African urban fantasies: dreams or nightmares?
African urban fantasies: dreams or nightmares?
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非洲城市幻想：美梦还是噩梦？
DOI：
10.1177/0956247813513705
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发表时间：
2014
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
V. Watson
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
V. Watson
撒哈拉以南非洲的大城市被称为国际房地产开发的“最后前沿”，目前正在按照迪拜、上海和新加坡等城市的形象进行改造，这些城市在世界级城市联盟中名列前茅。打着“智慧城市”和“生态城市”的旗号，这些计划承诺将使非洲城市现代化，并将它们变成国际投资者的门户和雄心勃勃的政治家们的展示场所。然而，所有这些城市的现实与开发商和建筑师网站上的玻璃盒子塔楼、修剪整齐的草坪和水景形成了鲜明对比。由于大多数城市人口生活在极度贫困中，城市服务极少，这些幻想计划最有可能的结果是，已经困扰着这些城市的边缘化和不平等现象不断恶化。
Labelled as the “last frontier” for international property development, sub-Saharan Africa’s larger cities are currently being revisioned in the image of cities such as Dubai, Shanghai and Singapore, which claim top positions in the world-class city leagues. Draped in the rhetoric of “smart cities” and “eco-cities”, these plans promise to modernize African cities and turn them into gateways for international investors and showpieces for ambitious politicians. Yet the reality in all of these cities stands in stark contrast to the glass-box towers, manicured lawns and water features on developers’ and architects’ websites. With the majority of urban populations living in deep poverty and with minimal urban services, the most likely outcome of these fantasy plans is a steady worsening of the marginalization and inequalities that already beset these cities.