Port activities and the spatial structure of cities: the case of Freetown, Sierra Leone

Port activities often give rise to distinctive regions within their town or city and it might be expected that they would have on effect on the spatial differentiation and spatial structure of urban areas. However, urban spatial theory appears to ignore this possibility, urban structure models having little or nothing to say about the role of port activities in shaping the spatial structure of towns and cities. Given this, the paper investigates the possibility of port activities having influenced the spatial structure of Freetown, Sierra Leone. It discusses the historical development of the port and city as a framework for consideration of the role of port activities in shaping the growing urban area. Attention is focused particularly on those areas where the influence is clearest, i.e. the central area with its concentration of business, commercial and administrative activities, and on the location of modern industrial areas in the emerging metropolitan area. Other factors that have shaped the urban area are discussed also. It is argued that, whilst port activities have been important historically, other influences have become more significant as the basis of the economy has broadened, the structure of society has become more complex and the city has assumed additional functions. The findings are tested by a brief and preliminary examination of other port-cities in tropical Africa, establishing that spatial associations between port activities and the central business area and between them and industrial areas are common.