PREFACE 


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Issues of development planning in the African nations have gained added importance over the last few years in view of the recent political events on the continent (in Angola, Rhodesia, South Africa, Ethiopia, and so on) which have indeed occupied a center stage within the world community. Surprisingly, however, there has been little published on the problems, experiences, and approaches of spatial and urban de- velopment in Africa from a comparative and comprehensive view since our edited volume on Urbanization, National Development, and Regional planning in Africa -(Praeger) was published in 1974. The present vol- ume is intended to help bridge that gap by bringing together a number of original contributions on spatial development and planning in Africa, covering a wide geographical and interdisciplinary perspective. 

The essential focus is on comparative historical analysis of the urbanization process in Africa, the resulting limitations and problems of urban development, and consequent challenges and responses of development planning. Given the wide range of the countries involved, the disparities among their developmental contexts, and the lack of basic comparable data, this approach necessarily poses several prob- lems. We have attempted to overcome them, however, by selecting case studies that analyze and evaluate systematically representative 

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experiences against a background of common problems and colonial heritage. 

The first part of the book attempts to provide a framework for understanding the nature of African urbanism, the limitations on that urbanism imposed by traditional nations, and analytical approaches to it. The failure of most recent attempts to implement spatial and re- gional planning in Africa may have been due to the lack of understand- ing of the nature and process of urbanization over time. TMs book, . therefore, offers the basic facts, trends, and options that have emerged in various African countries. This reader's primary aim is to pre,dent a comparative perspective on the processes of urbanization and planning in the form of case studies centered on selected countries representing different regions and developmental contexts on the African continent. We hope that those for whom the book is intended-students, profes-

sionals, planners, and policy makers of African urbanization and de- velopment planning-will find it not only informative but also challenging in their continued search and interest in African urban development.