Urban Production In The Steppe Zone Of Western Algeria: The Role Of Local Actors In The Face Of National Urban Legislation Case of a peripheral district (SidiHadjBouhous) in the city of Bougtob (province of Bayadh )

Abstract

Since its Independence, Algeria has experienced widespread urbanization on its territory, althoughdifferentiated by the pace and manner in which it is achieved.

The Algerian authorities have established a legal framework to alleviate the urban anarchy represented in the illegal neighborhoods scattered on the outskirts of cities, including those of the steppe (city of Bougtob, wilaya of Bayadh).

However, these laws neglected the socio-tribal specificities of the steppe region, which gave local actors (especially elected officials) the opportunity to circumvent them by using administrative tricks to meet the needs of their voters.

Here, we tried to dissect the process of extension of the city of Bougtob on a peripheral space (SidiHadjBouhous district), by contacting its current and previous local officials and by making semi-directive interviews also with other actors such as land speculators and notables of the city