Module 3 — Principles of Sustainable Urban Design
Lesson 8 of 14New Urbanism in Africa by Vanessa Watson

Vanessa Watson’s urban design theory that is presented here is based on her article in African Urban Fantasies: Dreams or Nightmares? published in Environment and Urbanization, where she offers a review of these new plans, or “fantasies”, and places them within the broader discourse of urban form. There are two videos: In the first video, you’ll discover Vanessa Watson’s perspectives on urban planning in African cities, and then a showcase of these new urban plans pointing to her views on their impacts on the realities on the ground in Africa. In the second video, you watch a talk by Vanessa Watson on African Urban Fantasies: New postcolonial frontiers, which she delivered as a keynote lecture for The Future of Cities.

Video Player

© Course Author(s) and University of Waterloo.

Nadine Ibrahim. (2019, June 6). New Urbanism in Africa. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl1Vwq83yZI

The motivation for these “smart city” visions or “eco-city” plans in Africa, are fantasies that come from a range of different sources from the continent and beyond. Vanessa Watson takes a critical look at these future plans and cautions that they disregard the African context in which they are planned, and that a widening and deepening inequality may result, and from a sustainability perspective, sustainability cannot be met in this fashion. In the next video, you’ll hear from Vanessa Watson herself, an in-depth talk where she discusses these post-colonial city plans from her point of view. 

InSISOx. (2013, September 23). Vanessa Watson: African Urban Fantasies - new post colonial frontiers. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt_-IqAJ9mY

It is important to minimize the ecological footprint of cities. This ideal implies a whole systems approach to urban development and infrastructure, as we as climate adaptation and mitigation actions, while also preserving a sense of place and uniqueness, and respect for heritage. Vanessa Watson shows that simply importing city images from the Global North or West is counter to that ideal.