Cities and Fragile States

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Papers produced for this research theme:

The second component of the programme, being directed by Prof Jo Beall, involves a comparative study of the relationship between cities and states, whilst also locating cities within regional and global contexts. There is a close historical relationship between cities and state making and we seek to demonstrate how cities in fragile states - as social, economic, political and spatial entities - can promote or prevent the unravelling of the state. Over the past two decades, many cities around the world have become characterised by rising forms of violence, insecurity and illegality. Our research considers these characteristics to be constitutive of state fragility. We aim to carry out research in the following cities and urban centres:

Ahmedabad, Arua, Bogota, Dar-es-Salaam, Goma, Gulu, Kabul, Kampala, Karachi, Kigali, Kinshasa, Managua, Maputo, Medellin, Quetta

High density housing in Kigali (Photo: Thomas Goodfellow)
 

Cities in an Insecure World

Jo Beall convened a panel on Cities in an Insecure World with Ursula Grant of the Overseas Development Institute, as part of the last Development Studies Association's Annual Conference. The DSA celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 2008 and the conference sought to identify the huge changes that have redefined development agendas over this period.   Rapid urbanisation is one such change with cities becoming central to both current and future development agendas.  Further details of the DSA conference here. 

The panel proved so popular that a further event was convened at LSE a week later in order to include a wider selection of papers.  Details here

Slum Settlements in Ahmedabad (Photo: Praveen Priyadarshi)

Related Papers:

WP72.2  'The Political Economy of Social Violence'

WP71.2  'Some Reflections on the Notion of an 'inclusive political pact': a   perspective from Ahmedad'

WP70.2  'The Open City: social networks and violence in Karachi'

WP69.2  'Buffer Zone, Colonial Enclave or Urban Hub?'

WP68.2  'Nationalism, Urban Poverty and Identity in Maputo, Mozambique'

WP67.2  'The Bastard Child of Nobody?'

WP65.2  'Armed Conflict, Crime and Social Protest in S Bolivar'

WP64.2  'Civil Society in Conflict Cities: the case of Ahmedabad'

WP63.2  'The Changing Dynamics of Cross-border Trade'

WP62.2 ' Eye of the Storm: cities in the vortex of Afghanistan's civil wars

WP61.2 'City as Frontier:urban development and identity processes in Goma

OP10     'Municipal Finance in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania'

WP60.2  'Urban Politics, Conspiracy and Reform in Nampula, Mozambique'

WP55.2  'Indigenous Institutions, Traditional Leaders & Elite Coalitions'
WP54.2  'The Congolese Elite and the Fragmented City'

WP53.2  'Portrait of Kinshasa: a city on (the) edge'

WP 44.2 ' Politics and Security in Three Colombian Cities'

WP 43.2 'Who Governs Kabul? urban politics in a post-war capital city'

WP 37.2 ' An Illness called Managua'

WP 36.2 'Gulu Town in War...and Peace? Displacement, Humanitarianism and Post-War Crisis'

WP 35.2 'Creole and Tribal Designs: Dar es Salaam and Kampala as Ethnic Cities in Coalescing Nation States'

WP 32.2 'State-Making and the Post-Conflict City: Integration in Dili, Disintegration in Timor-Leste'

WP 20.2 'RoboWar ^TM Dreams: Global South Urbanisation and the US Military's 'Revolution in Military Affairs'

WP 18.2 'The State and the Informal in Sub-Saharan African Economies: Revisiting Debates on Dualism'

WP 17.2 'Comparative Research on Contested Cities'

WP 16.2 'The Illegitimacy of Democracy? Democratisation and Alienation in Maputo, Mozambique'

WP 15.2 'Municipal Finance Systems in Conflict Cities'

WP 10.2 'Slum Wars of the 21st Century'   

WP 9.2 'Cities, Terrorism and Urban Wars of the 21st Century'

OP 6: 'Capital Cities in Civil Wars: The Locational Dimension of   Sovereign Authority', Marika Landau-Wells

OP 4 'Beyond Beirut: Why Reconstruction in Lebanon did not contribute to State-Making and Stability'