Presentación del libro 'Un modo de afrontar la ciudad africana'

Among the activities planned for África Vive 2014, an initiative of Casa Africa to celebrate Africa Day (25th May) there will be the presentation of this book, A way to tackle the African city, winner of the 5th edition of the Casa África's Essay Prizes, an event that is held annually and in 2013 had the theme The African city, its development, its present and its future. The book, which is part of Casa África's Essay Collection, stresses the need for direct, interdisciplinary and active participation of African societies in creating their cities.

Africa is the least urbanised region on earth, with an urban population of 38%, but with a faster urban growth rhythm (4.5%). Current studies show that the African urban population will double in the next twenty years, as a result of the rural-urban migration, natural demographic growth and the re-classification of peri-urban areas into urban areas.

One way to tackle the African city is the work of the architects Manuel Martín Hernández, Vicente Díaz Garcia and Eugenio Rodríguez Cabrera, who argue that there is not just a single development possible, or a single city or a single way of doing things. They suggest a “right to the city"  able to generate other ways to understand, configure and manage the African city, focused on the “social production of the habitat”, and propose fostering this alternative with a South-South cooperation. But above all they emphasize the need for direct, interdisciplinary and active participation of African societies in creating their cities.

The authors of this essay remind us that planning in Africa has up till now been done on neocolonial foundations and it is time to lay the foundations of cities that are more habitable within the continent, creating spaces to live, to share, to generate communities, which accommodate an economy with more solidarity.

To talk about all of this, this conference/presentation is organised by the authors, architects and professors from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), Manuel J. Martín Hernández, Vicente Díaz García y Eugenio Rodríguez Cabrera, who advocate in their essay for a "mental decolonization" in the planning of African cities, by understanding that these have been designed with urban and architectural approaches of the "Eurocentric north" and set out the models of "insurgent urbanism" experienced in Latin America to generate other ways to understand, configure and manage cities on the African continent.

  • What? Conference and presentation of the award winning book of Casa África's latest Essay Prize: 'A way to tackle the African city'
  • When? Wednesday 21st May  2014 at 7:30 p.m.
  • Where? At Casa África's Nelson Mandela Auditorium. C/. Alfonso XIII, 5. 35003 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Actualizado el Friday, May 9, 2025 - 09:40
Presentación del libro «Memorias del río Níger. El sueño de Tombuctú», de Irene López de Castro
El 29 de abril de 2025 a las 19h en el Auditorio Nelson Mandela de Casa África
Presentación del nuevo libro de B. Boris Diop
El 30 de abril a las 19h en Casa África
Club de Lectura Antonio Lozano de Casa África-Abril2025
El lunes 21 de abril de 2025, a las 17:00h, en Casa África
Presentación en Casa Árabe del libro «África, racismo y colonialismo»
22 de abril de 2025, a las 19h, en Casa Árabe Córdoba
Curso de iniciación al wolof. 5ª edición
Inscripción al curso: 22-24abr2025
SIEL 2025
Del 17 al 27 de abril en Rabat, Marruecos
De interés
Hasta el 20 de abril
Cuentos en Red 2025
Del 6 al 23 de abril
Fiesta Nacional de Senegal en Casa África
Sábado, 5 de abril de 2025 en Casa África
Conversas macaronésicas
6 y 9 de abril de 2025 en Canarias
Viñetas&Fronteras
Del 2 de abril al 9 de mayo en Casa África
Migraciones
Del 8 al 12 de abril de 2025 en Senegal
FlamencoGen 2025
Del 30 de marzo al 5 de abril de 2025 en Jerez de la Frontera
Seminario|En Casa África
En Casa África el 28 de marzo de 2025 a las 9h
#8M2025
Día Internacional de la Mujer
En el camino hacia la FfD4
El 17 de marzo en Casa África
VII Jornadas Internacionales de Literaturas Africanas
Del 1 al 3 de abril de 2025 en el Edificio Histórico de la Universidad de Oviedo