Urban and rural settlements in the African continent have gone through much
transformation due to a number of reasons; urbanization, economic and social
changes, colonization and the wholesale embrace of western style spatial planning
paradigms that have not fully taken into account cultural tenets and values. More
often than not, spatial planning concepts have been used without critical
consideration when it is evident that they originate in societies that are culturally
different from those in the continent. Using a case study of Botswana this article
traces the impact of colonization on the form and shape of traditional villages and
towns and cities (old and new). Evidence shows indeed that, the form and structure
of traditional urbanizing settlements is a mixture of cultural and alien western
forms mixed together, resulting by and large, in a non-functional and incoherent
settlement pattern. People are subjected to live a style that is completely different
from the one they were used to in the name of ‘modernity’. The design and use of
space, the arrangement of neighbourhoods and consultation in land zoning and
allocation are now in the hands of zealous planners who are not very sympathetic to
local communities’ needs and wishes. The article concludes by suggesting that
planners in the continent should take a leaf from traditional forms and cultural
values in the planning of new settlements or the expansion of existing urban and
rural settlements.