Shaibu Bala Garba

Change in the Public Space of Traditional Cities: a Study of Zaria, Nigeria Shaibu Bala Garba

Traditional cities are increasingly caught up in a process of rapid change that is characteristic of our globalizing world. Change is doing away with valued traditions embedded in built fabrics and in social and cultural practices. The specter of the loss of heritage in the traditional cities along with embedded sustainability lessons makes it necessary for us to exert effort to study and understand them. This is particularly necessary for cities in the African Continent where weak institutional structures of governance have contributed to limited interest in heritage preservation. This study examined one of these cities, Zaria, using a cross disciplinary approach with views from different perspectives, including physical, social, historical, cultural and symbolic. The cross disciplinary approach of the study makes the book a good target for historians, social geographers, scholars and practitioners of African studies, ethnographers, urban designers, heritage conservationist and architects. The book is also recommended for people with general interest in traditional societies.