Dissertation_GhentUniversity_2019

Urban development as a reflection of dynamics of mobility The case of Bukavu (DR Congo) Margot Lootens

“The author gives the permission to make this master dissertation available for consultation and to copy parts of this dissertation for personal use. Every other use is restricted by the limitation imposed by copyrights, especially concerning the requirement to mention the source explictly when referring to results from this master dissertation.”

Margot Lootens August 2019

Urban development as a reflection of dynamics of mobility - The case of Bukavu (DR Congo) Margot Lootens

Supervisors: prof. ir.-arch. Joachim Declerck, prof. dr. ir.-arch. Johan Lagae Counsellor: Simon De Nys-Ketels Master’s dissertation submitted in order to obtain the academic degree of Master of Science in de ingenieurswetenschappen: architectuur Departure of Architecture and Urban Planning Chair: prof. dr. ir. Arnold Janssens Faculty of Engineering and Architecture Academic year 2018-2019

Acknowledgements

This dissertation would not have been possible without the help, guidance and support from a number of people.

In the first place I would like to express my gratitude to both Joachim Declerck and Johan Lagae, promotors of this dissertation. Without their guidance, insight, knowledge and resources this dissertation would not have been possible. I would like to thank you especially for providing me with a refreshing combination of both your respective insight in and approach to the subject.

I would also like to thank Simon De Nys-Ketels for his guidance through the archives and insightful remarks throughout the process.

Secondly, there are some people who enriched this dissertation by sharing their knowledge on the subject. Thank you Jacob Sabakinu and Gilian Mathys for your contextual insight. My sincere gratitude to Caroline Michellier and Sylvain Kulimushi for sharing with me your inside information on the city.

Lastly, I would like to thank my friends and family for their support. Thank you to my parents for your interest and limitless love and care. Thank you to my friends (you know who you are) for the motivational chats, constructive criticism and accurate suggestions. But also, thank you for the nights off, the coffee breaks and heartfelt friendship.

Abstract

This research departed, in a very early stage, from my personal interest in the challenges caused by demographic pressure and migration in Africa.

As has been stated multiple times by the UN and independent research organisations, the future population growth will take place mainly in the Global South and in an urban context.

Because of this, we will see the development of secondary cities and towns into important urban centres. This raises multiple questions with regards to on the one hand, how to facilitate the accommodation of such a significant amount of people within these new urban centres and on the other hand, how to guarantee sustainable urban growth when investment is limited.

From the question ‘how do we best guide this (inevitable, but not necessary negative) transition?’ I started my research. Soon it became clear that Bukavu, the capital city of South Kivu, the most eastern province of Congo, could provide a very interesting case.

Wanting to understand the city of today, research on the genealogy of the urban form was indispensable. I would argue in fact that this holds true for all cities, namely that you cannot understand their present spatial and socio-political reality without a profound understanding of their historic development. By consequence, any intervention aiming to positively contribute to the city’s development should be

based on exactly this understanding.

As Bukavu is essentially a colonial city, meaning that its urban form as it exists today originated in colonial times and thus is to a large extend based on colonial urban practice. On top of that it is also a perfect example of the effects of the hastened Independence and the years of disinvestment, chaos and conflict that followed. However in the case of Bukavu, there is more to the story. Apart from the prevailing narrative on primary and secondary Congolese cities as cities of colonial construct that have been affected by post-Independence state failure, the development of Bukavu is also greatly affected by its geographical position on the border between Congo and Rwanda, in the Great Lakes Region which is characterised by distinct mobility and power dynamics. Power relations, cultural and social formation have been and still are the main drivers of various events taking place in the region.

I tried to untangle the most influential themes which lay at the basis to understand the historic transformation of the region from pre-colonial history to present day. The aim here is to uncover which events or processes have been most influential in altering the spatial make-up of the region. Ethnicity (even though I prefer to use the term ‘cultural identity’), territoriality

and the struggle for power, land and resources have contributed throughout the history of the Kivu Region to its contemporary state.

torical development and its specific geographic location we can arrive at defining more precisely the contemporary urban challenges and the possible leverages for the future development More than being a Congolese fron- of Bukavu. tier city, Bukavu is also a border city meaning that its development is also subjected to trans- and crossborder dynamics and social and political changes which happen in Rwanda.

Mapping these regional and border dynamics proved to be valuable in trying to understand how political and socio-cultural events impacted the spatial make-up of the region and its urban centres, shifting balances and setting in motion processes affecting the spatial reality of the region.

Therefor, I bring Bukavu back into the picture when discussing regional dynamics. I will argue that the city owes part of its history to both regional and cross-boundary dynamics and show how we can trace this in the contemporary urban form. By pointing at specific places within the urban tissue where regional and cross-border dynamics left their mark on the city’s urban tissue I will exemplify how specific regional dynamics or events were reflected in the urban development.

Being aware of the historical genealogy of the city helps us to understand how and why the city is what it is today. Eventually, the aim is to show that because of the knowledge on its his-

Table of content

Part 0 _ Introduction 1 Framing research on Congo’s secondary cities and its eastern frontier

Part I _ The genealogy of Bukavu

11

Mapping urban development using the common narrative on colonial cities Segregation 35 Informality 57

Part II _ Bringing in the region

69

Specificity of the region and its influence on urban development Frontier 83 Borderland 87

Conflict zone

121

Part III _ Epilogue

129

Defining points of interest based on historically embedded research

Introduction

Research context

3

Research question

8

General overview

9

Research context

This dissertation is in the first place an explorative research into the urban development of the city of Bukavu, Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo.

The aim is to trace back the history of the place to colonial times and even further back to the 19th centruy, in order to create a more profound and substantiated understanding of the contemporary urban form and its challenges. As this dissertation focusses on the spatial aspects of urbanity, it is nonetheless inevitable and indispensable to also discuss the social and political developments in the region as these greatly influence practices of spatial transformation. The research departs on the one hand from existing literature on Bukavu and the region and on the other hand from cartography and maps found in colonial archives.

1

3

World Bank 2015

study. The African Archives in Brussels, as well as those of the Africa Museum in Tervuren, archives from KADOC in Leuven and the Archives d’Architecture Moderne (AAM) in Brussels had been consulted to find material on individual buildings as well as cartography and maps of the respective cities.

From this first exploration of the available material, it became already clear that documentation on the urban development of Bukavu is rather limited.

Most information could be found in the archives in Belgium, mainly in the African Archives where most maps used in this research come from. This material dates exclusively from the colonial period. From the post-Independence years, little information is available.

Especially in the local Office d’ Urbanisme, the lack of documentation is troublesome. Until today the office On Bukavu is unable to keep track of the urban growth and development of the area, Prior to this work, only limited research which shows that a thorough docuon the history of the city had been mentation of the urban environment done. At the University of Ghent, pro- of Bukavu is very much needed. fessor Johan Lagae, co-promotor of this dissertation, was involved in A valuable document on the history of conducting an assessment of the the area that became Bukavu and on urban patrimony for Bukavu, Kalemie, the origin of the city is Contribution à Kikwit, Kindu, Matadi and Mbandaka in la connaissance des origines du cen2015.1 The aim of this study was to tre de Bukavu (Kivu) de 1870 à 1935 create tools to document and evalu- by Pilipili Kagabo, written in 1972. This ate the state of the urban patrimony work is part of a more extensive reof these cities. Archival material and search on urban planning history and documents from Belgium and Congo knowledge in the Congo (Zaïre at the were collected in the first phase of the time) that was initiated in 1971 at the

University of Zaïre under direction of Léon de Saint Moulin. The work brings to the fore the history as perceived by the Congolese themselves. Kagabo is very explicit in this: “L’étude que nous entreprenons sur l’histoire de Bukavu a été, à chaque instant, soutenue par la conviction qu’à aucun moment de son histoire la population africaine de Bukavu n’a cessé de prendre les initiatives nécessaires et indispensables à sa survie. Avant l’occupation coloniste effective comme pendant la période coloniale et après celle-ci, la population noire de Bukavu a connu une histoire, son histoire propre.”2 The emphasis in the first chapter is on the intertwined history of Bukavu and the Bashi population. Kagabo states correctly that Bukavu already had a strategic and commercial importance before the arrival of the Belgians in the region and thus is not a city of pure colonial creation.3 But, as will be discussed in the first part, the colonial era impacted the area on social, political and infrastructural level so significantly that its history from then on was no longer ruled by the Bashi population and culture.

The value of this work for my research not only lies in the shift of perspective and detailed description of the state of affaires before colonisation, but also in the fact that it is one of

the few documents available written in the years post-Independence and by a non-state agent. Most firsthand information on the city and its region comes from the colonial government and dates from between the early 1920s until Independence in 1960. A survey on the demography of Bukavu by the Bureau d’Etudes d’Aménagements Urbains (1978) and an atlas on the city by Mohamed-Samir Chamaa (1981) give an insight in the demographic and infrastructural development of the area for the period between 1960 and 1981.

Goma as a mirror As research on Bukavu, especially work with a more spatial approach, is very limited, works on the city of Goma, 30 kilometers north of Bukavu, provided extra information on the regional and border dynamics. The city of Goma shows a lot of similarities with Bukavu.

First of all, both cities are on the border with Rwanda and thus have been greatly influenced in their development by the existence of this border.

Both cities as they exist today have their origin in the Belgian border posts that were erected in the early twentieth century. As they are part of the same region, during as well as after the colonial period, dynamics of institutional power and social developments are to a certain extend the same. In her PhD Conflict, state failure and

2

Kagabo 1973, p. 2

3

ibid. p. 6 4

The research carried out in this dissertation goes beyond the narrative of the historical development of the city.

Rather, I approached this research as an incentive to further investigate the Kivu region, being the borderland between Congo and Rwanda. This works in both ways: we need a profound understanding of the historical social, political and economic developments in the region to understand how the contemporary urban reality came into being and at the same time, investigating the city and its spatial make-up can contribute to an understanding of the border region as a whole. Further, the aim is to draw conclusions on the interaction between regional dynamIn the article Faire face à l’incerti- ics and urban development. tude: la frontière entre le Conge et le Rwanda comme une ressource (2012) Gillian Mathys provided a detailed narthe research into border dynamics rative on the cultural, political and ecoin Goma takes on a more spatial ap- nomic dynamics present in the Kivu proach. Cross-border practices and ur- region during pre-colonial and colonial ban development on both sides of the times. In her PhD People on the move: border mutually reinforce each other, Frontiers, borders, mobility and history causing Goma in Congolese side and in the Lake Kivu region 19th-20th centuGisenyi just across the border in Rwan- ry (2014) she traces back border dyda to practically merge into one urban namics, state influence and mobility in agglomeration. The article elaborates the Kivu region from the late 19th cenon the spaces where the border is tury until the first years after Indepenlegally and illegally crossed and in dence. Part of my research departs which way these practices are vital to from the information provided in this sustain the livelihoods of many people work. As I will explain in greater detail living on either side of the border. further on, frontiers, borders and mobility are key notions to understanding On the region the region. Gillian Mathys has studied in depth the significance of these urban transformation in the Eastern Congolese periphery.The case of Goma (2011) Karen Büscher examines the impact of violent conflict and state failure in the urban context, using Goma as case study. Approaching the city from different entry points allowed Büscher to discuss the complexity of the city and the dynamics that contribute to urbanism and the perception of urbanity in the specific context of the ‘peripheral’, ‘border-’ and ‘conflict-city’.4 This work was of great importance for my own research as it allowed me to start to grasp the complexity of the context and the specificity of what is called a ‘border-city’.

4

5

Büscher 2011, p. 4

notions in the context of the Kivu region from a historical and societal point of view. This work was of great importance for me to understand the social and political dynamics that plaid out in the region and effectively impacted its spatial development during the 19th and 20th century.

inson 2006, Myers 2011, Parnell & Pieterse 2014). As urban studies on Western cities already have a long and rich history, it proves challenging for researchers to find a fitted, nuanced approach on discussing African urbanity. Taking up this discourse in depth here would lead too far, but it is none the less important to acknowledge The Rift Valley Institute has published the sensitivities revealed in these some valuable research on violent written works. conflict and armed groups in North and South Kivu in the context of the Usala- In Africa’s Urban Revolution (2014) ma Project (first phase 2012-2013). Pieterse and Parnell argue that AfThe publications distinguish in a more rican urbanisation has not yet been precise manner the differing develop- properly and thoroughly examined by ments between these regions. As said developmental scholars, public policy before, some dynamics and observa- researcher and other fields related tions done on Goma and its hinterland to urbanity and the African continent. can hold true for the city of Bukavu This information gap on urban Africa is and its region, but there are also pro- according to them the root of the lack found differences between the North of proper urban planning practices on and the South Kivu region. Reading the the continent. publication by Koen Vlassenroot and the ones by Jason Stearns, show how The book Rogue Urbanism (2013) in recent years the dynamics of vio- on the other hand is a plea for a more lent conflict and the actions of armed sensitive approach to African cities. groups impacted the regions and to a The contributors acknowledge that great extend also the urban areas of Western urban theory and language Goma and Bukavu differently. cannot always aptly describe the African reality of cities. Indeed, very difFocus on urban Africa ferent dynamics are at play on the African continent. The existing language, Research on urban Africa has in recent conceived in a Western urban context, years been gaining interest.5 Some often fails to acknowledge the proseminal works have been published found differentness of urban Africa. on the (re)contextualisation of African The volume aims to offer ‘diverse cities in the urban discourse (Rob- perspectives and modalities of

5

ibid. p. 3 6

thought on various ways in which a thick analytical account of African cities can be advanced’.6

6 Pieterse & Simone 2013, p. 13 7

7

UN-Habitat 2016, p. 9

A last insight I want to touch upon, even though it is not related to African cities in specific, is the ‘ordinary city’ approach proposed by Jennifer Robinson (2006). In her theoretical work, she argues that all cities are best understood as ‘ordinary’. This approach tries to cut across the common divide in urban discourse between ‘Western’ cities and other kinds of cities. I understand the ‘ordinary city’ approach also as an acknowledgement that every city, independent of its size, geographic location, relation in the global network etc., is a valid subject for urban studies. Yet the focus of most recent studies on African cities have been on capital or primary cities (De Boeck & Plissart 2004, De Boeck & Baloji 2016, Murray & Myers 2006, Myers 2011, Pieterse & Simone 2013, Simone 2004, Simone 2005). Acknowledging the value of these works, I would argue that the same kind of attention should also be given to secondary cities. In the first place because it is projected that these cities will become subjected to demographic pressure and accelerated urban growth in the next decades.7 And secondly because these smaller cities expose very different ways of urbanising as they are generally of lesser political importance and hence are shaped by different dynamics.

Research question

As mentioned the research question of this dissertation is in the first place an exploration of the genealogy of Bukavu and the events which transformed la ville verte into the cumbersome space it is today.

one hand the genealogy of the city is discussed processing archival material and on the other hand the regional dynamics are spatialised to show how they contribute(d) to the city’s development and lived reality today.

This question still left open a lot of possible approaches. As research on Bukavu is limited and Goma has in recent years been studied more closely, a comparisson between their urban forms was an option. Just as focusing closely and solely on the planning principles (both formal and informal), the resulting urban form and diversity of settlement patterns and the kinds of settlements in relation to infrastructure. Because of its location on the border with Rwanda, a borderland perspective focusing on transborder dynamics seemed also interesting.

However, the limited time frame of this master’s dissertation and the fact that field research in Bukavu was impossible due to safety reasons, constrained research possibilities.

From the explorative research done within the framework of this dissertation, several more profound examinations on certain themes or aspects can be done. Specifically I highlight 5 topics which could be seen as themes or lenses through wich the city (or the region) can be further researched and for which I believe a spatial approach would be appropriate in order to understand their effects on the ground.

After digging into some of the archival material and getting familiar with available research on the region and Goma, it became clear to me that for Bukavu, many different aspects still could be researched. My personal interest in the socio-political and economic aspects of urban development and a rather ‘humanitarian’ voluntary led me to develop a narrative in which on the 8

General overview

This masters dissertation focusses in the first place on the city of Bukavu and more specifically on the historical development of its urban tissue. In the first chapter, I will discuss the development of the city from its origin to today from a more common point of view. In defining the ‘common narrative’ I discuss the historic discourse on Congolese colonial cities, the architects / planners most influential in defining colonial urban planning and the key elements of Congolese cities as viewed from a Western perspective.

With this in mind, I aim to unveil where Bukavu’s urban development does or does not comply with this common narrative. Because of its contested origin the city’s development only took off at the very end of the 1920s with the first masterplan for the city

by Raphaël Verwilghen. Between the 1930s and the national Plan Décennal in 1950 the European city developed rather slowly and mainly through private investment of the colons. The number of indigenous inhabitants rose a lot quicker than anticipated by the colonial administration, so by the time Jean Gilson was appointed to develop a new masterplan for the city, the cité indigène in Kadutu had already far exceeded its original boundaries. In the beginning of the 1950s the Office des Cités Africaines was charged with the development of two cités in Bukavu, 9

namely Bagira and Kadutu. Together with the European city which followed Verwilghen’s plan of 1930, these neighbourhoods are the only parts of the city that have been developed following an urban masterplan. Also from an architectural point of view, this episode proves to be interesting.

From Independence onward, population growth took a flight. Expansion of the city happened in an informal manner. Especially in the fifteen years after the Congo Wars the city changed drastically in appearance.

The first part thus keeps a closed focus on the city and its development within the Congolese context. But this does not fully explain how the city has developed into its contemporary reality.

In the second part, I zoom out from the city to bring in the perspective of the Lake Kivu Region, part of the Great Lakes Region. The historic socio-economic and political dynamisms of this specific region are essential to create a more profound understanding of Bukavu’s contemporary urban form as well as its social and political construction. I trace back the socio-economic and political make-up of the region to the end of the 19th century.

This is needed to understand how in colonial times new socio-economic and political orders were superimposed to traditional systems and how

the latter resurged from Independence onward. Between the beginning of effective colonial occupation (ca. 1900) and the end of the 1980s, three forces simultaneously played out in the region. First, the imposition of borders (both national and international) reshaped the area drastically. Secondly, economic exploitation was the main driver of infrastructural development during the colonial period. And last, cultural identity and mobility are central to dynamic development, specifically in this region. All three narratives have left their traces on the development of Bukavu as well, however often only in a subtle way. The three zooms (one at the end of every chapter) aim at unveiling the influence of these regional dynamics on the development and contemporary reality of the city.

categories to which the city and the region can be ascribed greatly contributed to my understanding of the matter thus they can be relevant to the reader also in order to capture the bigger picture of the narrative.

Throughout both parts, five key notions interrupt the story on well-defined and appropriate times. These notions are central in contemporary discourse on Congolese cities or specific regions and are also present in the narrative on Bukavu and the Lake Kivu Region.

I shortly discuss the meaning and relevance of the notions within academic discourse in order to then exemplify their importance within the narrative of this dissertation. The five notions all attribute defining elements to create a more profound understanding of what is at play. Therefor they are included at fit positions. Being aware of the 10

The genealogy of Bukavu

Bukavu today

13

Defining the common narrative

19

Bukavu’s urban growth

23

/ From border post to C.U.

25

/ Verwilghens plan for the administrative city

27

/ The first Cité Indigène

31

Segregation

35

/ Running up to the Plan Décennal

37

/ A formal answer to demographic pressure

341

/ Accelerated (informal) growth

53

Informality

57

/ Aftermath of 10 years of war

59

/ Evaluation of contemporary urban tissue

61

13

Bukavu today

Bukavu is a secondary city in one of the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The city is the capital of the South Kivu province.

It is located right on the border between the DRC and Rwanda. To the east, the city is limited by the Ruzizi river which is the natural element dividing Congo from Rwanda. In the north, the city’s five “fingers” (peninsulas) slide into lake Kivu. Limited in its expansion on these sides, the city presents a remarkable shape. Southward, the district of Ibanda extends over 6 kilometers southward. North-west, the city is spread along the shore for over 7 kilometers.

The variation in its density and settlement gives the impression that the quarter of Ndendere and along the Avenue Lumumba /Avenue President Mobutu the city centre developed on the hills rising just behind the five peninsulas. Also the figure of the street lay out suggests willful development of this area. More south the density and the size of housing suggests that this is a popular quarter. Along the lakeside

the settlement pattern seems to be more loose and organic.

Moreover the city does not seem to have a designed form. At certain places such as the quarter Nyamugo in Kadutu, the quarter Lumumba in Bagira, parts of Ndendere and of Panzi in Ibanda lead to believe that these parts have been deliberately designed, while at other instances settlement patterns seem to be more anarchic.

Knowing that the city was established in the colonial period raises the question on what the colonial logic behind the development was, as the principles common to Belgian colonial urban planning (see infra) seem to be absent in the contemporary form of Bukavu.

In order to uncover the (colonial) logics and dynamics that shaped the city over time, first the common practices in colonial urban planning should be discussed. Only this way, it can become clear where common practice was applied or adapted and where or when other agencies or dynamics came into play altering the development.

/ Image 1 Bukavu today with its remarkable form of the peninsulas as the five fingers of a hand reaching into the Kivu Lake 14

Topography & hydrography

Lake Kivu

Ruzizi river

river

15

altitude lines (50m)

Administrative

international border

Nyakavogo

Kajangu

Cahi

municipal boundary

Lumumba

Cimpunda

Ndendere

neighbourhood boundary Kasha

Kasali

Nyalukemba

Nkafu

Nyamugo

Panzi

Nyakaliba

Mosala 16

Road infrastructure

national road

regional road

local road

17

Popultion density

1 500 -10 000 hab/km2

50 000 - 60 000

10 000 - 20 000

60 000 - 70 000

20 000 - 30 000

70 000 - 80 000

30 000 - 40 000

80 000 - 87 500

40 000 - 50 000

no information 18

Defining the ‘common narrative’

The urban development of the colony was the project of a selective group of Belgian architects and urban planners who developed their visions for Belgian Congo based on the evolutions in urban planning practice and architecture on the European continent. Urban planning in the Belgian colonial context was used as a medium to convey ideas about the desired development of the colony. As such, the economic logic prevails in both colonial urban planning and architecture. But also the racial ideology and the mission civilatrice1 were at the core of urban planning theory and practice.

1 To the outside world, colonialism was often linked with a supposed ‘philanthropic’ project of ‘guiding the barbaric and wild to civilisation’.

This ambition to civilise the local population was often used as a misleading argument to effectuate other agendas which were of mainly economic interest for the colonial powers.

2

De Meulder, 2000, p. 8

3 See “Facilitating for mains d’oeuvre pendulaires” 4 De Meulder, 2000, p. 174 5

ibid. p. 121

19

From the start it should be clear that urban planning in the colony was never at the top of the agenda nor was it the object of any form of cohesive policy.2 For long, Belgium maintained a conscious anti-urban policy in the Congo. As the foremost purpose of the colony was economic, urban settlements were to serve in the first place as commercial centres for trading and transportation of goods. Secondly they provided accommodation for the seats of Belgian economic enterprises and their attendants, colonial administrators and officers. Via specific policies regarding mobility and migration indigenous populations were discouraged to move to the urban centres.3 Labour forces were hosted preferably in labour camps for the time of the contract while their families

remaind living in their traditional rural settlements. Only those population groups which were necessary were to be allowed in the European city, such as évolués and artisans.4 From the beginning of the colonial era in the 1900s until the second half of the 1930s urban development happened in Belgian Congo without a sound or unified vision. Private development companies such as SIMAK and CIMNOKI proved to be unsuccessful at constructing qualitative urban centres and providing adequate infrastructure.

Conflicting elements such as speculation and vacancy, the desire to control versus the reality of uncontrolled growth, divergent long and short term perspectives, colonial scale versus local scale and the principle of segregation clashing with the desire to construct communities culminated in the beginning of the 1930s. 5 Concerned with the contemporary state of the colony, René Schoentjes, urban planner at the Ministry of the Colonies, developed an ideal scheme for the colonial city. As a Belgian planner, his scheme is based on European urban planning theory, combining principles of the garden city and Le Corbusier’s ville radieuse. Also the 19th century worker housing shortage in the West provided theoretical and practical examples on how to counter the vast housing crisis in the colony.

The ville congolaise-type represented, according to Schoentjes, the essence of the colonial city based on a limited amount of key principles which would allow application to different environments and safeguard the independent growth possibilities of every part of the city. He conceived the ideal colonial village as follows: “D’abord, la ville industrielle, en contact immédiat avec la voie de communication, qu’elle soit rail ou fleuve. Puis la ville commerciale, où se groupent, avec les factories, les magasins et les hôtels, les services publics. Ensuite, la ville résidentielle européenne où, après une journée de travail, il importe de trouver le calme permettant de jouir de la vie de famille. Et enfin, la cité indigène, dont les dispositions doivent permettre une surveillance facile, tant au point de vue de l’ordre que d’hygiène. Tel est le spectacle schématique que présente la ville congolaise idéale, ou plutôt typique, qu’elle soit embryonnaire ou en plain épanouissement, certains éléments en étant plus développés que les autres, suivant les cas.”6 Also the independent extensibility of these four components is central to Schoentjes’ scheme. Therefor the layout should ideally be T-shaped with the industrial component on the head, at right angles to the commercial quarter which divides together with a green

zone of minimum 500 meters the European from the indigenous quarter.

Schoentjes thus reduced the complex urban question to a functional scheme, puzzling together utilitarian components. The influence of the Modern Movement in his theoretical approach is undeniable. In line with the Modern Movement ideas, his scheme was fixed on providing a rational answer to the challenges of scale, mobility and controllability posed in respectively the colonial and the European context. Notwithstanding the difficulties encountered in implementing this scheme, as is the case in Bukavu, Schoentjes’ theory was probably the most influential in defining the colonial city.

Within the different quarters which composed the (ideal) colonial city, a grid lay-out was usually preferred.

Spatial organisation of the urban territory was generally based on an economic logic.7 The grid reflects order and discipline. It not only organised the urban space in a rational manner and limited the complexity of infrastructural networks, it also allowed systematic control and policing of the indigenous quarter.

In the context of European reconstruction post World War II urban planning and design in the colony would become once again criticised, this time for its poor housing conditions, spec-

6 Schoentjes 1932, p.

172 7 Boonen & Lagae 2015, p. 56

20

ulation, irrational expansion and deficient infrastructure and equipment.8 The urbanisation on the continent had gained momentum but the singular focus of colonial urban planning and architecture on the European city completely failed to guide the vast urban growth. A common critic was that the agglomerations became too big to be effectively controlled. Also the Belgian colonial ideology itself received critic from outside as from within.9

8 De Meulder 2000, p.

173 9

10

ibid. p. 174 ibid.

11 De Meulder 2005, p. 141-148, p. 142 12 De Meulder 2000, p. 186 13 Lejeune de Schiervel 1954, p. 1226

21

become part of a ‘civilised’ society.

This way the anti-urban mentality that continued to roam in colonial policy in general was given a spatial dimension.

Simultaneously the satellite cities were to project the ‘real’ cornerstones of a civilised society, namely the private property, the family and labour.

Belgian architect Maurice C. Heymans made name in this context with his vision for the improved colonial city.

He proposed the linear city as the most adequate figure of urban cohesion in Belgian Congo. More precisely, he contended that the city should be deconstructed into different unités résidentielles along the transportation arteries. These units were in essence small self-sufficient satellite cities with a semi-rural semi-urban character and independent of the existing European city.10 These satellite cities would house all indigenous people who did not belong in the European cities, mainly mine and plantation workers and employees of industrial facilities.

This way the existing city would remain controllable, agreeable and affordable.

In 1952 a centralised parastatal organism, the OCA (Office de Cités Africaines) was created exactly for the purpose of constructing the colonial welfare state as envisioned in the Plan Décennal pour le Développement Economique et Social du Congo Belge.11 Its assignment was to realise a minimum of 40 000 qualitative housing units for the people within the timeframe of ten year.12 As the satellite cities were conceived as autonomous, self-sufficient units, the OCA was also responsible for the development and deployment of communal buildings, infrastructure and urban accommodations in the cités. Consequently the constructions of these agglomerations were “(des) entreprises urbanistiques complètes, par l’aménagement des terrains, de même la construction et l’équipement des logements et des bâtiments communautaires des habitants.”13

The semi-rural semi-urban character of these unités was essential to help transition the indigenous population from their traditional communities to

These three main episodes (until mid-1930s, interbellum and postwar) and their leading figures, measures, economic and social undercurrents

shaped the Congo’s primary and secondary cities until Independence. From Independence onward, no theory or strong policy on urban development for the Republic emerged from the national level. On the local level, urban planning was not even on the agenda.

All over Congo, cities had no means, material, monetary nor academic to intervene in the vast rural-urban migration influx they were facing. However the country did (and still does) have a Departement des Travaux Publics et de l’Aménagement des Territories and a Bureau d’Etudes d’Aménagements Urbains (BEAU). For Bukavu this institution published a survey on the city.

The report describes its contemporary state in 1978 and gives an indication of its main deficiencies. However, as far as we know, no significant action was undertaken to work with the results derived from this research. Today Bukavu has an Office d’Urbanisme, but even this governmental department does not have an up to date cadastral map of the city and still lacks the means to set up, let alone impliment, an urban development plan for the city.

22

Bukavu’s urban growth

/ A formal answer to demographic pressure

/ From border post to CU

/ Verwilghen’s vision for the administrative city

/ The first Cité Indigène

2501 °

2000 20 ° °

/ Running up to the Plan Décennal

42338

°

/ Evaluation of contemporary urban tissue

/ Aftermath of 10 years of war

/ Accelerated (informal) growth

1900

25

1920

1925

/ From border post to CU

15

Kagabo 1973,. p.12

/ Image 2 The first settlements on La Botte in the early 1920s with in front the missionary buildings / Map 1 Bukavu as circonscription urbaine

First of all, Bukavu did not emerge in a terre vierge. Before the arrival of Europeans in the area, the south-western lakeside of Lake Kivu was already populated by Shi families and clans (see Lake Kivu Region in the 19th century).

According to Kagabo at least 6 villages existed in the area of Bukavu.15 In the year 1900, in the context of a border dispute about the location of the border between the CFS and German territory, a military post was installed on the peninsula of Nya Lukemba. Originally it foresaw in the provision for the Belgian post right across the Ruzizi, which would become the city Cyangugu. Both posts were originally Belgian military posts. It was not until the demarcation of the definitive border between Congo Free State and German East Africa at the Convention of Brussels in 1910 that they became border posts in respectively Belgian and German colonial territory.

Many Belgian officers serving during the border dispute, as well as those who fought on this front during the First World War started to explore the region and discover its natural resources and agreeable climate. Once the border dispute was settled in 1910, the appropriation and development of this economic and environmentally interesting area was initiated. X. Verwilghen and P. Van Baelen were the first settlers to arrive in 1919.

On 4 April 1925 by ordonance of the Vice-Governor of the Oriental Province a circonscription urbaine for Bukavu was created, meaning that within these limits a (colonial) locality could be developed. This way indigenous people no longer had rights on the land and the possibility of colonial development was guaranteed. In other words the creation of the CU affirmed the colonial occupation of this territory.

26

1920

27

1929

/ Verwilghen’s vision for the administrative city

16 In his letter, Van De Ghinste does not specify why the proximity of the border is a negative aspect of the proposed location GG 18687, letter N° 267R, Projet installation chef-lieu de District à Bukavu, 19 November 1923

/ Image 3 Axonometric drawing of the Quartier des affaires,

by R. Verwilghen 1930 / Map 2 First scheme for Costermansville

In 1926 the CU became chef-lieu of the Kivu district. Among the main arguments for this decision were the existing high population density, the planned terminus of the foreseen railroad which would connect Lake Kivu and Lake Tanganyika, the magnificent setting with view over the lake and the fruitful environment “se prêtant admirablement bien au peuplement par une colonie d’europeens”. Thus the CU was installed even though it was “too close to the border” according to Van De Ghinste, Commissaire de District.16 In 1927 Bukavu would also become the capital of the larger Kivu province and take the name Costermansville until 1953.

Belgian urban planner Raphaël Verwilghen was entrusted by SIMAK (Société Immobiliser au Kivu) in 1929 to draw a plan for the urban development

of both Bukavu and Uvira (a city in the north of Lake Tanganyika, also situated on the border between Congo and Ruanda-Urundi)r. The general approach was that both cities would harbour regional functions, connecting the Congo with the mandate RwandaUrundi.

Verwilghen’s plan for Costermansvillle would become a hybrid between the garden city model and the modernist city. The family house as basic component placed in a green environment, would give the city its residential and administrative character. Functional zoning and the intended rationalisation and densification the garden city scheme testifies to the economic logic underlying spatial organisation of the colonial urban territory. As such the plan of 1929 should be read as a search in the run-up to Schoentjes scheme for the ideal colonial city.

28

1920

29

1929

Conception of the masterplan From the very beginning the topography of the chosen site posed variable challenges to Verwilghen’s vision for the administrative and functional city.

It was simply impossible to deploy a grid pattern, which was generally the preferred structure for the European centre. The steep slopes and whimsical hill tops imposed themselves as sole possible base figure. Consequently, the street lay out should follow the natural topography. As such the urban form of Bukavu’s European centre developed according to an other logic than the one proposed in Schoentjes ville congolaise-type.

De Meulder 2000, p. 106

17

18

ibid. p. 108

19 R. Verwilghen, quoted in ibid.

/ Image 4 Verwilghen’s architectural ambitions for the Quartier des affaires

In line with the common colonial vision the centre first and foremost had to serve economic purposes. The Kawa valley in the north-west would host small industry, connecting the city via its harbour and the planned (but never fully executed) railroad to the regional transportation network. The commercial centre would rise on the more or less horizontal hilltops and determine the image of the city as only these parts could be seen from a distance.17 For Verwilghen, the privileged location of Bukavu should be valued. His plan provided significant space for forestation of steep unadapted hillsides, broad lanes and urban green. This to

support the idea of the residential city as a ville de repos.18 On strategic locations forestation and housing opened up to scenic views over the lake. The plan was thus not only forcefully adapted by the topography but also consciously it used the assets of the site to determine a specific atmosphere.

Verwilghen’s aesthetic ambitions for the Europen centre were also translated in his drawings, exemplifying the imagined architecture. In the drawings for the commercial quarter, the rational and productive logic is apparent.

But equally modernistic principles are clearly present. About the residential housing Verwilghen also had a clear vision: “D’autre part le contraste puissant des ombres et lumières, le soleil ardent qui accuse les vides et les pleins et mange tous les détails, nécessite évidemment une architecture de masses et de volumes où l’harmonie des proportions constitute l’élément essentiel de beauté.

En d’autres termes il faut ici une architecture moderne non d’un moderne échevelé - mais d’un moderne aussi classique, aussi pur que possible.

Pareille architecture peut seule s’harmoniser avec le cadre imposant du lac et des montagnes.”19 30

1930

31

1935

1940

/ The first Cité Indigène

20

BEAU 1978, p.10

21

Chamaa 1981 p. 45

/ Image 5 Collège Nôtre-Dame de la Victoire constructed in a still rural environment around 1941-42 / Map 3 Plan for CI Kadutu within the CU / Figure 1 Applying the common colonial urban practice to the site (p. 34) / Figur 2 Zoom on the river valley and cité indigène (p. 34)

Verwilghen’s first plan only foresaw the allocation of zones for the cité indigène, the asian quarter and the placement of industry in the Kawa valley while a plan for the European centre was developed to greater detail. Following the already common principles of zoning and segregation, the European and indigenous quarter were separated from one another. Again topography challenged the common practice, but also the existing settlements of Belgian missionaries and the location of the indigenous and european hospitals were not in line with the desired principles. Instead of installing a distinct zone neutre, the Kawa valley would serve as a spatial separation between the indigenous and the European quarters.

of the Kawa river was developed. The only road connecting the CI with the European centre ran along the valley, through the industrial quarter. This way the presence of Africans in the European city could be controlled and policed.

For the cité indigène a grid pattern was deployed on the more or less horizontal part of the site. Two collective wells, a market place and a public square were the only communal provisions defined in the plan of 1936.

The hill of course limited the extend to which this pattern could expand.

Soon the foreseen area proved to be too limited to host its inhabitants as between the creation of the CI in 1935 and 1944 the indigenous popIn 1935 the limits of the CI Kadutu ulation grew from about 2 050 to were legally fixed20 and the west bank 15 000 people.

32

1930

Scheme for the ideal colonial city as described by Schoentjes

Topography of site

Adjusting scheme to the site

1935

1940

Segregation

Colonial cities can generally be characterised by common principles which were part and parcel of urban planning practices shared by colonial empires in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the interwar period especially common themes of economic efficiency, hygiene, the mission civilatrice and the expression of superiority of the colonial power crystallised into defined practices. Spatial practice became defined by the obsession with hygiene, the search for a disciplinary and racially defined organisation and social engineering of society.22 The principle of segregation became the main basis for the organisation of Belgium’s colonial cities.

22 Boonen & Lagae 2018, p. 32 23

ibid.

24

ibid. p. 39

25

ibid. p. 33

35

Academic discourse on and analysis of colonial cities from the 1970s onward essentially defines the colonial city as a ‘divided city’. This points to the principle of segregation along racial lines and the binary nature of the urban form as a result of this ideology based principle.23 Race was soundly rooted in political and societal views on the colony and consequently found its expression in both administrative and spatial practices throughout the colonial period. Spatial organisation was used as a tool to project the racial colonial ideology on the people and the territory.

guidelines. The European centre or city had to be separated from indigenous quarters. A zone neutre or cordon sanitaire in between kept the ‘white’ and ‘black’ parts physically at distance from each other. In this way spatial separation caused the image of the divided city.

The introduction of the zone neutre served several purposes. In the first place it was a measure to prevent undesired racial mixing. Therefor it was a tool to control mobility in the divided city.24 But secondary, it also served ‘hygienic purposes’ as it was believed that the minimum width of 500 meters would suffice to prevent the spreading of disease like malaria to the European quarter. However this sanitary aspect was used as a pretext and justification to put the segregationist agenda into practice.

The introduction of the zone neutre in the scheme for the ideal colonial city by Schoentjes was definitely not of his own invention. In the 1920s it was already introduced in a number of colonial urban centres in Sub-Saharan Africa such as Lagos, Dar es Salaam and Dakar.25 But it was not until the early 1930s that this principle became essential to Belgian colonial urban practice.

All colonial cities in Congo were mod- In Bukavu, the idea of zone neutre was elled according the segregation based to a certain extend compromised.

The Kawa valley segregated the European from the indigenous quarter. As industry was installed in the valley and sanitary facilities developed on its western flank, Bukavu’s lay-out does not follow exactly the principle of the zone neutre, which was originally conceived to be ‘empty space’.

However, in most Belgian colonial cities the idea of the zone neutre as ‘empty space’ was soon compromised. In Kinshasa for example, African settlements and commercial activities gradually installed in the cordon sanitaire, compromising its original function.26 Today the legacy of this spatial principle is apparent in the form of Bukavu.

Until today the divided city is visible and not just in its building patrimony.

Of course the unbalanced investments on architectural and infrastructural level between the indigenous and European quarter in colonial times is still apparent. Therefore, contemporary social stratification follows historical spatial stratification.27 But also the presence of humanitarian aid offices such as the United Nations and Médecins Sans Frontières and international NGOs contributes to the maintenance of the divided city as these organisations chose to settle in the former European centre.28

26

Beeckmans 2013, p. 6

see “Social stratification of the urban environment” 27

28 see “Evaluation of the contemporary urban form”

36

1940

37

1949

/ Running up to the Plan Décennal

29 De Meulder 2000, p.172 30 Plan N° CU41, Ville colonial Belge, principe d’amenagement, aplication du système linéaire à Costermansville, 28 January 1949

/ Image 6 Cité Indigène Kadutu around 1948-49 / Map 4 Status quo of urban development circa. 1949

In 1949 the metropole developed the Plan Décennal pour le Développement Economique et Social du Congo Belge.

This policy framework expressed the Belgian vision on the desired social and economic development of the colony in the following ten years. In reaction to the general trend of decline of the colonial urban environment two main topics were put to the fore.

On the one hand the ambition was to provide the colony with modern infrastructure. On the other hand the vast housing shortage for indigenous population which arose in all Congolese urban centres had to be addressed.

Further the need for the development of a viable national market was introduced to counter proletarianisation of cities and the impoverishment of the rural areas.29

Under influence of this new national colonial vision the focus shifted around the 1950s from constructing the residential and administrative city to developing the industry and the CECs (cité extra-coutumier, indigenous quarters such as the cité indigène). Also the city’s position in the regional, national and international transportation network was reflected upon.30 For the future vision of Bukavu, architect Jean Gilson was engaged. In 1949 he was appointed to survey the city of Bukavu. In this survey he points out its most pressing deficiencies and develops a vision for the city reflecting the ambitions stated in the Plan Décennal.

38

1940

39

1949

31

Gilson 1950, p. 10

32

ibid. p. 15

33

ibid. p. 132

/ Image 7 Costermansville Plan Directeur developed by Gilson, 1950

Throughout his analyses he describes how the city is the consequence of anarchic and opportunistic development, resulting in a dysfunctional, ugly urban agglomeration of settlements.

On the ‘white’ city he explains: “[Le service d’autorisation de bâtir] est relativement déficient du fait qu’elle ne s’appuie sur aucune règlementation quelconque, ni d’ordre sanitaire, ni d’ordre technique ni d’ordre esthétique , et encore moins d’ordre urbanistique.”31 For the development of the ‘black’ quarters, his critic is even stronger: “Le centre extra-coutumier de Costermansville, constitue le plus épouvantable agglomérat de taudis qui se puise imaginer. L’amas de cases et de huttes entassées forme un cancre hideux collé sur les pentes raides de la colline, exhalant au soleil sa nauséabonde pestilence. Les chiffres de population […] permettent de situer celle-ci à environ 12 000 habitants, lesquels cohabitent dans des conditions de promiscuité rendant impossible la vie familiale simple.”32 Therefore, one of the main elements of his Plan Directeur will be the development of smaller indigenous neighbourhoods by which l’evolution sociale of its inhabitants could be guaranteed.

The existing CEC should be subdivided into unités de voisinage (quarters) of 6 to 8 000 inhabitants, divided from each other by green and communal ar-

eas. This CEC was supposed to house only indigenous people working in the European city or in the artisanal industrial zone long time installed in the Kawa valley. A second ville noire should be developed on the plateaus between the valleys of the Bwindi and Tshibashi river north-west of the city following the same principles. This second indigenous city should function independently from the European city and house the indigenous main-d’oeuvre working in the hinterland.

For the European quarter Gilson envisioned a strict zoning. The five peninsulas were to become the sole residential zones. South of the peninsulas, the existing road should become the backbone of local transport and house only commercial buildings. South of this area, the administrative quarter should be further developed. The entire area south-east of this administrative centre should become a vast green zone and park area.

In conclusion, Gilson’s masterplan did not aim at redefining the city entirely, rather the goal seemed to be to decongest the existing city from all its malfunctions. He concludes himself: “Il s’agit d’un lent travail de patience plutôt que de chirurgie radicale, d’où découle pour la ville le besoin de l’aide d’un urbaniste conseil modelant progressivement le décor urbain, au fur et à mesure de l’évolution des besoins des groupes humains.”33 40

1950

placeholder

41

1953

19

960

/ A formal answer to demographic pressure The idea of constructing a completely autonomous satellite city for the indigenous population was of course not an invention of Gilson. Everywhere in Belgian Congo new cités extracoutumiers were developed on this very principle. In Bukavu two CECs were developed in the early 1950s, Bagira and Kadutu.

Nationwide, the development of these CECs was entrusted to the OCA (Office des Cités Africaines), a centralised structure mandated with the urbanisation of the sites into cités. In the first place, the OCA was concerned with the pressing housing shortage. To facilitate the autonomous working of the satellite city34, also the construction of communal buildings and facilities were entrusted to the OCA.

/ Image 8 OCA housing group in Bagira / Image 9 OCA neighbourhood in Kadutu / Map 5 Re-ordering of the urban plan of Costermansville as envisioned by the OCA

34 In colonial discourse, the satellite cities were viewed as ‘towns’ while only the European city carried the label of ‘city’.

However the notion of ‘city’ is preferred as it is closer to the French denomination as ‘cité’.

The site for CEC Bagira was 7 kilometers away from the European city and located on a more or less horizontal hilltop where before already a worker camp seems to have been installed.

Conceived as a dormitory city, its main components were (social) housing, commercial buildings and communal buildings. The commercial facilities were to provide the inhabitants with all necessary goods so the unit could function completely independently from the European city. The same goes for Kadutu, which was completely redeveloped to erase the malfunctioning former CI and its bidonvilles.

42

1950

Planning principles In the master plans for both Kadutu and Bagira the general principles or principes d’amenagement which are characteristic for the neighbourhoods developed by the OCA in the 1950s are applied.

Topography and orientation of the chosen site determined the lay out of the road network. Contrary to planning principles from the 1930s when a grid pattern was prefered, the OCA opted for a hierarchical road network, dividing the CEC in different quartiers.

These quartiers were units housing preferably 5 to 10 000 inhabitants.

Within these quarters variable housing types could be applied, depending on the desired density. Generaly it was preferred to keep density higher in the proximity of schools, the market place and other communal buildings. For Bagira and Kadutu, topography also played a role in this. On slopes which were steep enough, a specific housing type à l’étage was applied, using the slope to stack housing units and thus elevate density without compromising open, green space. This green space was also characteristic for OCA neighbourhoods. Generally, the green zones are placed between the different quartiers to create a park-like atmosphere. However in Bagira and Kadutu, the location of the zones vertes are also dictated by the topography of the sites.

43

1953

19

960

GREEN ZONES

BUILDINGS

ROAD NETWORK

QUARTIERS

TOPOGRAPHY & ORIENTATION

/ Figur 3 Main components of the principes d’amenagement applied by OCA for Kadutu (left) & Bagira (right) 44

1950

1953

19

11

17 9-10 7-8

10

Facilities bâtiment administratif et P.T.T. tribunal police et incendie 3 église 4 oeuvre paroissialeécole principale 5 résidence des frères 6 résidence des soeurs 7 temple protestant 8 résidence du missioniar protestant 9 école principale 10 école de quartier 11 école menagère

45

1

12

2

13

camp de police salle de réunion pour policiers 14 foyer social 15 dispensaire des soins 16 centre récréatif 17 club 18 marché couvert 19 abattoir 20 station d’épuration 21 bureaux régie des eaux

10

960

Bagira

20 10

18 19

14-16 13

6-9 1 2

9-4-5-3

10

9 12

15

Housing types B4double B2 double

limit CEC

B4-B2 double

road

Type Bagira

path

T20

commercial

undefined types 46

1950

OCA’s maisons types The main challenge the OCA faced was the vast housing crisis. Between 1940s and 1950s all Congolese cities saw the formation of bidonvilles around their neatly designed centres.

In order to deal with this issue, the OCA focused its actions on the development of type-plans using the opportunities created by industrialisation to the max.

In the development of the type-plans all superfluous and impure elements were omitted. It is clear how the architects drew upon principles of rationality, functionality and universality which had crystallised about twenty years earlier in Europe with mainly the Wohnung für das Existenzminimum.35 It shows how in colonial architecture, even architecture for the indigenous people, European ideologies were transposed to the colonial context with little to no adaptation. With the type-plans, even adaptation was deemed unnecessary as they were conceived as ‘universal types’ and variations with regards to different family composition and appearance were already incorporated in the types.

As such they were cut-and-dried to provide housing for the masses.

cess should allow fast construction of large scale and affordable housing.

In 1954, 25 housing units were realised every day over the colonial territory. However, already at the time, Devroey denoted that the efforts were still inadequate to cope with the ever-growing demand.36 Notwithstanding the impressive realisations of the OCA, the needs were greatly under- and the capacities overestimated.

The indifference to local housing traditions and cultural values was prominent throughout the housing-types.

Local culture or specificity was never considered as an alternative or complement. Even more so, the maison individuelle à un étage was a completely foreign type to the indigenous population. Surely it was the most apt type to raise urban density without compromising the semi-rural semi-urban character of the cité. In an environment as Bukavu, this type also proved interesting to work with steeper slopes.

But nevertheless, this type of housing was not warmly welcomed by the local population.

In conclusion, the intervention of the OCA between 1952 and 1960 on the city of Bukavu has impacted its further development to a great extent. The inIndustrialisation of the production pro- stallation of the satellite city of Bagira cess, standardisation of elements and preluded urban expansion towards the rationalisation of the construction pro- north-west.

47

1953

35 De Meulder 2005, p. 144 36 Lejeune de Shiervel 1954, p. 1227-1228

/ Figure 4 Plan for the new CEC in Bagira by OCA / Figure 5 Plan for the redevelopment of Kadutu

by OCA

19

960

Kadutu

7-8

6

11 10

16

8

5 8

8 3-4

7

9-12 13 15 7 8

19

7

20

18

8 8

48

1950

Housing typologies

T 20

Type Bagira

front facade

front facade

back facade

back facade

first floor

first floor

ground floor

ground floor

49

1953

19

960

B4 double

B2 double

front facade

front facade

ground floor

ground floor

B4-B2 double

front facade

/ Figure 6 Facade and plan of housing types as identified in the master plans for CEC Bagira and CEC Kadutu.

From images and archival documentation (see references) it becomes clear that even more types were applied.

As these were not indicated on the original masterplans, they are not represented here.

Images and plans of these other types can be found in the references.

0 1

5m

ground floor 50

1950

/ Image 10 The principle of a maison individuelle à un étage allowed to create a higher density within the imagined semi-rural semi-urban atmosphere.

/ Image 11 Instead of forcing a grid pattern onto the site, the housing blocs and street lay-out for the new CEC followed the natural topography as was already the case in the European city.

51

1953

19

960

/ Image 12 Sanitation became one off the concernes of the OCA. Contrary to the first plan for Kadutu, a network of drains run parallel to the housing and street lay-out.

/ Image 13 Housing type 20 was adopted on slopes of 15% or more. This type foresaw apartments on the ground and first floor with alternate entrances in line with the natural slope.

52

19

/ Accelerated (informal) growth

The hastened Independence of Congo in 1960 would paralyse the urban development projects initiated by the OCA. Nevertheless, the demographic urban growth in the first decade post-Independence was at 8,5%. In numbers, the population went from 55 852 in 1959 to 133 659 in 1970.37

The cités were already functional. Consequently informal settlements would arise in the neighbourhood of their facilities. In 1978, according to the BEAU, 70% of the population in Kadutu and 45% in Bagira lived in informal spontaneous settlements.38

By 1970 the population density in the cité Kadutu stagnated meaning that by The void left by the colonial power led this time, the urban tissue of this part to insecurity and insurgency through- of the city was already saturated.39 For out the region. In rural areas local con- Bagira this was not yet the case. testation over land would drive people to urban centres for security. The In between the two former CECs a complete absence of state interven- new ‘urban stratum’ developed. The tion would maintain this trend over the settlements and their repartition withfollowing decades. in the collectivity of Kasha display very rural characteristics.40 In this area the The new CECs and their installed in- traditional land regulations still defrastructure would draw people to the fined settlement patterns and land city, settling around these indigenous tenure.41 Even with the demographic quarters. Both in Bagira as in Kadutu growth in the collectivity, it maintained the main roads were already paved. its agro-pastoral activities throughout Many of the communal buildings such the period between 1960 and the beas churches, municipal buildings and ginning of the 1990s. Only along the schools were already constructed. shore, population density was higher.

53

37

BEAU 1978, p. 4

38

ibid.

39

ibid. p. 54

40 Chamaa 1981, p. 34-36 41

BEAU 1978, p. 50

/ Map 6 Informal growth around urbanised centralities

960

1970

1980

54

19

55

960

1970

1980

The informal spontaneous settlements mainly formed around the existing urban tissues to profit from the available infrastructure such as communal water sources, the installed market, schools etc. But not only around the planned cities, informality started to occur. As there was no performative urban planning bureau which had the means to intervene in the process, also within the existing urban tissue informal settlements and extensions to existing buildings arose.

the type-plans did not match with the lifestyle and the family composition of the African population. The typeplans were modelled on a Western image of ‘the family’. This means that the indoor kitchen was at the core of its conception and the family existed of a couple with 1 to 4 children. But this was not the reality of the African traditional family, where different generations lived together or in each others proximity and life happened mainly outside.42

In the original plans for Bagira and Kadutu the open space between housing blocs and between house and road were essential to create the desired semi-rural semi-urban environment. From Independence onward this space has been eaten away by informal extentions to the OCA houses. This should come to no surprise as

Already in 1978 more than half of the buildings (54,7%) were made out of pisé, while less than one third (31,8%) was constructed using durable material. At the time only 13,5% were constructions out of wood. However the aerial image of Bukavu was already greatly defined by the sheet metal roofs which are omnipresent today.43

42

43

BEAU 1978, p. 355 ibid. p. 357-358

/ Figure 7 Sketches of the original buildings as constructed by OCA. and contemporary additions or adjustments to them 56

Informality

Informality has become a central notion in the discourse on urbanisation in the African context from the 1970s onward. The label of ‘informal’ is generally used to define activities taking place outside state regulation or the written legal system. In the discourse on urbanism, informality has become a central notion to non-state urbanism, meaning that state intervention is absent in the process of urban development and therefore informal activities take over. Moreover, informality shapes urban dynamics at different levels, impacting the urban landscape, everyday social life, livelihood strategies, political governance etc. Therefore informality is simultaneously spatial, socio-economical and political.44

Büscher 2011, p.

10-11

44

45

ibid. p. 10

46 Statement first made

by Kate Meagher, quoted in ibid. p. 11

57

The common perception of informality in opposition with state intervention could however raise a wrong picture of the more complex reality of informal practices. The formal-informal dichotomy proves too rigid when taking a closer look at informal practices in the African context. With regards to her research on the city of Goma, Büscher states: “So-called informal networks operate with well-established hierarchies and are fully integrated in social life, and although they are extra-legal, they are not necessar-

ily perceived as illegitimate by the actors concerned.”45 This reveals the transformative power of informal activities in the prevailing absence of state power and control in the Kivu region.

The statement that informality can no longer by described as illegitimate or be strictly opposed to formal dynamics does not mean that the concept has become irrelevant today in the analysis of contemporary African urban dynamics.46 On the contrary, the added complexity acknowledges the central role of informal dynamics in relation to formal dynamics. Instead of viewing ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ as completely separated, this broader vision on informality allows to examine their interactions, the influence they have on each other and where informality contributes positively to urban dynamics as a whole. Within the African context especially, informality should not be seen as an ‘evil’ or something to get rid of , but rather as a reaction or an answer to the failure of state-driven development and essential in Africas urban context As implicitly apparent, informality is also generally discussed in relation to the urban environment. In this dissertation the focus is on the influence of informal spatial practices. From a

western point of view, settlements made from ‘non-durable’ materials are too easily categorised as ‘informal’.

But as the previous part shows, it would be a mistake to classify the houses in pisé as informal. Even though houses in pisé can be informal, meaning that they are unauthorised settlements, some are in fact legally constructed. Again, informality is related to state authorisation and not necessarily to aesthetics.

Bukavu’s recent history has almost exclusively been shaped by informal, that is to say non-state, practices.

Non-state urbanism proves today in the context of Bukavu to be deficient in the provision of urban infrastructure and facilities. However this is not to say that informality essentially produces “urbanity without urbanism”, but merely that in Bukavu mainly due to events of regional scale, informal activities did not succeed in effectively urbanising the hills of Bukavu.

Lastly, the historical dimension of informality is often forgotten in contemporary academic and professional discourse. Informalisation is generally perceived as a mechanism that comes into play in the context of state failure or when state control and intervention is limited. Therefor it is generally discussed in the context of Congo’s sudden Independence and the political void left by the Belgian government. However, as becomes apparent in the discussion of Bukavu’s urban development during the colonial era, already from the mid-1930s the city was confronted with informal development. Undeniably, informalisation was the response to the limited investment in housing for the Africans until 1950. But even with the grand development schemes from the OCA informality prevailed as the amount of provided housing was too limited and their rent too expensive for a significant amount of people.

58

/ Aftermath of 10 years of war

The Rwandan Genocide (1994) and the two consecutive Congo Wars (1996-1997 and 1998-2003) inevitably left their mark on the city of Bukavu. Rwandan refugees would cross the border in Bukavu fleeing the massacre in their country. IDPs (internally displaced people) and rural dwellers would search refuge in the camps near the city or with friends or family living in Bukavu. As of 1995 6 official refugee camps were installed right outside the city.47 In Bukavu, the UNHCR office was installed to coordinate the operation of the camps, organise repatriation of refugees etc.

The consequence is obvious: informal settlements mushroomed on the cities territory. Especially south-east of the former European city the impact was remarkable. This forested area was entirely cleared by (mainly) Rwandan refugees and (to a lesser extend) Congolese IDPs. It goes without saying that this compromised the park59

like environment of the city which had been willingly installed and maintained throughout the colonial period.

Disinvestment in urban infrastructure was omnipresent. The road infrastructure, its gutters and pavements have vastly deteriorated over the years.

Water and electricity provision became completely deficient. This trend was however already observed in the 1970s on which the report of BEAU states: “Avoir un robinet est une chose, avoir de l’eau en est une autre. Les ruptures d’eau sont nombreuses.

Cela peut durer quelques heures, quelques jours, voire même quelques semaines.”48 This could also explain why informal expansion happened in this period along the west bank of the Ruzizi and along the road between the city centre and Bagira parallel to the lakeside while before, the former colonial cités were preferred.

47 based on figure UNHCR 1995 48

BEAU 1978, p 364

/ Map 7 Urban expansion at the turn of the century

1990

1994

2000 2003

2010

60

/ Evaluation of contemporary urban tissue

The city as it appears today is to a large extend the product of non-state urbanisation. For long, the former European city remained its well-maintained and orderly image. It is only in the last decades that also this part of the city fell prey to division of its parcels and densification. The transformation of the city in the last decades is jaw-dropping. From the lake, Bukavu rises as a collage of many different styles, materials and colours. From the air the metal sheet roofings over the red earth cover the landscape over a vast area. From within, the disinvestment in the city is saddening. Those who have know the city in between the 50s and late 70s look back on la ville verte with melancholy.

Population densities and settlement patterns differ greatly within the city. Between 1976 and 2014 the population density of La Botte alone increased tenfold. Consequently the peninsula is today overrun with multi-storey buildings which seem to rise from the lake. The original plots were divided to facilitate the demand of more ‘high-standing’ residences on the lakeside.

The hills around Kadutu are today completely urbanised. The majority of these settlements are single storey 61

and made out of wood and reused metal sheet roofing. The streets, or rather pathways and stairs winding through these neighbourhoods are at times too narrow to cross one another.

Only the semi-rural zone of Kasha maintained a significantly lower density and more lose settlement patterns.49 Today the city is home to a number of humanitarian aid agencies and international NGOs which mainly operate in the entire Kivu region. Their headquarters and offices as well as the residences of their expat staff are exclusively located in Nyalukemba, the former European residential peninsulas. Their presence in these specific locations is of course not by accident.

It goes without saying that for safety reasons this is the best option. Even more so, infrastructurally the peninsulas are best equipped to accomodate these organisations. It should be noted that the impact of these international organisation on the spatial organisation of the city is rather subtle. However their very presence is at the basis of the widening divide between the different parts of the urban agglomeration as they demand performing infrastructure and facilities oriented exclusively towards the humanitarian clientele.

49 Based on the description of the contemporary settlement patterns as discussed in Michellier 2017, p. 140-144

/ Map 8 Bukavu today

2010

2018 2020

62

1950

/ Image 14 & 15 La Botte in the 1950s versus 2015.

In the back, the transformation on the lakeside and the hills is apparent

/ Image 16 & 17 Transformation of the peninsulas Nya Lukemba and Nguma and the Ruzizi valley around 1952 versus 2008,

63

19

960

2010

2020

64

2010

2018 2020

/ Image 18 The image of Bukavu’s peninsulas as seen from the lake is quite impressive. The variety in architecture, style and colour testifies the opportunistic growth of the city, lacking an overall vision on the cohesion of the urban form and its image and control over its urban development.

66

2010

2018 2020

/ Image 19 Aerial view over Kadutu 2015. In front the football field of Kadutu allows to position the image. From the plan of the 1950s the street lay out is still visible. On the right of the football field, some OCA housing blocks can still be distinguished.

Further in the distance at the right one of the risks of informal development presents itself. Because of deforestation and the absence of water draining and sewage systems, certain parts of Bukavu are susceptible to land slides, putting its population at risk.

68

Bringing in the Region

Great Lakes Region

72

Lake Kivu Region in the 19th century

77

83

/ Lake Kivu Region as geographical unit / Connecting storylines / Territoriality before the Europeans / Political organisation

Frontier

73 75

79 81

Borders and their implications

85

87

/ Kivu Region as Territoire Contesté

/ Colonial (re)spatialisation / Connecting Kivu to the region / Rural-Urban migration / Urban growth via ethnic regroupment

Borderland

85

89 91 95 97

Economic exploitation

101

Mobility and cultural identity

109

From conflict to war

117

121

/ Concessioning the eastern province / Exportation routes / A creative solution to labour shortage / Facilitating for mains-d’oeuvre pendulaires

/ Rwandan pressence in the Kivus / Fixing people to the territory / Changing citizenship laws / Social stratification of the urban environment

/ First significant surges of war / Beginning of mass violence

Conflict zone

Continued state of regional crisis

/ Militias contesting power / Refugee crisis

101 103 105 107

109 111 113 115

117 119

123 125 126

Great Lakes Region

In the previous chapter Bukavu was discussed as if it were a “typical” colonial city that, analogously to many others, was confronted with uncontrolled population growth at Independence and the following mushrooming of informal settlements due to the lack of material and monetary means to provide adequate housing. It became apparent that from the very beginning the topography of the chosen site challenged the common colonial urban practice and that local authorities had to be more creative in finding solutions to urban development questions which would still reflect the colonial ideologies. Yet this narrative only covers part of the story.

region today is the result of the accumulation of events and political interventions throughout history.

Tracing back the development of these conflicts allows a more profound understanding of their complexity and of what is at stake in the region today. Yet trying to detangle the origins and the unrolling of conflict in the region is a precarious undertaking as cause and effects can not be mapped one-on-one. All too often conflicts are being narrowed down to having purely ideological, political or economic undercurrents while the reality is far more complex. Trying to avoid this kind of oversimplification, this dissertation will alternately discuss social, political Bringing in the perspective of the re- as well as economic dimensions of gion will allow for a more profound un- the development of local and regionderstanding of how the city grew and al conflicts leading up to the Congo developed into its current form.

Wars and the present-day reality in the region.

Bukavu is located at the shores of Lake Kivu, one of the ‘great’ lakes giving their name to the Great Lakes Region. The Great Lakes Region today is known to be one of the most complex regions in terms of social and political organisation. Divided between 7 states, counting many more distinct communities, this region has been the front stage of conflict and war for decades. The conflicting state of this 72

/ Lake Kivu Region as geographical unit

The Lake Kivu region as defined in this dissertation is in the first place a geographical region which is significantly differentiated from the lands east and west of it. It is part of the Albertine Rift and the Great Lakes Region.

The Albertine Rift, running north south, is composed of a series of lakes (north to south: Lake Albert, Lake Edward, Lake Kivu, Lake Tanganyika and Lake Rukwa) and mountains that run along them (Rwenzori Mountain Range, Virunga Mountain Range). The Rift forms an important eco-region on the African continent. It is characterised by an altitude ranging between 1000 and 5 109 meters. Because of its altitude the area has a more tempered climate compared to the areas surrounding it, making it together with the volcanic soil, a fertile and lush environment, well fitted for agriculture, plantations and the breeding of livestock. / Figure 1 The African continent / Figure 2 Great Lakes Region covering main parts of the Kivu and the Eastern Province of DRC / Map 1 Lake Kivu Region as objective of spatial transformation

When reference is made to the Lake Kivu Region in this research, it is this area of geographical unity around the Kivu lake that is being referred to. This frame allows to discuss most of the influential dynamics and events which are relevant to Bukavu, its hinterland and other cities in its proximity.

74

/ Connecting storylines Writing about history is always in a way a selective process. Storylines need to be set up in order to render the complex historical developments more comprehensible. Relations between motives and events have to be drawn.

the dynamics in the region differently.

The consolidation of borders brought with it the implementation of a colonial administrative apparatus which in the first place tried to organise space and make the new, vast country somewhat governable and unified. Colonial laws In this part of the dissertation the reinforced the new spatial hierarchy focus is in the first place on the trans- imposed to the colony. formation of the spatial make-up on regional scale. The aim is to try to Economic exploitation was the main map how social, political and/or eco- reason for King Leopold II to acquire nomic events and changes impacted the Congo. Consequently, the develthe composition of the region. The opment of the colony was in the first maps that are presented here tell place driven by economic motives. Especially in the Kivu where the climate is stories about exactly this. ideal for plantations of cash crops and For the precolonial context, informa- the ground is rich in minerals and gold, tion is rather limited. The PhD disser- the arrival of Europeans shook traditation by Gilian Mathys (2014) is the tional balances and drastically altered first and foremost resource providing the spatial lay out of the region. insight in the socio-political and traditional forms of organisation and bal- Mobility, and the restrictions that ances, in the Lake Kivu Region during were implemented to hinder undesired the 19th and 20th century. In the dis- movement have over time contribute sertation it becomes clear that the to the development of local and renotion of cultural identity, political gional conflict in the eastern part of organisation and economic relation- Congo. Migration and mobility in precoships were equal drivers of change lonial times were already key elements throughout the 19th century. But also by which regional dynamisms were shaped. Colonial discourse and polithat they are intimately intertwined. tics on mobility and cultural identity In the third to fifth chapter of this part would play out on local level in the Kivu I discuss the colonial era and the pe- as well. riod of Independence until the beginning of the 1990s. Here three distinct These three thematics also developed storylines can be drawn, each defining further in the years post-Indepence 75

with the reign of Mobutu. But also apart from what happened at national level, local and regional tensions arose and gradually intensified as a result of the dislocated socio-political organisation of the region and contestation over land and resources.

es in the urban tissue. In doing this, the aim is to point out that a broader perspective (both geographically as thematically) is needed to explain the present urban form of Bukavu.

Today’s state of instability and insurgency finds its origin in exactly these historical developments. However, here stories become more intensely intertwined once again. When local crisis flared up in the beginning of the 1990s, variable motives for local and regional conflict added up. The question of cultural identity, contest for political and economic power, as well as the struggle over land and resources all contributed to the build-up towards a regional crisis. The cross-state insurgency added fire to the flame. So social, economic and political developments got tangled up, accumulating into 10 years of cross-state war and resulting in a precarious state of supposed “non-violence” in the region until today.

As in the first part, throughout this second part the narrative will be interrupted at appropriate moments to make place for a more theoretical framework that underlays the reading of the region. As will become clear, the region could be categorised as a frontier, a borderland and a conflict region. Characterising these notions from the case of the Kivu region will contribute the understanding of these categories. Simultaneously, these notions allow to understand how certain dynamics came into play and what their historical relevance is. As such, the aim is to open a door to further research on the region from these three distinct perspectives.

Framing the region

Reflections on the urban This transformation of the region throughout time is also reflected in the urban development of Bukavu. At given moments, the city will come back into the picture as a way to exemplify how the regional dynamics impacted small-scale developments and chang76

Lake Kivu Region in the 19th century

The Lake Kivu Region forms a cultural entity between the forest cultures in the West and the interlacustrine communities living east of Lake Kivu.1 The spatial frame of the Lake Kivu Region is not solely a geographic unity, but also in cultural terms, the region has known its proper dynamics differentiating it from its surroundings.

Even before the 19th century, the region around Lake Kivu was a zone of intense interaction on political, economic, social, military, religious, and cultural levels between the peoples.2 Yet, the different societies never formed a homogenous group nor a social, political or cultural unity. Rather, the heterogenous polities lived together, with a multiplicity of links and allegiances interconnecting them on various levels.3

1

Newbury 2009, p. 67

2

ibid. p3-7

3

Mathys 2014, p.46

4

ibid.

5

Newbury 2009, p. 3

6

ibid. p. 7

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Approaching the Lake Kivu Region from the perspective of a middle ground, as proposed by Newbury, is probably closest to the 19th century reality.

The ‘middle ground’ in this context is defined as “a meeting place of many cultures, dynamic in themselves and fluid in their action”.5 The middle ground

Central in this concept of the “middle ground” is the idea that the region is different compared to its environment but is not detached from it. This holds true for the Lake Kivu Region. In varying degrees the local communities had historically drawn on ideas and concepts from cultures outside the region, as well as on material items which reached them through long-distance commercial networks.6 However The complexity of the historical posi- regional trade was far more important tion of the region to its environment in shaping networks, creating alleand of the communities to one an- giances and developing identity. other contributes to the understanding of the region as a historical entity. Taking a closer look at the precolonial However, quoting Mathys: trade networks is one entry point, “(…) trying to discuss these culprovided by Newbury, showing how tural and/or political regions as economic interactions and exchanges though they were well-defined bound the polities in the region and and neatly bounded might raise a cultivated shared cultural practices. wrong picture. Doing so conceals the itinerant character of the limThe environmental and cultural hetits of these regions on the one erogeneity stimulated commercial hand, and the plurality of links and interaction, creating influential trade allegiances both between and networks, connecting areas east and west of Lake Kivu. In precolonial times, within different ‘territories’ on the other.”4 regional trade flourished independent-

ly of direct political control and without organised trade markets.7 Local trade of commodities (mainly iron goods) and food (livestock, fish and agricultural goods) cultivated the social mechanisms and personal contacts which allowed for regional networks to develop and change over time.8 The dynamism of these networks was equally driven by the existence of allegiances between polities. As these allegiances changed over time due to social, political or cultural differences, so did commercial networks. Livestock and butega (fabric bracelets, of great importance in cultures on the eastern side of the lake) specifically characterised regional trade.9 Butega was of cultural importance in Rwanda as a sign of wealth and prestige. As the fabric bracelets were made by the Tembo peoples from the western side of the lake, important trade networks running east-west existed both north and south of Lake Kivu.10 This observation explains that regional trade happened in the 19th century in a predominantly transcultural context and served as a driver of the social and political dynamisms proper to the region.

7

ibid. p. 66

8

ibid. p. 70

9

ibid. p. 72

10 Lugan & Nyagahene 1983, p. 27-32

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/ Territoriality before the Europeans

When describing the spatial make up, two maps can be drawn to illustrate how socio-cultural and political dynamisms played out in the region.

The first map depicts the configuration of cultural zones in the region.

These cultural units mostly grouped different smaller polities. Mathys gives a detailed description of these cultural regions and the relationships within as well as between them.11 What is important to understand later historical developments in the region is, first, the fluid character of these zones and, second, the notion of territory and how it related to identity and power in precolonial times.

11 Mathys 2014, Part I chapter 1 & 2 12

13

Sack 1983, p. 56 Mathys 2014, p. 46

/ Map 2 Indicative map of “cultural zones” regrouping multiple polities, based on the discription provided by G. Mathys.

Territory was until the arrival of Europeans in the region itinerant in character, changeable just like the economic and political balances. Rather than being a patchwork of fixed and politically bounded territories, the territorial landscape of the Lake Kivu Region was marked by ambiguous cultural frontiers. Broader cultural aspects determined the territorial make-up of the region rather than power influences. Defining territory as a geographical area on which a person or a group of people aims to exert power or influence over people, objects and relations within that area12, shows that territory is a consequence of the struggle for power over a region. But in

the context of the Lake Kivu Region, the notion of territory is far more complex. Here political power and territory did not fit one-on-one, meaning that territory could be related to multiple centres of power and in turn, these centres could effectuate their influence on different territories.13 Moreover, the itinerant relations between polities, in interaction with changeable economic and social links, further hindered clear demarcations of territory in relationship to power. This greatly complicated the efforts of European authorities to define precise political boundaries at the beginning of the colonial period (see infra).

The regrouping in cultural zones shows that cultural aspects such as rites, royal hierarchies and language were more influential in defining territoriality. The denomination of the cultural zones is based on underlying shared culture and partially draws on colonial categorisation. For example, Bushi groups different Mashi speaking polities. Buhunde polities on the other hand all have a mubake (and not a mwami) at the head of their royal institutions. The cultural zones thus should not be understood as homogenous regions but rather as areas in which remarkable aspects are shared by polities, clans and lineages living in the area.

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/ Political organisation

The region harboured a multitude of polities. Various forms of socio-political organisation existed ranging from loosely organised tribes to more or less centralised and stratified chiefdoms.

In general the western lakeside harboured families, clans or small kingdoms such as Tembo, Shi and Havu.

These communities were smaller and attributed more importance to rituals and belief systems than to political organisation.14 Most of these polities, which will generally be perceived as “indigenous” by Belgian colonisers, claimed their origin in the forest cultures living west of the region even though cultural links between for example Buhunde and regions to the east seem to have existed long time as well.15

14

Newbury 2009, p. 69

15

Mathys 2014, p. 64

16

Mathys 2014, p. 5

/ Map 3 Schematic representation of the polities, integration and relations amongst them, as described by G. Mathys.

On the other side of the lake polities were more centralised because of the sphere of influence of the Rwandan Kingdom. However, even these polities functioned rather independent. Many of these polities have their origin more east, closer to the Rwandan Kingdom.

Their migration westward was related to the expansion of the empire. At times, clans fled west to escape integration into the empire, but more often they migrated in search for pasture and consequently, the sphere of pow-

er of the Rwandan Kingdom expanded.

Between polities a multitude of links could exist. Often smaller entities based on family or lineage paid tribute to bigger and more centralised chiefdoms for protection, the use of land etc. Also trade networks bound polities on multiple levels (see The middle ground). Consequently, traditional cultural, social and political systems, for example land tenure regulations, arose. The links as well as the traditional systems persisted throughout the colonial and post-colonial period.

It is important to note that a precise representation of the amount and the geographical location of polities in the region is impossible. First because historical information on the socio-political and cultural make-up of the region is limited. Second, as with the notion of “territory”, the feeling of belonging was not defined in the same way as is today. In the 19th century, the foremost identification was with clan and lineage rather than with overarching cultural entities, as categorised and described during the colonial era.16 Because of the rather localised impact of alliances, links and ties, people mostly did not identify with overarching entities such as kingdoms or chiefdoms.

Colonisation would drastically alter these balances.

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Frontier

The complex and intertwined sociopolitical and cultural make-up of the region in precolonial times accounts for the historic “frontier characteristics” of the region, which until today set out lines for regional dynamics.

According to Kopytoff’s seminal thesis17 based on a reading of precolonial Africa, the frontier is the ground where new social and political formations emerge. In the late 1980s the notion of frontier was mainly used in the context of colonial intrusion into Sub-Sahara Africa.18 By grounding his thesis in a precolonial context Kopytoff proves its relevance to both preand post-colonial times. In contemporary academic discourse the notion of frontier as defined by Kopytoff is still relevant. As an analytical concept it is valuable, as it allows us to understand contemporary balances of power and social conditions in some parts of the African continent.

17 based on the definition and description of ‘frontier’ provided by Kopytoff in Kopytoff 1978 18

Kopytoff 1978, p. XX

19

ibid. p. 4

for more information on the general expansion of the Rwandan Kingdom, see Vansina 2004 20

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Kopytoff introduced the idea of the “interstitial frontier” as being a highly contested space in-between different empires and states. In the no-man’s land between states and empires new polities emerge with distinct characteristics and forms of organisation, at times defying centralised authority, at times mirroring it. In consequence of the reproduction of societies, the frontier is a highly contested space and subjected to constant reiteration of links and allegiances. Indeed, in the

Lake Kivu Region both territory and allegiance were itinerant in character.

Polities often maintained different forms of relationships (social, cultural, political and often economical) with multiple other clans or kingdoms, resulting in the continuous redefinition of balances in the region. As such the frontier is not just a geographical territory but also a culture-historical force.19 When looking at the relation of the frontier towards the centre of power, the frontier is defined as being significantly different, and sometimes even “foreign”. In the case of the Lake Kivu Region the history of the kingdom of Rwanda provides an example of how the western frontier was perceived by people living in the centre of the Kingdom’s territory.

From the last quarter of the 18th century, the Rwandan Kingdom gradually expanded westward, to eventually grow to more or less its contemporary size under mwami Rwabugiri (18531895).20 During the 19th and 20th century the peoples originally living west of the Rwandan Central Court were collectively known by Rwandans as “Banyabungo” (or “Bashi”) even though several distinct communities were living in the area. This name was used for people living both east and west of the Kivu lake. Even Rwandans living in the area, which is today part of the

Western District of Rwanda, were referred to as “Banyabungo”.21 Even though the name refers to one of the social groups living in the area, the term was not used to denominate people of one cultural entity. Rather it served as a classificatory term to distinguish “Rwandan” from “non-Rwandan” people as they were perceived by the centre. The cultural practices of people living in the western frontier were influenced by cultures from the west. This differentiation in historical traditions was the basis on which people from the Rwandan Central Court categorised clans as “Rwandan” or “non-Rwandan”. This proves that the western frontier was, and still is, perceived as essentially different in cultural terms.

Regarding political power, the frontier was subjected to different dynamics.

The expansion of the empire was not driven by the state, but happened in a spontaneous way. First, herders moved westward, looking for new land for their cattle. Only after the settlement of these groups in an area, military and consequently political occupation took place. Institutionalisation followed spontaneous spatial colonisation.22 In this way, the influence of the Kingdom was never as present as in the centre of the Rwandan territory, contributing to the dynamic character of the frontier.

Thus a frontier is also an empirical reality, expressing a detachment from the central power. Even today, the frontier characteristic of the region is apparent, mainly in the presence (or rather: absence) of state intervention within the region. Within the frontier, power on the local level often impact the course of events to a much greater extend than state power. As such the concept of the frontier proves to be a valuable analytical concept to understand historic as well as contemporary developments and balances related to power in regions at the geographical periphery of the state.

21 Newbury states: “The inhabitants of these areas were collectively known as “Banyabungo” (or “Bashi”) though in fact several distinct ethnic groups were represented in the region. Therefore, although today applied to areas west of lake Kivu, the term “Banyabungo” (the locative form of the personal plural nominal “Banyabungo”) can be taken as historically representative of non-Rwandan societies of the western areas in general, including the regions east of the Nile-Zaire Divide, now part of western Rwanda.

Indeed the people of central Rwanda often refer to the inhabitants of western Rwanda, even today, as “Banyabungo”. in Koptyoff 1978, p 165-166 22 Vansina 2004, p. 158-162

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Borders and their implications / Kivu Region as Territoire Contesté

23

Mathys 2014, p. 124

24 The case of GomaGisenyi proves an interesting example how the existence of two urban centres so close to one another opens up opportunities for local population. In certain aspects, the two cities can be viewed as an urban agglomeration, yet the difference between them on spatial level is striking. The article

by Doevenspeck and Mwanabiningo Nene reveals in a concrete manner how the ‘urban agglomeration provides opportunities for the region on both sides of the border. Doevenspeck, & Mwanabiningo Nene 2012 25

Mathys 2014, p. 126

/ Map 4 Kivu as territoire contesté and the emergence of border posts

At the 1885 Conference of Berlin, the African continent was divided between the Western imperial powers. At the time, the Great Lakes Region was more or less unexplored territory. No European had ever been to Lake Kivu or had any knowledge on the sociopolitical conditions in the region. This implies that the mapping of political boundaries in the region was completely arbitrary. In consequence, three maps were drawn by respectively France, Germany and Congo Free State (which would soon become the private colony of King Leopold II of Belgium), all defining the border between German East Africa and CFS differently.

Until this issue was resolved and a final border would be agreed upon, the region roughly between the German border and the delineation from Congo Free State would became territoire contesté (contested territory).

This implied that both German and Congolese authorities had the right of military presence in the region. In 1899 the Belgian officer Hecq and the German officer Bethe signed an agreement which stated that both states

were allowed to erect military posts of the same size and number in this area. However the erection of posts did not equal formal occupation, rather they were an attestation of rights over the territory.23 The Hecq-Bethe agreement explains why today, the major urban centres of Congo’s eastern and Rwandas western frontier are so close to each other and even merge into a cross-border urban agglomeration in the case of Goma-Gisenyi.24 The territoire contesté was between 1885 and 1910 a military contested space, which means that respectively the German and Congolese state assured military presence within the region but did not yet have the right to submit land nor people to state rule and administration. This suggests that the impact of the Scramble for Africa on the ground stayed limited as long as the political boundary was not consolidated between the imperial powers. However, at the same time military campaigns seem to have taken place in the hinterlands as well as within the contested territory, aiming to “pacify” the local population who contested the presence of foreign powers.25 86

Borderland

The imposition of the border between Congo Free State and German East Africa significantly impacted existing regional dynamics on different levels -economic, political, social, military and cultural. But the impact of the border did not stay the same over time. As international relations change, so does the lived reality of the border. This is not to say that institutional measures reflect in a linear and direct manner on the border. On the contrary, border dynamics are more often than not at odds with what is happening on institutional level.

26 The most influential theoretical work on (the history of) borderlands is: Baud & Van Schendel 1997 27 Reference studies: Doevenspeck & Mwanabiningo Nene 2012; Büscher 2011; Vlassenroot & Büscher 2009.

87

a line. It has a sphere of influence on both sides, namely ‘borderlands’.

Adopting a cross-border perspective, meaning that both sides of the border are studied as a unity, allows for a more full understanding of the drivers of change in the region.26 This is why the framework of the Lake Kivu Region, which englobes parts of Congolese as well as Rwandan territory, is essential in this dissertation.

The borderlands along the CongoRwanda border are vivid spaces, exemplifying in many ways that a border In the first place, a border is the result contributes to exchange and interacof a political divide in the process of tion instead of cutting the frontier in state building. The cartographic image two. of a border is a clean line between two different states or empires. Its mean- Research on cross-border dynamics ing is that of a demarcation of state in the city of Goma learn us that the territory. In theory, it shows where the cross-border (inter)actions are desphere of influence of one power ends ployed as survival strategies.27 The and the influence of the other one be- fact that law and state investment are gins. different on both sides of the border is the main driving force for people to Constructed as a tool to delineate and cross over to the neighbouring coundivide, its effects on the ground are try. The absence of state intervention very different. From within, borders in Congo is contrasted across the borare made up of borderlands which are der by the rigid and ‘developmentalist’ essentially characterised by inten- attitude of the Rwandan state. This sive interactions happening on a daily pushes people on both sides of the basis between peoples and individu- border to engage in cross-border acals from both sides of the border. It is tivities. For instance, many craftsmen essential to understand that a border, living in Goma daily cross the border even if it follows a natural element, to work in Gisenyi because they get such as a river, is in reality never just better pay and legal insurance work-

ing in Rwanda.28 Similarly, Congolese teachers prefer to work in Rwanda while Rwandese mothers send their kids to school in Goma because of lower school rates.29 And as street trading is illegal in Rwanda, women from rural areas around Gisenyi cross the border to sell their agricultural goods in Goma.30 This shows the porous nature of the border, in spite of the erected border posts and policing along the border.

Especially border cities prove to be highly dynamic spaces where a multitude of actors and events happening on either side of the border contribute to inventiveness and new, original urban development which differs significantly from Congo’s large, established cities.

28 Doevenspeck & Mwanabiningo Nene 2012, p. 162 29 Vlassenroot & Büscher 2009, p.171 30 Doevenspeck & Mwanabiningo Nene 2012, p. 164-165

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/ Colonial (re)spatialisation

Once the border dispute had been settled in the 1910 Convention of Brussels, regulations concerning governance of the Kivu province could be put into place. In order to contain populations, levy taxes and exploit the lands a hierarchical administrative system of provinces, districts and territories was conceived. In light of further socio-economical developments, especially the delineation of the territoires affected the Kivu region.

First of all the nature of the territory and identity in the 19th century (see supra) complicated the drawing of “non-artificial” borders in the frontier.

As territory, identity and allegiances were fluid amongst the local population, the borders separating different territories were rather arbitrary.

/ Map 5 (left) Administrative organisation of the colony from 1935 onward / Map 6 (right) Division of the Kivu province into districts and territories before 1950. In 1950 the Kivu District is split into North and South Kivu

Secondly, with the imposition of internal borders, restrictions on mobility were implemented. Mobility became defined in relationship with the territory. In order to be allowed to leave the territory, the proper permits had to be issued (see infra). Moreover only desirable or productive mobility was authorised. Migration became defined as “being away from one’s residence for more than 30 days” . So even within the administrative unit of the territory, mobility was restricted and only authorised when granted by Belgian authorities.

90

1933 Stanleyville is the main gateway to the Kivu province.

The road Stanleyville - Goma is the main axis.

The railway between Kindu and Kasongo is the second main transportation route with connections into the Kasaï province via Kasongo and Kibombe.

1944 East-west connections between the borderland and the Kasaï province are constructed.

In Costermansville a bridge was established connecting Ruanda-Urundi with Belgian Congo

ca. 1953 Connections between the main cities are multiplied, making the province more accessible.

A second connection with Stanleyville is finally established.

/ Connecting Kivu to the colony

31 Even before the colonial era, the Kivu Lake was used as a transportation route, connecting the east-west and northsouth. Even after the construction of the road, the boat remained the preferred mode of local transportation. The road was thus constructed for national purposes, but did not change the mobility of local people and goods.

32

Chamaa 1981

33

BEAU 1978, p. 1

/ Quote BEAU p. 398

/ Map 7 Development of acces routes to the Kivu Province between 1936 and 1959 / Map 8 Lake Kivu as main transportation route for local transportation between Gom & Bukavu / Map 9 Importance of port infrastructure in Bukavu today

“Le Kivu a toujours été plus orienté vers l’Est que vers sa capitale. Géographiquement le Kivu est plus proche de l’Océan Indien que de l’Océan Atlantique. La route via la capitale du pays est trois fois plus longue avec 5 ruptures de charges (cfr. mémoire de Mukaika, Commissaire d’Etat aux Affaires Economiques).”

With the imposition of the border between Belgian Congo and RuandaUrundi the main transportation axes developed north-south, along the border connecting the urban centres in the frontier. From the 1920s Stanleyville was connected through the Eastern Province to North Kivu.

However, the national road ended in Goma. It was not until the end of the 1930s that a road connected Bukavu with Goma.31

the Rwandan side of the border were asphalted. Other roads connecting urban centres, such as the one between Goma and Bukavu and between Bukavu and Kindu (Bukavu-MwengaShabunda-Kindu) were impassable during rainy season.32 The same holds true for the private roads which connected Bukavu to its hinterland. This all complicated the integration of the regional production in the national and international trade circuit.

Mainly from the 1940s with the booming plantation and mining economy, connections between the border cities and their hinterland started to form networks contributing to the connection with other cities such as Uvira, Fizi and Kindu. However, these roads were not always reliable. For Bukavu, only the sections connecting Bukavu to Bunyakiri (part of the way to Stanleyville) and Bukavu to Uvira on

While Bukavu, and by extension all border cities within the eastern frontier, are terminuses of the national road network33, these cities function as the main gateways connecting the Congo with Ruanda-Urundi. This infrastructural connectivity was rather desirable as it would enhance exchanges between the colony and the mandate, which would prove to be economically beneficial for the metropole.

92

port zone

main roads

industrial activities

94

/ Rural-urban migration

With the abolition of the colonial administrative system at Independence, also the laws restricting mobility within the Congo were lifted. This meant that people were free to move within the country again without the need for permits such as the laissez-passer and passport de sortie. This effectuated a rural-urban migration in the Kivu.

Not only did existing colonial cities significantly grow in size, smaller settlements and working camps around the mining and plantation concessions urbanised.

34

Büscher 2017, p. 226

35 Büscher & Vlassenroot 2009, p. 165 36 The term “informality” is defined here as practices and interactions happening outside official regulatory frameworks, but nevertheless interact with formal institutions.

As such spatial, political and socio-economic dimensions of the notion are relevant.

/ Map 10 Urban centres in the Lake Kivu Region

Migration towards urban centres has implications on both the urban centres as on the spatial configuration of the region as a whole. First of all, the state of insecurity and the political void left by the colonial administration in the first years of Independence pushed people to cities and towns in search for security, protection and opportunity. In the Lake Kivu Region in general cities have been and still are today perceived as “islands of relative stability and security”.34 Consequently, the landscape of the region was reconfigured. Because of their development in colonial times both Goma and Bukavu were main poles of attraction. At Independence Goma was already the main economic centre in the region and the gateway through which most international commerce passed.35 During

the 1960s-1980s the city affirmed its position yet the mode of economy shifted towards informal economy and illicit trade. Bukavu on the other hand had always been a strategically significant place as it was the chef-lieu of the province. So the attractiveness of Bukavu laid more in its infrastructural advancement and the presence of local and regional authorities.

Secondly the demographic pressure on cities caused transformation of the existing urban tissue. Informality became (and still is) the norm for urban growth.36 The reasons for the omnipresent informality are multiple, yet quite straightforward. For one, the process of migration is fast-paced, while the formal process of building is unwieldy, takes a long time and thus could not keep up with the demand for housing. Secondly, those coming to the city often lacked the means to acquire a house or even a room in the city. Self-constructed settlements with non-durable materials were the possibility people were left with. Lastly, the city administration lacked all means (monetary, material…) to provide housing and infrastructure. This all resulted in “urbanisation without urbanity”. That is to say: urban growth merely in terms of the accumulation of built-up area but without the amenities defining and guiding urban life.

96

/ Urban growth via ethnic regroupment

37 Interview with S. Kulimushi Matabaro

97

The rural-urban migration flow which started in the first years of Independence and still continues today is at the origin of a specific urban expansion pattern that can be discerned when combining local and regional scale.

‘noyaux tribaux’ explains the expansion of the city to the south. The most southern part of the Panzi neighbourhood houses mainly people originating from Uvira and its surroundings. The RN5 connects the city centre of Uvira with Bukavu.

The city’s expansion mainly happens along the national and primary regional roads connecting Bukavu with its hinterland. Along these roads people from the same tribe or clan regroup in ‘noyaux tribaux’. This means in general that people who move from the rural areas around Bukavu to the city have a tendancy to settle in those neighbourhoods which are located along the main roads connecting their place of origin with the city. As the people usually do not cut ties with their place of origin, they prefer to live in neighbourhoods closest to their home village.

The RN2 leads from the European centre south-west to the territory of Mwenga, a region rich in minerals and thus of economic importance to the city. Barega originating from this region move to the quarter of Panzi and Cahi probably driven by economic aspirations.

The north of Nkafu, in the proximity of the port, houses mainly Buhavu from the Idjwi island in Lake Kivu. As these people arrive to the city by boat, they chose to settle near the port so they can easily go back and forth between their place of origin and their home in However this does not mean that the city. there is profound ethnic segregation in Bukavu. Rather the different neigh- The neighbourhood of Burhiba in Bagira bourhoods of the city are inhabited by is populated mainly by Bashi originata majority of one ethnic group while ing from Kabare territory in search for people from other tribes or clans can labour opportunities in the Brasserie also live there.37 Bralima, the pharmaceutical factory Pharmakina or the other industrial facA first significant example of these tories installed on the lakeside.

Bukavu

In the north, Bagira is populated mainly by Bushi from Kasha and rural parts west of the neighbourhood. The main road in Bagira runs further west through the connecting exactly these rural areas with the city.

In short, mainly since Independence the city has developed into an agglomeration of multiple smaller centralities regrouping inhabitants with a shared geographical place of origine and consequently a shared cultural and social background. However this did not bring with it a categorisation or classification of settlement patterns. This is to say that regroupment into centralities can be discerned by looking at densities which hint the existence of ‘noyeaux tribaux’ but settlement patterns are not different along ethnic lines.

Nonetheless, rural-urban migration dynamics, steered by social and economic drivers and shaping the city’s spatial as well as socio-economic make up are vital to understand how the city has developed over the last decades.

/ Map 11 Main transportation routes along which the ‘noyaux tribaux” develop / Map 12 Areas of ethnic regroupment in Bukavu 98

Bukavu

RN3

IDJWI

Bagira

Burhiba Karhora

Cahi

RN2

South Panzi

RN5

100

Economic exploitation / Concessioning the eastern province

38

Mathys 2014, p. 304

39 Van Melkebeke 2018, p. 123

/ Map 11 Belgian concessions in the colonial era, 193040, and infrastructure connecting the concessions with urban centres in the region.

The Rift Valley of the Great Lakes Region is, because of its altitude and geographical location, a distinct eco-region. Its climatic conditions and arable soil make the region extremely suitable for agriculture and the elevation of livestock. Also geologically the region is of economic interest as variable minerals such as gold, cassiterite and coltan, can be found along the rift, both in the North and South Kivu province.

Kivu), conceived as a parastatal entity in 1928, was in charge of conceding these ‘vacant’ lands to Belgian colons.

The resulting concession policy would provide the political framework to divide the Kivu region into a multitude of concessions for plantation and mining economy. In 1924 only 11 colons agricoles were installed in the Kivu region.

By 1953 this number had risen to 314 and by 1958 the Kivu region counted no less than 736 agrarian colonists.39

As the border between Congo Free State and German East Africa was determined rather arbitrarily, it is by chance that this goldmine (literal and figurative) fell into the hands of King Leopold II, king of Belgium from 1865 until 1909. Yet it was not until the beginning of the 1920s that the exploitation of this region took of.

From 1906 all land that was not occupied, cultivated or exploited by the indigenous population was considered ‘vacant’ and thus the state had the right to appropriate and exploit these lands.38 The CNKi (Comité National du

CNKi was created to develop the Kivu using private capital, which meant that apart from allocating concessions, it was also responsible for the construction of roads. On the one hand routes d’intérêt général were constructed, connecting the emerging urban centres within the Kivu and consequently connecting the region to the rest of the colony. On the other hand private roads connected the concessions to the same regional urban centres that functioned as gateways for international exportation of agricultural products and minerals.

102

/ Exportation routes

From the 1930s when exploitation of the Kivus was booming, production took a jump forward and bigger quantities of minerals and cash crops (mainly coffee) were to be exported. As the Kivu had long time been difficultly accessible via the road network, the exportation of mining and plantation products happened via the east.

/ Figure 3 (right) Kivu region in global economy / Map 12 Exportation of products from the Kivus via Leopoldville and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) respectively

Correspondence found in the Africa Archives explains how in this case cassiterite from Muyumba (Katanga Province) was exported via Kindu to the eastern frontier. There the products were further transported by train from Kigoma at the eastern lakeside of lake Tanganyika to Dar es Salaam. The other option would be to go through the capital and ship from Boma to Antwerp. The way from Kindu, Goma or Bukavu to the capital passed via earth tracks and gravel highways to Stanleyville (today Kisangani) from where the products could be shipped to the capital. From there they were transported by train to Matadi and further by boat or truck to Boma. It is clear that the East African Rail connecting Kigoma directly with Dar es Salam was a lot more convenient and faster.

This explains the relationship of the Kivu region to its capital and confirms the frontier-like characteristics of the region as being a peripheral area within the colony.

104

/ A creative solution to labour shortage

40

Mathys 2014, p. 168

41

AE(3301)

42

Willame 1997, p. 41

These numbers are based on the ones provided by Willame (Willame 1997, p. 41) and Stearns. However, Léon de Saint Moulin, also a credible source on this matter, states that during the colonial period around 200 000 Rwandans were ‘transplanted’ to the Kivu region (De Saint-Moulin 1975). This shows that apart from the registered migrants also a significant number of immigrants illegitimately moved across the border.

43

44

Stearns 2012, p18

The term “Banyarwanda” refers to Rwandan populations present in North and South Kivu 45

46

AE(3301)

/ Map 13 Organised displacements of Rwandans to the Kivus in the colonial period

In the Belgian Congo, as elsewhere in Africa, the main question regarding labour was “how to get it?” As the Kivu region was economically fruitful, many hands were needed to effectively exploit the region. Common means to push the indigenous population into waged labour such as taxation and the conceding of land did not suffice in the Kivu region.40 A rather evident solution proposed itself in the form of the mandate territory Ruanda-Urundi. Parallel to the ‘natural’ migration of Rwandans who fled drought and famine first in 1928-29 and again in 1943-44, assisted migrants arrived in the Kivu region between 1928 and 1955.

The first wave of assisted migration was more temporary in character than what followed afterwards. Between 1928 and 1936 17 902 men were registered by private companies as being recruited as seasonal labour force. They generally came alone and settled in temporary camps for the duration of their contract. The Belgian state presented this policy as a primarily philanthropic project. As Rwanda was overpopulated and people spontaneously fled to neighbouring territories41, the government sought to guide this influx of people and at the same time profit from it.

Rwanda, the administrative authorities in Kivu and the CNKi create the MIB (Mission d’Immigration des Banyarwanda). The MIB was in charge of managing the ‘transplantation’ of Rwandans, mainly tutsi, to the Masisi Territory.42 These ‘transplantations’ differed significantly from the assisted migration before as it was targeting the definitive displacement of entire families. Two peak waves of displacement followed between 1937-45 and 1949-55 in which respectively around 25 000 and 60 000 people were registered resettling in the mountains of Masisi.43 Also in the Rutshuru, Kalehe and Walikale Territories Rwandan families arrived.44 Simultaneously, in Rutshuru the same policy applied. However here the aim was to relocate Rwandan populations, historically present, to make place for vast coffee plantations and to create the Virunga National Parc.

Since 1954-55 organised displacements were halted as Kivu became demographically saturated and the presence and status of these “Banyarwanda”45 were instigating local conflicts.46 This situation of animosity would culminate post-Independence into confrontations between the Congolese Nande and Hunde and the ‘auIn 1937 the Belgian authorities in tochtone’ Rwandan communities.

106

/ Facilitating for mains-d’oeuvre pendulaires

The answer on this request was initially negative as the metropole was not convinced that the investment would be of political or economic interest on regional and national level.

metropole changed its mind, it seems plausible that the booming plantation and mining economy in Bukavu’s hinterland and consequently the need for mains d’oeuvre had something to do with it. Even though labour force was not as perennial in South Kivu as it was in North Kivu, Rwandan workmen were still welcomed to work in the concessions around Bukavu. This of course needed to be facilitated, both physically and administratively.

Constructing a bridge over the Ruzizi connecting Bukavu with Cyangugu would be an answer to both. On the one hand it secured the possibility for Rwandan workmen to cross the border daily, encouraging them to stay in Rwanda and thus not contribute to the already growing population in the region. On the other hand, the bridge made it possible for the local colonial authorities to control the va-et-vient and prevent (at least in theory) illicit border crossing. In order to be allowed to leave one’s territory, a passeport de sortie and a laissez-passer had to be issued.48 This to control clandestine migration.49 Both documents had to be shown at the border post in Ruzizi I in order to leave the territory.

However, one year later the CFA (Crédit Foncier Africain) confirms in January 1995 that budget is made available and a bridge will be build. Even though no explanation is given as to why the

This exemplifies, just like the resettlement scheme in North Kivu, how colonial administration was geared on providing a productive environment for the exploitation of the colony.

47 This is a type of boat, still in use on the Kivu lake today, that travels short distances, transporting people, cattle and goods.

48 Mathys 2014, p. 173 Both documents were not specific to the frontier, but applied in the entire colony. Passeport de sortie was needed to be able to legally leave one’s proper territory for longer than 30 days, while a laissez-passer was needed at border posts, such as the one of Ruzizi I, to be able to cross the international border. RWA(280) 49 As appeared before, clandestine migration was, even with this measure in place, a big issue in the frontier. It is estimated that in North Kivu around half of the Rwandan population that had settled between 1928 and 1960 did so illegally.

/ Image 20 Bridge over the Ruzizi river, view on Cyangugu (1950) / Map 14 Two arguments to build the bridge over the river Ruzizi. As noted in the correspondance (3DG(1623)2) the bridge was of local interest, but it is supposed that its regional interest was the reason the metropole agreed with the request 107

As South Kivu was historically more densely populated there was less of a labour force shortage in this region.

Rwandan workforce was of pendular character, meaning that men would cross the border daily to work in the concessions around Bukavu.

In 1934 a request was made to the division of the Travaux Publics to build a bridge in Bukavu which would replace the bac47 and facilitate exchanges between Ruanda-Urundi and Belgian Congo.

Bukavu

connecting markets

facilitating economic exploitation

Mobility and cultural identity / Rwandan presence in the Kivus

50

Stearns 2012, p. 11

Caution should be taken in using and interpreting these ethnic labels as their definition stems primarily from the colonial period. The current interpretation of these terms does not equal their significance in the past. In this dissertation they are used to point to the peoples living in certain (cultural) zones of the Lake Kivu Region and thus to make the narrative comprehensible and rather consistent throughout the different episodes. In this context they do not speak about certain traits or levels of organisation, they are merely denominations of distinctly different historic communities.

51

52

Stearns 2012, p. 16

See “Changing citizenship laws” for the history and significance of this term, which was only in use since independence and thus unknown to Belgian settlers 53

54

Stearns 2013, p. 16

/ Map 15 Mobility of Rwandan people at the end of the 19th century

Already at the very beginning of the colonial period rwandophone (kinyarwanda speaking) communities were present in both North and South Kivu.

In North Kivu their presence was limited to a small number of polities with Rwandan origins who lived in the areas of Jomba, Bwisha and Nyiragongo among other “indigenous” (this is to say claiming Congolese origin) Hunde, Tembo, Nyanga, Kano, Twa and Pere communities.50 Over the course of the 19th century, some Rwandan communities migrated towards present day South Kivu where Shi, Tembo, Havu, Rega and Bembe communities (and a multitude of smaller clans) were already established.51 Little is known about the origins, motivations and time of descent of the first Rwandans into South Kivu.

However, historians generally agree that the most significant influx happened at the end of the 19th century.

Some point at the political turmoil in Rwanda as main motive, others argue that the levying of tribute under mwami Rwabugiri triggered the migration west while this movement was also just a general pattern along the eastern lakeside.52 What most resources do agree upon is that they first crossed the Ruzizi river into the area of Kakamba. From their they soon moved to the Moyens Plateaux of Uvira around Lemera on the north-west-

ern shore of Lake Tanganyika where they founded the village of Mulenge.

As this area was already populated by other communities, the semi-nomadic Rwandans had to adjust to the established structures of customary authority. This caused some of them to move higher up into the Hauts Plateaux of Itombwe. This area was at the time only sparsely populated and thus provided arable lands to claim.

At the time when the Belgian administration started to reorganise customary structures in Uvira and Fizi Territory, the rwandophone population group, which would later call themselves Banyamulenge, was not granted control over an autonomous administrative entity. Instead they found themselves submitted to chiefs of other ethnic groups. This, together with the existing cultural differences would raise tension between the Banyamulenge and their neighbours.53 Even though they maintained (mainly economic) relations with their neighbours, the rwandophone community was never really integrated in the region. Their marginal position could therefor easily be exploited at dawn of Independence by local and even national politicians.54 Consequently, even though in numbers this population group was never significant, their presence has been of political importance since their arrival in the region.

110

/ Fixing people to the territory

The implementation of the colonial administrative system (see supra) had an even more profound impact on the local population than the restriction on mobility and, by consequence, the rupture of certain long-standing traditional socio-political links. The system also brought with it a territorialisation of identity.

Stearns 2012, p. 13-14 55

56

ibid.

57 Vlassenroot 2013, p. 18

/ Map 16 Construction of Territoires to define ethnicity

new chieftaincies artificially grouped ethnically diverse populations. Ethnicity became the main principle organising local society in the colonial era.

Within the territories, secteurs and chefferies were installed, generally headed by local customary chiefs but still under control of Belgian officials and military. In a way, this was a recognition of the existence of traditional power structures. But the manipulation of the existing structures reshaped the customary Congolese society profoundly.55

At the same time, the territory’s reconfiguration on local level implied that certain local populations were regarded as “indigenous” and superior to others. Those groups maintained to a certain degree their native authority, while others who did not qualify became completely subjected to a new ruler. This colonial policy provoked tensions and cleavages between historic communities living in the Kivu.57 Especially those who were disregarded as “indigenous” would see their position within the Congolese society threatened.

The regroupment of smaller chieftaincies into bigger units implied that certain polities became suddenly submitted to their neighbours and that others saw their sphere of influence expanded to attain unprecedented size. Who got to rule over who was decided by Belgian administrative officers which often privileged chiefs who maintained favourable relations with the colonial authorities.56 As such, the

It is safe to say that this reorganisation of the Congolese society based on identity and ethnicity is one of the most significant legacies of colonial rule until today. Because of the colonial manipulation of traditional society, populations started to identify with ethnic groups as they were defined by the Belgian administration. This would become the main seed for local contestation especially at Independence.

112

/ Changing citizenship laws During the reign of Mobutu (19651997) the issue of ethnicity and identity was a central theme in national political discourse. President Mobutu launched the question “Qui est Zaïrois et qui ne l’est pas?”. The answer would be formulated in the citizenship law, which determined not only who was Zaïrian but equally who would have land ownership rights and who could attain political positions.

58

Willame 1997, p. 53

59

ibid. p. 52-62

60 The first use of this term dates back to 1967. Before, they were solely referred to as Banyarwanda. ibid. p. 78

/ Figure 4 Successive laws on citizenship rights, from Independence to today

In South Kivu the Rwandan populations that migrated at the end of the 19th century felt the need to distinguish themselves from Rwandans who arrived later, mainly as result of the 1959-1964 pogroms in Rwanda.

Therefor these communities labeled themselves as “Banyamulenge” meaning “those from Mulenge”.60 Fundamentally this label refers to their collective ancestry in the region around Mulenge, affirming that they were essentially a The citizenship changed multiple Congolese tribe and not foreigners. times under Mobutu, reflecting his arbitrary reign, nepotism and totalitarian In 1981 a law was passed allowing cittendencies. He employed a deliberate izenship only to those who could prove political strategy to promote repre- ancestry presence in Zaïre before sentatives of ethnic groups which did 1885. This of course created mass not form a threat to the regime as they insecurity in the Kivus as suddenly were small in numbers and their social the table had turned in favour of “naand political status was ambiguous.59 tive Zaïrian” tribes. Even the efforts in At first he allied with the Banyarwan- claiming historic presence by the Banda. A law was passed in 1972 granting yamulenge could not safeguard their citizenship to anyone who had immi- position. However, especially in South grated before 1950. This meant that Kivu, violent confrontation between rwandophones in North and South Kivu the “allochtone” and “autochtone” could own land and economic enter- communities remained limited until prises and partake in politics. Con- the beginning of the 1990s. Mainly in sequently, when the zaïrianisation of the local political sphere the conseagro-industrial and commercial enter- quences of these national laws were prises from foreigners (Belgians) in felt. The theme of l’étranger emerged Masisi and Rutshru took place, mainly in local political discourse as a reflecrwandophones profited. With this law tion of national dynamics multiplied by suddenly the “indigenous” communi- latent grassroots tensions originatties became a minority in the territory ing in the forced sharing of land and of Masisi.59 This of course caused an resources between “indigenous” and eruption of feelings of injustice and “foreign” people. animosity towards these “foreigners”.

114

/ Social stratification of the urban environment

In Bukavu even more so than in other cities in the Congo the urban tissue reflects the idea of the escalier social.

This is to say that social stratification is reflected in the greatly differing housing conditions and their respective location within the city’s urban tissue.

Morphology, materiality, size of parcel and site all determine to which social stratum the inhabitants belong.61

61 Interview with S. Kulimushi on 21/06/2019 62

ibid.

63 Michellier 2017, p.

34-35

/ Map 17 Housing conditions across the city of Bukavu 115

The former European city consisting of the five peninsulas is naturally the place where people at the top of the social staircase live. Over the past decades, this part of the city has also fallen prey to the partition of its original parcels, resulting in a multiplication of constructions and a densification of constructed space. Nevertheless, in these neighbourhoods the buildings and plots of land are still of considerable size. Villas have private gardens and all constructions are made using durable materials. Only the richest Congolese can afford to live here as a plot of land can easily cost $100 000.62 The former commercial quarter is second in line. Even though the plots and houses are smaller already, there is generally still some room for a green area around the houses. These parts of the city are also well-maintained

and provided with infrastructure such as water and electricity, some of the legacies of the colonial occupiers.

The more one moves away from these neighbourhoods of ‘haut standing’ the higher the building and population density. More importantly housing conditions have become precarious in certain areas which house, not by coincidence, some of the poorest citizens. The unfavourable topography of the city poses a real urban risk for the people living on or near steep slopes.

Deforestation, the lack of sewage and drainage systems and the high building density elevate the natural danger of land slides and damaging earthquakes. The neighbourhood of Funu south-west of the colonial CEC Kadutu is today one of the main areas of concern.63 Generally, people from the lowest social stratum live in the outskirts of the city. As such social climbing is often equated with moving towards the colonial centre. However it should be noted that even in the poorer neighbourhoods, prices of housing differ according to site. A plot located on a national, regional or even local road will always be more expensive and consequently house people of higher standing within the neighbourhood. Therefor the social and spatial make-up of the city are closely intertwined.

Bukavu

haut standing

middle class

former CEC

informal

village

From conflict to war / The first surges of local conflict

With Congo’s Independence and the political void left by the colonial administration multi-facetted tribal polarisations could emerge. Political and economic contestation for power would in the first place oppose the ‘traditional native’ Congolese to the ‘foreign’ rwandophone populations. Especially in North Kivu, where the allochtone communities already harboured feelings of resentment towards the transplantées at the end of the colonial era, the ethnic divide would engender multiple local and regional conflicts.

In South Kivu, the case was slightly different as the vast majority of the rwandophone population had been historically present. However the Simba War from 1964 would change the established relationship between the Banyamulenge and their Congolese neighbours.

64 Vlassenroot 2013, p. 27

/ Map 18 Development of Simba war in Fizi and Uvira Territory and the Hauts Plateaux of Itombwe

national de libération), a national organisation adhering to Lumumbist ideologies. Soon the city of Uvira and Fizi would be captured by the military campaign which followed. Fighting against established authorities were mainly Bafulero and Babembe, but the organisation also counted Bavira, Barundi and Batutsi fighters. In 1966, the Simba were pushed out of Uvira and Fizi by the ANC (Armée nationale congolaise ) and adherent militants. Consequently they fled to the Hauts Plateaux where the rebellion turned itself against the Banyamulenge living there. As an answer to the looting and taxation by the Simba, the Banyamulenge sided with the government and the national army, eventually defeating the Simba rebellion. However this did not fall well with the neighbouring Babembe and Bafulero communities. They perceived this as ‘an unforgivable collaboration In 1963 Bafulero leader Musa Maran- with the enemy’.64 dura initiated a cycle of increasingly violent protests contesting the cus- Thus, what started as a (local) nationtomary authorities of his own ethnic alist liberation movement with political group and the provincial government intent, ended in a violent ethnic conin an attempt to modernise adminis- flict shaking the long established retration. What started as a non-violent lationships between communities and intra-ethnic protest soon was picked consequently destabilising the South up by the revolutionary CNL (Conseil Kivu province.

118

/ Beginning of mass violence

65

Stearns 2012, p. 21

Willame 1997, p.

62-63 66

67 Vlassenroot 2013, p.33 68 Stearns 2012, p.

27-28 69 Uvira for example, become matured with 50 000 refugees, compared to a local population of only 40 000. (Williame 1997, p. 89) 70 Willame 1997, p.

89-94 71 For further reading on the Congo wars: Africa’s World War (Gérard Prunier), The Great African War: Congo and Regional Geopolitics (Filip Reyntjens) Exilés, réfugiés, déplacés en Afrique centrale et orientale (André Guichaoua et al.)

/ Map 19 From local conflict in Ntoto to regional insurgence

The democratisation process from the 1990s would see the rise of local conflict as “[f]or communities who consider themselves indigenous, democracy sparked fears of domination by immigrants, while for Hutu and Tutsi talk of democracy has always been accompanied by some form of challenge to their citizenship.”65 Indeed, the status of “allochtone” versus “autochtone” populations and by consequence the right to land, economic and political power had a long history of contestation in the region.

Hutu armed groups on the other. Violence soon spread to all neighbouring collectivities in Masisi and Walikale.

Not one locality or group could escape the insurrection that even reached the territories of Rutshuru and Kalehe. In the Hauts Plateaux also, local communities regrouped themselves along ethnic lines.67 The MSF (Médicins sans frontières) estimated between 6 000 and 15 000 people being killed and around 250 000 displaced within the province over a course of only 3 months.68 Only with the intervention of Mobutu, the Kivu would return to a Even though Mobutu’s changing citi- state of non-violence notwithstanding zenship law put the debate on l’étrang- the continued animosity between “aler central in national politics, it is not lochtone” and “autochtone” groups. so much these acts that were the catalyst for renewed conflict in the This precarious state of non-violence beginning of the 1990s. In fact, this would soon be shaken again by the time regional politics would reflect and arrival of Rwandan refugees in 1993aggravate ethnic division. In 199,1the 94.69 The outbreak of violence in CNS (Conférence Nationale Souver- Rwanda entangled conflict in the Kivu aine) in North Kivu refuses to allow into an inter-state war. Especially the delegates from supposed “foreign” recruitment of young Banyarwanda groups to enter the Conference.66 This and Banyamulenge tutsi by the FPR together with the “identification of would destabilise the region. Upon nationals” running up to the elections return in 1996 to Kivu, where ethnic would cause multiple violent confron- tensions had intensified, they armed tations between both Hutu and Tutsi in themselves against local groups. But the territories of Masisi and Rutshuru also the Zaïrian Army would become and around Goma. In March 1993 the a central player in the conflict as the conflict takes on regional scale when first confrontation was set off by the in Ntoto, a village on the border be- local contingent of the Zaïrian Army.70 tween Masisi and Walikale territory, This would be the start of two subsefighting broke out between local of- quent Congo Wars iwhich involved all ficials and militia on the one side and states of central Africa.71 120

Conflict Zone

In contemporary discourse, especially at international level, the general vision on conflict suggest that development of conflict regions is a top-down issue and local conflict is a regional expression of national and international struggles. Especially when looking at internationally established institutions monitoring and intervening in conflict zones, the focus seems to be on malfunctions at state level, the absence of state intervention and how these elements provoke local contestation.72

72 Autesserre 2014 [Video file] 73 Autesserre 2014, Introduction 74 Autesserre 2014 [Video file]

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fields of research. Here she points at the long standing, bottom-up agenda’s as a main source of conflict since the formal end of Great African War.724Indeed, the reading of the conflagrations of violence in the Kivu region suggest that grassroot struggles play equally an important role.

Without denying that indeed state intervention and power influence regional developments, Séverine Autesserre, expert in war, peace, peacebuilding, peacekeeping and humanitarian aid, argues that another, equally important layer should be added to understand ongoing violence in conflict zones. Grassroots conflicts form independently from what happens at national and international level a second driver of ongoing conflict.

It is clear that two dynamics within the Lake Kivu Region intensified each other around the beginning of the 1990s.

However, the Congolese state did not seem to play a significant role until later on, when the crisis culminated.

Instead, grassroots struggles over land and resources and resistance against local authorities from Independence onward sparked latent feelings of animosity against “foreigners” and mistrust of local administrators.

So the first dynamic stands apart from national development. However, Mobutu’s arbitrary citizenship laws of course invigorated these developments yet they were not the main basis for them.

From her conducted field work in some of the major contemporary conflict zones in Afghanistan, Timor-Leste and the DRC amongst others, she contends that the overall failure of international and NGO intervention is due to a too narrowed focus on simple narratives and the overall prevailing top-down approach.73 The ongoing violence in the Kivu is one of her main

The second dynamic is clearly the national crisis over identity and power in Rwanda. In the first place the crisis between “allochtone” and “autochtone” communities in South Kivu was intensified when Rwandan men and youth living in the Kivu joined the FPR to fight in Rwanda. In North Kivu however, the conflict between Hutu and Tutsi also found its way into the rwando-

phone communities living on Congolese territory. On the one side of the conflict were the Hutu’s which considered themselves as a “Congolese tribe” as they were living in the North of the Kivu province at the time the border between the Congo and Rwanda was drawn. Added to them were the transplantés who arrived between 1930 and the end of the 1950s in the region. On the other side, the majority of the Tutsi in the region were refugees from the 1959-73 pogroms in Rwanda.75 Long time struggling for citizenship rights, access to land and resources and for political or economic power, the opposition between Hutu and Tutsi escalated with the events right across he border and with the enormous influx of (mainly Tutsi) refugees following the Rwanda Genocide in 1994.

It shows that in the case of both North and South Kivu historic grassroots struggles instigated regional crisis.

The fact that violence spread fast and wide can be attributed to the turbulent national and international atmosphere.

So a profound understanding of what is at stake at grassroots level is indispensable when trying to understand, let alone intervene in conflict zones.

75

Willame 1997, p.56 122

Continued state of regional crisis

In 1994 the Rwandan Genocide which started on 6 April with the assassination of president Habyarimana shook the entire Great Lakes Region. Thinking that a national conflict over identity and power could stay contained within the boundaries of a state would be naive. Especially given the already precarious situation, balancing between violence and non-violence in Congo’s Kivu provinces, little was necessary for the conflict to attain international scale. The Kivu got directly involved in the crisis when over a million Rwandan Hutu refugees fled across the border trying to escape the massacre. But also the recruitment of RPF fighters in both North and South Kivu dragged the entire region into the conflict. Added to this were of course the existing historic grassroots problems which flared up at the beginning of the 1990s.

76 As Prunier explains, the Genocide was not the explicit cause for the implosion of the Great Lakes Region, but was a catalyst. It was a symptom of the precarious state within the region, but it was “its nontreatment [which] spread the disease”.

Prunier 2009, p. xxxi

123

would become the First Congo War which was in fact also an African war as multiple neighbouring countries got directly or indirectly involved in the conflict. Between 1996 and 1997 the Kivu provinces were to a large extend occupied by Rwandan and Ugandan military forces. The presence of Hutu refugees from the Rwandan Genocide in the Kivu provinces was by that time far from resolved. Attacks against refugee camps were not uncommon.

When in 1997 Laurent-Désiré Kabila entered into office, he soon alienated his Rwandan and Ugandan allies and expelled them out of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This again caused a resurrection of conflict in the eastern part of the DRC, as well as in its capital. Allies came to the support of Kabila, but of course also on the other side, Rwanda, Uganda and their allies prepared for war. From 1998 until (officially) 2003 the Great African War would dominate Central and East Africa. The Lake Kivu Region was at the epicentre of conflict. Hundreds of thousands refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) were constantly fleeing war and ended up in refugee camps where provision and health care were miserable. Many others hid in the forests hoping to not be caught and killed eventually.

The accumulation of international and local events preluded 10 years of incessant violent conflict in the region.

The Rwandan Genocide had destabilised the eastern part of Congo entirely.76 At the same time the Congolese state was completely falling apart as a result of years of internal strife, economic decline, disinvestment and Mobutu’s dictatorial regime. In this context, rebel groups from the east encouraged and supported in many ways by the Rwandan and Ugandan government launched an offensive With the official end of the Second against the Zairian state in 1996. This Congo war in 2003 demobilisation of

rebel movements and armies and political reunification of the country was formally initiated. However, today in the Kivu region, peace or even a state of non-violence is far from imaginable. In 2004 Laurent Nkunda, officer in the RCD-Goma (Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie - Goma), became the frontman of regional rebellion against the DRC Army. Also the FDLR (Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda) supposedly one of the last fractions of the Rwandan genocidaires and more recently the M23 rebel movement (Mouvement du 23 mars), continue fighting in North and South Kivu against the national army.

The constant resurgence of violence throughout the region also contributes to the maintained refugee crisis and inhibits the stabilisation and reconstruction of the region.

124

/Militias contesting power Local militias or rebel groups are today at the core of the continued state of conflict. Conceived as structures of self-defence in the 1990s, they are transformed today in local power and protection structures integrated in larger political and military networks competing for power over the region.

The origin of most of these militias can be traced back to early 1990s when Mobutu’s state was crippling down and Rwandas insurgency started to brew. The political void as well as hardened ethnic divide proved fertile ground for powerful local self-defense groups and rebel movements. Most of them were ethnically homogenous77 and thus defending the security and rights of a specific ethnic group against others, local authorities, the national army and/or foreign forces.

As these militias have morphed over time, today the foundation on ethnicity seems but an alibi to attain political and economic aspirations.

77 Willame 1997, p.

70-71 78

Stearns 2012, p.42

79

ibid.

80

Lyall 2017 [article]

81

IPIS 2015, p. 19

125

However, the ethnic nature of their rebellion is still today a hurdle in the integration process. Since 2003 the aim is to demobilise or integrate armed groups into the national army.

Paradoxically, since then the number of armed groups in the Kivu has gradually increased. The difficulty in disarmament can be explained on the one hand by looking at the interests of soldiers themselves. For decades, a

culture of soldiering and fighting has taken hold in Congo. Some men simply know no other way and insist on the persistence of these militias.78 On the other hand armed groups fulfil political or economic interests. Militias have allied with regional politicians and businessmen. This is crucial to maintain long-term success. Not only do these political and economic leaders provide money and material, more importantly they link them to other networks and can be their voice in nationwide politics. But also the leaders themselves see interest in the collaboration as their support to local militias gives them a sound base of “political capital”.79 Economically, militias are often entangled in illicit exploitation and exportation of the Kivu’s minerals, causing an informal “economy of violence”.80 At over half of the mining sites armed presence is observed.81 But also on transportation routes and within the economic network, militias interfere.

Levying taxes and actively partaking in illegal trade of gold, cassiterite and coltan are some of the main sources of revenue for these armed groups As militias are so much intertwined with the ethnic, political and economic dynamics in the region, the goal of dissolving the more than 70 armed groups seems for now unattainable.

/ Refugee crisis As a result of the incessant violent attacks and confrontations in the entire Great Lakes Region, the Kivu provinces now harbour multiple operating UNHCR registered refugee camps. It goes without saying that on top of the tens of thousands of refugees and IDPs in these camps, tens of thousands more seek refuge in remote areas in the region or by friends and family.

Over the course of the years the amount of refugee camps as well as their location, related to the in- & outflow of displaced people has changed.

Following surges of violent conflict through all states in the Great Lakes Region, Congo’s eastern border has been confronted with the emergence of refugee camps for over two decades. The presence of Ugandan, Rwandan and Burundian refugees throughout the Kivu region has had a disruptive impact on its social, political economic and ecologic environment.

Official UN registered refugee camps are generally located close to the international border and near existing cities and towns.82 As such their presence affects these urban centres and their development. For one, the vast humanitarian crisis of 1993-94 and again since 2003 with the reignition of regional conflict headed by Laurent Nkunda, pulled humanitarian relief agencies (international state and nonstate organisations) to the urban cen-

tres. This offered new economic opportunity and diversification, attracting even more people to the outskirts of the cities. Even though their presence offers labour opportunities, it also stimulates informal urban growth in poorer neighbourhoods. At the same time, the spatial structure of the (colonial) city is transformed as these agencies require, even demand certain infrastructure and facilities.83 In a way this consolidates the patterns of segregation and divergence between neighbourhoods of different “standing”. In consequence, the image of the divided city still holds true today.

The presence of displaced people contributes to the reconfiguration of urban balances in the region as a whole. The significant growth of mining towns throughout the Kivu provinces can be explained partially because of the refugee crisis. The mining camps transformed between the 1960s and 1990s from mere work camps into proper urban settlements. The existence of infrastructure and provision has in more recent years attracted IDPs to settle in the mining agglomerations. But also around these smaller centres refugee camps are set up.84 In this case their presence offers opportunities for further development and urban growth as long as resources and land are not contested. As such new centres of economic interest form in the region, altering its spatial make-up.

82

Prunier 2009,. p. 57

83

Büscher 2011, p. 135

84

Büscher 2018, p.8

/ Map 20 Characterising the region today 126

Epilogue

Conclusion Defining key points of interest

131 134

Conclusion

This dissertation has been the first research on the city of Bukavu from an urbanistic and architectural perspective. As no thorough research of this sort had been conducted before, I felt the need to first of all tell the stories behind the contemporary urban form.

In doing this I touched upon many different aspects which throughout history defined the course of the city’s development on both local and regional scale. Because of the large spatial (Bukavu but also the LakeKivu Region) and time frame (19th to 21st century) I defined as field of research, a vast amount of information is collected in the research. As a backside to this, I was unable to delve deeper into certain relevant and interesting topics touched upon in this research. Therefore I would like to take some time here to highlight some, to my finding, interesting and relevant themes which could explore more in depth certain episodes or aspects of the city which bare relevance still today. But before I jump to the possibilities of future research, it seems but logic to conclude on the presented research first.

Presented research As mentioned in the beginning of this dissertation, my personal concern with the challenges of rapid urban growth and demographic pressure on cities was at the origin of the research conducted. Already early on in the process 131

one thing became clear: we first of all need to familiarise with the history of the place in order to truly understand what is at stake in the city today. Consequently I delved into the Africa Archives in Brussels where I could find correspondance, plans and maps on the origin and development of Bukavu as a colonial city. Redrawing the original plans was a tool to find out where colonial ambition and reality clashed.

Often official plans only show part of the story. Correspondance between the colonial administration and the metropole however reveal how the ultimate actions were the consequence of friction between national ideas and local wants or needs.

However, to really understand how the contemporary urban form came into being a singular focus on the city and its colonial and post-colonial past clearly did not suffice in explaining everything. The proper dynamics of the Great Lakes Region simply could not be left out of the equation.

Consequently, a variety of other sources was added to the research. These publications all focus on historical or contemporary dynamics and developments in the region. In drawing the information provided by these sources, I learned that over the course of one and a half century the spatial, social, economic and political make up of the region has drastically changed. At the same time I learned that the state of

violence and insecurity in the region today can only be understood against the backdrop of pre-colonial and colonial history.

To put it simply, the outcome of this research is a story on the development of the city embedded in a regional frame. This dissertation does not pretend to be a finished research, rather it can be seen as a first broad exploration on the topic and hopefully it can function as a stepping stone for more profound research on the city and the region from an urban perspective.

Possibilities for future research As already mentioned in the general overview of this dissertation, throughout the narratives I included five notions which in my opinion could be interesting and relevant lenses through which the city and by extend the Lake Kivu Region can be researched and re-evaluated. When proceeding from these specific view points, research on the city can be more profound on that specific topic. Moreover, the conclusions drawn from this kind of research should be able to contribute to the definition of the notions applied, allowing us to define common characteristics and challenges proper to all borderlands, conflict zones etc.

different themes throughout the narrative. For most of them, further research can be done. First of all I think about the OCA master plans and housing types. From an architectural point of view it can be an interesting exercise to link in detail OCA practice to Western architecture history of that time. In the same way, the communal buildings in both Kadutu and Bagira could be interesting from architectural point of view. But also for recent developments, where information (with a spatial focus) on the city is far more limited, more research in variable fields could be done. I would argue that especially a detailed description of the urban environment is necessary. This implies that a precise mapping of the spatial, social, economic, etc. make up of the city is indispensable. This information should uncover what are objectively the urban risks the city is facing today.

Why history matters

One of the main insights this research has provided me is the importance of history in the urban field. As John Tosh puts it in his book Why history matters: “To know that the past can illuminate the contours of the present is to be better equipped to make intelligent decisions about public issues.” And in my opinion, “making intelligent decisions But apart from these five more the- about public issues” is exactly what oretical topics, I also touched upon urban planners and, to a certain extend, 132

architects are concerned with. Historic research on the city, region or area enables us (urban designers, planners & architects) to define historic processes and the possibilities inherent in the present because of them. Also it is a way to produce images of the past which reveal the distinctiveness of the present and against which we can express our vision for the future.

I am convinced that “thinking with history” has great value in informing our understanding of the present and enabling us indeed to make better, more sensible and intelligent decisions on how to plan or build for the future. It especially makes us aware of how various dynamics are at play in urban environments. Consequently a strong sensitivity for and awareness of historic processes are prerequisite, even more so in an environment as complex as the one of the Great Lakes Region.

133

Defining key points of interest

Here I will try to do exactly this, namely defining from the research I conducted some of the key points of interest for urban redevelopment.

environment. Even though La Botte and the former European quarter are of symbolic and historic importance, today urban life for most citizens does not happen in these places but somewhere else. Therefore I contend that the noyaux tribaux (see Urban growth via ethnic regroupment) are of high importance to the majority of urban dwellers today. These neighbourhoods are today characterised by a high population density and a lack of urban provisions and amenities. I would argue that the urbanisation of these area (by which I mean mostly investment in road infrastructure, sewage, water and electricity provision and communal spaces) would affect already a great deal of the urban population and be a first step in countering the urban risks they are confronted with. The same goes for the centre of Kadutu, which is of urban as well as of historical importance. However this locality already has some of the urban amenities like communal buildings, a recreational centre etc. Revalorisation of these places (of colonial origin) could be a stepping stone to revalue the entire neighbourhood.

I would argue that two types of points of interest can be defined. The first one are places, roads, etc. which are of symbolic importance to the city.

This means that these places are emblematic for the city. As mentioned before, the city has long been known as la ville verte, referring to its specific park-like atmosphere and lush environment. Throughout the colonial period this was indeed the envisioned environment for the city. With the rapid demographic growth especially since the early 1990s the green areas in the city have been cleared to make space for dense (informal) housing. Drawing on the information gathered in this dissertation, La Botte and the Avenue Lumumba running on the hill tops eastwest along the former European city are the main places which have the potential to revalue the city and bring back the image of la ville verte (to a certain extend). This because they are of historical importance as they form the symbolic heart of the city and have always been emblematic in defining its I would argue in fact that also here, image. the perspective of the region imposes itself. As we have seen in the disThe second type of focal places are sertation, on the one hand the city what I would call places of urban inter- attracted rural villagers because of its est. With this I point at places which urban services and provisions. On the today form the heart of the lived urban other hand insecurity in urban areas

134

for safety. This prompts the idea that Bukavu’s overpopulation could also be eased by investment in smaller urban settlements in its surroundings and an operational road network connecting them. By developing towns with similar pull factors as the city they could become equal alternatives to the city and reduce demographic pressure in Bukavu. This of course remains for now a theoretical proposition as its feasibility is today rather doubtful.

Moreover, I would argue that defining possible leverages to let the city breathe again should happen in collaboration with local parties. As this was a one year research project and is based only on information accessible from Belgium, it would be pretentious to claim to know the city, let alone know how to act on it. The propositions I made are simply the conclusions drawn from my own research. Nevertheless I hope that the information gathered here will be valuable for future research and projects on the city.

/ Map 21 Indication of the proposed key points of interest for urban development 135

136

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Other Autesserre, S. (2014). To solve mass violence, look to locals [Video file]. Via https://www.ted.com/talks/severine_autesserre_to_solve_mass_violence_look_ to_locals IPIS. Analysis of the interactive map of artisanal mining areas in eastern DR Congo [Online Map]. Via http://www.ipisresearch.be/mapping/webmapping/drcongo/v6/ Sylvain Kulimshi Matabaro , S. [Interiew] 21 june 2019.

UNHCR. (1995). Refugee camps in the Great Lakes Region (As of 1995) [Image]. Via https://www.unhcr.org Images Cover image - MONUSCO (via https://www.flickr.com/photos/monusco/) / Image 1 - Google Earth 2019 /Image 2 - pgkivu (via https://www.flickr.com/photos/pgkivu/) / Image 3 - De Meulder, B. (2000) Kuvuande Mbote. Antwerpen: Houtekiet. p.106 / Image 4 - De Meulder, B. (2000) Kuvuande Mbote. Antwerpen: Houtekiet. p. 108

/ Image 5 - pgkivu (via https://www.flickr.com/photos/pgkivu/) / Image 6 - pgkivu (via https://www.flickr.com/photos/pgkivu/) / Image 7 - 3DG(201)1 - Plan Directeur Costermansville. / Image 8 - De Meulder, B. (2000) Kuvuande Mbote. Antwerpen: Houtekiet. p. 219 / Image 9 - pgkivu (via https://www.flickr.com/photos/pgkivu/) / Image 10 - pgkivu (via https://www.flickr.com/photos/pgkivu/) / Image 11 - pgkivu (via https://www.flickr.com/photos/pgkivu/) / Image 12 - pgkivu (via https://www.flickr.com/photos/pgkivu/) / Image 13 - De Meulder, B. (2000) Kuvuande Mbote. Antwerpen: Houtekiet. p. 219 / Image 14 - pgkivu (via https://www.flickr.com/photos/pgkivu/) / Image 15 - Danneels, K. 2015 / Image 16 - pgkivu (via https://www.flickr.com/photos/pgkivu/) / Image 17 - pgkivu (via https://www.flickr.com/photos/pgkivu/) / Image 18 - Danneels, K. 2015 / Image 19 - MONUSCO (via https://www.flickr.com/photos/monusco/) / Image 20 - pgkivu (via https://www.flickr.com/photos/pgkivu/)

Preliminary literature De Boeck, F. & Plissart. (2014). Kinshasa: Tales of the Invisible City. Ghent, Ludion.

De Boeck, F. & Baloji, S. (2016). Suturing the City: Living Together In Congo’s Urban Worlds. London, Autograph APB. Guichaoua, A. et al. (2004). Exilés, réfugiés, déplacés en Afrique centrale et orientale. Paris.

Murray, M. & Myers, G. (2006). Cities in contemporary Africa. New York, Palgrave MacMillan.

Myers, G. (2011). African Cities: Alternative Visions of Urban Theory and Practice. London: Zed Books Ltd. Parnell, S. & Pieterse, E. (2014). Africa’s Urban Revolution. London, Zed Books Ltd. Pieterse, E. & Simone, A. (2013). Rogue Urbanism: Emergent African Cities. Singapore, Craft Print International Ltd. Reyntjens, F. (2009). De Grote Afrikaanse Oorlog: Congo In De Regionale Geopolitiek 1996-2006. Antwerpen, Standaard.

Robinson, J. (2006). Ordinary Cities: Between Modernity and Development.

Oxon, Routledge.

Simone, A. (2004). For the City Yet to Come: Changing African Life In Four Cities.

Durham (N.C.), Duke University Press.

Simone, A. (2005). Urban Africa. Changing Contours of Survival in the City. Dakar, London/New York; Pretoria: CODESRIA BOOKS, Zed Books, University of South Africa Press.

Van Reybrouck, D. (2010). Congo: Een Geschiedenis. Amsterdam, De Bezige Bij.

Cartography.

/ From border post to C.U. / Verwilghen’s vision for the administrative city

Costermansville plan d’ensemble parcellaire (DOS 135 F.93)

Costermansville CART 32_3, 1933, Africa Archives, Brussels

CART 375_3561, 1930, Africa Archives, Brussels

/ The first Cité Indigène

Cité indigène dans la circonscription urbaine de Costermansville - décembre 1939

Ensemble de la circonscription urbaine 3DG(137), 1939, Africa Archives, Brussels

Bureau d’Etude d’Aménagements Urbains.

(1978). Enquêtes démographiques Bukavu, p. 10

/ Running up to the Plan Décennal

D.U. Costermansville

Carte Bukavu existant

Plan d’ensemble

Institut Géographique du Congo Belge, CART 432_6551, 1947, Africa Archives, Brussels

Gilson, J., 3DG(201)1, 1949, Africa Archives, Brussels

3DG(889)3, 1949, Africa Archives, Brussels

(zoom on CEC Kadutu)

Lilimites de la circonscription urbaine

Gilson, J., 3DG(201)1, 1949, Africa Archives, Brussels

Bureau d’Etude d’Aménagements Urbains.

(1978). Enquêtes démographiques Bukavu, p. 8

Ville Coloniale Belge principes d’amenagement - application du système lineaire à Costermansville; Plan N° CU41 CART 448_8177, 1949, Africa Archives, Brussels

/ A formal answer to demographic pressure

Bukavu cité de Katutu

Bukavu cité de Bagira

OCAplans(808), 195X, Africa Archives, Brussels

OCAplans(808), 195X, Africa Archives, Brussels

Bagira plan d’implantation plateau C

Bagira plan d’implantation premiere partie plateau C

OCAdoss(980), 1955, Africa Archives, Brussels

OCAdoss(154), 1954, Africa Archives, Brussels

Costermansville

Katutu quartier Nyamugo

Katutu quartier Tshibunda

CART290_4, 1955, Africa Archives Brussels

OCAdoss(90), 1959, Africa Archives, Brussels

OCAdoss(994)48, 1956, Africa Archives, Brussels

Annexe IV.2. - Plan d’un logement O.N.L à étage

Habitations pour pentes de 15 à 30% Plans coupes façades du type T. 20 A.

Bureau d’Etude d’Aménagements Urbains.

(1978). Enquêtes démographiques Bukavu, p. 406

OCAdoss(25)123, 1955, Africa Archives, Brussels

Modification plan à 2 chambres à coucher

Maison pour indigènes type B4.

OCAdoss(69)405, 195X, Africa Archives, Brussels

OCAdoss(154), 195X, Africa Archives, Brussels

/ Accelerated (informal) growth

Bukavu Coll. University of Austin, Texas, 1981

/ Aftermath of 10 years of war

Google Earth, 2003

/ Evaluation of contemporary urban tissue

Google Earth, 2019

/ Territoriality before the Europeans

Figure 2: Indicative map with some of the ‘cultural’ regions around Lake Kivu, roughly second half of 19th century Mathys, G. (2014). People on the move: Frontiers, borders, mobility and history in the Lake Kivu region 19th-20 century [PhD].

Ghent, p. 74.

/ Kivu Region as Territoire Contesté

Figure 4: Map indicating both the French (1885), German Congo boundary (1884) and the map defining the border in Declaration of Neutrality (1885) Mathys, G. (2014). People on the move: Frontiers, borders, mobility and history in the Lake Kivu region 19th-20 century [PhD]. Ghent, p. 123.

/ Colonial (re)spatialisation

Carte administrative / Administratieve kaart Atlas Général du Congo 1948 - 55

/ Connecting Kivu to the colony

Province de Costermansville

Voies d’accès au Kivu

3DG(1107)2, 1936, Africa Archives, Brussels

3DG(752), 195X, Africa Archives, Brussels

Carte routière officielle Costermansville

Carte routière officielle Ruanda Urundi

3DG(421)9, 1944, Africa Archives, Brussels

3DG(752), 1949, Africa Archives, Brussels

/ Concessioning the eastern province

Carte minière 3DG(2065)6, 1940, Africa Archives, Brussels

/ Militias contesting power

Map of non-state armed actors in North & South Kivu (Democratic Republic of the Congo) Kivu Security Tracker. https://ethuin.files.wordpress.com/

/ Refugee crisis Province du Nord-Kivu:Personnes en situation de déplacement interne (au 25 octobre 2014) Mouvements de population

248 979

Cumul de personnes déplacées (depuis janvier 2009) Personnes déplacées dans les sites de déplacement

557 261

Cumul des personnes retournées (mai 2013 à octobre 2014)

860 740

% Par nature d’hébergement

JRS et MSF

Mercy Corps, NCA et OGB

12,12%

10,50% 6,21%

Walikale

Lubero

Rutshuru

Beni

"

!

Pinga

!

"

Burai

CAMEROON

SUD-UBANGI

Personnes retournées en octobre 2014 parties des famille d’accueil et sites de déplacement

Kibati!

Masisi 3 157

10 370

Rutshuru 7 187

GABON

Nyasi

Ntoto

Katale 4 965

"

Ter.Walikale Kinene

Likoka

!

!

" 4977

Mianga

Musenge

" !

Katoyi 1 736

!

Réserve du Sud Masisi

Itebero!

Isangi

!

!

Les Nations Unies ne sauraient être tenues responsables de la qualité des limites, noms et désignations utilisés sur cette carte.

Date de production: 06 novembre 2014

F

Lac Edward NORD-KIVU

TSHUAPA

Kamanyola Katogota F F LubarikaF F Bwegera F Rwenena FF Luberizi F F Sange Uvira F Runingu

Shabunda

Goma RWANDA

Lac Kivu Bukavu

SANKURU Kinshasa

SUD-KIVU

Pangi

F F FF F F FFBURUNDI F Uvira F F SUD-KIVU F F Baraka F

MANIEMA

Mwenga

Kavimvira F F

Uvira

F FF

KWILU

KWANGO

BURUNDI

KASAI

KONGO CENTRAL KASAI CENTRAL

KASAI ORIENTAL

TANZANIA

Kalemie

LOMAMI

TANGANYKA

Sources: CMP, OCHA, OIM, HCR et partenaires

Matshumbi

!

Kibabi/Police 2 836

!

Luhonga

F

B #

Lac Tanganyika

Lusenda

F

Mitumbala Centre !

Lac vert Mugunga 1 ! Sake 2 183 Karuba 5 952 !!

Nzulo Murambi Mugunga 3 548 " Kazinga Shasha! !

5 003 " Shasha" ! " Buhimba Bishasha 285 ! !

Matanda 864 Ngungu Bulengo Mitoyo! !

39 476 Mifuti ! !

Bweremana ! !

Katahandwa Remeka " 421

Pour tout contact: ochadrc@un.org

Rushoga !

4 975

Baraka F

HAUT-LOMAMI

Kabare

Ter.Nyiragongo

Kibabi-Kishusha ! Matanda 10 789

Atlantic Ocean

"

""Kibabi/Buporo

!

Kibati

"

""

Lac Kivu

ANGOLA

LUALABA

Fizi UNHCR Regional Office

±

HAUT-KATANGA Lubumbashi

MANIEMA

UNHCR Field Office

Refugee location

Kabambare

Province Boundary 200 Kilometers Sources: UNHCR

The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.

400

Lac Tanganyika

UNHCR Field Unit

B Refugee Camp 0

F Sebele

UNHCR Sub-Office

F ZAMBIA

RWANDA

Goma

±

RWANDA

Bukavu

Kabare Bukavu Walungu

Lac Mweru

Kingi !

Luke

Kasenyi

! !

EQUATEUR

MAI-NDOMBE

"

!

!

! ! Busisi Lowa

Lac Albert

UGANDA

""

Nyiragongo 26

!

" "

Idjwi

Aru

MONGALA Bunia

"" " "

"

Dungu

F Goma

Lac Kivu

Kalehe

Aba

TSHOPO

Nyiragongo

Masisi

NORD-KIVU

Walikale

HAUT-UELE

BAS-UELE

ITURI

REPUBLIC OF CONGO

"

Beni 1 250

Gbadolite

Libenge NORD-UBANGI

" "

"

""

Walikale 15 785

Zongo

Kilometers

Rutshuru

41,073 Refugees from Burundi to DRC

Bili

6

1 111 Kalembe " " Kalonge Ibuga 2 454 4 015 !

Kalembe "" Réserve du Sud Masisi Kihondo " Kashuga 2 Bambu Remblais "6 087" 2 352 1 341 Misinga "" " Kinyandoni Kirumba 5 363 ! !

Kasoko " " !

Bweru Kashuga 1 Luve 1 942 563 " Kivuye 3 972 Bweru 4 784 ! !

3 114" " "Rushashi " ! " " Mpati 236 Mushababwe Mweso Katsiru Kiwanja!

23 809 Nyange " 258 " Kitso 4 400 3 589 1 154 Kiwanja Bibwe 590 3 075 " " Birambizo "2 329 Mungote !

Tongo !

Lukweti Kalengera 16 966 !

Rubare Kizimba 2 516 Muhanga ! !

Ter.Rutshuru Kilambo 3 766 Matebe 3 157 ! !

Kibarizo !

Kalengera! " !

Bukombo Bishusha Kahe Bushani 2 982 Mukoto " 5 962 Kashebere!

2 290 4 258 ! " ! Katale " " "Burora Parc National de Virunga 968 Busihe Nyabiondo Rumangabo " ! !

Muheto !

Kabaya 1 101 " Kanyatsi Bonde Loashi 3 243 ! !

949 Kalinga Bihito 8 185 Kilimani " 8 175 Kirolirwe!

1 203 ! Rugari Ter.Masisi " Lushebere 4 834 !

""

40 545

Situation as of April 30, 2017

☪

SOUTH SUDAN

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

O

Ngoroba 1 065 Kashalira Nyanzale " 849 Marché "" 4 334 " " Bwalanda/Katwe !

712 "

" ""

Nouveaux déplacements octobre 2014 accueillis dans des familles

Lubero 23 510

Burundian Refugees

!

Lusuli Kyahala 1 092 1 882 " Kikuku 3 727

" Mpeti Malemo "

Site de déplacement coordonné par le HCR

Ville de Goma

Buhimba

Kashesha 1 550

Site de déplacement coordonné par l’OIM

18,40%

Masisi

!

Légende

24,06%

Familles d’accueil 71%

Ikobo

PAM

28,41%

860 740 Cumul IDP

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO Rwindi

Lusoha

"1 638 !

!

IEDA/HCR

% Mouvements de population par territoire

Sites 29%

Lubero

Activités des partenaires

Territory Boundary

Kongolo

Hydrography

TANGANYKA Nyunzu

For more information, please contact DRCIM@unhcr.org. Please also visit http://data.unhcr.org/drc/regional.php

www.rdc-humanitaire.net

Province de Nord Kivu: personnes en situation de déplacement interne (au 25 octobre 2014)

Democratic Republic of the Congo Burundian Refugees

OCHA. Via https://www.refworld.org/

UNHCR. Via https://www.refworld.org/

TANZANIA

F Lukolo

Kalemie 0

30 Kilometers

60