Structural dynamics of spatial complexity at the ‘Palace of Gede’, Kenya

Baumanová, Monika; Šmejda, Ladislav

doi:10.1080/0067270x.2017.1283095

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Its principles are complemented by network analysis, which interprets the interlinked system of nodes in terms of connectivity as transitory and terminal spaces [35,36]. In an African context, both methodologies have been successfully used for analysis of palace complexes of sub-Saharan Africa, e.g., in the kingdom of Dahomey in West coastal Africa [41] and at Gede on the Swahili coast [42].…”

Section: Methodology Of the Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Transitory Courtyards as a Feature of Sustainable Urbanism on the East African Coast

Baumanová

2022

Sustainability

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The tropical urbanism of coastal East Africa has a thousand-year-long history, making it a recognized example of sustainable urbanism. Although economically dependent on trade, the precolonial Islamic towns of the so-called Swahili coast did not feature markets or other public buildings dedicated to mercantile activities before the European colonial involvement. In this regard, Swahili urban tradition differed from other tropical Islamic cities, such as in Morocco, Mali, Egypt or the Middle East, where markets fulfilled the role of social and economic hubs and, in terms of movement, major transitory/meeting spaces in the trading towns. Yet, the Swahili urban tradition thrived for centuries as a well-connected cosmopolitan type of tropical urbanism. As research has suggested, the public role of spaces associated with trade might have been fulfilled by houses. Using approaches of space syntax and network analysis, this article studies the morphology of the houses considering whether it could have been the courtyards that simulated the role of markets thanks to their transitory spatial configuration. The results are discussed reflecting on other models of houses with courtyards, especially the modern Swahili house appearing later in the colonial era when markets began to be established, and Islamic houses known from elsewhere.

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Section: Methodology Of the Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Transitory Courtyards as a Feature of Sustainable Urbanism on the East African Coast

Baumanová

2022

Sustainability

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“…Thus, we cannot reconstruct the history of Gede in Isolation since it was a product associated with other Swahili civilization city-states such as Kilwa, Mombasa, and Lamu, among others. The city was established around the 11th century, and by the 14th century, it was in the golden age when some of its mosques and palaces were built (Baumanova & Smejda, 2017;Pawlowicz, 2019). The big mosque is located on the innermost side of the city.…”

Section: Geography Of the Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Built Environments and Implication on Gender Identities in Gede Archaeological Site

Muthegethi

2022

Preprint

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For decades, the archaeological work of the Swahili Civilization has mainly concentrated on exploring city-state economic and political dynamics. This paper explores how gender roles were formed, maintained, negotiated, and re-negotiated through time and space in Gede City. Unlike other Swahili city-states, Gede was located around two miles away from the shores of the Indian Ocean. Nonetheless, the city was characterized by security walls, stone houses, mosques, and tombs typical of Swahili City states such as Kilwa. The study employed several data collection methods: archival research, a survey, a re-examination of collected materials, and excavation of the Gede archaeological site. Since the study aimed to examine gender roles across different social classes, three areas were excavated based on their spatial distribution. Thus, the areas were roughly categorized as belonging to elite, middle-class, and lower-class structures. These structures were located in the inner, second, and outer walls of Gede City, respectively. Key findings show that gender identities differed considerably along classes in Gede archaeological site. For instance, the women of the elites and middle class were active participants in Gede's international trade through the production and consumption of imported goods. This participation corresponded with the commercialization of Gede households, especially in elite' areas where they hosted international traders. On the other hand, in middle-class houses, women concentrated on running light industries to supply goods to the urban community. Thus, they were able to afford exotic goods like their elite counterparts. Lastly, the gender roles of the lower class entailed subsistence-gendered roles with little participation in Gede formal commerce. Interestingly, gender roles in Gede were dynamic in nature and response to cultural diffusion, the spread of Islam, the intensification of trade, the diversification of subsistence patterns, and urbanization. Therefore, these findings demonstrate the centrality of gender in the reconstruction of the social lives of the Swahili Civilization.

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“…The analysis presented in the following paragraphs contributes to an understanding of the movement of people in relation to specific structuration of urban space in Sub-Saharan Africa. 58 The Table 1 presents the quantified data we observed analyzing both towns. It shows that apart from sharing common history of development and trade, they are of approximately the same size, interestingly with virtually the same perimeter length (difference of approximately 24 m).…”

Section: Analysis Of Street Network Open Spaces and Movementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-Colonial Origins of Urban Spaces in the West African Sahel: Street Networks, Trade, and Spatial Plurality

Baumanová

Šmejda

Rüther

2017

Journal of Urban History

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Present-day West African towns allow us to study how urban space developed in this region. The urban street networks and layout of residential quarters to some extent preserve the possible movement patterns of pre-colonial urbanites. Long-distance trade, in what is ultimately a liminal and transitory locale, linked the urban nodes on the “coast” of the Sahara. This article takes a closer look on the distribution of streets and quarters as a unique kind of material heritage, as well as major trade routes, which linked into the towns. Analyses of the historic towns of Timbuktu and Djenne in Mali are used to demonstrate how the relationships between trade and urban residents were enacted in space. The structuring of the two towns put them in context with the tradition of dual settlements in West Africa, also finding parallels with the role of urban quarters in merchant towns of the East African coast.

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Structural dynamics of spatial complexity at the ‘Palace of Gede’, Kenya

Cited by 10 publications

References 42 publications

Transitory Courtyards as a Feature of Sustainable Urbanism on the East African Coast

Transitory Courtyards as a Feature of Sustainable Urbanism on the East African Coast

Built Environments and Implication on Gender Identities in Gede Archaeological Site

Pre-Colonial Origins of Urban Spaces in the West African Sahel: Street Networks, Trade, and Spatial Plurality

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