In January, southern Sudan marked the first year anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement amid widespread celebrations, commemorating the end of the 21-year civil war between the north and the south and an era of autonomy from the capital in Khartoum.

Just before the momentous anniversary, Creative Associates International, Inc.’s technical team presented an assessment to government officials and members of parliament that revealed town mapping and plans for Juba, the newly designated capital of southern Sudan. One of the Juba assessment’s goals was to provide the government with specific information on the existing administrative structures of land management so that both long- and short-term policies could be designed to meet the city’s expected rapid growth.

The new seat of government in southern Sudan will be particularly affected by rapid growth. “Some estimates have it that Juba could double in size to half a million people in the next one or two years. There’s going to be a huge pull, a magnetic attraction to Juba for internally displaced persons, refugees, ex-combatants and a rural-to-urban migration as people look for opportunities,” said Richard Wagner, Creative Associates director of the Sudan Strategic Participatory Town Planning project which carried out the assessment.

As in all new beginnings, optimism hangs in the balance with concern at the enormous challenges ahead.

Southern Sudan is considered one of Africa’s least developed regions. Juba has one main paved road where government ministries, the president’s offices and other official residences will be located. Aside from some British colonial structures in one part of town, most of the residents live in traditional tukul or thatched roof houses. Basic services, roads and other infrastructure have been nearly non existent.

The assessment will not only help to draw a picture of the challenges but also the constraints and opportunities that the government will face in making policy decisions about urban planning. Some of Juba’s critical needs include a comprehensive records review to determine land ownership and allocation to meet the demands of a growing population. The assessment, undertaken in September, was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

“The outcome of the assessment is that we have a better understanding about the system for land management and administration procedures,” Wagner said. “We learned about the characteristics and dynamics of the greater Juba area, what the constraints will be for the new government and what opportunities exist to assist the new government to deal with the inevitable rapid growth and change that will occur in the city.”

Although weak, Juba has a working system for land tenure and property. While public officials have a vision for the city and many possess skills in urban planning and management, there are shortages in staff, systems and operational capacity to enact changes and manage growth effectively. “For example, the land survey office, which would be the driver for surveying and plotting property for municipal expansion and property verification on border disputes, has only four surveyors with no new surveyors having been hired since 1989. The new government is inheriting a partially dysfunctional system where land records have lacked a legal framework which could lead to contested property and conflict,” Wagner said.

But the assessment also raises hopes. Juba has a lot of resources. It sits on the famed trade route of the Nile River. Vast lands are available for development to meet the needs of a growing municipality that must accommodate a growing population.

— Alexandra Pratt