Knowledge transfer and British expertise in Zambian urban planning

[摘要] English: This thesis examines the relationship between the history of technical assistance and present day urban planning practice in Zambia and builds on multiple literatures spanning the field of planning history, technical assistance and planning knowledge transfer. It bridges a scholarly gap in the understanding of how historic ties impact on the way in which planning knowledge travels. Focusing on technical assistance and urban planning during the period 1962 to 2015, this thesis demonstrated that the conventional historiography has not sufficiently addressed the way in which post-colonial planning and technical assistance continued to instil British norms, values and standards beyond Zambia's independence. It explores three key post-colonial mechanisms of soft power and technical assistance: bi-lateral technical assistance through the Overseas Service Aid Scheme; volunteering in the form of the Voluntary Service Overseas and; planner education in both Britain and Zambia. Through focusing on these mediums it examines how outdated planning ideologies remain ingrained in post-colonial Zambia some fifty years after independence. To understand how early technical assistance resulted in a further embeddedness of colonial planning logics, the thesis draws on archival material held within Britain and Zambia, as well interviews carried out with contemporary actors involved in the planning knowledge transfer process. Focussing on everyday experiences of planners, these primary sources identify how this history affects contemporary knowledge transfer. In doing so it uncovers the way that colonial planning logics emerge within, and affect the way that knowledge transfer takes place, as well as highlighting some of the complexities and enduring characteristics between colonial ideologies, post-colonial technical assistance, and everyday urban planning practices in post-colonial countries. The thesis concludes that independence witnessed a modification in the knowledge relationship between Britain and Zambia, and that rather than contemporary knowledge transfer opening up new routes and ideas, it merely follows a well-established colonial and post-colonial path. In tracing these continuities, this thesis demonstrates the centrality of history to contemporary planning practices. In doing so, this thesis opens up space for more comprehensive conversations between scholars of planning history, technical assistance and planning knowledge transfer.

[发布机构] University of the Free State