Urbanism appears as a central theme as we study the different manners in which European countries enforced their colonial rules on African countries during the early 1900s. Urban tactics and designs were deployed in varying ways by European colonial powers to assert or maintain their colonial presence and serve other political agendas. Italy's colonial rule in Gondar, Ethiopia best exemplifies the use of urbanism to enforce colonial and discriminative policies. Gondar, Ethiopia is one of the major cities in the country, and in 1936, the city served as the colonial administrative center for Italy. Italian architects used the city's natural drastic elevation and urban planning to impose social hierarchies in the country. Gondar, Ethiopia's elevation served as a literal barrier between Italians and Ethiopians, and between the lower and higher classes.
This is a European-style architecture built on a higher elevation in Gondar, Ethiopia. It has high fences acting as a physical barrier and protection.
The use of urbanism by Italian authorities in Ethiopia enforced divisions and promoted the erasure of Ethiopian traditional and cultural architectural styles. However, not all European countries have used urbanism in the same destructive manner. In Morocco, French colonial authorities used urbanism as a way to merge traditional and colonial history.
The deliberate use of urban design and architecture by French colonial authorities in Morocco from the 1900s to the 1930s "makes colonialism more popular to Europeans and more tolerable to the colonized people.” (Gwendolyn, 1987) In the case of Morocco, while still being used to enforce colonial agendas and rule, urbanism is used less destructively. Instead of trying to erase traditional Moroccan culture in an attempt to highlight colonial French presence, both are merged in modern-day Morocco. This similar manner of colonial enforcement is evident in Nigeria, with both colonial and traditional influences present in urban Nigeria.
Comments
Post a Comment