An open discussion with:

Prof. Dr. Leben Nelson Moro

Chair of the Center for Peace and Development Studies, University of Juba, South Sudan

Stephen Kovats

open systems urbanist and co-founder of r0g_agency for open culture and critical transformation, Berlin

Juba, the capital of the recently independent state of South Sudan is one of the world’s fastest growing urban centers. After a Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 ended over 3 decades of war in Sudan, peace in the new state, despite the euphoria of victory and independence has been elusive. The capital city has become a microcosmic entity reflecting the chaotic free-for-all of international development, land-grabbing and a collapse in the traditional relationships of communal space in the country as a whole.

Being such a framework and symbol, it needs however to act as a vision of South Sudan’s future. Juba’s return to political violence, insecurity and the breakdown of the fragile structures of the nascent state illustrate the challenging roles that urbanism as a partner in the development of a stable open society must play. Has the city become an enemy of the people, its residents and life blood? Given such extreme challenges to peace and independence, can alternative forms of urban development based on the open source and peer to peer models of collaboration, citizen interaction and critical sustainability empower citizens and thus create more effective governance?