Licences, Town Planners, Pavements, and the Dangerous Normalisation of Disorder

Drive through many African cities today, and you will notice something subtle yet profound. Our skylines may boast new towers. Our highways may stretch impressively outward. Our billboards may advertise ambition.

But look closer.

At the pavements.
At the side roads.
At the residential corners.
At the edges of highways.
At the entrances to markets and schools.

Metal boxes.

Container shops.

They appear overnight. One becomes two. Two become five. Five become a cluster. Clusters become semi-permanent commercial corridors. And slowly, almost imperceptibly, the city changes. Pavements narrow. Drainage channels disappear. Road shoulders shrink. Sightlines at intersections become obstructed. Green verges vanish. Fire access becomes compromised. And beneath the hum of commerce, a question rises:

What is wrong with us?

THE METAL BOX AS URBAN POLICY

Let us be clear. Entrepreneurship is not the enemy. Small businesses are vital. Informal trade sustains families. Container shops often represent resilience and economic survival. But resilience without regulation becomes chaos. Cities are not accidents. They are designed ecosystems. Urban planning exists to balance commerce with safety, transport with aesthetics, density with drainage, and enterprise with order. Yet in many African cities, the container has become our unofficial urban planning instrument.

Not zoning maps.
Not master plans.
Not environmental assessments.

Metal boxes.

And we behave as though this is inevitable.

It is not.

Who Issued the Licence?

Every container placed on a pavement exists within a legal question.

Was it licensed?
If licensed, by whom?
Under what zoning classification?
Was there public consultation?
Was a drainage assessment conducted?
Was traffic impact evaluated?

If unlicensed, why does it remain?
If licensed, what standards were applied?

Town planning departments exist. Urban planners are trained professionals. Municipal assemblies collect fees. Permits are required. Inspections are mandated.

Or are they?

Surely someone is being paid to look the other way. Surely some approval, formal or informal, occurs. Surely some revenue changes hands. And if so, then the problem is not merely the container owner. It is the system that tolerates the container.

NyansaKasa (Words of Wisdom):

“When the fence collapses slowly, both the carpenter and the owner are involved.”

Interpretation:
Urban decay reflects both weak governance and tolerated indiscipline. Responsibility is shared.

Pavements Are Not Commercial Plots

A pavement is not empty land. It is public infrastructure designed for pedestrians. For safety. For accessibility. For dignity. When pavements become retail strips, pedestrians are forced onto roads. When side roads become container corridors, emergency vehicles struggle to pass. When drainage easements become trading spaces, floods intensify.

Then when accidents happen, when children are struck by vehicles, when markets flood, we gather to mourn and blame.

Why must tragedy precede discipline?

NyansaKasa (Words of Wisdom):

“When prevention sleeps, tragedy wakes it violently.”

Interpretation:
Ignoring planning principles does not eliminate risk. It postpones it until consequences become unavoidable.

POVERTY IS NOT AN URBAN PLANNING STRATEGY

We often justify container proliferation as economic necessity. Youth unemployment is high. Formal retail space is expensive. People must survive. All true. But poverty does not require aesthetic surrender. In Singapore, street vendors were reorganised into structured hawker centres with hygiene standards and spatial discipline. In South Korea, temporary stalls operate within clearly demarcated zones. In Germany and the Netherlands, pop-up retail kiosks are regulated for safety, appearance, and location.

Enterprise and order are not enemies. They are partners.

What is wrong with us that we treat regulation as oppression rather than protection?

NyansaKasa (Words of Wisdom):

“A market without lanes soon becomes a stampede.”

Interpretation:
Economic vibrancy without structure ultimately harms both traders and consumers.

THE AESTHETICS OF INDIFFERENCE

Cities communicate ambition.

Paris protects sightlines to monuments. Tokyo regulates signage density. Copenhagen integrates green corridors. Barcelona enforces architectural coherence. Singapore fines littering heavily to preserve urban dignity. Urban beauty is not vanity. It is strategy.

It attracts investment.
It encourages tourism.
It improves mental health.
It signals seriousness.

In contrast, many African cities increasingly project improvisation. Containers beside unfinished structures. Billboards competing aggressively. Pavements fragmented by metal units. And yet we speak confidently about becoming global investment hubs.

Would you invest long-term in a city that looks permanently temporary?

NyansaKasa (Words of Wisdom):

“If your house looks abandoned, do not be surprised when guests hesitate.”

Interpretation:
Urban neglect discourages confidence before economic data is even examined.

Government Versus Citizens Is the Wrong Debate

This is not a simple government failure narrative. Nor is it purely citizen opportunism. It is a dance of convenience.

Officials tolerate encroachment.
Citizens exploit tolerance.
Fees are quietly collected.
Enforcement becomes selective.
Political considerations intervene.

And slowly, disorder becomes policy. Silence becomes approval.

NyansaKasa (Words of Wisdom):

“Silence in the office becomes noise in the street.”

Interpretation:
Administrative indifference produces visible chaos.

Drainage, Fire, and the Hidden Risks

Container shops placed on drainage corridors exacerbate flooding. Units placed too close to highways compromise traffic safety. Informal electrical connections increase fire hazards. Waste accumulates behind temporary structures, creating sanitation risks. And when disaster strikes, inquiries are formed. Reports are written. Committees are established. Then the containers remain.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?

Why do we prefer reactive outrage to preventive planning? Following Instead of Leading

Why does Africa so often follow rather than lead in urban planning discipline?

We attend global conferences on smart cities. We discuss sustainability. We draft visionary documents. Yet we cannot regulate metal boxes on pavements. We have talented architects, urban planners, and environmental engineers. We have examples from across the globe demonstrating how small trader integration can coexist with order. So what stops us?

Is it lack of expertise?
Is it lack of courage?
Is it political expediency?
Is it quiet financial incentive?

Or is it cultural resignation?

NyansaKasa (Words of Wisdom):

“The city you tolerate today becomes the inheritance of tomorrow.”

Interpretation:
Urban indiscipline compounds over generations. Temporary disorder becomes permanent identity.

THE CULTURE OF LOOKING AWAY

Perhaps the most troubling aspect is our growing comfort with visual chaos.

We see the container blocking a pavement. We adjust our route.
We see drainage covered. We shrug.
We see zoning violated. We say, “That is how things are.”

Cities do not collapse dramatically. They decline incrementally.

One exception.
Then another.
Then normalisation.

Until what once offended now barely registers.

What is wrong with us that we normalise disorder so quickly?

WHAT MUST CHANGE

Urban reform requires clarity and courage.

1. Transparent licensing systems accessible to the public.
2. Strict zoning enforcement without political interference.
3. Clearly designated small trader zones integrated into master plans.
4. Aesthetic and safety standards for temporary structures.
5. Independent oversight of municipal planning authorities.
6. Civic education linking urban beauty to prosperity and safety.

Urban planning is not elitism. It is civilisation.

THE HARDEST QUESTION

We speak of industrialisation. We speak of competitiveness. We speak of continental transformation. Yet we cannot protect pavements.

We cannot preserve sightlines.

We cannot enforce drainage corridors.

We cannot regulate temporary structures.

What is wrong with us?

NyansaKasa (Words of Wisdom):

“A nation that plans only for survival rarely achieves beauty.”

Interpretation:
Long term development requires vision beyond immediate economic desperation.

CONCLUSION: THE CITY IS A MIRROR

Container shops are not inherently wrong.

Unregulated expansion is.

Government is not solely guilty.

Citizens are not innocent.

Urban decay is rarely sudden. It is tolerated.

And tolerated disorder becomes structural disorder.

Europe protects its heritage fiercely. Asia integrates commerce within planning frameworks. North America debates zoning intensely before approving change.

Africa often shrugs.

The next time a container appears overnight on a pavement, do not ask only who placed it there.

Ask who licensed it.
Ask who inspected it.
Ask who collected the fee.
Ask who remained silent.

Because cities are not shaped by accident.

They are shaped by decisions.

And perhaps the most piercing question of all:

Are we building cities for generations, or stacking metal boxes for the moment?

Until we answer honestly, the skyline will continue to rust.

And history will record that we had planners, but chose not to plan.

By Ing. Prof. Douglas Boateng
Chartered Director IoD UK | Chartered Engineer UK
Fellow Institute of Directors UK | Fellow Ghana Institution of Engineering
Governance, industrialisation, and supply chain strategist