Epistemological Ideologies and Planning (in Africa)
Epistemological foundations and ideologies of imperial space economy and informality are the bane of planning in Africa. These epistemologies draw from development ideologies, which reside in the meta-theoretical realm. The disregard of the meta-theory of
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Epistemological Ideologies and Planning (in Africa)
Abstract Epistemological foundations and ideologies of imperial space economy and informality are the bane of planning in Africa. These epistemologies draw from development ideologies, which reside in the meta-theoretical realm. The disregard of the meta-theory of planning is responsible for the gross misreading of planning. This explains the neglect of urban planning in favour of investment planning and environmental management. The urban environment ceases to be the subject of planning and the object of planning transits from spatial integration to poverty alleviation. Although the current informalization of cities has no theoretical basis for growth, the planning scene continues to tend towards neoliberal participatory planning for project development in environmental management. This widens the lacuna in urban planning and deepens urban crisis in Africa. Keywords Epistemological Traditional Informality
3.1
Informalization
Meta-theoretical
Diaspora
Imperial Space Economy
Prior to contact with western civilization in the mercantile period marked by trade with Arab merchants, the structure of the space economy was determined by the spatial segregation of homeland territories (comprising resource and production areas) and commercial centres located at the interface of adjourning homeland territories and linked with regional roads. The pattern of homeland settlements is reminiscent of the city state concept which serves as a centre of production with civic identity and territorial boundaries under a charismatic leadership that controlled the affairs of state. The commercial centres, which serve as trading outposts, were impermanent confluence centres located at neutral grounds outside the boundaries of sovereign entities (homeland). These centres that are occupied by transient population lacked civic identity and by normative standards not qualified as an enclave (homeland) settlement. The enclave (homeland) city states were the primary settlements, the focus of production activities and not the centres of © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 D. Okeke, Integrated Productivity in Urban Africa, The Urban Book Series, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-41830-8_3
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commerce. This structure was borne out of the normative initiative in space economy that cradled African civilization. The imperial control of space economy ensued during slave trade period in mid-fifteenth century at the hills of Portuguese mercantilism in mid-fifteenth century and followed by British and French traders in sixteenth century. The Europeans in their capitalist trade relations sort for control and trade monopolies. It is reported that they played one kingdom off against another to prevent the emergence of powerful state (Guglar and Flanagan 1978). Trade routes and functional specialization of cities seized to be subject to indigenous decision processes or at least to be locally controlled in favour of African
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