Protracted economic crises, accelerating inequalities, and increased resource scarcity present significant challenges for the majority of Africa's urban population. Limited state capacity and widespread infrastructure deficiencies common in cities across the continent often require residents to draw on their own resources, knowledge, and expertise to resolve these life and livelihood dilemmas.
DIY Urbanism in Africa investigates these practices. It develops a theoretical framework through which to analyze them, and it presents a series of case studies to demonstrate how residents invent new DIY tactics and strategies in response to security, place-making, or economic problems.
This book offers a timely critical intervention into literatures on urban development and politics in Africa. It is valuable to students, policymakers, and urban practitioners keen to understand the mechanisms and political implications of widespread dynamics now shaping Africa's expanding urban environments.
ISBN-13: 9781786999016
Media Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publication Date: 11-30-2023
Pages: 256
Product Dimensions: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.63d
Series: Africa Now
Stephen Marr is Senior Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies at Malmö University and Associate Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute, Sweden. Marr is a guest researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute and the Center for Globalization and Development at the University of Gothenburg.
Patience Mususa is Senior Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute and holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She has previously lectured at the University of Cape Town's department of Social Anthropology (South Africa), and at the Copperbelt University's School of Architecture (Zambia).
