Rapid population growth in African cities has generated sprawling horizontal development patterns that “expand the fringes of the city, increase social fragmentation, and lead to greater car dependency”, according to an article from the platform ArchDaily. Due to the irregularity of these urban sprawl patterns, roads have expanded with flyovers, dual carriageways, and multi-lane carriageways to improve accessibility. However, by pushing the city's architecture further apart, this infrastructure “projects the vehicle as the sole means of interacting with the city”.
Instead, continues ArchDaily, cities should focus on informal architecture, or temporary structures that appear and disappear within urban spaces, constantly enticing pedestrians to experience the new types of spaces. Retailers can customize their areas to reflect the products they sell, creating facades that invite people to engage with the architecture.
“Various forms of informal architecture are the reasons people walk to interact with the city,” explains the article. Retail stores that are extensions of houses on streets act as focal social points, and informal markets in the city with umbrellas and wooden stalls require customers to walk through and interact with them. A walkable city “is inclusive, feels compact, and is pedestrian-friendly”, concludes ArchDaily. ce/em
