AFRICA'S CITIES
Africa is the least urbainsed of the continents (see Chapter 5) yet exhibits the greatest variety of urban formns. This diversity stems from the distinctive indigenous urban traditions, particularly in North and West Africa, and from the urban imprints of the colonial powers The United Nations (1973) proposed a general model of the African city based on the existence of an indigenous core, and the distribution of different ethnic groups according to density gradieuts which assigned low-density land use to the administrative and residential requirements of the colonial elites and high density to indigenous populations (Figure 22.3). Criticism of the model focused on its failure to recognise the post- colonial transformations of African cities, charactensed by a greater mixing of economic and residential land uses& In a more comprehensive analysis O'Connor (1983) identified seven types of African city:
1. The indigenous city. Indigenous cities were constructed in the period prior to European colonisation in accordance with local values and traditions. In South-West Nigeria the Yoruba city of Ife dates back to the tenth cenlury, while at least ten others with populations exceeding 50,000 (such as Ibadun) existed before colonial rule. Elsewhere in tropical Africa, Addis Ababa is the largert extant example of an indigenous city.
2.The Islumic city. Though influenced by an urban tradition brought across the Sahara. most Islamic cities were built by Africans, with local initiatives dominant in their early growth. Found across much of the Sahara. this type includes Tombouclou, Katsina and Sokoto.
3.The colonial city. Established by Europeans. mainly in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, colonial cities comprise the majority of urban centres in tropical Africa and include most of today's capital cities. From the earliest years, immigration has ensured an African majority in the population. Although many decisions affecting city structure are made locally, they are still constrained by the inherited colonial framework and by conlinuing lies with the international economic system. Income is replacing ethnicity as a basis of residential segregation, with 'Westernised' Africans dominating the formerly European residential zones.