New city-making in Africa: a case of planning hybridity

In the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, a wave of new city-making was sweeping across the Global South cities, including Sub-Saharan Africa. We soon began seeing 3D visualisations of re-imagined urban futures, particularly new cities, to be built from scratch.

Baraka Mwau, who will graduate with his PhD in architecture and planning from the University of Cape Town (UCT) on 30 March, explained: “It was as if the existing urban imagery was being erased and replaced by the new visions. This wave of new city development triggered controversy and a debate emerged in academia, as well as in the practice of urban planning, about the implications it posed for Africa’s urban development.

“At that time, and still is the case today, many researchers termed the new city ideas as ‘far-fetched’, ‘fantasies’, ‘dreams or ‘non-starters’ – and if they were to happen, they were viewed as problematic, with potential to escalate existing challenges; notably socio-economic exclusions and reinforcing of neo-liberalisation (ie the favouring of privatisation).”

He continued: “I found some criticism [of contemporary new cities in the Global South] to fall short of contextual analysis. When I returned to Kenya in 2014, Professor Vanessa Watson (my master’s supervisor) and I remained in touch, and one of the conversations we kept alive was about this wave of new city-making. By 2018, we had reached a consensus that I needed to convert the conversation to a PhD project.”

“In future, I hope I will get the opportunity to reach out and share my work in the most simplified form.”

It took a while to conceptualise planning hybridity, Baraka added. “At some point, I found myself in a dilemma. On one hand, I contemplated taking a normative direction; for instance, to prescribe how planning of new cities or what an African city can be like or what ought to be done. On the other hand, it was my departure conviction that existing planning knowledge has inadequacies of concepts that provide ways of interpretating what really happens or why practices are like that, and what we can learn from context, ie the gaps in knowledge about prevailing planning practices, across space and time.”

Six elements of planning hybridity

Baraka is a practicing urban planner, born and resided for half of his life in Kenya’s countryside, and a migrant resident of Nairobi. His practice has cut across non-government organisations and the private sector. He holds a master’s from UCT, and a BA in Planning from the University of Nairobi. He is a published researcher, with authorship in several publications touching on a range of topics: informal settlements, housing, infrastructure and basic services, urban planning and urban development issues.

“I got concerned that whereas governance and its related fields like public administration have embraced and expanded knowledge about the concept of public-sector relations, coining the outcomes as hybridisation (simply interpreted as the blending of public and private sector logics and practices), the planning discipline had yet deepened critical examination of how hybridisation manifests, especially in Africa’s contemporary urban planning and development contexts,” Baraka explained.

“My research has attempted to demonstrate that the mention of the term ‘privatisation’ tends to make us assume the absence of the state or its peripheral role. However, through the lens of hybridisation, one notices an active role of the state, even in institutions we associate with privatisation. Furthermore, the research reveals that hybridisation is not limited to privatised new city-making, but it’s the everyday practice of urban-making in Nairobi. So, planning hybridity being the everyday way of urban making in Nairobi, the outcomes vary depending on the form of hybridity at play; a form that is often influenced by the prevailing role of the state and its exercise of certain monopolistic powers (ie legality) across time and space. This variation is associated with the differentiated social-spatial landscape of Nairobi.”

Baraka’s thesis will soon be available on OpenUCT platform. It is work that he considers a product of multiple engagements with diverse perspectives: “As I have indicated in the acknowledgement section, their insights make a critical contribution to my thesis. In future, I hope I will get the opportunity to reach out and share my work in the most simplified form.”

Next generation of thinkers

He concluded: “I dedicated my thesis to the late Professor Watson, who played a very crucial role in kick-starting my doctorate journey and her dedicated supervision in the early phases of the project. I wish she was still with us to the end of the journey – as we would be having very interesting discussions from the research findings, and my conceptualisation of planning hybridity.

“I have also dedicated the work to my children, the next generation of thinkers.

“Equally important is to acknowledge all who were part, in one way or another, in making the journey a success. A special appreciation to Professor Tanja Winkler who took over the supervision role.”