I, like many people recently, have been more and more interested in learning about city planning and urban design. After discovering content creators such as NotJustBikes, City Beautiful, CityNerd, etc., on YouTube, who mainly provide discourse around urban design, the topic quickly piqued my interest.
Having mainly grown up in Southern Africa, I had become acclimatized to living with overwhelming car-centric infrastructure. Because Southern African countries especially tend to be large in size with small populations, city planners have mainly built many sprawling urban areas, because of the extra space afforded to them. That is often to the detriment of other form or transport such as walking, cycling, public transportation, etc.
This car-centric city planning is not uncommon around the continent. Even places with terrible roads (if they can even be called roads) still manage to sprawl out.Â
Even my country Nigeria, despite being Africa’s most populous country, still manages to be extremely car-centric. Images of endless rows of vehicles stuck in hold-ups are not uncommon in many of Nigeria’s biggest urban areas. One would assume that due to the large population density in the country, there would be less car-centric infrastructure; however, that has not been the case.
I have known in the back of my mind that many of the places I have lived in had similar issues that I constantly encountered, but I wasn’t always able to quite put my finger on what those issues were. It has become increasingly clear to me that the problem is that Africa is too car-centric.
When I first came across the differences in urban design in cities around the world, it felt as if I had taken a peek into a different planet. I naturally assumed most places were similar to the environments I grew up in. However, looking at places like the Netherlands where walkability and bike infrastructure are prioritized, along with car infrastructure, I realized just how much better things could be.
Cities are built for cars
Many African cities began springing up following the invention of the automobile, as a result many cities have been built to accommodate travel in vehicles. Which has meant that much of Africa’s transportation infrastructure has been built mainly for cars.
This has meant that many of our cities are very spread out unnecessarily. As a result, travel becomes a very long, uncomfortable, and stressful experience. This has effects on our livelihoods, employment opportunities, relationships, and much more.
I know in my life, there have been many times I have been dissuaded from going out with friends or going to events as a result of a lack of transportation. As well as experiencing feelings of isolation as a result of friends living far away from my home.
Here are some of the major issues with car-centric infrastructure in Africa:
1. Doesn’t accommodate lower income communities
Because car infrastructure often leads to lots of urban sprawl, people often have to travel long distances to get to their locations. These travel costs often take their toll on lower-income families especially. This can affect career and educational opportunities for lower-income communities. It is just the reality that car-centric urban design often can have devastating impacts toward Africa’s destitute populations.
2. Car infrastructure is Ugly
No one ever travels to a foreign country for tourism in order to go and see how beautiful their roads are. It has never happened. The beautiful architecture often synonymous with European historical architecture was built because they would be enjoyed by people walking by and taking it in.
On the other hand, car-centric infrastructure is built primarily with its functionality in mind. So most areas are often bland environments without any aesthetic architecture. After all, why invest in elaborate designs for structures that drivers merely pass by within seconds?
3. Dangerous
Cars pose inherent dangers; we can’t expect everyone to act responsibly before they get behind the wheel. Drunk driving, reckless driving, etc., become increasingly likely when driving is the main form of transportation. Unlike other forms of transportation where safety measures are built into the system, such as public transit or walking.
4. Creates isolation
A major societal problem with car-centric infrastructure is that it creates isolation because cities are so spread out. Most places tend to be quite a distance away from each other. The inconvenience of traveling long distances for social gatherings discourages many from engaging in frequent social gatherings. This in turn leads to a feelings of isolation felt within communities.
5. Air/ noise pollution
Cars have a significant impact on air pollution. The emissions from vehicles can have significant health impacts with respiratory illnesses and cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, constant exposure to traffic noise not only disrupts the tranquillity of urban and suburban areas but also has adverse effects on stress levels, sleep disturbances, etc.
6. Traffic
Long lines of traffic have the potential to cause major disturbances to people’s livelihoods and the broader economy. Cities can be brought effectively to a standstill, preventing any work or travel from being done.
It’s not too late to reverse this trend
The only bright side to this situation is that it’s not too late to reverse this trend. Since much of Africa is still developing, we have the ability to ensure that newer cities we erect are built with people, not just cars in mind.
