Bureaucratic politics in the Sudan: a study of access to residential land in Greater Khartoum

Al-Rahim, Taha Ahmed Abd (1985). Bureaucratic politics in the Sudan: a study of access to residential land in Greater Khartoum. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This study examines the process of the distribution of residential land in Greater Khartoum, Sudan, and inquires into the processes which constrain the access of the urban population to residential plots. The main objective is to analyse the constraints which bear upon the implementation of urban housing policy, and to develop an adequate explanation of their sources and underlying mechanisms.
The study employs a broad framework of analysis that combines a structural analysis of the political economy with an institutional analysis of policy and organisational process. It will be argued that the limitations inherent in the urban housing policy in Sudan can be explained in terms of the prevailing policy planning model and the underlying structural constraints which arise from the nature of the political economy.
The study consists of seven chapters. Chapter One provides an overview of perspectives of policy implementation in the Third World. The relevance of some of these perspectives to an approach that relates policy problems to social structure will be considered.
Chapter Two presents an exposition of the Sudanese economy and highlights the question of how dominant economic interests influence public policy.
Chapter Three addresses the links between social structure and public policy by analysing the prevalent model of policy planning in Sudan. It will be argued that there is a correspondence between the social content of the policy model and the interests of dominant economic classes identified in Chapter Two.
Chapter Four focuses on the effect of the policy model on urban social policy. Two policy areas will be examined: the policy of regional development and its impact on housing problems in the capital; and the policy of urban land development.
Chapter Five investigates the concrete limits on access to residential land at the level of housing agencies. Their organisational patterns, rules of allocation and operational processes will be examined.
Chapter Six narrows the focus on the limits on access by examining the upgrading process in one of the capital's illegal settlements.
Chapter Seven concludes the argument on the source and the incidence of constraints on policy implementation. We will synthesise the processes underlying the constraints identified in the preceding chapters, and advance a broad explanation of the nature and the incidence of these constraints.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

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