This article investigates the relationship between militarization and land grabbing in the context of rapid urbanization and protracted violent conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Drawing on two case studies of the dispossession and privatization of public urban land in Goma, Eastern Congo, during the state of siege, the paper examines how militarized land grabs are tied to broader capitalist transformations of land. It shows how violent dispossession carried out by military actors under military rule facilitated and accelerated capitalist accumulation by converting public land as a use value into exchange value. The article argues that the institutionalization of military urban land governance under the state of siege facilitated a logic of militarized capitalism, significantly scaling up ongoing processes of accumulation by dispossession. This militarized capitalism operates through the growing repression of popular resistance to dispossession. The paper clearly shows that the state of siege not only expanded the ability of Congolese military actors to use coercion and violence in land grabbing processes but also increased their capacity to suppress opposition and silence contestation. Finally, it shows that military rule reduced fragmentation in land governance and competition over land, thereby accelerating land grabbing through the logics of what we refer to as militarized capitalism. Cet article examine la relation entre la militarisation et l'accaparement des terres dans un contexte d'urbanisation rapide et de conflit violent prolong & eacute; en R & eacute;publique d & eacute;mocratique du Congo. & Agrave; partir de deux & eacute;tudes de cas portant sur la d & eacute;possession et la privatisation de terrains publics urbains & agrave; Goma, dans l'est du Congo, durant l'& eacute;tat de si & egrave;ge, l'article analyse la mani & egrave;re dont les accaparements fonciers militaris & eacute;s sont li & eacute;s & agrave; des transformations fonci & egrave;res plus larges de type capitaliste. Il montre comment la d & eacute;possession violente men & eacute;e par des acteurs militaires sous r & eacute;gime militaire a facilit & eacute; et acc & eacute;l & eacute;r & eacute; l'accumulation capitaliste en transformant les terres publiques d'une valeur d'usage en valeur d'& eacute;change. L'article soutient que l'institutionnalisation de la gouvernance militaire des terres urbaines sous l'& eacute;tat de si & egrave;ge a favoris & eacute; une logique de & laquo; capitalisme militaris & eacute; & raquo;, intensifiant consid & eacute;rablement les processus en cours d'accumulation par d & eacute;possession. Ce capitalisme militaris & eacute; fonctionne & agrave; travers une r & eacute;pression croissante des r & eacute;sistances populaires & agrave; la d & eacute;possession. L'article montre clairement que l'& eacute;tat de si & egrave;ge n'a pas seulement & eacute;largi la capacit & eacute; des acteurs militaires congolais & agrave; recourir & agrave; la coercition et & agrave; la violence dans les processus d'accaparement des terres, mais qu'il a & eacute;galement renforc & eacute; leur capacit & eacute; & agrave; r & eacute;primer l'opposition et & agrave; faire taire toute contestation. Enfin, il montre que le r & eacute;gime militaire a r & eacute;duit la fragmentation de la gouvernance fonci & egrave;re ainsi que la concurrence autour des terres, acc & eacute;l & eacute;rant ainsi les processus d'accaparement foncier selon les logiques de ce que nous appelons le capitalisme militaris & eacute;.

Human displacements, especially those driven by violent conflicts forcing sudden population migrations, wield profound and enduring impacts on landscapes, instigating substantial disruptions to the natural environment. Beyond immediate destruction, these consequences pose challenges to ecosystem health, food security, and biodiversity conservation, particularly exacerbated in the absence of effective governance. Traditional land management practices, agriculture, and conservation efforts are disrupted, constraining the implementation of long or medium-term conservation practices in agriculture. These disruptions may contribute to increased erosion and sediment transport, depleting soil nutrients and resulting in natural disasters such as flash floods, landslides, and water quality degradation. This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in regions experiencing high rainfall intensity, coupled with inadequate land use and agricultural management practices. Understanding the primary factors behind the last decades escalation in land degradation and subsequent sediment export is crucial to prevent further ecosystem degradation and heightened instability in conflict-affected areas. To address this, we have developed an integrated approach involving core sampling, sediment fingerprinting techniques, high-resolution sediment sampling, and automated remote sensing routines to pinpoint hotspot areas and track conservation efforts. Using the Lake Kivu region as a case study, situated on the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an area marked by prolonged violent conflict since the early 1990s, we evaluate the applicability of this combined approach. The preliminary results from the multiple techniques independently suggest an increasing trend in exported sediment over the last decade. This trend is particularly pronounced in areas characterized by high instability and economic challenges. In contrast, relatively more stable regions exhibit a stabilization in sedimentation rates. This stability is attributed primarily to the implementation of conservation practices and the presence of robust transport infrastructures, both playing crucial roles in landscape conservation. Results underscore the method's effectiveness in elucidating lasting effects on landscapes impacted by 'polycrisis', necessitating consolidated and comprehensive responses over mere technical solutions. The research objective is to target specific areas within conflict-affected regions, with a focus on mitigating environmental degradation and associated challenges.

This article explores how decentralisation policy and specifically the establishment of communes rurales in DR Congo turned into a profoundly destabilising juncture, shaking existing governance arrangements. In particular, we examine how this has led to a reshuffle of power and a renegotiation of public authoritiy. By analysing the impact of decentralisation on the construction of and competition over public authority in three Congolese towns - Rubaya, Minembwe and Fungurume - we demonstrate how decentralisation is deeply politicised, with conflicting governance actors mobilising their power in an attempt to secure their claim to public authority. We argue that the establishment of communes rurales in eastern and southeastern DRC should be therefore understood as a strongly destabilising moment, changing the access of governance actors to resources and repertoires from which they build and legitimise their public authority. Depending on the specific context of the local political arena and its entanglements with larger struggles for power and control, this destabilising moment bears the potential for (violent) conflict. As such, we conclude that decentralisation has failed to live up to its promises of stability and peace while generating new sets of political fault lines and a re-activation of (violent) conflict.

Armed conflicts often cause significant structural disturbance and modification to urban areas. These manifest as changes to the built environment either through destruction and diminution of built area or through an increase in extent and the number of buildings. The magnitude of conflict-induced displacement and migration are dependent upon a range of socio-political factors, resulting in variabilities in conflict-induced urban growth. Border cities provide a valuable setting to compare these variations, as they share geographical and cultural similarities, enabling comparative analysis of the conditions leading to divergent trajectories. This study examines the effects of armed inter-and intra-state conflict on urban spatial development both within and across national borders, focusing on the proximal cities of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Gisenyi, Rwanda, between 1989 and 2014 (due to the availability of cloud-free satellite imagery). We conducted a visual analysis of high-to very high-resolution satellite imagery to map spatial development (both urban extent and individual buildings) for both cities. Based on this analysis, we then conducted site visits and interviews, through which underlying drivers of urban development pathways were identified and initial steps were made to disentangle conflict-and non-conflict drivers, as not all urban changes and differences are related to the presence or absence of armed conflict. These are situated in different phases of armed conflict in the region, the governance of their repercussions (or lack thereof), and the complex interdependencies between the two cities. Our analysis revealed remarkable differences in spatial development and urban morphology. While Goma's urban area expands and densifies, Gisenyi's spatial extent remains relatively stable. Stakeholders on the ground identified armed conflict, linked population flows including internal and cross-border forced displacements, as well as differences in handling conflict-repercussions between the states as underlying drivers of the observed spatial changes. This study thus provides detailed evidence on the processes and drivers implicit in urban development and change in cross-border cities, their similarities, differences, and interdependencies, with a particular focus on armed conflicts' domestic and cross-border effects.

Starting from temporary settlements turning into permanent urban centers, this paper discusses the transformations taking place through the process of so-called ‘boomtown’ urbanization in Central and Southern Africa. Based on data collected in Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the paper identifies the different conditions for migration and settlement and the complex socio-economic, spatial, as well as political transformations produced by the fast growth and expansion of boomtowns. Different historical and contemporary processes shape boomtown urbanization in Africa, from colonial territorial governance to large- and small-scale mining or dynamics of violence and forced displacement. As centers of attraction, opportunities, diversified livelihoods and cultures for aspiring urbanities, boomtowns represent an interesting site from which to investigate rural-urban transformation in a context of resource extraction and conflict/post conflict governance. They equally represent potential catalyzing sites for growth, development and stability, hence deserving not only more academic but also policy attention. Based on the authors’ long-term field experience in the countries under study, the analysis draws on ethnographic fieldwork data collected through observations as well as interviews and focus group discussions with key actors involved in the everyday shaping of boomtown urbanism. The findings point to discernible patterns of boomtown consolidation across these adjacent countries, which are a result of combinations of types of migration, migrants’ agency and the governance structures, with clear implications for urban policy for both makeshift and consolidating towns.

This paper investigates the complex relation between protracted donor interventions and the production of customary authority. More specifically, the paper analyses the impact of post-conflict donor interventions (and their withdrawal) on the position of customary chiefs in the Acholi region in northern Uganda. As important brokers between international aid agencies, the Ugandan government and Acholi communities, customary chiefs became key actors in post-conflict peacebuilding programmes. Using the concepts of extraversion and development brokerage, the paper demonstrates how dwindling access to external donor funds has strongly affected Acholi customary authority. To secure their authority and legitimacy, customary chiefs re-shifted from an 'outward' to an 'inward' orientation, a process that we call 'introversion'

Le 6 mars 2010, une partie de la population de Kitchanga, une agglomération située dans la province du Nord-Kivu en RDC, descend dans la rue afin de réclamer le statut de ville. Des centaines de manifestants revendiquent ce statut, parce que Kitchanga a vu sa population doubler en moins de cinq ans (Radio Okapi 2010). Au début des années 1990, durant la guerre civile, Kitchanga, un petit village d’importance économique (et politique) assez limitée, se développe, en une ville comptant une population estimée à environ 80 000 personnes (Mediacongo.net 2016)3. La ville se distingue de son environnement rural par le développement relatif de son infrastructure, du commerce et des marchés économiques. Son expansion est le résultat direct des conflits armés et du déplacement (forcé) de populations. Depuis le début de la guerre civile congolaise au début des années 1990 (voir ci-dessous), en effet, l’immigration et le déplacement interne ont été au centre du développement de cette agglomération. Sa composition sociodémographique, son profil économique et sa dynamique politique sont fortement influencés par sa position de « lieu de refuge ». Les déplacés se sont installés au centre (la cité) ainsi que dans les

This article presents the historical and political trajectory of Kitchanga town in North Kivu, to demonstrate how current processes of urbanization in a context of civil war in Eastern Congo are strongly intertwined with regional politics of refuge. Kitchanga, an urban agglomeration that emerged from the gradual urbanization of IDP and refugee concentrations, has occupied very different positions through different episodes of the wars, ranging from a safe haven of refuge, to a rebel headquarter, to a violent battleground. On the basis of a historical account of Kitchanga's development, the paper argues for a spatial reading of broader geographies of war, displacement and ethnic mobilization in North Kivu. It shows that these urban agglomerations as 'places' and their urbanization as 'processes' are crucial to better understand the spatial politics of refuge in North Kivu. The article builds on original empirical data.

This chapter addresses rural–urban transformations in the Kivu provinces, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and more particularly focuses on the complex relationship between dynamics of violent conflict and the emergence of urban mining ‘boomtowns’. Mining towns offer fascinating sites from which to investigate the socio-economic and spatial effects of a protracted history of violence, displacement and militarisation. They are the spatial outcomes of dynamics of the transformative power of violent conflict. Moreover, this chapter demonstrates how they also offer interesting spatial as well as analytical starting points from which to study the political geographies of war dynamics in Eastern DRC. It will be argued that the reason why these mining towns evolve into strategic ‘resources’ in violent struggles for power and control is to be found in their urban character as much as in the presence of natural resources. As such, this chapter analyses the process of mining urbanisation in the Kivu provinces as part of (armed) elites’ spatial politics of power and control. As demographic concentrations and economic nodes, mining towns represent important political, economic and social resources for ‘big men’, armed groups and the Congolese state in their broader political struggles for power, legitimacy and authority. In a context of fragmented and multi-scalar governance, the urbanisation process of these towns is the outcome of a complex interaction and contestation of different forms of agency. Based on three ethnographic cases of mining towns that emerged from diverse dynamics of artisanal mining activities and forced displacement, this chapter contributes to broader academic and policy debates on the political nature of mining urbanisation in a context of conflict and fragmented governance.

Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the urban heart of a region that has been characterized by protracted violent conflict since the early 1990s. While several studies on Goma focus on sociodemographic and political processes or on areal development, our study unravels the effects of protracted armed conflict and gradual state withdrawal on Goma's urban development at a microlevel. The observation period of our analysis is 2005–2014, the time of several armed rebellions in the Kivu region or the so-called violent peace. Building on a mixed-methods approach, patterns and anomalies of urban development derived from very high resolution satellite images are combined with data gathered on the ground. The study starts from a city-scale analysis of urban expansion and densification trends earth-observation data and then uses earth-observation data-guided site selection for a detailed analysis, followed up by in-depth field research. We identify four major urbanization patterns in Goma's spatial development: forced displacement, humanitarian interventions, militarization, and church-based social action. These patterns are driven by four key urban players, which have been shaping Goma's cityscape throughout more than two decades of violent conflict. The insights generated here facilitate a better understanding of the complex intertwinement of spatial and political dynamics in a city located in a setting of violent conflict.

Cet article traite des transformations rurales-urbaines dans les provinces du Kivu, en République démocratique du Congo (RDC), et se concentre plus particulièrement sur la relation complexe entre les dynamiques de conflit violent et l’émergence des boomtowns (villes-champignons) minières urbaines. Les villes minières constituent des lieux fascinants pour enquêter sur les conséquences socio-économiques et spatiales d’une très longue histoire de violence, de déplacement et de militarisation. Elles sont le produit spatial des dynamiques engendrées par la puissance transformatrice des conflits violents. En outre, ce chapitre montre dans quelle mesure elles offrent un point de départ analytique et spatial intéressant à partir duquel étudier les géographies politiques des dynamiques de guerre dans l’Est de la République démocratique du Congo. Nous avancerons l’idée que ces villes minières se transforment en « ressources » stratégiques dans les luttes violentes pour l’obtention du pouvoir et du contrôle tant en raison de leur nature urbaine que par la présence de ressources naturelles. De ce fait, ce chapitre analyse les processus d’urbanisation minière dans les provinces du Kivu comme une composante des politiques spatiales menées par les élites (armées) pour le pouvoir et le contrôle. En tant que centres économiques à forte concentration démographique, les villes minières représentent des ressources politiques, économiques et sociales pour les « hommes forts » (Big Men), les groupes armés et l’État congolais dans leurs luttes politiques à plus large échelle pour le pouvoir, la légitimité et l’autorité. Dans un contexte de gouvernance fragmentée à échelles multiples, la dynamique d’urbanisation de ces villes est le produit d’une interaction et d’une opposition complexes entre différentes formes d’agentivité. En prenant appui sur trois cas ethnographiques de villes minières qui émergèrent de diverses dynamiques d’activités minières artisanales et de déplacement forcé, ce chapitre contribue aux débats universitaires et politiques plus larges sur la nature politique de l’urbanisation minière dans un contexte de conflit et de gouvernance fragmentée.

This article addresses rural–urban transformations in the war-torn Kivu provinces. The spectacular growth and development processes of fast-expanding boomtowns in Kivu’s rural areas serve as an entry point to investigate the relationship between conflict, displacement, urbanisation and development in Eastern D.R. Congo. Based on qualitative research on urban expansion in different smaller towns in North and South Kivu, this article analyses the characteristics of these ‘new’ urban spaces. It demonstrates that boomtowns represent centres of opportunities as well as contestation, and that they play an important role in the economic dynamics of development as well as in the political dynamics of stability and conflict.

This paper focuses on the urban outcomes of protracted humanitarian intervention in Gulu town, Northern Uganda. Using the concept of humanitarian urbanism, we demonstrate how intensive external donor-aid has shaped urbanization in the capital of Northern Uganda. The starting point for our analysis is the recent process of withdrawal of humanitarian NGOs and the shifts from humanitarian to development interventions. This shift was characterized by a special focus on urban development, coordinated by the Ugandan state while largely donor supported. We argue that this shift, instead of introducing an urban involvement of aid agencies in Gulu town, actually reveals a protracted continuum of aid agencies' interventions in Gulu's urbanity. The current withdrawal of humanitarian organizations in fact makes the long-term effects of these interventions especially visible. As such, it offers an interesting starting point to investigate processes of humanitarian urbanism and its profound impacts on the urban material, socio-economic and political landscapes. This paper demonstrates how aid agencies, since the armed conflict in Northern Uganda, have been key actors in shaping different dimensions of urban governance. Three case-studies are presented, which variously focus upon the urban educational sector, Gulu's physical urban planning, and Gulu's cultural institution. They reveal how today's reconfigurations of the urban aid-landscape have redrawn the complex relations between urban inhabitants, aid agencies, and the Ugandan state.

People are affected by different kinds of insecurity in the Ituri Province in the northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This article investigates donor-driven attempts to improve security governance there. More specifically, it investigates bottom-up approaches to security governance in Ituri’s capital of Bunia and in Irumu territory. Whereas in Bunia people are faced with high levels of violent crime, Irumu is the site of a violent conflict between the Ituri Patriotic Resistance Force (FRPI), an armed group connected to the Ngiti community, and the Congolese army. Involving local non-state security actors in security governance is perceived by international and national actors as a pragmatic way to improve security conditions. However, we show that these bottom-up security governance initiatives have not succeeded in resolving the issues that generate insecurity. We argue that this is because the drivers of insecurity in northeastern Congo are translocal and too complex for localised bottom-up approaches to significantly change the status quo.

This article forms the introduction of a special issue on the relation between dynamics of violent conflict and urbanisation in Central and Eastern Africa. The aim of this collection of articles is to contribute to a profound understanding of the role of 'the urban' in African conflict dynamics in order to seize their future potential as centres of stability, development, peace-building or post-conflict reconstruction. This introduction argues for the need to bridge both the 'urban gap' in African conflict studies as well as the 'political' gap in African urban studies. Building on empirical and analytical insights from multi-disciplinary research in different African conflict settings, the author presents urban centres in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo, South Sudan and Kenya as crucial sites of socio-spatial and political transformations and productions. The main argument running through its analysis is that emerging urbanism in the larger Great-Lakes region and its Eastern neighbours present fascinating lenses to better understand the transformative power of protracted violent conflict. This will be demonstrated by elaborating on the conflict-induced production of urban landscapes, urban governance, and urban identities. Finally, this will lead us to crucial insights on how protracted regional dynamics of political violence, forced displacement, militarised governance and ethnic struggles strongly reinforce the conflictual nature of emerging urbanisation and urbanism.

This article examines the migration-asylum nexus in the microcosm of Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya by focusing on refugees and asylum seekers who move onward from a first refuge, in Central-East Africa. By drawing on qualitative ethnographic field research in Kakuma, the article outlines how such “secondary movements” cause many anxieties, as the distinction between refugees and migrants is blurred by motivations that are not exclusively protection related. Based on a Foucauldian analysis of power and discourse, we argue that this creates a contested social and semantic space wherein all actors struggle to uphold the rigid distinction. Additionally, by combining the strengths of migration studies’ consideration for policy categories and mobility studies’ holistic perspective toward migration, the article aims to further deepen academic interaction between two literature traditions in order to enhance our understanding of how mobility is “shaped” and “lived” by people in wartime situations.