Chapter 770 Angolan inheritance
City of Luanda.
After the baptism of war, Luanda had already become riddled with holes. East Africa took over Luanda and began to rebuild the local area.
"The size of Luanda's port is somewhat substandard, but there is no value in renovating it now. After all, no one can guarantee whether the enemy will harass this place, and it is very likely that it will bombard it. Our naval power in the South Atlantic is very weak now. , so there is no need to carry out large-scale repairs to the cities in Angola. Maybe after the war, the local area will have to be completely overturned and rebuilt." Engineer John Rowell said.
For East Africa, Luanda's port conditions are better than most ports on the east coast of East Africa. First of all, it is large in area. Dar es Salaam and Mombasa are actually ports that extend inland. Luanda has a naturally formed giant sandbar extending to the sea, which makes Luanda's plasticity more advantageous than the former two.
Of course, the disadvantages are also obvious, that is, it is far away from the main commercial routes. The world's main trade is still concentrated on the exchanges between the Eurasian continent. Even the current America cannot break this monopoly in a short time.
Dar es Salaam and Mombasa are naturally close to the main routes. On the other hand, Angola under Portuguese rule was far inferior to East Africa in terms of population and productivity, so Luanda's foreign trade was also very backward.
The important role of a colony is to provide markets and raw materials to the mother country, and Angola obviously has its natural disadvantages in the market. The first is its small population. Of course, if black people are included, it is estimated to be even compared with mainland Portugal.
But the consumption power is too poor. The value created by the local black people is far less than the plantations and mines built by Portugal in Angola. Moreover, due to the low level of civilization, the original Kingdom of Congo did not have the same population as the Abyssinian Empire. numerous.
In front of the Abyssinian Empire, a truly ancient African civilization, other indigenous countries in Africa can only be regarded as uncivilized lands.
Of course, although Egypt in North Africa has a glorious history and is relatively developed even now, the ancient Egyptian civilization has long been replaced by the Arab civilization, and the same is true for other North African countries in Africa.
On the other hand, some ancient countries in West Africa had some civilizations, but they were also heavily influenced by Arab civilization. In this way, it seems that the Abyssinian Empire is more representative of African civilization.
Of course, the level of civilization is only one indicator that determines Angola's prosperity. If this indicator is unqualified, Angola's development will naturally be unsatisfactory.
As for the advanced civilization brought by the Portuguese, it was actually a colonial culture based on exploitation. As one of the earliest colonial empires, Portugal's methods lagged far behind those of Britain and France.
The British and French colonies have all been constructed to a certain extent, while Angola under Portuguese rule has not changed much for hundreds of years.
But this is a good thing for East Africa. If Portugal really completes the transformation and construction of Angola, East Africa will not be able to take over the place smoothly.
“As for Luanda’s planning, it will definitely become one of the most important cities on the West Coast in the future, and its future development prospects may not be much inferior to those of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa.”
“We lack a direct sea channel connecting the North Atlantic and the South Atlantic. Although Southwest Africa existed before, the conditions of Walvis Bay Port are somewhat poor, and the natural level conditions of several ports in Angola are even higher than those on the east coast, and the climate is also very good. , this place will definitely be the focus of construction by the Kingdom in the future.”
Eugene had no doubts about John Rowell's words. After all, the arrival of John Rowell's team here was one of the proofs.
John Rowell has participated in the construction of many East African cities and is a famous urban designer in East Africa. Before Angola has completely settled down, the royal government sent him to Luanda for survey and planning. The purpose is self-evident.
He said: "Mr. John Lowell, perhaps another great city will be designed under your hands. It is really gratifying."
John Rowell was very impressed by the compliment of the government's security personnel. He said: "This is also the reason why I chose to work in East Africa. There are so many opportunities here, while in Europe, people pay attention to connections and seniority. It would have been impossible for me to achieve such great success.”
After all, most cities in Europe have already been established, and the competition among European peers is very fierce. Although John Rowell, who was born as a commoner, is talented, he is naturally at a disadvantage compared with those nobles who have personal connections or family support. In East Africa, there is no such concern.
John Rowell came to East Africa about thirteen years ago. There are not many people like John Rowell who come to East Africa to seek development opportunities, but there are also quite a few, but it tests their respective abilities.
John Rowell was able to obtain official support from East Africa because of several of his works that are very satisfying, including the two masterpieces Kisan City and New Frankfurt City, as well as East Africa, headed by Dar es Salaam. He also participated in urban construction.
East Africa has the construction of new cities and the expansion of old cities, as well as a large number of engineering constructions, all of which have provided a large number of employment opportunities for practitioners from Europe.
John Rowell said: "Luanda was originally a small and medium-sized city according to the Portuguese plan. Based on the current residential area, it can accommodate a maximum population of 30,000 people. However, judging from the traces of life in Luanda, the entire Luanda has at least Seventy or eighty thousand people, this is quite unreasonable.”
Eugene: "Mr. John Rowell, except for the military fortress, the Portuguese may not have carefully planned the construction of Luanda at all. The buildings in these cities should have been accumulated slowly."
John Rowell glanced at Eugene approvingly and said: "You have observed well. This kind of chaotic urban layout and dirty environment obviously shows that the Portuguese did not put in the effort from the beginning, and their cities are more... Most of them were developed freely, so they appear extremely crowded, and at the same time, the living environment is sacrificed.”
"My blueprint is to demolish all these rags and design urban space more rationally like other cities in East Africa."
"Especially the port area and water source are the key points. Luanda is favored by the Portuguese because of its geographical location and port conditions. Similarly, it will also be an important port city in East Africa in the future, so how to make the port area and the city more connected during the design Tightness is an important direction.”
"As for the water source issue, Luanda's precipitation is only average in East Africa, so rational use of rivers and lakes can solve Luanda's production and living problems."
Luanda's annual precipitation is only around 500 millimeters, but this precipitation is far more advantageous than Walvis Bay and can meet basic agricultural and industrial production.
Of course, the most important thing is that Luanda does not lack water resources. The upper reaches of the river are areas with relatively abundant rainfall, which can better alleviate Luanda’s needs.
However, the reason why the precipitation in Luanda is far less than that on the west coast of East Africa is mainly due to the influence of the Benguela Cold Current, which is somewhat similar to the Somali region. However, the ocean currents in Somalia will change with the seasons, and the Benguela Cold Current is only strong or weak. divided.
However, even if affected by the cold wave, the precipitation in Luanda is enough to satisfy East Africa. This is not the 21st century. The huge industrial production in the 21st century is an important reason for water shortages. The scale of industry in the 19th century was naturally consumed. Not much water source.