Missing the point? Urban planning and the normalisation of ‘pathological’ spaces in southern Africa

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)



Description :
In this paper, the author demonstrates that urban planning systems have been mobilised to correct or eliminate ‘spatial pathologies’ through illustrative cases from southern Africa (Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe). He argues that the authorities’ obsession with ‘normalising’ urban spaces they have designated as ‘pathologies’ is misplaced because it defies the reality on the ground. He analyses the effectiveness of ‘corrective’ measures that exclude and marginalise informality through technicalisation, ‘expertisation’ and depoliticisation. He evaluates the basis, workings and deleterious outcomes of normalising technologies and question the relevance and efficacy of normalisation at a time when it is increasingly becoming clear that African urbanisation is – and will possibly continue to be – simultaneously driven and cushioned by informalisation.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Transactions - Institute of British Geographers (1965), issn : 0020-2754, 2013, vol. 38, n°. 4, p. 639-651, nombre de pages : 13, Références bibliographiques : 3 p.

Date :
2013

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, London, Institute of British Geographers