Full circle or spiralling out of control? State violence and the control of urbanisation in Papua New Guinea

There is an administrative reluctance to recognise the permanency of urban settlement in Papua New Guinea. This reluctance, evident since the 1960s, h as been characteristic of both the colonial and post-colonial administratio ns. Opposition to some facets of urbanisation continues today, despite grow ing population and land pressures in most rural areas and real problems of landlessness emerging in particular rural areas. Colonial control of urban populations has been replicated in contemporary times, often in more dracon ian form. Eviction of urban settlers has been tied to issues of crime and u rban respectability, and lingering perceptions that Melanesians should be r ural residents. The growth of informal settlements and urbanisation are not seen as issues of urban planning, nor is the context of urban migration li nked to socioeconomic inequality, hence other forms of urban policy are lar gely absent. Strengthening alliances between land-owners and the state (esp ecially police and provincial administrations) have thus emphasised intraur ban inequality and hampered national development.