Planning Power Town Planning and Social Control in Colonial Africa

With a multidisciplinary perspective, Planning Power examines British and French colonial town and country planning efforts in Africa. Drawing out similarities in the colonial administrative and economic strategies of the two powers, rather than emphasizing the differences, the book offers an unusually nuanced view of African planning systems in a time of upheaval and political change. In showing how the colonial authorities sought to gain political and social control in Africa, it can be seen how their will to exert political power influenced every area of planning practice during this era. This unique comparative analysis of British and French colonial town planning – covering the entire sub-Saharan African region – takes theories from a wide range of disciplines, including political science, history, urban and regional planning, economics and geography to paint a comprehensive picture of the subject. Written by a prolific researcher and writer in the political-economy of urban and regional planning in Africa, Planning Power is valuable reading for students and academics in a range of disciplines.

1. Power and the Built Environment in Colonial Africa 2. French Colonial Urban Planning Ideology & Practice 3. British Colonialism, Economics and Spatial Structures 4. Town Planning in British Colonial West Africa 5. Planning in French West Africa 6. Planning Power in French Equatorial Africa & Madagascar 7. Planning in the Cameroons and Togoland 8. Town Planning in Colonial British Southern Africa 9. Planning Ideology and Practice in British East Africa 10. Public Health Policies and Spatial Structures in Colonial Africa 11. Trade, Commerce and Spatial Structures in Colonial Africa 12. The Political Economy of Colonial Urban Planning in Africa

Ambe J. Njoh is Professor of Government and International Affairs at the University of South Florida. His research interests include international development planning, interorganizational relations and urban and regional planning in Africa.