The Contemporary and Traditional Urbanism Tension in Africa: A Sustainability Symbiotic Urbanism Framework

Abstract

Urbanization in Africa presents a complex landscape of competing urban planning paradigms, where the tension between urban planning modernism and traditionalism intersects with sustainability imperatives. This paper explores this tension and proposes a Symbiotic Urbanism Framework for reconciling divergent planning perspectives and advancing sustainable urban development. Drawing on Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal (PESTEL) analysis and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), the study identifies key macro influences on urban planning decisions and stakeholder engagement strategies and develops a sustainability criteria-based decision paradigm. Employing a triangulated mixed methods design involving a comprehensive review of the literature and case studies from African cities and a quantitative survey of built environment stakeholders in Southeast Nigeria, the paper examines the challenges and opportunities inherent in navigating the tensions between contemporary and traditional urbanism in the continent. Building upon this analysis, the proposed framework integrates stakeholder salience, sustainability criteria, and polycentric decision-making processes to guide urban planners and policymakers in developing context-specific strategies that balance competing interests and promote inclusive, resilient, and synthesized modern and vernacular urbanism. The framework emphasizes the importance of participatory decision-making, adaptive governance structures, indigenous capacity building, planning agility, and evidence-based development approaches in addressing the complexities of African urbanism.