Published
Feb 24, 2016Page count
216 pagesISBN
978-1447322924Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Policy PressPublished
Feb 24, 2016Page count
216 pagesISBN
978-1447322917Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Policy PressPublished
Feb 24, 2016Page count
216 pagesISBN
978-1447322955Imprint
Policy PressPublished
Feb 24, 2016Page count
216 pagesISBN
978-1447322962Imprint
Policy Press
Urban Environments in Africa
Africa’s urban population is growing rapidly, raising numerous environmental concerns. Urban areas are often linked to poverty as well as power and wealth, and hazardous and unhealthy environments as the pace of change stretches local resources. Yet there are a wide range of perspectives and possibilities for political analysis of these rapidly changing environments.
Written by a widely respected author, this important book will mark a major new step forward in the study of Africa’s urban environments. Using innovative research including fieldwork data, map analysis, place-name study, interviewing and fiction, the book explores environmentalism from a variety of perspectives, acknowledging the clash between Western planning mind-sets pursuing the goal of sustainable development, and the lived realities of residents of often poor, informal settlements. The book will be valuable to advanced undergraduate and graduate level courses in geography, urban studies, development studies, environmental studies and African studies.
"A tour de force that opens up an entirely new terrain of scholarly research on urban Africa this book fills a variety of huge gaps in the existing literature" Martin Murray University of Michigan
Garth Myers is the Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of Urban International Studies at Trinity College, Hartford, CT. He is director of the urban studies program and a member of the international studies program. He is the author of three other books on urban Africa and co-editor for two other volumes; he has published more than sixty articles and book chapters as well.
Introduction;
The Experts: The ‘State’ of Urban Environments in Africa;
The Past: The Urban Biogeography of (Post)Colonialism;
The Artists: Using African Literature to Read Urban Environments;
The Cityscape: Place-Names, Culture and Spirits;
From the Grass Roots: Popular Understandings of Urban Environmental Issues in Africa;
Conclusion: Re-Reading Urban Environments.
