Ubuntu nests and the emergence of an African metropolis
Abstract
Cities are not homogenous sociocultural entities. The city of Nairobi exhibits the phenomena of
‘cities within cities’ and ‘African city forms’. Social and economic forms of African, western and
Asian cities compete for space within Nairobi. This paper refers to the African city form as the
‘African metropolis’, which exhibits the African logic, norms and values in its architecture and human
social relations. The African metropolis is made up of slums, urbanized villages, self-developed
urban fringes and indigenous markets. In urban literature, these spaces are referred to as informal or
unplanned settlements. As drivers of this African form of urbanism, traders and artisans use the
African logic, norms and values in the construction of the African metropolis. The traders and
artisans contribute to the African metropolis, by hiring labour and investing surplus earnings, and
are bonded into Ubuntu communities of family, friendship and ethnicity. The paper is based on data
gathered through a questionnaire survey of traders and artisans. It contributes to urban theory, by
showing how less dominant and subtle forces contribute to city-forming processes. I propose the
concept of cultural villages as a strategy for blending African logic, norms and values with those
of global urban planning.
Citation
Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 37 (2016) 418–431Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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