French Urbanism in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Although Algeria is considered France's first colony in Africa, France had been present in Africa in one capacity or another since 1659. This is when French traders set up a permanent trading post in Saint Louis in present-day Senegal. This marked the beginning of France's effective control of what later came to be known as French sub-Saharan Africa. However, it is worth noting that the official onset of European colonialism did not begin in Africa until 1884/1885, following the conclusion of the Berlin Conference. This chapter discusses how French colonial authorities employed urban planning to facilitate attainment of important goals of the colonial project in this region. These goals were of the economic, political, socio-cultural and psychological variety.