Metropolitics

Agrarian Fantasy, Settler Colonial Property, and the Making of Industrial Johannesburg

Renugan Raidoo — 2026-01-20T06:00:00Z

Some of the gated estates in and around Johannesburg and Pretoria sell residents a settler colonial fantasy of a bucolic idyll away from the urban condition. But Renugan Raidoo examines the important role agricultural surplus played in mining industrialization, which tells a much more complex story of urban–rural relations.
---- Series: Provincializing the “Real-Estate Turn” “A piece of the past has found its' [sic] way to the future” in all-white majuscule is the first thing one sees on the

- Essays / Africa, South Africa, Global South, Johannesburg, Pretoria, gated communities, rural, colonial urban planning, agriculture, industry, history, apartheid, real-estate turn, real estate

Provincializing the “Real‑Estate Turn”

Sai Balakrishnan & Llerena Guiu Searle — 2025-11-07T06:00:00Z

The papers in this collection “think against” the concept of real estate, starting with—and generating—grounded questions about particular places.
---- ▼ Jump to the list of articles in this series ▼ Standing in front of Trump Tower's gold and bronze facade in Lower Parel Mumbai (formerly Bombay), real estate may seem an inevitably global phenomenon. This sleek, American-style building—part of a gated complex with pools, gyms, gardens, and other upscale amenities—has come up in a district

- Series / Johannesburg, Pretoria, Chennai, Mumbai, United States, India, Southeast Asia, Asia, Africa, real-estate turn, real estate, South Africa

Dakar, Portrait of a Capital City

Armelle Choplin — 2025-09-12T05:00:00Z

Dakar, métamorphoses d'une capitale, by architects Carole Diop and Xavier Ricou, takes readers on a journey through the history of the Senegalese capital, from pre‑colonial Lebu villages to contemporary urban laboratory.
In their book Dakar, métamorphoses d'une capitale, Senegalese architects Carole Diop and Xavier Ricou present a masterful exploration of Dakar. Through meticulous archival research and iconography, the authors explore the lesser-known history of the former West African

- Reviews / Dakar, housing, history, housing policy, heritage, Africa, culture, urban planning, urban growth, West Africa, Senegal

Large-Scale Farming in the Face of Competing Land Uses in Abidjan District, Côte d'Ivoire

Adjoba Marthe Koffi-Didia & translated by Oliver Waine — 2025-03-21T06:00:00Z

To the west of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire's largest city, large farming operations—owned by multinational companies geared toward export markets—are today facing an obstacle posed by Abidjan's growing urban sprawl and the rise of land claims among Indigenous communities whose customary rights are threatened.
Songon Subprefecture is located to the west of the Abidjan metropolitan area, 23 km (14 miles) from Abidjan's central business district (Le Plateau), and covers an area of 621.71 km² (240.04

- From the Field / land rights, Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Global South, agriculture, farming, land use, Africa, customary law, access to land, West Africa

Digital Technology and the City: New Forms of Urban Segregation in Cape Town?

Julien Migozzi & translated by Oliver Waine — 2023-06-23T05:00:00Z

In the age of platform capitalism, how is digital technology reconfiguring real-estate markets and access to housing? In Cape Town, South Africa, credit scoring—a form of selection based on financial behavior—has become the norm in this regard, contributing to the reappearance of apartheid-era segregation.
“We don't take tenants under 622”: the response from Ganief, a real-estate agent in Cape Town, is swift. In order to obtain a lease in International Housing Solutions' housing portfolio, a

- From the Field / real estate, apartheid, digital city, inequalities, tech sector, Cape Town, financialization, tech economy, technology, Africa, South Africa

Arrests of People Smugglers in Niger: A Criminalization of Mutual-Aid Practices in Migration Situations

Alizée Dauchy & translated by Oliver Waine — 2022-07-08T05:00:00Z

From the point of view of the Northern states, international migration from the South now has its designated leaders, the networks of "smugglers", which should be dismantled. Based on an ethnographic survey conducted in Niger, the author shows the lability of this role and the perverse effects of a blind repression of mutual aid.
Long ignored by European migration policies, Niger has emerged in official discourse as a transit country for West African populations heading for Europe since 2015

- From the Field / Niger, migrants, migration, criminalization of migration, borders, law, migration crisis, Global South, Africa

Disposability in the City: A Review of Waste Worlds

Lily Baum Pollans — 2022-07-05T05:00:00Z

Lily Pollans reviews Jacob Doherty's Waste Worlds: Inhabiting Kampala's Infrastructures of Disposability, which shows how the way in which societies define and manage waste can shed light on political, social, and economic power.
---- Series: Urban Wastes, Present and Future In 1966, anthropologist Mary Douglas argued that defining and managing dirt is an essential act of worldmaking. It is through the categorization of what is pure and what is contaminated that societies make meaning and

- Reviews / waste, waste management, Africa, Uganda, Kampala, Global South, infrastructure

The Professionalization of Migrant Assistance in Tunisia

Camille Cassarini & translated by Oliver Waine — 2022-04-15T05:00:00Z

In Tunisia, the management of sub-Saharan migration has in recent years become a new sector of employment. Camille Cassarini highlights the effects of this professionalization, a key element of which is the integration of state objectives for checks and controls on migrants by NGOs.
In Tunisia, the issue of the reception of irregular sub-Saharan migrant populations is a relatively recent one. Up until 2011, migration of this kind was managed within a national framework – primarily repressive

- From the Field / Tunisia, Africa, North Africa, NGOs, migration, migration crisis, migrants, reception, law

Fablabs in Africa: Digital Innovation for Sustainable Cities?

Armelle Choplin & Martin Lozivit & translated by Oliver Waine — 2021-04-16T05:00:00Z

In a context where “smart cities” are being promoted in urban projects in Africa, Armelle Choplin and Martin Lozivit examine the role “fablabs” can play in cities' futures. They show that their emergence can be an opportunity to design a frugal African city, by making use of inhabitants' ingenuity.
The next Africa-France summit—initially to be held in June 2020, now to take place in July 2021—will focus on the “sustainable city” with digital technology and innovation at the heart of debates.

- Essays / innovation, Global South, fablab, Africa, West Africa, technology, digital city

Algeria's Hirak: When a Social Movement Puts Citizenship Under the Microscope

Islam Amine Derradji & Amel Gherbi & translated by Oliver Waine — 2021-03-26T06:00:00Z

The popular mobilization that rose up in Algeria in 2019 was not only a revolt against living conditions that had become unacceptable. It was also a movement that turned the country's streets into a stage for the organized construction of collective and political life by citizens seeking to revisit their history and assert their independence.
Since February 22, 2019, Algeria has been living to the rhythm of unprecedented mobilizations. Millions of Algerians took to the streets to oppose

- From the Field / North Africa, Maghreb, Africa, collective action, mobilization, civic organizing, demonstrations, protest, Algeria, social movement, citizenship, citizens