'Chief village in a nation of villages': history, race and authority in Tanzania's Dodoma plan. (13th January 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: CALLACI, EMILY
• Is Part Of: Urban history. Volume 43:Part 1(2016)
• Page Start: 96
• Page End: 116
• Publication Date: 2015-01-13
• Subjects: Cities and towns -- History -- Periodicals; Cities and towns -- History -- Bibliography -- Periodicals; 909.09732
• DOI: 10.1017/S0963926814000753
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0963-9268

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article explores how notions of African authenticity informed urban planning in post-colonial Africa. It examines an attempt by Tanzania's ruling party to build a new national capital in the sparsely populated region of Dodoma. Paradoxically, Dodoma's planners sought to build a modern African city based on the social principles of the traditional African village. This vision of African village authenticity legitimized Tanzania's ruling party by linking its authority to a purely African, rather than colonial, past. At the same time, it allowed politicians to criminalize urban poverty by attributing it to racial betrayal rather than broader structural failures.