Khartoum : a portrait of an African Colonial City

Abstract EN

Colonialism in its different forms and patterns sought to penetrate all dimensions of the lives of the colonized peoples.

The colonial project aimed at usurping their resources through control of the economy, politics, social relationships and culture by obliterating their identity.

This colonial legacy is clearly epitomized in the colonial city – as cities are the focus of power and wealth – in Africa and elsewhere.

In this article, the case of Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, exemplifies how the British planning policies of the city reflected the colonial project to suppress, reconstruct and transform the identity of the Sudanese subjects.

This is explained in terms of the colonial rule’s policies of bureaucratic administration, management of space, control of trade and labour, introduction of western cultural influences and pursuit of racial segregation and social stratification in Khartoum.