Urban Planning and the Creation of Livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa in the 21st Century

This chapter posits that the transformation of ancient African cities into modern cities using the modernist theory of planning did more harm than good. Not only has the modern city created many more urban poor than obtained in ancient cities, but the urban poor also remain the most vulnerable as their livelihoods have often come under threat from not only unfriendly city council regulations but also from the rigid safeguards of the modernist theory of town planning. Consequently, in order to promote the building of human-centered African cities which would serve all those that live in them, it is here suggested that the mystical, humanistic, and spatial values of ancient African cities should be further researched, so as to embed them into the transformation of existing and subsequent African cities.