Abstract
This chapter examines the origin and development of planning-laws in Africa, establishes the rationale behind the major planning-law reforms where they are found and where not found, questions are raised as to why. The processes of planning-law reforms, the identification and contribution of major stakeholders, the opportunities and challenges involved in the process, the effects of the absence of and/or bad implementation of existing or reformed laws, and the eventual outcome on the pattern and structure of African cities and on the lives of Africans are analysed. In view of the new African urban agenda, there is an urgent need for a revolution in planning-laws in Africa, which is an essential element in the process of governing urban Africa.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
AAPS—Association of African Planning Schools. (2012). Communique: The First Meeting of the Platform for Urban Planning Law Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa. Retrieved May 23, 2015, from http://www.africanplanningschools.org.za/images/downloads/about-us/Bellagio_communique.pdf
African Planning Association (APA). (2013). The State of Planning in Africa: An Overview. Nairobi: UN-Habitat.
Agbola, T., & Agbola, E. O. (1997). The Development of Urban and Regional Planning Legislations and their Impact on the Morphology of Nigerian Cities. Nigerian Journal of Economic and Social Studies, 39(1), 123–144.
Agbola, T.; F. Kasim and G. Amune (2014). An Urban Agenda for Africa: Realities, Challenges and Potentials’ Keynote Lecture Presented at the 3rd International Conference on Urban and Regional Planning, Organized by the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Lagos, held on the 13th–15th October, Julius Berger Lecture Theatre, University of Lagos.
Alterman, R. (2013). Planning Laws, Development Controls, and Social Equity: Lessons for Developing Countries. World Bank Law Review, Vol. 5. Retrieved May 23, 2015, from http://alterman2.technion.ac.il/files/Articles/Refereed/2013-World-bank.pdf
Berrisford, S. (2010). Why it’s Difficult to Change Urban Planning Laws in African Countries. Retrieved April 18, 2015, from http://www.gcro.ac.za/sites/default/files/Seminar_Why_its_difficult_to_change_urban_planning_laws_in_African_countries_22_september_2010.docx
Berrisford, S. (2011a). Unravelling Apartheid Spatial Planning Legislation in South Africa: A Case Study. Urban Forum, 22(3), 247–263.
Berrisford, S. (2011b). Revising Spatial Planning Legislation in Zambia: A Case Study. Urban Forum, 22(3), 229–245.
Berrisford, S. (2012). Urban Planning Education and Applied Research in Sub-Saharan Africa. Urban Planning Law Reform Conference concept note. Retrieved May 25, 2015, from http://www.citiesalliance.org/sites/citiesalliance.org/files/CAFiles/Projects/Urban_Planning_Law_Reform_Conference_concept_note.pdf
Bigon, L. (2012). A History of Urban Planning and Infectious Diseases: Colonial Senegal in the Early Twentieth Century. Urban Studies Research. doi:10.1155/2012/589758
Home, R. K. (1997). Of Planting and Planning: The Making of British Colonial Cities. London: Spon.
Home, R. (1983). Town Planning, Segregation and Indirect Rule in Colonial Nigeria. Third World Planning Review, 5(2), 165–175.
Kihato, M. (2012). Integrating Planning and Environmental Issues through the Law in South Africa: Learning from International Experience. Masters Dissertation. Pretoria: University of South Africa.
Kironde, J. M. (2006). The Regulatory Framework. Unplanned Development and Urban Poverty: Findings from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Land Use Policy, 23, 460–472.
Lugard, F. D. (1919). Revisions of Instructions to Political Officers on Subjects Chiefly Political and Administrative 1913–1918. London: Water Low and Sons.
Nigerian Institute of Town Planners. (2014). The State of Urban and Regional Planning in Nigeria. Abuja: Nigerian Institute of Town Planners.
Njoh, A. J. (2009). Urban Planning as a Tool of Power and Social Control in Colonial Africa. Planning Perspectives, 24(3), 301–317.
Obateru, I. O. (2010). History of Town Planning: Focus on 18th Century to the Present. Ibadan: Penthouse Publications.
Okpala, D. (2009). Regional Overview of the Status of Urban Planning and Planning Practice in Anglophone (Sub-Saharan) African Countries. Regional Study Prepared for Revisiting Urban Planning: Global Report on Human Settlements 2009. Nairobi: UN-Habitat.
Omolo-Okalebo, F. (2011). Evolution of Town Planning Ideas, Plans and their Implementation in Kampala City 1903–2004. Doctoral Thesis, School of Architecture and the Built Environment Royal Institute of Technologyk, Stockholm.
Parliamentary Monitoring Group. (2008). Land Use Management Bill hearings. Retrieved June 23, 2015, from https://pmg.org.za/search/?q=land-use-management-bill-public-hearings
UN-Habitat. (2010). The State of African Cities 2010: Governance, Inequality and Urban Land Markets. Nairobi: UN-Habitat.
UN-Habitat. (2014). The State of African Cities 2014: Re-imagining Sustainable Urban Transitions. Nairobi: UN-Habitat.
United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs. (2012). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2011 Revision. New York: United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs.
Viana, D. M. (2009). African City: Towards a New Paradigm—“Chameleonic” Urbanism for Hybrid Cities. African Perspectives. Retrieved June 12, 2015, from http://archivedpublicwebsite.up.ac.za/sitefiles/file/44/1068/3229/9086/African%20Perspectives/PDF/Papers/VIANA.pdf
Watson, V. (2009). The Planned City Sweeps the Poor Away: Urban Planning and 21st Century Urbanisation. Progress in Planning, 72, 151–193.
Watson, V., & Agbola, B. (2013). Who Will Plan Africa’s City? Westminster, London: Africa Research Institute.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Agbola, B.S., Falola, O.J. (2016). Planning Law Reforms in Africa: Case Studies From Uganda, South Africa and Nigeria. In: Silva, C. (eds) Governing Urban Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95109-3_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95109-3_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95108-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95109-3
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)