“Seeing like a City” – Sorting ‘Wire Spaghetti’ in Zanzibar Stone Town

Zanzibar Stone Town's 'wire spaghetti'—a chaotic tangle of electrical wires, water pipes, and cables—reveals deeper urban dynamics. This study deciphers the city's informal infrastructure, mapping its complexity to uncover how utility networks shape daily life in the historic Kasbah. By tracking connections from houses to lampposts, shop signs, and transformers, the research exposes a system of improvisation, resilience, and adaptation. The approach combines observational ethnography with detailed cataloging of materials (e.g., plastic, steel) and connectors, offering insights into how cities like Stone Town balance heritage preservation with functional needs in a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Beck, R. M. (2023). “Seeing like a City” – Sorting ‘Wire Spaghetti’ in Zanzibar Stone Town. Africa and Urban Anthropology, 286–309. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003003533-18