A short socio-spatial history of Namibia (ILMI Working paper 9)

include a trajectory of Namibia’s socio-spatial development for the reader to engage with my work. The term ‘socio-spatial’ is to stress the spatial dimension within social processes. To have simply left the term ‘spatial’ would have missed the point of spatial production as a social process. In other words, space per se is not what is at stake here, but rather the dialectic relationship of how space is produced and at the same time it transforms those who inhabit it. Therefore, what I would like to encompass is not merely town planning schemes, houses, or public spaces, but also spatial social relations, policy documents, jurisdictions, and to a certain extent the production of nature. However, this review may be useful for other researchers and interested parties to have an overview of the trajectory of Namibia’s socio-spatial development. I’d like to thank Werner Hillebrecht, Phillip Lühl, Anna Muller, Nashilongweshipe Mushaandja, and Wolfgang Werner for their comments on this rather preliminary document.