrücken : VDM Verlag Dr. Müller,.
- African Union Commission et al. (c.2010) Africa's infrastructure :a time for transformation Washington, DC :Agence Française de Développement:World Bank,.
- Sassen S.(2003) Guests and Aliens, London, The New Press.
Further Reading
Murray, M & Myers, G. Cities in Contemporary Africa, New York, Palgrave/Macmillan 2007
Freund B. The African City, A History, Cambridge University Press, University, 2007
Coquery-Vidrovitch, Catherine, The history of African cities south of the Sahara : from the origins to colonization, New Jersey, Princeton, 2005
Myers, Garth Andrew. Disposable cities : garbage, governance and sustainable development in urban Africa Aldershot , Ashgate, 2005
Koolhaas, Mutations, Harvard project on the city, ACTAR France 2000
Lagos Wide and Close video 2005
De Boek and Plissart, Kinsahsa, Tales of the Invisible City, Ghent / Tervuren, 2004
Falola and Salm African Urban Spaces in Historical Perspective, University of Rochester Press, NY 2005
Murray M. J. City of Extremes, The Spatial Politics of Johannesburg, Johannesburg Wits University Press, 2011
Simone, A. For the city yet to come, urban life in four cities, Durham US, Duke University Press, 2004
Le Gates R and Stout, the City Reader , London/NY, Routledge, 2011
Bissell, William Cunningham, Urban Design Chaos and Colonial Power in Zanzibar, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2011
Huchzemeyer , M Tenement Cities, Johannesburg, Africa World Press, 2011
Grant, R Globalizing City The Urban and Economic Transformation of Accra, NY, Syracuse University Press, 2009
Uduku and Bagaeen, Gated Communities () , London, Earthscan, 2009
Robinson J. Ordinary Cities, Between Modernity and Development, London, Routledge 2006
Campbell, S, and Fainstein, S Readings in Urban Theory, Wiley, London 2011
Jenkins P. et al. Planning and Housing in the Rapidly Urbanising World, London, Routledge, 2006
Sassen S. (2007) A Sociology of Globalization, London W.W. Norton.
Reports
Planning sustainable cities : global report on human settlements, 2009
London; Sterling, Va. Earthscan, 2009
The State of African Cities 2010: Governance, Inequality and Urban Land Markets UNHabitat UNDP Annual Report
State of the World¿s Cities, 2010/11 Bridging the Urban divide, London, Washington DC, 2008
Documenta11: Platform4: Under Siege: Four African Cities: Freetown, Johannesburg, Lagos, Kinshasa by Mohamadou Abdoul, Ibrahim Abdullah, Victor A O Adetula and Babatunde A Ahonsi (31 Oct 2002) Hatje Cantz; illustrated edition edition (31 Oct 2002)
Journals
Environment and Urbanization
Cities
Journal of Urban design
Urban Forum
Conferences & Exhibitions
Afropolis. Kairo, Lagos, Nairobi, Kinshasa, Johannesburg Publisher: König, Walther (Nov 2010)
Africa Perspectives, 2011, 2009, 2007, 2005
Films
Have you Heard from Johannseburg?
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Nwola Uduku
Tel: 0131 221 6082
Email: o.uduku@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Lindsay Hunter
Tel: (0131 6)51 1659
Email: L.Hunter@ed.ac.uk |
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