Description
The outcome of a research exploration by the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town, this study arises from the need to push forward a debate on how the specificity of African cities can be thought and theorized about. Its unique ambition is to produce new and relevant theoretical work on African urbanism in a way that works within the border zone between inherited theoretical resources, emergent postcolonial readings, and artistic representations of everyday practices and phenomenology in African cities. The result is a series of exchanges between scholars and artists which showcase an ensemble of diverse perspectives through which an account of African city-ness and its parameters can be advanced. The art featured in the book affords readers glimpses into quiet moments and the bustle alike, and reveals the inner life of a community and citizens, shaping the relationships between identity and urbanity. Through a series of textual and photographic essays, Rogue Urbanism seeks multiple alternatives in approaching and understanding the African city, without suggesting that a comprehensive grasp is possible. It also enlarges and deepens the search for the rogue intensities that mark African cities as they find their voice and footing in a truly unwieldy world.
