Political ecology and urbanisation: Zanzibar's construction materials industry

In the 1990s, there has been a marked upsurge in scholarly and practical interest in the relationships between urban development and environmental protection in Africa. It is apparent that analyses which take simultaneous account of economic, political and environmental aspects of urban development issues are an essential and yet under-represented facet of this upsurge. This article argues for a regional political ecology approach to African urban environmental issues, as a means of addressing the intertwined impacts of neo-liberalism, democratisation and environmentalism in African cities. The construction and materials supply industry in Zanzibar city serves as an empirical referent.