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Concrete City
Material Flows and Urbanization in West Africa
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Concrete City
$4799
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
This book is ideal for readers interested in urban studies, African development, political economy, and material culture. It will particularly appeal to those fascinated by the intersections of infrastructure, society, and environmental sustainability in contemporary cities.
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Description
Concrete City weaves a novel and engaging analysis of urbanization by tracing the journeys of cement and people making urban life in West Africa. From post-independence high modernist ambitions to building the opportunities to make a living, the emerging transnational corridor along the West African coast provides a starting point for insights which will expand and inform understanding of both established and newly emerging urbanization processes in many different contexts.
—Jennifer Robinson, Professor of Geography, University College of London, UK
In this very innovative and superbly illustrated book, Armelle Choplin makes cement vibrant with affect, politics, economic interests and cultural meanings. She takes us on a fascinating journey along the West African urban corridor following the social life of concrete and showing how this material shapes contemporary urbanization and everyday life.
—Ola Söderström, Professor of Geography, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Concrete City: Material Flows and Urbanization in West Africa delivers a theoretically informed, ethnographic exploration of the African urban world through the life of concrete. Emblematic of frenetic urban and capitalistic development, this material is pervasive, shaping contemporary urban landscapes and societies and their links to the global world. It stands and circulates at the heart of major financial investments, political forces, and environmental debates. At the same time, it epitomises values of modernity and success, redefining social practices, forms of dwelling and living, and popular imaginaries.
The book invites the reader to follow bags of cement from production plant to construction site, along the 1000-kilometre urban corridor that links Abidjan to Accra, Lomé, Cotonou, and Lagos, combining the perspectives of cement tycoons, entrepreneurs, and political stakeholders, but also of ordinary men and women who plan, build, and dream of the Concrete City. With this innovative exploration of urban life through concrete, Armelle Choplin delivers a fascinating journey into and reflection on the sustainability of our urban futures.
Series: IJURR Studies in Urban and Social Change Book Series
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Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781119812005
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 04 May 2023
Country: United States
Imprint: John Wiley & Sons Inc
Audience: Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 14.0mm
Width: 152.0mm
Height: 229.0mm
Weight: 340g
Pages: 240
About the Author
Armelle Choplin is Professor of Geography and Urban Planning at the University of Geneva. Her research explores how cities are produced in the Global South, especially in Africa. Combining ethnographic and comparative methods, she analyses the city as a place of encounter, confrontation and innovation between multiple ways of experiencing and inhabiting the world.
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