ABSTRACT
Global city research theorists contend that there is no global city in Africa, with Johannesburg arguably the only exception. However, a less normative vision has recently suggested that cities should not be seen only in terms of what they lack but rather on the basis of what they are and how they arrived at their contemporary configurations. Various labels have marked the last thirty years of urban studies and the literature on urban history in Africa. From the criticized Islamic and colonial city paradigms to more recent global city theory, Africa is alternatively perceived at the core or at the periphery of a process of academic categorization that concerns most of the cities of the south. From the 1930s to the 1990s, the Islamic city paradigm enjoyed considerable popularity especially in North Africa. There is a clear correlation between state formation and processes of urbanization in various regions of the world and Africa is no exception.
