Fit-for-purpose land administration (FFPLA) approaches offer a solution to the lack of land governance strategies in the Global South, emphasizing flexibility, inclusivity, and scalability. However, FFPLA projects primarily focus on establishing land administration systems, with less attention given to ensuring their sustainability, ongoing maintenance and scale up. This study analyzes the evolution of the land and property registry in Bosaso, Somalia, utilizing the Framework for Effective Land Administration (FELA) to guide the assessment. Findings reveal that challenges remain in maintaining, expanding and upgrading land information management systems from their initial purpose to broader land-related services.

Theories of smart urbanism have overlooked the influence of contextual factors on the conception, planning and implementation of digital transformation practices across regions. To articulate this critique, we focus on African cities and draw on a diverse range of urban and regional scholarship. We present the core assumptions advanced in the mainstream literature on smart urbanism and prove their inability to fit the organisation of African urban contexts. Three main research questions emerge from this critical examination and offer new perspectives for expanding knowledge on how smart urbanism challenges recombine with place-based governance approaches, not only in Africa, but globally.

These field reflections contribute to the discussion on durable solutions to displacement by providing empirical evidence of how intended spillover effects of carefully designed interventions and hybrid settlements can facilitate local integration and return and reintegration. A comparison between Dadaab and Kismayo reveals humanitarian and development aid’s influence and spillover effects on economic, social, cultural, and political life beyond the borders of refugee camps and returnee settlements. We argue for leveraging such spillover—in particular in the form of hybrid settlements—for achieving durable solutions to displacement cost-effectively and inclusively. Our observations show that several local stakeholders have recognized the potential of spillover, too and are actively embracing it to drive local socio-economic development. Lastly, we highlight the need for further research into the factors that enable or prevent spillover effects and hybrid settlements from reaching their full potential: the achievement of durable solutions for displacement-affected communities.