Paper short abstract:

Through an actor-centered approach, this presentation aims to shed light on developers’ strategies and practices in the making of the land and real estate market in the metropolitan peripheries of Abidjan, from the negotiation of land value to lots and buildings’ sale.

Paper long abstract:

Greater Abidjan metropolitan peripheries are subject to very strong land and real estate pressure, while land commodification is very recent and yet to be regulated. Agricultural small towns and villages are facing the creation of an “economy of urbanization”, with dedicated economic sectors and jobs: developers, land sellers, real estate agencies, intermediaries, land surveyors, urban services, construction workers, etc. Land commodification and this new “economy of urbanization” are quickly changing actors’ interactions, hierarchies and behaviors at local scale.

Developers of various sizes are the key actors of this new economy. They organize the land market by dividing up, preparing and trading parcels. They are at the same time expanding the urban frontier and coordinating the professionalization of various new actors emerging in this economy of urbanization. They are becoming intermediaries between State urban authorities who try to plan for metropolitan expansion through these new allotments and local customary powers who feel weakened by land commodification.

Therefore, an actor-centered approach appears particularly relevant to understand the organization of developers’ strategies and practices. Scholars often study African urban production through speculative urbanism, urban megaprojects and financialization, which occurs mainly in metropolitan centers and target the top end of the market. Studying developers’ practices on metropolitan peripheries could on the contrary help better understand the ordinary land and real estate market the vast majority of the population is using and inventing everyday. This presentation aims to shed light on recent debates on the supposed standardization of urbanization processes in the African cities.