Transformation and Production of Urban Spaces in Bamako, Mali

Abstract

This paper examines the dominant logic of the “production of space” in Bamako. The concept of “Entraeumlichung” is proposed to describe a significant transformation in the logic of how space is producing and being produced. This paper illustrates this process in “fixed” and “fluid” spaces in Bamako. “Fixed spaces” stands for the built environment and its architecture of residential living, whereas fluid spaces are understood as spaces of movement, which includes traffic infrastructure as well as experiences of moving through the city. Entraeumlichung as a strategic hypothesis suggests that an ever-growing detachment between subjects and their surroundings guides the process of the production of space in Bamako.