The writer of the book, Garth Andrew Myers, is an executive of the Kansas African Studies Center and educator in the branches of geology and African/African-American investigations at the University of Kansas. He is the writer and co-writer of arrangement of books, book section and articles significantly on African urban advancement themes, essentially accentuating on eastern and southern African urban communities. As thinks of himself "My point in this book is to utilize African urban ideas and encounters to talk back to hypothetical and down to earth worries in urban investigations and controls that review urban areas all the more by and large, while simultaneously adding to African examinations as a field".He guarantees that these days African urban ism is seen and checked on based on Western understanding what the city is, so the majority of explores are attempting to characterize or shape African urban communities as indicated by the US or European urban areas as all inclusive models. He accept that one should attempt to see an African city as "another sort" because of the way that mainland itself and each African city specifically have its own authentic, ethical, land, etc foundation, while, obviously, sharing something practically speaking. In this manner, Myers says that there probably won't be really an arranged sort of African urban areas by any means, yet there may be urban areas which have a few similitude. So Myers propose to do some near investigations of African urban communities and, subsequently contrasts one city and another so as to "see once more" the African cities through "African setting as of incredible estimation of worldwide comprehension of urban ism". Regardless of the reality, that African urban areas are difficult to be ordered, Myers after all offers the persue to see urban communities in Africa "through inquiries and discussions on post colonialism, familiarity, administration, brutality and cosmopolitanism". These subjects serve to the creator as section themes, where he audits each point dependent on the specific African city/urban communities for instance. The five focuses really are the most normal issues or issues to be settled in current Africa over the landmass. Comprehensively, they spread: "defeating pioneer legacy of destitution, underdevelopment and socio -spatial disparity; managing casual areas and settlements; administering legitimately; fashioning peaceful situations; and adapting to globalization". By exploring this issues the creator aims to settle a contention of further urban advancement in Africa and better and powerful urban arranging, thinking about the entirety of the recorded, social, ethical, natural, practical and policy centered issues which may stir.The fundamental exhaustive thought of the book is the familiarity in African urban communities. It shows up every through greetings book and for the most part shrouded in Chapter I through familiarity of settlements in African urban communities developed for the most part as a response to pioneer and post-pilgrim arrangements (Lusaka, Zambia, for instance). This point likewise covers the financial and government part, to which different sections of the book are committed to. Applying again to the fundamental setting of the book, Myers addresses whether this wonder is extremely casual or it is really typical. What's more, that is a sensible contention. Without a doubt, one can't quantify what is typical or casual from just one, Western, perspective. Many used to state that Africa isn't cultivated or all around created. Genuinely, African nations are still at the absolute starting point of their advancement presently confronting issues which really were invigorated by the colonialists during their essence. For example casual settlements, which presently are serious issue in African urban communities, showed up as a piece of a provincial approach once in a while secured and ensured interests of the natives. Furthermore, today these territories are the old neighborhood of most of African populace (see UN-Habitat information on that) just as wrongdoing, ailments and "dark" economy part. The last is another "face" of African casualness. In reality, it is the significant piece of African economy. Individuals occupied with casual segment are unique: they might be living in ghettos, or in great lodgings. What's more, it seems, by all accounts, to be not a reality of defiance, yet an impression of culture, where long range interpersonal communication is the most reasonable and normal method of working together, which legitimately don't need to incorporate specialists. Accordingly, there is another purpose of contention here: casual economy covers for all intents and purposes little and center organizations, while huge scope organizations ought to include organization and legislative guideline. In any case, how government can truly oversee there nations? All things considered, in larger part of African nations government shows itself frail or inadequate to change the circumstance, in any event, when very effective projects are actualized (at long last they face the regular old issues and not ready to progressively turn the circumstance as it was wanted to). In this kind of issues Myers sees the way to achievement in popular government and Neo-progressiveness. Also, what I recommend as a further conversation and general methodology is the accompanying. Do we truly need to be so worried about majority rule government and radicalism as the better answer for Africa? Addressing this inquiry thoughtfully we may recommend, that African nations may have their own kind of political framework, progressively powerful and comparing with African foundation. Also, this thought has a help in an authentic retrospection. As should be obvious, popularity based social orders didn't rise in Western nations from the earliest starting point – there was likewise a time of tyrant rule or rule. Possibly countries need to pass the tyrant or even tyranny stages to go to the majority rule state? Or then again perhaps African nations need to make their own "political blend"? Anyway, authoritarianism appear to be very appropriate for African nations for the present, in light of the fact that as we can really observe, it is the most spread arrangement of administration on the mainland. What's more, this sort of "rule" really mirrors the best the social foundation of Africa with its boss and patriarch framework. As veritably Africans didn't see anything separated from it, nor they dropped without anyone else to popular government as it was on the West, likely "culinary specialist framework' might be the center of African - exceptional with others - sort of oversee. Another point which is set by Myers is viciousness. Wrongdoing, frailty, extortion are spread in Africa, and they are profoundly associated with familiarity of settlements and economy. Hence, it is simply to presume that a fruitful managing - fundamentally – casual, difficult to be overseen settlements would definitely diminish the degree of wrongdoing and brutality (see about Broken Windows hypothesis). To me there is another, more profound and frequently concealed, issue to this issue. Above all else, the greater part of African states were not set up by the desire of their kin as it might have been, for instance, in Europe (for the financial or protection reason). That naturally implies that there may be truly uncertain (and perhaps never settled) showdowns between clans inside one nation. The striking model is Nigeria. Along these lines, most Africans don't consider their selves to be countries. What's more, they are not joined together, so how might they arrive at a similar improvement objectives (regardless of whether they have it)? Presumably, it is the issue we ought to generally deal with. The arrangement might be enlivened by the conservative specialization inside one nation, since one clan can be better maker of a specific item (like French region Champaign is world-well known for its shining wine). Also, these may create creation groups, successfully oversaw by the innate standards, and make clans concentrated on what they are doing the best as opposed to on contending why "others" are more extravagant or favored. What's more, obviously, Myers discusses globalization in his book. He sets a case of Somalis settled in the USA, and how they viably deal with their life inside network and the nation notwithstanding the reality, that their nation of origin was crossed by US media as a 'dark opening". He likewise noticed that a portion of those migrants later put into their own nation carrying new inventive vision into the economy and regular day to day existence. As I see, this propensity may the "natural air" (really it happens in Somalia, yet through the whole mainland). So training and diving into various condition upheld with more extensive worldwide practices and vision ought to be required for the individuals who assume to administer African urban areas and nations. As the end, Myers says 'Peculiarly, political theory appears to be just a periodic nearness in African urban investigations, when it should be a focal field in our examinations" (198). What's more, this point mirrors my vision, which I attempted to communicate above. Regardless of the book moves toward most to be as a type of paper as opposed to a writer position, it shows to the peruses a more extensive vision on African urban areas and proposes another sight point on the hypothesis and practices of African urban examinations, which may prompt increasingly determined vision of African countries and further comprehension of how to improve their life. As it is stated: to comprehend a kid, one should push its limits to go out of box to provide facilities such as health care ,education as they are the future of the nation.

Garth A. Myers, professor of the geography and African-American studies departments at the University of Kansas, author of a wide number of publications relating to the study of African cities (1996, 2003, 2005), published the oeuvre we here analyse, African cities: alternative visions of urban theory and practice, in 2011. The book responds to a need of having a reference point for those who want to introduce themselves on the study of postcolonial urban studies. More specifically, African cities: alternative visions of urban theory and practice, stands as a starting point of the debate of the African case, for it gives the reader a wide perspective on the key issues surrounding African cities, providing her with plenty of examples and thorough analysis. In order to structure his analysis, Myers relies on Soja’s conceptualization of the postmetropolis, which is characterized by being a (I) postfordist industrial metropolis, (II) a cosmopolis, (III) an exopolis, (IV) a fractal city, (V) a carcerial archipelago and (VI) the result of the restructuring of urban imaginary. These discourses are seen by Myers as a tool for the analysis of African urban reality. Myers decides to set these ideas as the starting point of analysis, as a way of testing if different African cities, such as Lusaka, might potentially be an example of the postmetropolis Soja described. Thus, drawing from this definition of the postmetropolis, Myers organizes the book in five chapters, each of which focuses on an aspect of African urban reality: postcolonialism, informality, governance, violence and cosmopolitanism. Myers selects these five issues in relation to Soja’s proposals, understanding that they are connected to his discourses. He justifies the operationalization of Soja’s theoretical pillars by saying that “this bundle of phenomena speaks much more strongly to the experiences of cities in Africa over the last thirty years or so than do Soja’s six discourses” (Myers, 2011:28). Although the five issues are interesting for all those who have not had any previous connection with the African urban reality, to those who have a special interest on the theories and practices surrounding public policy and decision-making processes, the chapters that prove to be more enlightening are those referred to the issues of postcolonialism, informality and governance. Thus, in order to centre on a specific area of analysis, we will present Myers’ thoughts on these three matters, contrasting them with more general, traditionally western, theoretical proposals. We start off by approaching his arguments on informality. Informality is pointed as an intrinsic feature of the African urban sphere. The author recognises the difficulty of defining this characteristic, and offers us several definitions. In order to focus our discussion we will refer here to the definition given by the International Labour Organization, which states that informality means “ease of entry, reliance on indigenous resources, family ownership of enterprises, small scale of operation, labor-intensive and adapted technology, skills acquired outside the formal school system, and unregulated and competitive markets.” (p.72) This definition, however, does not only refer to specific issues such as the existence of unregulated markets or the distribution of land, which is commonly seen as the clearest example of informality, given the wide presence of slums. When we speak of informality we want to highlight the fluidity and flexibility of all processes that cross the citizen’s lives, from the way they obtain and exchange resources to the manner in which they understand their identities. Myers gives us several examples on the phenomena of informality, pointing to daily life situations in which families manage to achieve their goals through the mobilization if informal resources, drawing on personal relationships. Such an approach looks unnatural to those who come from a different background: the broad concept of informality, as understood in the African context, is not something that can be easily internalized by people who were socialized on a western context. Therefore, reclaiming the space and relevance of informality is not only a mere strategy of management, but also a way of differentiating the African city, reaffirming the intention of building a postcolonial metropolis. I believe this is an outstanding idea, since it questions the long tradition of formal, structured relationships. If we were to establish a parallel with western theoretical approach to urban theory we would point to the notion of social capital as an example of informality, being social capital understood as rules of trust and reciprocity among citizens (Hanifan, 1916; Putnam, 1995; Inglehart, 1997). I believe Myers’ introductory book has the potential of opening a new train of thought on urban researchers. By setting informality in the centre of the analysis, he helps us asking questions about the underlying mechanisms on different models of governance. For example, this approach allows us to see key elements of the governance theory, such as networks (Rhodes, 1997), from a new perspective, escaping from the general ideas that force these structures into the formal, discarding the fact that their efficiency may actually be related to the informality it hides. On a concluding note, we must say that after reading Myers book, paying special attention to the issues of informality, poscolonialism and governance, I can affirm that the author reaches his goal. He offers a very enriching perspective on the study of African cities, taking into account the needs of the reader and being able to empathise with those who may find the terms of African urban theory external. In this sense, the book makes up a perfect introductory piece. However, if we intend to find on these pages specific, practical keys, on the process of city planning, we will be disappointed. The terms of the book are very general, and the examples, although notably very well known by the author, do not focus on the specific items we may be looking for when speaking of models of governance or strategies for the management of informality, whether with the intention of boosting or reducing it. In that sense, that is something I would note as missing in the book. References HANIFAN, Lyda J. (1916); “The rural school community center”, en Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 67, New Possibilities in Education (Sept.), pp. 130-138. INGLEHART, Ronald (1997); Modernization and postmodernization: cultural, economic and political change in 43 societies, New Jersey, Princeton University Press. PUTNAM, Robert D. (1995); “Turning in, turning out: the strange disappearance of social capital in America”, in PS: Political Science and Politics, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Dec.), pp. 664-683. RHODES, Rod AW. Understanding governance: policy networks, governance, reflexivity and accountability. Open University Press, 1997.

A) The author of the book, Garth Andrew Myers, is a director of the Kansas African Studies Center and professor in the departments of geography and African/African-American studies at the University of Kansas. He is the author and co-author of series of books, book chapter and articles majorly on African urban development topics, primarily emphasizing on eastern and southern African cities. As writes himself “My aim in this book is to use African urban concepts and experiences to speak back to theoretical and practical concerns in urban studies and disciplines that study cities more generally, while at the same time contributing to African studies as a field” (1). He claims that nowadays African urbanism is seen and reviewed on the basis of Western understanding what the city is, so the most of researches are trying to classify or shape African cities according to the US or European cities as universal models. He assumes that one should try to perceive an African city as “another type” due to the fact that continent itself and every African city in particular have its own historical, ethnical, geographical and so on background, while, of course, having something in common. Therefore, Myers says that there might not be actually a classified type of African cities at all, but there might be cities which have some similarities. So Myers suggest to do some comparative studies of African cities and, consequently compares one city with another in order to “see again” the African citiness through “African context as of great value of global understanding of urbanism”. In spite of the fact, that African cities are hard to be categorized, Myers after all offers the reader to see cities in Africa “through questions and debates on postcolonialism, informality, governance, violence and cosmopolitism”. These themes serve to the author as chapter topics, where he reviews each point based on the particular African city/cities as an example. The five points actually are the most typical problems or issues to be resolved in modern Africa across the continent. Broadly, they cover: “overcoming colonial inheritance of poverty, underdevelopment and socio-spatial inequality; dealing with informal sectors and settlements; governing justly; forging non-violent environments; and coping with globalization”. By reviewing this issues the author intents to settle an argument of further urban development in Africa and better and effective urban planning, taking into consideration all of the historical, cultural, ethnical, environmental, economical and political issues which may arouse. B) The main thorough idea of the book is the informality in African cities. It appears all through his book and mostly covered in Chapter I through informality of settlements in African cities emerged mostly as an answer to colonial and post-colonial policies (Lusaka, Zambia, as an example). This topic also covers the economic and government sector, to which the other chapters of the book are dedicated to. Applying again to the basic context of the book, Myers questions whether this phenomenon is really informal or it is actually normal. And that is a reasonable argument. Indeed, one can’t measure what is normal or informal from only one, Western, point of view. Many used to say that Africa is not civilized or well developed. Truly, African countries are still at the very beginning of their development now facing issues which actually were stimulated by the colonialists during their presence. E.g. informal settlements, which now are major problem in African cities, appeared as a part of a colonial policy rarely covered and protected interests of the aborigines. And today these areas are the home town of the majority of African population (see UN-Habitat data on that) as well as crime, diseases and “black” economy sector. The latter is another “face” of African informality. Actually, it is the major part of African economy. People engaged in informal sector are different: they may be living in slums, or in good housings. And it appears to be not a fact of disobedience, but a reflection of culture, where social networking is the most understandable and common way of doing business, which logically don’t have to include authorities. Therefore, there is another point of argument here: informal economy covers practically small and middle businesses, while large-scale companies should involve administration and governmental regulation. But how government can really govern there countries? Well, in majority of African countries government shows itself weak or incapable to change the situation, even when quite successful programs are implemented (in the end they face the same old issues and not able to increasingly turn the situation as it was planned to). In this sort of issues Myers sees the key to success in democracy and neo-liberalism. And what I suggest as a further discussion and general approach is the following. Do we really have to be so concerned about democracy and liberalism as the better solution for Africa? Answering this question philosophically we may suggest, that African countries may have their own type of political system, more effective and corresponding with African background. And this idea has a support in a historical retrospection. As we can see, democratic societies didn’t emerge in Western countries from the very beginning – there was also a period of authoritarian rule or reign. Maybe nations have to pass the authoritarian or even dictatorship stages to come to the democratic state? Or maybe African countries have to create their own “political mix”? Anyway, authoritarism seem to be quite right for African countries for now, because as we can actually see, it is the most spread system of governance on the continent. And this type of “reign” actually reflects the best the cultural background of Africa with its chief and patriarch system. As historically Africans didn’t see anything apart from it, nor they came by theirselves to democracy as it was on the West, probably “chef system’ may be the core of African - incomparable with others - type of govern. Another point which is set by Myers is violence. Crime, insecurity, fraud are spread in Africa, and they are highly connected with informality of settlements and economy. Therefore, it is just to conclude that a successful dealing with - primarily – informal, hard to be managed settlements would inevitably decrease the level of crime and violence (see about Broken Windows theory). To me there is another, deeper and often unseen, issue to this problem. First of all, most of African states were not established by the will of their people as it was, for example, in Europe (for the economic or defense reason). That automatically means that there might be historically unresolved (and maybe never resolved) confrontations between tribes within one country. The vivid example is Nigeria. Therefore, most Africans don’t see theirselves as nations. And they are not united, so how can they reach the same development goals (even if they have it)? Probably, it is the question we should mostly work on. The solution may be inspired by the economical specialization within one country, because one tribe can be better producer of a certain product (like French province Champaign is world-famous for its sparkling wine). And these may develop production clusters, effectively (?) managed by the tribal principles, and make tribes focused on what they are doing the best rather than on arguing why “others” are richer or privileged. And of course, Myers talks about globalization in his book. He sets an example of Somalis settled in the USA, and how they effectively manage their life within community and the country in spite of the fact, that their home country was crossed by US media as a ‘black hole”. He also notes that some of those immigrants later invest into their own country bringing new creative vision into the economy and everyday life. As I see, this tendency might the “fresh air” (actually it happens not only in Somalia, but through the entire continent). So education and plunging into different environment supported with broader international practices and vision should be obligatory for those who suppose to govern African cities and countries. C) As the conclusion, Myers says ‘Strangely, political science seems only an occasional presence in African urban studies, when it ought to be a central field in our analyses” (198). And, this point reflects my vision, which I tried to express above. Despite the book approaches most to be as a form of dissertation rather than an author position, it shows to the reader a broader vision on African cities and suggests another sight angle on the theory and practices of African urban studies, which may lead to more empathic vision of African nations and further understanding of how to make their life better. As it is said: to understand a child, one should drop on knees.

Myers Garth (2011), African Cities - Alternative visions of urban theory and practice. London, Zed Books Présentation de l’auteur et du contexte de la publication: Garth Andrew Myers est un chercheur et professeur américain spécialisé en études urbaines international. Il est actuellement directeur du programme d’études urbaines au Trinity College à Hartford, dans le Connecticut. Très tôt il s’est intéressé aux problématiques liées au développement des villes africaines. Après un BA (Bachelor of Arts) en histoire soutenu en 1984, il prépare en 1986 un MA (Master of Arts) en géographie (études africaines) intitulé: Pastoralism and Capitalism in Kenya: a Spatial Perspective on the Articulation of Modes of Production puis une thèse à l’université de Californie - Los Angeles : Reconstructing Ng'ambo: Town Planning and Development on the Other Side of Zanzibar. La plupart des cours dispensés par le professeur Myers portent aujourd’hui directement sur les villes africaines ou plus généralement sur les villes du Sud. African Cities - Alternative visions of urban theory and practice (AC), est un essai reprenant ses travaux de recherche et ses réflexions les plus récentes, il a été publié, en langue anglaise, en 2011 par la maison d’édition londonienne Zed Books, qui promeut des textes à forte portée sociale et politique, portant plus particulièrement sur des thème progressistes (diversité, études alternatives, étude de genre…) Résumé de l’ouvrage: AC traite des représentations des villes africaines, ou plutôt de la manière dont elles sont discutées ou traitées dans les ouvrages spécialisés ou généraux de géographie, d’études Africaines et d’études urbaines. C’est à partir de la re-lecture critique d’une multitude d’ouvrages de ces trente dernières années que Garth Myers dresse le portrait en creux de ces villes africaines dont les représentations nous échappent. En outre, cet ouvrage constitue une base de données commentée extrêmement riche et donc une entrée en matière très intéressante dans l’étude des villes africaines. (On note l’importance et la qualité de la bibliographie) Notes de lecture: La densité de l’ouvrage ne permet pas d’en faire le commentaire complet dans le cadre de l’exercice demandé. Cependant, à sa lecture, j’ai relevé un certain nombre de hypothèses ou d’arguments que je me propose de discuter. Un des premiers points sur lequel insiste Garth Myers est qu’une majorité de géographe ou des spécialistes des études urbaines appliquent, dès qu’ils s’intéressent aux situations africaines, les indicateurs ou les critères de « développement » des villes occidentales, et se lancent, de manière explicite ou inconsciente, dans des études comparée dénuées de sens (ou du moins à sens unique: c’est toujours le regard de la ville occidentale portée sur la ville africaine). Fort de ce constat, il consacre la première partie de son livre à l’énoncé de 5 thèmes à partir desquels il décrit la ville de Lusaka et pose la question: pourrait-on partir d’une ville comme Lusaka et travailler des thèmes qui résonneraient en chaque ville africaine et peut-être d’autres villes dans le monde? Cette questions des indicateurs est à mon sens primordiale dans l’objectif d’avoir une compréhension des villes africaines à partir d’elles-mêmes et les cinq propositions de Myers semblent tout à fait pertinentes et en phase avec le MOOC planification des villes africaines: la ville post-coloniale, la ville informelle / normale (« (I)n(f)ormal » dans le texte), la ville meurtrie (ou blessée, marquée), la gouvernance des villes, la ville cosmopolite. Ce sont ces cinq thèmes qui organisent l’ouvrage. 2. Dans le chapitre 4, l’auteur s’intéresse aux questions de gouvernance, c’est-à-dire à l’organisation des pouvoirs ou capacités décisionnelles de l’homme de la rue jusqu’à l’État, et met l’accent sur la fragilité des structures politiques des états et villes africaines. Cette fragilité, illustrée par le récit des événements de 1982 à Nairobi qui correspondent à la première venue de l’auteur en Afrique Sub-saharienne, nuit bien évidemment au climat de confiance qui règne entre les gouvernés et les gouvernants (mais ce climat n’est pas non plus au beau fixe en Europe, et ce pour des raisons inverses de rigidité institutionnelle et de manque de renouvellement qui rendent aux gouvernés les plus modestes un sentiment fatalité). Après avoir avoir décrit, avec sa méthode critique, la manière dont les questions de gouvernante étaient discutées dans les ouvrages de son corpus (Urban studies + African studies), Myers met l’accent sur la possibilité de mettre en avant des systèmes de micro-gouvernances « du quotidien » (everyday governance framework), tel qu’il les a étudié à Zanzibar. Prenant acte que les rapports de voisinage, de proximité en général constituaient un premier niveau de l’espace politique, il décrit alors une structure horizontale du partage démocratique (de l’homme à l’homme) qui contrecarre l’instabilité de la structure verticale du pouvoir décisionnel étatique. Ce chapitre serait à approfondir en bien des points, tant ces questions de gouvernantes alternatives nous concernent aussi en Europe, et semblent décrire notre futur commun. 3. Ma troisième remarque concerne l’aspect cosmopolite des villes africaines. Ce qui en fait une de leur plus forte singularité ne tient pas uniquement dans la composition de plus en plus mixte des populations africaines mais dans le rapport extrêmement fort que les villes africaines entretiennent avec leur diaspora. Myers décrit cette existence multi-localisée des villes africaines par la ré-appropriation culturelle et le regard des populations exilées sur leur pays et ville d’origine. Il insiste sur la vivacité de ces réseaux du translocal à l’oeuvre et l’empathie dont font preuve ses acteurs, une empathie qui n’est plus celle d’un monde sur un autre (le regard du first sur le third world) mais une empathie inclusive (nous habitons et appartenons même monde, global et translocal). Les représentations cosmopolites des villes africaines jouent donc sur la tension exacerbée entre une nouvelle mixité des populations issues de la globalisation (immigration chinoise, indienne…) qui accompagnent l’internationalisation des transformations du cadre de vie (architecture et urbanisme générique notamment) et la connexion nouvelle des jeunes générations issues de la diaspora (construction d’identités culturels hybrides, par les pratiques artistiques notamment, d’abord aux USA comme le rappelle Myers, mais aussi plus récemment en Europe) à leur pays d’origine. Conclusion: L’ouvrage de Garth Myers nous apprend a ne surtout pas faire de généralités. S’il dégage une série de thème ou d’indicateur propre aux villes africaines (la ville post-coloniale, la ville informelle / normale (« (I)n(f)ormal » dans le texte), la ville meurtrie (ou blessée, marquée), la gouvernance des villes et la ville cosmopolite, c’est pour mieux les décliner en fonctions des situations et contextes propres à chacune d’entres elles. En outre c’est un ouvrage savant, qui s’attache au projet de renouvellement des African Urban Studies à partir d’un état des lieux du savoir complet (les références sont très nombreuses - notons tout de même qu’elles sont en grande majorité issues du monde anglo-saxon - et les arguments de chacun des auteurs convoqués sont solidement argumentés). Myers pose surtout la question des représentations et du regard que chaque auteur porte sur les villes africaines et c’est presque « en creux » qu’il développe sa pensée. Il nous dit: la vision post-colonialiste des villes africaines n’est pas la bonne mais elle existe, la vision Koolhaassienne de Lagos (comme condition terminale de l’urbanisation) n’est pas la bonne mais elle existe, la vision de… Les discours sur la ville africaine cohabitent et la justesse du regard tient comme toujours dans l’acceptation des diversités. Une mise à plat salutaire.