Community resilience; Lubumbashi; Mining sector; Socio-spatial segregation; Sustainable development; Urban sprawl; Development; Sociology and Political Science; Urban Studies; Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management
Abstract :
[en] Lubumbashi, the economic hub of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, thrives on its mining sector but faces challenges from rapid, unregulated population growth and urban expansion. This has led to a dichotomous urban landscape, combining well-planned colonial districts with haphazardly developed areas lacking infrastructure. This study examines Lubumbashi's urban evolution and related challenges through a desktop survey, contributing to literature on urbanization, economic development, environmental sustainability, and resource extraction in sub-Saharan Africa. It also introduces theoretical frameworks such as “resource urbanism.” Key challenges include disorderly land governance, natural vegetation degradation, transport privatization, electrification issues, sanitation deficiencies, and pollution. Although provincial and city governments are working to improve urban organization, their efforts often lack comprehensive consultation and cohesive strategy, focusing primarily on the city center. The study highlights the complex interplay between historical legacies and contemporary issues, emphasizing the urgent need for integrated urban planning. Addressing socio-spatial disparities, environmental concerns, and community resilience requires collaboration among government entities, local communities, and stakeholders to ensure sustainable and equitable development for Lubumbashi.
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Useni Sikuzani, Yannick; Ecologie, Restauration Ecologique et Paysage, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université de Lubumbashi, Congo ; Centre de Compétences en Planification et Gestion Urbaine, Université de Lubumbashi, Congo
Malaisse, François ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département GxABT > Biodiversité, Ecosystème et Paysage (BEP)
Dibwe Dia Mwembu, Donatien; Département des Sciences Historiques, Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines, Université de Lubumbashi, Congo ; Observatoire du Changement Urbain, Université de Lubumbashi, Congo
Bogaert, Jan ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département GxABT > Biodiversité, Ecosystème et Paysage (BEP)
Language :
English
Title :
Lubumbashi (DR Congo): Navigating the socio-ecological complexities of a vital mining hub
ARES - Académie de Recherche et d'Enseignement Supérieur
Funding text :
This work was supported by ARES-CCD (Belgium) through the research for development project \u2018Renforcement des capacit\u00E9s de gestion durable de la for\u00EAt claire de miombo par l\u2019\u00E9valuation de l'impact environnemental de la production de charbon de bois et l'am\u00E9lioration des pratiques vis-\u00E0-vis des ressources foresti\u00E8res (COOP-CONV-23-103).
Agudelo-Vera, C.M., Mels, A.R., Keesman, K.J., Rijnaarts, H.H., Resource management as a key factor for sustainable urban planning. Journal of Environmental Management 92:10 (2011), 2295–2303, 10.1016/j.jenvman.2011.05.016.
Amisi, M.Y., Vranken, I., Nkulu, J., Lubala Toto, R.F., Kyanika, D., Tshibang Nawej, S., Bogaert, J., L'activité minière au Katanga et la perception de ses impacts négatifs à Lubumbashi, Likasi, Kolwezi et Kipushi. Bogaert, J., Colinet, G., Mahy, G., (eds.) Anthropisation des paysages Katangais, 2018, Les presses Universitaires de Liège, Liège, Belgique, 267–279.
Banza, I.A., Ndjeko, K.A., Des conditions d'exercice du transport par taxi-motos dans la ville de Lubumbashi. KAS African Law Study Library 3:2 (2016), 237–254.
Banza, L.N.K., Nawrot, T.S., Haufroid, V., Decrée, S., De Putter, T., Smolders, E., Nemery, B., High human exposure to cobalt and other metals in Katanga, a mining area of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Environmental Research 109 (2009), 745–752, 10.1016/j.envres.2009.04.012.
Banza, B.B., Kiseya, T.F., Bouillard, P., Spatial distribution of electrical infrastructures: Impact of urban sprawl in Lubumbashi, DR Congo. Asian Journal of Industrial Engineering 8 (2016), 10–17.
Banza, B.B., Amuri, A.P., Cike, K., Ndibazokize, G., Ilunga, S.N., Analysis of alternative energy sources in Lubumbashi: Disparities between formal and informal settlements. International Journal of Current Advanced Research 7:7 (2018), 14499–14505.
Boonen, S., Lagae, J., Scenes from a changing colonial “Far West”: Picturing the early urban landscape and colonial society of cosmopolitan Lubumbashi, 1910-1931. Stichproben 28 (2015), 11–54 https://stichproben.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/p_stichproben/Artikel/Nummer28/Stichproben_28_02_Boonen_Lagae.pdf.
Bruneau, J.C., Pain, M., Atlas de Lubumbashi. 1990, Université Paris X, Nanterre, France.
Chapelier, A., Elisabethville, essai de géographie urbaine. Académie Royale des Sciences Coloniales, Classes des Sciences Naturelles et Médicales, Tome VI, Fascicule 5, 1957, Belgique, Bruxelles.
Chenge, L.S., Mwamba, G.N., Simon, I.K., Mulumbati, O.L., Exploitation des transports en commun du secteur privé en milieu urbain en République Démocratique du Congo: Comparaison de deux modèles de régulation de la circulation sur les lignes de transport à Lubumbashi. International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies 29:4 (2020), 1337–1348.
Colsaet, A., Laurans, Y., Levrel, H., What drives land take and urban land expansion? A systematic review. Land Use Policy 79 (2018), 339–349, 10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.08.017.
Dibwe, D.M.D., Processus d'informalisation et trajectoires sociales. Le cas de la ville de Lubumbashi. De Villers, G., Jewsiewicki, B., Monnier, L., (eds.) Manières de vivre. Economie de la débrouille dans les villes du Congo/Zaïre. L'Harmattan – CEDAF – Institut Africain (MRAC) – Paris, France, 2002, 33–64.
Dibwe, D.M.D., L'université de Lubumbashi dans la tourmente. In Bugwabari, N., Cazenave-Piarrot, A., Provini, O., (eds.) Universités, universitaires en Afrique de l'Est, 2012, Editions Karthala, Paris, France, 299–318.
Dolff-Bonekämper, G., Einhoff, M., Foulquié, P., Mudekereza, P., Berlin, Lubumbashi, Marseille: dynamiques de création et transformations urbaines. Perspective. Actualité en histoire de l'art 1 (2014), 43–62, 10.4000/perspective.4353.
Groupe Huit, Élaboration du plan urbain de référence de Lubumbashi. Rapport final. Bureau d'Etudes et d'Aménagement Urbain, Ministère des Infrastructures, travaux publics et reconstruction, RD Congo, 2009.
Habitat, U.N., The state of African cities 2014. 2014, Re-imagining sustainable urban transition, United Nations, Human Settlements programs https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/download-manager-files/State%20of%20African%20Cities%202014.pdf.
Habitat, U.N., Envisaging the future of cities. 2022, World cities report, United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN Habitat), Nairobi, Kenya https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2022/06/wcr_2022.pdf.
Henderson, J.V., Urbanization and growth; Brown University: Providence. 2004, RI, USA.
Houyoux, J., Lecoanet, Y., Lubumbashi: Démographie, budgets ménagers et étude du site. Editions du Bureau d'Etudes d'Aménagement, 1975, 143 Urbain (BEAU), Kinshasa, Zaïre.
Jewsiewicki, B., Imaginaire collectif des Katangais au temps de la désindustrialisation. Regard du dedans et regard d'en dehors: La photographie de Sammy Baloji et le rap de Baloji Tshiani. Cahiers d’études africaines 2 (2010), 1079–1112, 10.4000/etudesafricaines.16493.
Kabulu, D.J.-P., Vranken, I., Bastin, J.-F., Malaise, F., Nyembwe, S., Useni, S.Y., Bogaert, J., Approvisionnement en charbon de bois des ménages lushois: Quantités, alternatives et conséquences. Bogaert, J., Colinet, G., Mahy, G., (eds.) Anthropisation des Paysages Katangais. Les Presses Universitaires de Liège: Liège, Belgium, 2018, 297–311.
Kandolo, S.I., Matungulu, C.M., Mukanya, P.K., Umba, I.K., Kabamba, J.N., Numbi, O.L., Ngongo, G.M., Factors associated with road accidents in the city of Lubumbashi. Santé Publique 26:6 (2014), 889–895 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25629683/.
Kilondo, N.D., Territoires produits par l'industrie minière et rupture de filiation ouvrière: dynamique populaire et territoriale dans le cas des cités ouvières de la Gécamines (RDC). Doctoral dissertation, 2010, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium https://dial.uclouvain.be/pr/boreal/en/object/boreal%3A68775.
Lagae, J., From “Patrimoine partagé” to “whose heritage”? Critical reflections on colonial built heritage in the city of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Afrika Focus 21:1 (2008), 11–30, 10.21825/af.v21i1.5052.
Leblanc, M., Malaisse, F., Lubumbashi, un écosystème urbain tropical. 1978, Université Nationale du Zaïre, Centre International de Sémiologie.
Mukemo, A.K., Mukemo, D.K., Kalenga, M.M., Mishika, P.L., Mukuku, O., Malonga, F.K., Household waste Management in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo. Open Journal of Public Health, 2(1), 2020, 1010 https://www.remedypublications.com/open-access/household-waste-management-in-lubumbashi-democratic-republic-of-congo-6069.pdf.
Mukuku, O., Musung, M.J., Samba, C.K., Tshibanda, C.N., Mavuta, C.Z., Bamba, M.M., Luboya, O.N., Évaluation de la gestion des déchets ménagers dans la commune de Katuba à Lubumbashi (République Démocratique du Congo). Revue de l'Infirmier Congolais 2:1 (2018), 50–56 https://ric-journal.com/index.php/RIC/article/view/64/51.
Mushinge, A., Mitigating land corruption through computerisation of statutory land governance activities: Evidence from DRC, Tanzania and Zambia. African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences 3:4 (2020), 72–81, 10.48346/IMIST.PRSM/ajlp-gs.v3i3.18362.
Mwitwa, J., German, L., Muimba-Kankolongo, A., Puntodewo, A., Governance and sustainability challenges in landscape shaped by mining: Mining-forestry linkages and impacts in the copper belt of Zambia and the DR Congo. Forest Policy and Economics 25 (2012), 19–30, 10.1016/j.forpol.2012.08.001.
Narendrula, R., Nkongolo, K.K., Beckett, P., Comparative soil metal analyses in Sudbury (Ontario, Canada) and Lubumbashi (Katanga, DR-Congo). Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 88 (2012), 187–192, 10.1007/s00128-011-0485-7.
Ngoie, G.T., Social capital, spatial conquests and Migrants’ social Mixity: Nigerians and Chinese in Lubumbashi, DRC. Bakewell, O., Landau, L., (eds.) Forging African communities. Global diversities, 2018, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 10.1057/978-1-137-58194-5_8.
Petit, P., Lubumbashi 2000 : la situation des ménages dans une économie de précarité. Rapport des recherches effectuées durant la première session des travaux de l'observatoire du Changement Urbain (OCU/Unilu), Lubumbashi, RDC. 2000.
Rademakers, F.W., Nikis, N., De Putter, T., Degryse, P., Provenancing central African copper croisettes: A first chemical and lead isotope characterisation of currencies in central and southern Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science, 111, 2019, 105010, 10.1016/j.jas.2019.105010.
Remon, M., Nkuku, K.C., Enquête socio-économique des ménages à Lubumbashi (2002). Méthodologies et réflexions. Civilisations 54 (2006), 95–106, 10.4000/civilisations.360.
Rich, J., Manufacturing sovereignty and manipulating humanitarianism: The diplomatic resolution of the mercenary revolt in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1967–8. The Journal of African History 60:2 (2019), 277–296, 10.1017/S0021853719000471.
Rode, P., Gomes, A., Adeel, M., Sajjad, F., Koch, A., Murshed, S.M., Between abundance and constraints: The natural resource equation of Asia's diverging, higher-Income City models. Land, 9(11), 2020, 426, 10.3390/land9110426.
Rosoux, V., The two faces of Belgium in the Congo: Perpetrator and rescuer. European Review of International Studies 1:3 (2014), 16–23 https://www.jstor.org/stable/26593310.
Union Minière du Haut Katanga, Union Minière du Haut-Katanga 1906–1956. 1956, Editions Cuypers L, Bruxelles, Belgique, 281p.
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022). World Population Prospects 2022: Summary of Results. UN DESA/POP/2022/TR/NO. 3. https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/wpp2022_summary_of_results.pdf.
Useni, S.Y., Cabala, K.S., Nkuku, K.C., Amisi, M.Y., Malaisse, F., Bogaert, J., Munyemba, K.F., Vingt-cinq ans de monitoring de la dynamique spatiale des espaces verts en réponse à l'urbanisation dans les communes de la ville de Lubumbashi (Haut-Katanga, RD Congo). Tropicultura 35 (2017), 300–311, 10.25518/2295-8010.1094.
Useni, S.Y., Cabala, K., Halleux, J.-M., Bogaert, J., Munyemba, K., Caractérisation de la croissance spatiale urbaine de la ville de Lubumbashi (Haut-Katanga, RD Congo) entre 1989 et 2014. Tropicultura 38:1 (2018), 98–108, 10.25518/2295-8010.1014.
Useni, S.Y., Boisson, S., Cabala, K.S., Nkuku, K.C., Malaisse, F., Halleux, J.-M., Munyemba, K.F., Dynamique de l'occupation du sol autour des sites miniers le long du gradient urbain-rural de la ville de Lubumbashi, RD Congo. Biotechnologie, Agronomie, Société et Environnement 24:1 (2020), 14–27, 10.25518/1780-4507.18306.
