Cityness and African Urban Development

Edgar Pieterse

No wp-2010-042, WIDER Working Paper Series from World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER)

Abstract: This paper explores one possible argument for how to respond to the epistemic troubles in the production of knowledge about urban Africa. The problem I have in mind is the preponderance of policy-oriented research on the development challenges and absences of African cities, as opposed to a more rounded theorization of urban life (urbanism), or cityness. The paper starts by recounting the challenge thrown forth by Jennifer Robinson and Achille Mbembe and Sarah Nuttall to take African 'cityness' or 'worldliness' seriously in our engagement with the African city.

Keywords: Economic development; Regional economics; Social conflict; Urban economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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