The Undulating Capacity of the State: Autochthony and Infrastructure Development in African Cities-nurbook

The Undulating Capacity of the State: Autochthony and Infrastructure Development in African Cities book cover

The Undulating Capacity of the State: Autochthony and Infrastructure Development in African Cities

Author(s): Ato Kwamena Onoma (Author)

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication Date: September 4, 2025
Language: English
Print length: 86 pages
ISBN-10: 1009698397
ISBN-13: 9781009698399

Book Description

This Element weaves together literatures on autochthony and belonging and on African urbanism to shed new light on the ability of the African state to undertake development interventions in some of the most important urban centers on the continent. It explains variations in levels of trust in the African state that shape neighborhoods’ responses to states’ development interventions. Focusing on the Senegalese state’s construction of the VDN 2 highway on the outskirts of the capital, Dakar, the author argues that in major African cities with colonial origins, whether neighborhoods project themselves as ‘autochthonous’ or ‘migrant’ communities shapes general attitudes toward the state and influences the capacity of the state to carry out development interventions in these areas. In these cities, states are more likely to successfully intervene in neighborhoods dominated by ‘new’ migrants to the city than in those neighborhoods that portray themselves as ‘autochthones’ of these cities.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

This Element explains the varying capacity of states to undertake largescale infrastructure projects in major African cities.

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