Street naming and political identity in the postcolonial African city: A social sustainability framework

ABSTRACT

Street naming in Windhoek, Namibia, traces its political origins to the German colonial period. While the role of toponymy as a tool for political construction in the postcolonial epoch is an important matter of scholarly interest, much work remains to be done on the subject in the sub-Saharan African context. Moreover, the dialectical relationships between political identity and sustainable development have largely not been broached. This study seeks to bridge the noted lacunae by propounding a social sustainability framework for street naming premised on the conceptual tripod of postcolonialism, subaltern geopolitics and memorialization. It employs questionnaires administered to residents, interviews with subject matter experts and planners, as well as field visits, photography and document analysis to dissect the ontological processes, characteristics and meanings encapsulated in Windhoek’s approach to street naming. The social sustainability framework evinces the identity of the postcolonial African city in six main facets: urban toponymy and morphology; urban planning and development; political engagement; social equity and innovation; indigenization and cultural identity; as well as transitional justice. Through a cynosure of Windhoek, a southern African city under-researched in the existing literature, it provides important theoretical and empirical insights regarding the political dynamics of sustainable development.

KEYWORDS:

• Street naming
• social sustainability
• postcolonialism
• subaltern geopolitics
• memorialization
• sub-Saharan Africa
• Windhoek

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank his two research assistants (Regine Mushimba Ndeyapo and Shafa-Shike Mnashimwe) for assisting with the primary data collection for this paper. Their efforts towards the success of this research are much appreciated.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eric Yankson

Eric Yankson is a Senior Lecturer in Spatial Planning at the Department of Architecture, Planning and Construction of the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). He is the current PhD Program Coordinator for Spatial Science and the immediate past Associate Dean for Research and Innovation of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment of NUST. He holds a PhD in Urban and Public Affairs from the University of Louisville. His research interests include political economy, policy analysis, sustainable urbanism, economic development, regional and urban governance, land use and transport planning.