Contrasts in Urban Segregation: A Tale of Two African Cities, Durban (South Africa) and Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire)

Abstract

This paper attempts to compare two major African cities in terms of the development and breakdown of racial segregation. There is a deliberate attempt to understand Durban through a comparative look at Abidjan, a port city of roughly equivalent size. The chief features of Durban's historical development are reviewed before the article turns to an equivalent examination of Abidjan's history. Abidjan, like Durban, was subjected to colonial policies that emphasised racial segregation in a way that blended with international ideas about the modern city. The actual process that unfolded historically was, however, in some significant respects different and the moulding of segregation less successful. After independence, a conception of functional (but not racial) segregation was dominant in Abidjan but it broke down due to economic and social forces from the 1970s. As a result, Abidjan became a less segregated city, with lessons perhaps for its richer South African counterpart. However, current trends suggest elements of convergence in urban society.