Normative Pluralism and Socio-Environmental Vulnerability in Cameroon: A Literature Review of Urban Land Policy Issues and Challenges
African cities are experiencing rapid, unregulated growth, characterized by high land pressure and growing demand for housing and urban infrastructure. New arrivals often settle in vulnerable areas (wetlands, hills, flood) where land is cheaper and unregulated by public authorities. This type of set...
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Urban Science |
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| author | Idiatou Bah Roussel Lalande Teguia Kenmegne |
| author_facet | Idiatou Bah Roussel Lalande Teguia Kenmegne |
| author_sort | Idiatou Bah |
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| description | African cities are experiencing rapid, unregulated growth, characterized by high land pressure and growing demand for housing and urban infrastructure. New arrivals often settle in vulnerable areas (wetlands, hills, flood) where land is cheaper and unregulated by public authorities. This type of settlement is accompanied by numerous land conflicts, exacerbated by the coexistence of formal and customary land tenure systems, which struggle to harmonize. In this context, public land regulation policies often remain centralized and ill-adapted, revealing their limitations in ensuring equitable and sustainable management of urban land. Faced with this gap, our systematic study explores the socio-environmental dynamics of this normative pluralism in land governance within Cameroonian cities. Our findings highlight the tensions and opportunities of this complex coexistence, which vary significantly according to city size (small, medium, and large), the colonial heritage (Francophone and Anglophone), and the dominant legal framework (civil law and common law). The analysis highlights the need to take into account historical, linguistic, and politico-administrative roots, which profoundly influence local forms of the institutionalization of normative pluralism and the associated socio-environmental vulnerabilities. This normative plurality underlines the importance of a hybrid system of land governance capable of integrating local specificities while ensuring land security for all. Future research will include comparisons with other African countries in order to understand transferable mechanisms for better land governance. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-aac695a1803f4c2cba6685ca3769e217 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2413-8851 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Urban Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-aac695a1803f4c2cba6685ca3769e2172025-08-20T02:21:51ZengMDPI AGUrban Science2413-88512025-06-019621910.3390/urbansci9060219Normative Pluralism and Socio-Environmental Vulnerability in Cameroon: A Literature Review of Urban Land Policy Issues and ChallengesIdiatou Bah0Roussel Lalande Teguia Kenmegne1Department of Geography, Faculty of Forestry, Geography and Geomatics, Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, CanadaDepartment of Geography, Faculty of Forestry, Geography and Geomatics, Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, CanadaAfrican cities are experiencing rapid, unregulated growth, characterized by high land pressure and growing demand for housing and urban infrastructure. New arrivals often settle in vulnerable areas (wetlands, hills, flood) where land is cheaper and unregulated by public authorities. This type of settlement is accompanied by numerous land conflicts, exacerbated by the coexistence of formal and customary land tenure systems, which struggle to harmonize. In this context, public land regulation policies often remain centralized and ill-adapted, revealing their limitations in ensuring equitable and sustainable management of urban land. Faced with this gap, our systematic study explores the socio-environmental dynamics of this normative pluralism in land governance within Cameroonian cities. Our findings highlight the tensions and opportunities of this complex coexistence, which vary significantly according to city size (small, medium, and large), the colonial heritage (Francophone and Anglophone), and the dominant legal framework (civil law and common law). The analysis highlights the need to take into account historical, linguistic, and politico-administrative roots, which profoundly influence local forms of the institutionalization of normative pluralism and the associated socio-environmental vulnerabilities. This normative plurality underlines the importance of a hybrid system of land governance capable of integrating local specificities while ensuring land security for all. Future research will include comparisons with other African countries in order to understand transferable mechanisms for better land governance.https://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/9/6/219urban land policynormative pluralityinformal normssocio-environmental vulnerabilityPRISMA 2020Cameroon |
| spellingShingle | Idiatou Bah Roussel Lalande Teguia Kenmegne Normative Pluralism and Socio-Environmental Vulnerability in Cameroon: A Literature Review of Urban Land Policy Issues and Challenges Urban Science urban land policy normative plurality informal norms socio-environmental vulnerability PRISMA 2020 Cameroon |
| title | Normative Pluralism and Socio-Environmental Vulnerability in Cameroon: A Literature Review of Urban Land Policy Issues and Challenges |
| title_full | Normative Pluralism and Socio-Environmental Vulnerability in Cameroon: A Literature Review of Urban Land Policy Issues and Challenges |
| title_fullStr | Normative Pluralism and Socio-Environmental Vulnerability in Cameroon: A Literature Review of Urban Land Policy Issues and Challenges |
| title_full_unstemmed | Normative Pluralism and Socio-Environmental Vulnerability in Cameroon: A Literature Review of Urban Land Policy Issues and Challenges |
| title_short | Normative Pluralism and Socio-Environmental Vulnerability in Cameroon: A Literature Review of Urban Land Policy Issues and Challenges |
| title_sort | normative pluralism and socio environmental vulnerability in cameroon a literature review of urban land policy issues and challenges |
| topic | urban land policy normative plurality informal norms socio-environmental vulnerability PRISMA 2020 Cameroon |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/9/6/219 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT idiatoubah normativepluralismandsocioenvironmentalvulnerabilityincameroonaliteraturereviewofurbanlandpolicyissuesandchallenges AT roussellalandeteguiakenmegne normativepluralismandsocioenvironmentalvulnerabilityincameroonaliteraturereviewofurbanlandpolicyissuesandchallenges |