The Political Economy of Urban Land Reforms in a Post-Colonial State AMBE J. NJOH Introduction The proclivity towards regulating and controlling the use of urban land is a universal feature of governments. In less developed countries (LDCs), policies in this connection are masqueraded in terms of measures designed to achieve the laudable objectives of social justice and equity, greater political stability, economic growth, environmental preservation and productivity in the use of land for national development (cf. Handelman, 1996). However, it would appear that the imperative to regulate and control urban land use constitutes a fundamental part of efforts by the state in LDCs to usurp other forms of societal authority (Williams, 1992). From this vantage point, the constellation of land reform policies that have been adopted throughout sub-Saharan Africa (see, e.g., UN DESA, 1973), especially since the 1960s, can be seen as a manifestation of the continuing struggle over legitimacy and control between the state and society. While this struggle has been widely discussed (see, e.g., Ergas, 1987; Rotchild and Chazan, 1988), much remains to be done in the way of promoting understanding of the development implications of the usurpation by the state of other forms of societal authority in Africa. The utility of extant works in this regard is substantially weakened by the absence of empirical data (Williams, 1992) as well as country-by-country assessments of state-society relationships in specific policy arenas. As an attempt to redress this shortcoming in the literature, we herein explore the nature of ‘reglementation’ — that is, the progressive expansion of rule-bearing authority by the state or agents acting on its behalf (cf. Williams, 1992) — in the urban land policy arena and its implications for different members of society in Cameroon. We begin by retracing the roots of modern urban land use policy in Cameroon (hereafter, the country). Then, we examine contemporary efforts on the part of the Cameroonian state to regulate and control urban land use in the face of unprecedented rates of urban population growth as well as a dwindling resource base. Following this, we uncover real and potential impacts of the policy on different groups and/or members of the Cameroonian society. Finally, and prior to concluding the discussion, we recommend a number of actions necessary for eradicating the extant, as well as averting the potential, problems. The evolution of modern urban land use policy in Cameroon Urban land use regulatory and control measures in most developing countries are a legacy of their colonial past. It is therefore not surprising that the flurry of urban land laws Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1998. Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.