Geog597.01:Chapter 8

Subsaharan Africa
(Chapter 8)

Beginning of chapter up to "Evolution of Cities" (pp. 293-295).

1. What do your authors identify as issues of "dysfunctionality" in Subsaharan Africa? 2. Describe the wide variety of urbanization patterns exhibited by Subsaharan Africa. 3. What main patterns of urban development are seen in contemporary Subsaharan Africa?

"Evolution of Cities" (pp. 295-300).

4. Why is it difficult to distinguish cities founded by indigenous populations from those that were founded because of European intervention? 5. Describe the general locations and functions of "early traditional urban centers" and "medieval trade centers" in Subsaharan Africa. 6. What European power was the first to have a presence in Subsaharan Africa during the "age of exploration?" Where and when was this? 7. Your authors explain that Subsaharan Africa's urban pattern began to take form during the period of European contact before the colonial partition (p. 299), but that it was subject to "constraints." What were these constraints? 8. What were the five main European powers that colonized Africa? 9. How did patterns of urban development in South Africa differ from those in the rest of Africa? Why? 10. What factors spurred the growth of Africa's principal urban centers after World War Two?

Box 8.1 "Apartheid and Urban Development in South Africa" (pp. 318-319).

11. What is apartheid? When and why was it established? When did it end? 12. Certain parts of pre-1993 South Africa were designated as "homelands." Explain. 13. Why is there such a large gulf that separates whites from blacks even though apartheid is now over?

"Problems of Urban Development" through "Policy Implications" (pp. 320-327).

14. Explain the problems created by high urban primacy in Subsaharan Africa. 15. Describe the problems associated with "site" and "situation" of Subsaharan Africa's urban centers. 16. Why is rural to urban migration a problem in Subsaharan Africa's cities? 17. Explain what your authors mean when they say on page 323 that "the African city exhibits in microcosm the disparity that exists between the city (core) and the countryside (periphery) as a whole." 18. Why does Subsaharan Africa have such a large percentage of the world's HIV/AIDS cases? 19. What is the impact of the HIV/AIDS problem on urban development in Subsaharan Africa? 20. How does the presence of so many separate political units in Subsaharan Africa contribute to the economic problems of the region? 21. What do your authors suggest as a way of addressing the problem of primate city dominance?