Browsing by Author "Ngiye, Erasme"

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    La construction de la nouvelle capitale politique du Burundi à Gitega : aménagement urbain, discours sur la ville et « emblématisation »
    (Suds, Geographies critiques, perspectives des suds, n° 289, 2024-01) Pasini, Jérémy,; Ngiye, Erasme; Gahungu, Dieudonné
    In 2019, Gitega replaced Bujumbura as Burundi's political capital. Against this backdrop, this article examines the ways in which Gitega's urban spaces, and the collective practices and discourses associated with them are being transformed. Our central hypothesis is that, in order to create the new capital, the Burundian state is seeking to distinguish it from other cities by equipping it with modernised infras- tructure and living environments, while at the same time reaffirming its ceremonial functions (process of 'emblematization'). Our study, which is based on an analysis of semi-structured interviews with inhabitants of Gitega (either natives or civil servants relocated to Gitega), institutional sources, and satellite images, shows that Gitega is gradually acquiring the attributes that the government sees as befitting a capital city (high-rise buildings, major facilities, etc.). However, these transformations are also accompanied by social tensions: dirigisme in the urban planning process, opposition, and scepticism from part of the population, and the relegation of the poorest house-holds to the outskirts of the city. In fact, the creation of the new capital is primarily a response to a process of strengthening the State, which wants to demonstrate its ability to manage major projects and stage a sort of revival just a few years after the institutional crisis of 2015.