Efforts to identify the causes of underdevelopment in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries have traditionally ignored their historical legacy. This book is amongst a few that seek to break this tradition. Particularly, it argues that a substantial portion of the socio-economic problems of SSA countries can be explained by physical and spatial planning schemes that were introduced by colonial officials and continue to be vigorously maintained by indigenous authorities in these countries. By focusing on colonial physical development policy, and linking this attribute of the historical experience of SSA countries to their contemporary development problems, the book deviates from previous works designed to explain the prevalent problem of socio-economic 'backwardness' in the region in terms of substantive coverage, orientation and thematic development.