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“Le schema directeur de Kolwezi,” the planned but unrealised removal of a company town.
Geenen, Kristien
201814th Conference of the European Association for Urban History (EAUH)
 

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Keywords :
Kolwezi; urbanisation; mining industry; Democratic Republic of Congo
Abstract :
[en] This paper explores the case of Kolwezi, a city in the Congolese Copperbelt that owes its existence to the mining company Union Minière du Haut-Katanga (UMHK). Planned by the end of the 1930s, the city was initially somehow scattered, as the company constructed its facilities and labour camps in vicinity of a few copper and cobalt mines which were rather spread out. Gradually, as the town attracted a growing number of mine workers, the voids between the scattered neighbourhoods were urbanised too. Thereafter, small traders and fortune hunters flocked in too, and a small commercial centre emerged. Nevertheless, all the city exuded was mining. The UMHK was in possession of three quarters of the city, and as such decisive for its spatial lay-out. After independence, the company (then called Gécamines) continued to have such a tight grip on the city, that the omnipresent mining activities reminded “un paysage de science-fiction” (Bruneau and Mansila 1986). However, the company appeared to have blocked its own development. Indeed, labour camps had been built on deposits unexplored – and unknown – before. To mine these untapped sources, a plan was drawn to move the city 20km eastwards, “Le schema directeur de Kolwezi.” The idea behind the removal was not only to clear access to the newly discovered deposits, but also to make the new Kolwezi more “city-like,” to create a place with more diversity and with a leisurely atmosphere, features that would reflect positively upon the everyday lives of its citizens. This removal never was realised by lack of financial means, and as Gécamines went spiralling down, it gradually lost its grip upon the urban environment too. Nevertheless, the analysis of the (unrealised) removal project reveals not only the hubris of the planners, but also the complex interconnection between the Gécamines’ corporate culture and the everyday life of Kolwezi’s inhabitants.
Disciplines :
Anthropology
History
Author, co-author :
Geenen, Kristien ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences sociales > Labo d'anthropologie sociale et culturelle (LASC)
Language :
English
Title :
“Le schema directeur de Kolwezi,” the planned but unrealised removal of a company town.
Publication date :
31 August 2018
Event name :
14th Conference of the European Association for Urban History (EAUH)
Event date :
from 29-08-2018 to 01-09-2018
Audience :
International
Name of the research project :
WORKININMINING
Available on ORBi :
since 01 September 2018

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