Colonial legacies: shaping African cities

Neeraj Baruah, J. Vernon Henderson and Cong Peng

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Institutions persisting from colonial rule affect the spatial structure and conditions under which 100’s of millions of people live in Sub-Saharan African cities. In a sample of 318 cities, Francophone cities have more compact development than Anglophone, overall, in older colonial sections, and at clear extensive margins long after the colonial era. Compactness covers intensity of land use, gridiron road structures, and leapfrogging of new developments. Why the difference? Under British indirect and dual mandate rule, colonial and native sections developed without coordination. In contrast, integrated city planning and land allocation were featured in French direct rule. These differences in planning traditions persist.

Keywords: colonialism; persistence; Africa; sprawl; urban planning; leapfrog (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H70 N97 O10 P48 R50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-12-14
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in Journal of Economic Geography, 14, December, 2020, 21(1). ISSN: 1468-2702

Downloads: (external link)
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/106621/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Colonial legacies: Shaping African cities (2021)
Working Paper: Colonial legacies: Shaping African cities (2020)
Working Paper: Colonial Legacies: Shaping African Cities (2017)
Working Paper: Colonial legacies: shaping African cities (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:106621

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