An interview with Nancy Odendaal, who is spearheading an effort by the Association of African Planning Schools to reform planning education across the continent.
In a Q&A with Eric Jaffee, Odendaal explains the significant difference between African needs and Western-style planning:
"Q. You write that too many current planners in Africa have based their knowledge on Western/colonial planning strategies.
ODENDAAL: The most common instrument used is the "master plan," after the British tradition embedded in the Town and Country Planning Act of 1947. This blueprint approach simply does not have the built-in flexibility to accommodate the diversity of livelihoods pursued in a typical African city. Conventional urban plans typically criminalize the informal economy, for example, where street vendors are harassed by police and have their incomes curtailed. This is often done in the name of "urban planning.""
FULL STORY: Improving Urban Planning in Africa
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