IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i4p2285-d502539.html

Boomtown Urbanization and Rural-Urban Transformation in Mining and Conflict Regions in Angola, the DRC and Zambia

Author

Listed:
  • Cristina Udelsmann Rodrigues

    (Nordic Africa Institute, 75147 Uppsala, Sweden)

  • Patience Mususa

    (Nordic Africa Institute, 75147 Uppsala, Sweden)

  • Karen Büscher

    (Conflict Research Group, Ghent University, 9000 Gent, Belgium)

  • Jeroen Cuvelier

    (Conflict Research Group, Ghent University, 9000 Gent, Belgium)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Cristina Udelsmann Rodrigues & Patience Mususa & Karen Büscher & Jeroen Cuvelier, 2021. "Boomtown Urbanization and Rural-Urban Transformation in Mining and Conflict Regions in Angola, the DRC and Zambia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-15, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2285-:d:502539
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2285/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2285/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Assis Malaquias, 2001. "Making war & lots of money: the political economy of protracted conflict in Angola," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(90), pages 521-536.
    2. Maclin, Beth J. & Kelly, Jocelyn T.D. & Perks, Rachel & Vinck, Patrick & Pham, Phuong, 2017. "Moving to the mines: Motivations of men and women for migration to artisanal and small-scale mining sites in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 115-122.
    3. Bashwira, Marie-Rose & Cuvelier, Jeroen & Hilhorst, Dorothea & van der Haar, Gemma, 2014. "Not only a man's world: Women's involvement in artisanal mining in eastern DRC," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 109-116.
    4. Werthmann, Katja, 2009. "Working in a boom-town: Female perspectives on gold-mining in Burkina Faso," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-2), pages 18-23.
    5. Allen J. Scott & Michael Storper, 2015. "The Nature of Cities: The Scope and Limits of Urban Theory," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 1-15, January.
    6. Jeroen Cuvelier, 2017. "Money, migration and masculinity among artisanal miners in Katanga (DR Congo)," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(152), pages 204-219, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jiang, Changjun & Li, Jintao & Liu, Jilai, 2022. "Does urbanization affect the gap between urban and rural areas? Evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PB).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Abrefa Busia, Kwaku & Arthur-Holmes, Francis, 2024. "Women and gender in artisanal and small-scale mining: A review and future research directions," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    2. Arthur-Holmes, Francis & Abrefa Busia, Kwaku, 2020. "Household dynamics and the bargaining power of women in artisanal and small-scale mining in sub-Saharan Africa: A Ghanaian case study," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    3. Jan Macháček, 2019. "Typology of Environmental Impacts of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in African Great Lakes Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-24, May.
    4. Mancini, Lucia & Eslava, Nicolas A. & Traverso, Marzia & Mathieux, Fabrice, 2021. "Assessing impacts of responsible sourcing initiatives for cobalt: Insights from a case study," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    5. George Ofosu & David Sarpong & Mabel Torbor & Shadrack Asante, 2024. "‘Mining women’ and livelihoods: Examining the dominant and emerging issues in the ASM gendered economic space," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 45(4), pages 1213-1241, November.
    6. Lala Safiatou Ouedraogo & Patrick Mundler, 2019. "Local Governance and Labor Organizations on Artisanal Gold Mining Sites in Burkina Faso," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-21, January.
    7. Becker, Jörg & Distel, Bettina & Grundmann, Matthias & Hupperich, Thomas & Kersting, Norbert & Löschel, Andreas & Parreira do Amaral, Marcelo & Scholta, Hendrik, 2021. "Challenges and potentials of digitalisation for small and mid-sized towns: Proposition of a transdisciplinary research agenda," ERCIS Working Papers 36, University of Münster, European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS).
    8. Rosanna Salvia & Rares Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir & Sirio Cividino & Luca Salvati & Giovanni Quaranta, 2020. "From Rural Spaces to Peri-Urban Districts: Metropolitan Growth, Sparse Settlements and Demographic Dynamics in a Mediterranean Region," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-20, June.
    9. Breandán Ó hUallacháin, 2025. "Organisations and the dynamics of change in the location of American invention," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 62(6), pages 1099-1122, May.
    10. Helga Leitner & Eric Sheppard, 2018. "From Kampungs to Condos? Contested accumulations through displacement in Jakarta," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 50(2), pages 437-456, March.
    11. repec:osf:socarx:uexh9_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Pokorny, Benno & von Lübke, Christian & Dayamba, Sidzabda Djibril & Dickow, Helga, 2019. "All the gold for nothing? Impacts of mining on rural livelihoods in Northern Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 23-39.
    13. Paköz, Muhammed Ziya & Yaratgan, Dilara & Şahin, Aydan, 2022. "Re-mapping urban vitality through Jane Jacobs’ criteria: The case of Kayseri, Turkey," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    14. James Christopher Mizes, 2023. "Refusing relocation: Urban street vendors and the problem of the neoliberal device," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 55(7), pages 1762-1779, October.
    15. Oli Mould, 2016. "A Limitless Urban Theory? A Response to Scott and Storper's ‘The Nature of Cities: The Scope and Limits of Urban Theory'," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 157-163, January.
    16. Kala, Marshall, 2015. "Entrepreneurship and Poverty Reduction: The Case of the Youth in Small-Scale Mining in Ghana," Miscellaneous Publications 358828, University of Ghana, Institute of Statistical Social & Economic Research (ISSER).
    17. Kevin Ward & Timothy Bunnell, 2021. "Reflections on five years of the Summer Institute in Urban Studies," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(4), pages 863-878, March.
    18. Ilaria Zambon & Artemi Cerdà & Filippo Gambella & Gianluca Egidi & Luca Salvati, 2019. "Industrial Sprawl and Residential Housing: Exploring the Interplay between Local Development and Land-Use Change in the Valencian Community, Spain," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-18, September.
    19. Maurizio Malpede, 2026. "The Dark Side of Batteries: Cobalt Mining and Children's Education in Sub‐Saharan Africa," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 67(1), pages 151-170, February.
    20. Frederick Guy, 2020. "Who wants their city to become a world city? Comment on “Expanding the international trade and investment policy agenda: The role of cities and services”," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 3(3), pages 224-228, September.
    21. Victoire Girard & Edouard Pignede, 2026. "Artisanal mining and urbanization in Africa," NOVAFRICA Working Paper Series wp2601, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics, NOVAFRICA.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2285-:d:502539. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.