Urban policies, agriculture and land market: What future for periurban agriculture in Constantine?

Abstract

This article shows how social policies aimed at increasing the private housing market can be a constraint on the agricultural land market and affect the behaviours of land owners. Through the case of the city of Constantine (Algeria), we show how suburban agriculture is disturbed by the impacts of urban policy. At the same time, the agricultural sector, historically devoted to grain production and organized in national networks, has not sought alliances with the city. It is undergoing high competition for land which is, in turn, leading to a high level of economic insecurity for farmers due to public decisions or the market price. A field study on the main traders and administrators of both land and the housing market provides quantified data. This data makes it possible to evaluate market impacts in the historically centralized Algerian situation while highlighting the social mechanisms which lie at the root of the speculation, and which are constant across countries and political situations.