A Stupendous Hammer: Colonial and Post-colonial Reconstructions of Zanzibar's Other Side

Ng'ambo is the historic Other Side of Zanzibar city. The last 50 years have brought two attempts to demolish Ng'ambo and replace it with spaces designed to express the dominance of the state. Differences at first appear to be large between colonial and post-colonial Zanzibar. Yet these reconstructions shared similar objectives, failures and consequences. This paper highlights commonalities between the two projects and ties them to three themes from the literature of colonial cities in Africa concerning colonial urban planning and its post-colonial legacy. These themes include: the bureaucratisation and centralisation of power; the manipulation of space as a means of fostering hegemony; and the alienation of residents from the planning process.