Modernist Urban Planning as a Tool of Acculturation: Implications for Sustainable Human Settlement Development in Cameroon
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-2013
Keywords
Acculturation, Cameroon, Colonialism, Colonial urban planning, Cultural imperialism, Modernist urban planning
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccs.2013.01.004
Abstract
Modernist urban planning, the version of planning that originated in Western Europe during the post-1850 industrial period, is interrogated as a tool of Western acculturation. Previous studies have focused narrowly on the strategies that have been employed to impose Western spatial structures on non-Western societies. The present study is broader in its focus as it examines implications of supplanting indigenous planning principles and practices with Western varieties. Qualitative techniques employing data culled mainly from secondary sources are employed. Cameroon constitutes the empirical referent of study. It is shown that by supplanting indigenous African practices in the built environment, modernist urban planning has effectively complicated sustainable development efforts in the country. To succeed, the paper concludes, planning initiatives must be contextualized to account for local conditions in Cameroon.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
City, Culture and Society, v. 4, issue 2, p. 111-120
Scholar Commons Citation
Njoh, Ambe J., "Modernist Urban Planning as a Tool of Acculturation: Implications for Sustainable Human Settlement Development in Cameroon" (2013). School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications. 1977.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/1977
