Evolutions and threats to land management in the peri-urban area of the city of Sidi Bel Abbes (Algeria) - an analysis based on spatial cadastral data

Abstract

Sidi Bel Abbes, the capital of Mekerra, a city of the interior plain, where agricultural land has experienced urban spillover at the expense of peri-urban land. The accelerated sprawl between 1987 and 2019 is expressed by threats to peri-urban state land, the pressure on agricultural activity on the peripheries of the city, and a relaxation of respect for planning policies at the local level. How can peri-urban land be better protected, and consequently encourage agricul-tural use, without abandoning it? This work analyses the legal nature of the land taken for the benefit of urban construction and characterizes its spread using Landsat multispectral satellite data. Our approach is based on the following question: Does urban sprawl impact the man-agement of land and its legal nature? What is the future of this land in the face of current threats and future planning and urban development orientations? The cartographic analyses with the actual practices of the different social groups in the field have made it possible to evaluate the relationship between agricultural policy, and implementation and to situate the conflicts or threats about urban sprawl. The north of the city of Sidi Bel Abbes (cadastral sec-tion n°3, 324.74 ha), is where 45% of state land is acquired for building purposes. A reorienta-tion of the peri-urban land is currently presented by a new management mode of an individual type, as a means of freezing and/or preserving the land: the creation of hedges and fences, the introduction of arboriculture (olive tree or other). Observations on site made it possible to ex-plain these practices, which are at the origin of these current representations. The crops prac-tice is linked to the profit drawn on compensations, and the plantations are a source of good remuneration.