Lecture

Urban Planning in African Cities

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Description

This lecture introduces the concept of urban planning in African cities, focusing on the diagnostic phase. It covers the importance of the diagnostic, the necessary means and approaches, as well as analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities in urban areas. Through detailed examples from Nouakchott, Mauritania, the instructor discusses population distribution, urban infrastructure, water networks, extension stages, land use, and environmental constraints. The lecture also addresses the challenges related to urban density, transportation, environmental pressures, and potentialities. Various maps and diagrams are used to illustrate the urban landscape and development strategies.

In MOOC

African cities I, An introduction to urban planning

The course focuses solely on African cities, and while these can serve as examples for cities in the South, or indeed all cities, we do our utmost to put the issues back into an African context.

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Anthropology

Urbanism: Topics in urbanism

Related concepts (32)

Urban planning

Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportation, communications, and distribution networks and their accessibility.

Land use

Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long history, first emerging more than 10,000 years ago. It has been defined as "the purposes and activities through which people interact with land and terrestrial ecosystems" and as "the total of arrangements, activities, and inputs that people undertake in a certain land type.

Urban density

Urban density is a term used in urban planning and urban design to refer to the number of people inhabiting a given urbanized area. As such it is to be distinguished from other measures of population density. Urban density is considered an important factor in understanding how cities function. Research related to urban density occurs across diverse areas, including economics, health, innovation, psychology and geography as well as sustainability.

Urban sprawl

Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growth in many urban areas of housing, commercial development, and roads over large expanses of land, with little concern for urban planning. In addition to describing a special form of urbanization, the term also relates to the social and environmental consequences associated with this development.

Urban planning education

Urban planning education is a practice of teaching and learning urban theory, studies, and professional practices. The interaction between public officials, professional planners and the public involves a continuous education on planning process. Community members often serve on a city planning commission, council or board. As a result, education outreach is effectively an ongoing cycle.

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