Urban Transformations and Land Governance in Peri-Urban Khartoum: The Case of Soba

Abstract

The New Urban Agenda and SDG 11 promote inclusive urban development, but limited empirical knowledge exists on how such global rhetoric plays out on the ground. This paper contributes to the inclusive city debate by focusing on the case of Soba, a peri-urban area at the fringes of the capital of Sudan. Based on an explorative study of secondary material, semi-structured interviews and structured observations it aims to systematically analyse the dynamics of peri-urban development. Findings show how the rising pressure on land results in commoditisation, (informal) land-use changes and a multitude of other land transformations. The paper concludes that the mismatch of urban land policies has resulted in increasing fragmentation of urban space and socio-spatial discrepancies between those who can afford to buy land or transform it into urban uses and those who cannot. It sheds fresh light on the challenges of the inclusive urban transition agenda.