African cities boast a rich history, with urban centers like Luxor (Thebes) in Egypt dating back over 5,000 years. South of the Sahara, urbanization emerged between 200 BC and 1000 AD in areas such as Djenné (Mali), Ife (Nigeria), and Mombasa (Kenya).
While Africa's vast urban diversity makes it challenging to encapsulate in a single model, geographer Harm de Blij made a notable attempt. His model, first introduced in a 1977 geography textbook, has been updated and remains relevant in AP Human Geography studies of non-Western urban models.
Definition: The term "Sub-Saharan Africa" encompasses the entire African continent and its islands, excluding the Maghreb (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya), Western Sahara, and Egypt. Countries like Mauritania and Sudan, which include parts of the Sahara and Sahel, are generally considered part of sub-Saharan Africa.
Sub Saharan African City Model: A model of the African city first published in a 1977 geography textbook that has appeared in newer versions of the textbook as well as in AP Human Geography material on non-Western urban models.
The Creator: Harm de Blij
The African City Model was developed by Harm de Blij (1935-2014), a Dutch-born geographer based in the US. De Blij spent his youth in South Africa and dedicated much of his early academic career to research across the African continent. He focused particularly on Maputo, Mozambique, during its time as a Portuguese colony, and Mombasa, a Kenyan port city.
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De Blij gained international recognition as a geography spokesperson and for his influential human geography textbook, first published in 1977. The "African City Model" in this textbook was included in subsequent editions and became a standard reference.
Key Components of the African City Model
The African City Model is a simplified diagram highlighting three distinct, adjoining central business districts (CBDs) and the ethnic segregation of residential areas in former European colonies in Africa.
De Blij African City Model
1. Traditional CBD
The Traditional CBD is centrally located but often lacks a grid pattern, reflecting its pre-European, pre-colonial origins. Many African cities predate European colonialism, such as Kano in Nigeria (around 1,000 years old) and Gao in Mali (dating back to before 1000 AD).
2. Colonial CBD
The Colonial CBD features a rectangular street grid and was primarily developed as the European business and government district during the colonial era (1500s to 1900s AD), adjacent to the Traditional CBD. These areas have been the focus of modern development, with the construction of banks, government buildings, and other prominent structures.
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Colonial CBD of Dakar, Senegal
3. Market Zone
The Market Zone is a transitional area and a CBD in itself, bordering the other CBDs. It is characterized by crowded shops, stalls, and open-air vendors where people from various parts of the city and beyond trade. Most businesses in this zone tend to be small and informal.
4. Ethnic Neighborhoods
Middle-class ethnic neighborhoods in African cities are often highly segregated by race or ethnic nationality. Black African neighborhoods are typically separate from those of white, East Asian, South Asian, Arab, and "Colored" (mixed Black/white) populations. This segregation stems from European colonialism, making segregation along Black ethnic lines less common, although groups with mutual animosities may still avoid each other.
During Apartheid in South Africa, urban segregation was strictly enforced, representing an extreme example of colonial practices. Cultural differences further fragmented cities, with white Afrikaaners living separately from English-speaking South Africans. Even after racist practices were outlawed, these spatial patterns have persisted.
The end of European colonialism and the rise of Black African governments have led to increased upward mobility for Black Africans and the restructuring of city residential neighborhoods along class lines. In Lagos, Nigeria, neighborhoods are now segregated by income, ranging from exclusive gated communities to affluent suburbs and shantytowns.
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5. Manufacturing Zone
A "small-scale informal manufacturing" belt is located farther from the city center than the Ethnic and Mixed Neighborhoods. It includes cottage industries for shoes, food production, and other light industries, as well as some mining activities.
6. Informal Satellite Townships
Typical African cities are surrounded by informal neighborhoods or "townships," as they are known in countries like South Africa. Soweto, a neighborhood of Johannesburg with over a million residents, is a well-known example.
These townships are inhabited by migrants from rural areas who become "squatters" without legal land titles. They construct dwellings from inexpensive materials, which are gradually replaced with higher-quality materials as families accumulate capital and social services develop.
Satellite townships tend to be predominantly populated by people of Black African ethnicities.
Why South Africa is still so segregated
Examples and Variations
While most sub-Saharan African cities do not perfectly align with the de Blij model, it's important to note that the cities cited by de Blij as following the model were mostly founded by European colonizers.
British colonizers established Nairobi (Kenya) as a railroad stop in 1899 and Salisbury (now Harare, Zimbabwe) as a commercial town in 1890. Henry Morton Stanley founded Léopoldville (now Kinshasa) in 1881 for the Congo Free State. The French set up a fort at Ndakaaru, Senegal, in the mid-1800s, which later became Dakar, and founded Abidjan near a small African fishing village in 1903. The Portuguese founded cities such as Luanda, Angola, in 1576 and Lourenço Marques (now Maputo), Mozambique, in the mid-1800s.
Asmara: a Modernist City of Africa
South African cities like Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg are largely European in layout, with limited traditional African influence and significant segregation.
Mombasa, Kenya, a city de Blij studied in detail, closely fits the African City Model, with Arab and Swahili historical layers and street plans predating British colonization. It contains all three types of CBDs, originally had ethnically segregated neighborhoods, and has a ring of informal settlements on the outskirts.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Model
Given the vast cultural and historical diversity of sub-Saharan Africa, it is difficult for a single model to capture the complexities of the modern African urban area. The de Blij model serves primarily as a teaching tool and a means for geographers to make comparisons with other parts of the world. It has not been influential in urban planning in the ways that the US models (Hoyt Sector Model, Concentric Zone Model, Multiple Nuclei model) have been.
Nevertheless, as a fundamental achievement, the de Blij model stands out as an attempt to recognize the importance of African cities, something often excluded from Western discourse and pedagogy. Thus, we could classify it as an inspiration for a world where the three largest cities by the end of the current century are projected to be in Africa. By that time, Lagos and Kinshasa may pass 80 million residents each, while Dar es Salaam, Tanzania is predicted to top 70 million.
A major weakness in de Blij's model is the lack of applicability to modern, post-colonial Africa. In many countries, race is not the geographically divisive element it was when Europeans were present as colonial administrators and enforced segregation of neighborhoods.
Finally, the model does not address any spatial differences based on Black African ethnicity. That is to say, it does not specify whether the segregation of "ethnic neighborhoods" is between Black Africans (as a group) and others (Europeans, South Asians, Arabs, etc.) or also between different Black ethnic groups.
Key Takeaways
- The African City Model is a generalized diagram of an urban area in sub-Saharan Africa that contains pre-colonial, European colonial, and post-colonial elements and is or was segregated by race.
- The African City Model was created by geographer Harm de Blij and was first published in 1977.
- The African City Model glosses over the regional, historical, and cultural differences and complexities that make African urban areas diverse and distinct.
- The African City Model is a teaching tool and comparison aid that helps create an appreciation for the nature of African urbanization in a world where the largest cities will be in Africa by the end of the 21st century.
- The African City Model incorporates three CBDs, but many cities have only one or two of these; South Africa, for example, has Western cities with historically little African influence on the layout.
In conclusion, the African City Model, while simplified, provides a valuable framework for understanding the historical and structural complexities of urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa. It highlights the lasting impacts of colonialism and segregation, while also acknowledging the increasing diversity and dynamism of modern African cities.
