In the light of the present building boom in Africa, INTI has researched the quality of the urban plans for New Towns on the continent, which often leaves a lot to be desired. To critique the many shortcomings of these masterplans is easy, but can we also help to improve them? Using (good and bad) examples from more than 40 New Towns worldwide, we distilled 10 main principles for New Town planning and design. We bundled them in The Manual, which offers an alternative approach for planners, designers, developers and decision-makers aiming to construct more inclusive and sustainable New Towns in Africa. Or in any other part of the world for that matter.
The Manual consists of a set of ten design and planning principles:
- Planning is an ongoing process
- Plan for adaptivity
- No New Town is an island
- Use no cut and paste universal model
- Embrace new ideas
- Infrastructure and mobility for all, from the start
- Use a blue-green infrastructure as the central framework
- Incorporate local cultural heritage(s)
- Combine top-down and bottom-up
- New Towns need diversity
We are making this Manual available for free and invite you to use it and disseminate it (and comment on it if you want on info@newtowninstitute.org).
See the Manual here (pdf 16Mb)
The Manual is part of our recent publication ‘To Build a City in Africa; a History and a Manual’ (Rachel Keeton and Michelle Provoost, eds.). The book explores the complex implications of New Town developments in Africa through interviews with different stakeholders, in-depth case studies and essays that elaborate specific issues connected to these New Towns.
You can order the publication R. Keeton, M. Provoost (eds), To Build a City in Africa. A History and a Manual here.
The Guardian published an article from the book:
www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jul/10/new-cities-in-the-sand-inside-egypts-dream-to-conquer-the-desert
For Dutch readers, here’s a piece in newspaper Trouw:
www.trouw.nl/nieuws/in-afrika-schieten-in-hoog-tempo-nieuwe-steden-uit-de-grond-en-dat-levert-doodse-plekken-op b6ae7050/
And another review: Ruimte + Wonen: www.ruimteenwonen.nl/to-build-a-city-in-africa
