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Usually representing spirits, ancestors or the primordial couple, these figures were placed in shrines and treated with great respect. Through a wide range of style, scale, belief and function the couples depicted share a timeless, serene equality necessary to the continuity of their societies.

Africa’s Urban War on Street Vendors and the Missed Opportunity for Social Unity

In most great cities, street vendors are an essential part of urban life. They give a place its texture, its bustle and buzz, even its soul. With the dawn of each new day, on streets and piazzas all over the world, vendors take their places, roasting walnuts, making waffles, grilling hotdogs, setting up makeshift stages for performance or the creation of art. Most of us can’t imagine city life ...

The Elusive Element of Regional Urban Resilience and Social Awareness in Cities

With urban sites being places where the large percentage of the population dwells to alter their economic situation, large cities have become home to high concentrations of poverty. The motivations and forms of concealing this reality have resulted in large inequalities manifest in conflict and other forms of social disability palpable in the region today. In the greater expansion, conflict can...

Kigali: A City’s Rebirth Into The 21st Century

Transcending the trials and tribulations of its dark past to become one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, Rwanda exemplifies the spirit of a progress with a bright future in the horizon. To some, it is referred to as ‘the Singapore of Africa’ due to its attitude towards development. And there is no other city that shares in this remarkable journey of rising up from the ashes as the Ci...

Great City or Terrible Place: Experiencing Lamu

While the history and origin of the Waswahili people remains a contentious issue, scholars of culture and house form have in the past acknowledged that there is an obvious difficulty in attempting to transfer ideas and concepts from one culture to another. Swahili culture has been seen to display a myriad of influences from the wider Indian Ocean, producing an integrated mix that is different f...

Great City or Terrible Place: The Durban Experience

Undoubtedly, when discussing great cities and urban themes, the colonial port-and/or-capital is still a major legacy that has yet to be overcome. Out of Africa’s 50 largest cities, fully 28 are cities of those historical types. Thirteen of the other 22 largest cities are in Nigeria and South Africa, pointing to another, related element of the colonial legacy. Durban is one such city- a historic...

Great City Terrible Place: Future of Island Cities

The first mention of Mombasa was by Al Idris between 1066 and 1100. Ibn Battuta in his travels described Mombasa as a large city with wooden mosques, with the large settlements being located in the Northern end of Old Town, which is the present site for the coast general hospital. Mombasa, just like many of the city states along the East African coast, was beginning to flourish between the thir...