Preserving the Benin City Moats: The Interaction of Indigenous and Urban Environmental Values and Aesthetics

摘要

The inner and outer Benin City moats are human-made military artifacts from the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteen centuries. Two sets of questionnaires given to indigenous and non-indigenous people living in Benin City show that some people want the moats preserved for a variety of reasons: for historical purposes, for aesthetic purposes, and for the purpose of beautifying Benin City; to channel city floods; and to serve as a tourist attraction. These variegated viewpoints from the standpoint of Bini indigenous values, urban values and aesthetics, and worldview can to some degree be regarded as existential and phenomeno-logical approaches to environmental matters. An argument, nevertheless, can be developed that the moats should be properly regarded as earthworks such that the more common Eurocentric instrumental-intrinsic value categories are applicable to them for purposes of environmental ethical considerations. On both intrinsic and instrumental grounds, there are adequate justifications for preserving the moats. Utilitarian ethical considerations are one way of understanding those who would wish the moats to be used to channel city floods. Developing the moats for tourism can be interpreted as an attempt to link utilitarian and aesthetic viewpoints. Blending urban aesthetics with utilitarian considerations, some designs (including the design of railroads) can provide a way of concretely promoting tourism and its concomitant aesthetics.