ABSTRACT
A task of the planning historian is to identify the ideas that mattered and that became sedimented in institution building, especially at times of population and construction growth. The changing conception of what cities are, or even why cities are seen to be important in a particular time or place is related to, but not the same thing as, the evolution of the ideas and institutional instruments used to shape or manage those spaces over an extended period in what we now think of as planning. The question of “what is the urban?” is, however, so intertwined with the evolution of ideas and practices of urban planning that the two are often conflated. This chapter deals with Africa, a context where poverty is pervasive, urban boundaries are fluid, the rights of urban citizenship are not universally claimed or bestowed, and there is no clear conception of what constitutes an African city or an African urbanite. Moreover, planning and planners have absolutely failed to control urban space anywhere on the continent, largely leaving the majority of people to create spaces and structures themselves. There is a huge range in the conditions across the vast African continent, but one thing is clear: there is a pretty universal disconnect between the city and the plan. Bad and absent planning has exposed African cities to unacceptable risk, and has left unacceptable living conditions unchallenged. What planning history has to explain, therefore, is not just the impact of planning ideas, but also their widespread lack of traction as self-built and unplanned urban areas have emerged across Africa.
