The changing views on the role of small towns in rural and regional development in Africa

This paper discusses the changing views on the role of small towns in rural and regional development in 20th-century Africa. It argues that one cannot understand the growth and development of small towns in Africa without examining development paradigms in general, and the historical development of urban places in Africa before the 1950s. For the future, it argues for a decentralised approach to development, incorporating local views and knowledge in the shaping of Africa's urban and rural places in the 21st century.