Land use policy in the peri-urban district as Africa's ‘smart authoritarianism’? Exploring emergent governance challenges in the implementation of a mega real estate project at Konza, Kenya

IF 6.5 1区经济学 Q1 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

Habitat International Pub Date : 2025-04-01 DOI:10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103383

Owiti A. K'Akumu , Catherine W. Gateri

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Abstract

This study embraces the call by leading scholars for a global perspective in the study of peri-urban districts. Consequently, it considers a new phenomenon in African peri-urban districts in terms of smart city development. Using the lens of governance, comparison is made to problems of new city development in peri-urban districts of the south including Asia and Latin America. The planning and development of Konza technology city in Kenya presents a classic example where the state has privileged private capital and smart users of land over the rest of the state actors through peri-urban land use policy. This has generated contestations or governance problems classified under institutional challenges, land market dynamics, physical challenges, and land use change trend. Overall, the study demonstrates that the state's policy and actions to subdue majority subaltern actors in favour of minority capital owners and smart users is undemocratic and is tantamount to ‘smart authoritarianism’ in Africa.

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城郊地区的土地使用政策是非洲的“聪明的威权主义”？探索在肯尼亚康扎的一个大型房地产项目实施中出现的治理挑战

本研究响应了著名学者在城郊地区研究中的全球视角的呼吁。因此，就智慧城市发展而言，它考虑了非洲城郊地区的新现象。从治理的角度，比较了包括亚洲和拉丁美洲在内的南部城市周边地区的新城市发展问题。肯尼亚康扎科技城的规划和发展是一个典型的例子，在这个例子中，国家通过城郊土地使用政策，将私人资本和聪明的土地使用者置于其他国家行为者之上。这产生了制度挑战、土地市场动态、物理挑战和土地利用变化趋势等方面的争议或治理问题。总体而言，该研究表明，国家为支持少数资本所有者和聪明用户而制服多数次等行为者的政策和行动是不民主的，相当于非洲的“聪明威权主义”。

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来源期刊

Habitat International Multiple-

CiteScore

10.50

自引率

10.30%

发文量

151

审稿时长

38 days

期刊介绍： Habitat International is dedicated to the study of urban and rural human settlements: their planning, design, production and management. Its main focus is on urbanisation in its broadest sense in the developing world. However, increasingly the interrelationships and linkages between cities and towns in the developing and developed worlds are becoming apparent and solutions to the problems that result are urgently required. The economic, social, technological and political systems of the world are intertwined and changes in one region almost always affect other regions.