From Urban Catastrophe to 'Model' City? Politics, Security and Development in Post-conflict Kigali

• Published in: Urban studies (Edinburgh, Scotland) Vol. 50; no. 15; pp. 3185 - 3202
• Main Authors: Goodfellow, Tom, Smith, Alyson
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England Sage Publications, Ltd 01.11.2013; SAGE Publications; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Cities; City politics; Civil war; Conflict; Conflicts; Development Policy; Economic assistance; Foreign Aid; Genocide; Government; Government officials; International development; Kigali; Local government; Municipal governments; Political conditions; Politics; Population growth; Public policy; Refugees; Rwanda; Security; Special Issue Articles; United Nations; Urban Development; Urban Population; Urban violence; Urbanization; Rwanda; Kigali Rwanda
• ISSN: 0042-0980; 1360-063X
• DOI: 10.1177/0042098013487776

In the years immediately after the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Kigali was a site of continuing crisis amid extraordinary levels of urban population growth, as refugees returned to Rwanda in their millions. Yet unlike many post-conflict cities that spiral into endemic crime and instability, it was rapidly securitised in the context of political consolidation and large amounts of foreign aid, and hailed by the UN as a 'model, modern city'. This paper analyses the government's approach to securitising Kigali, interrogating how its rapid trajectory from epicentre of conflict to carefully planned showcase for development has been achieved. It is argued that Kigali bears the weight of many of Rwanda’s development aspirations and keeping it secure and orderly is viewed as critical by the government. After examining the national and local processes through which the government has aimed to achieve 'secure urbanisation', the potential longer-term implications of its urban development strategy are considered.