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Text in Italian. English sum.: This study examines a number of cases in which the people of Ziguinchor, in the Casamance region of Senegal, have been in dispute with the public authorities over the question of access to land in urban areas. These conflicts, however, should not obscure the fact that the citizens of Ziguinchor and the representatives of the Senegalese State generally manage to reach a consensus on questions of urban land use. The study identifies the reasons why the citizens of Ziguinchor, in spite of the various problems which they have with the authorities, ultimately accept State policies and regulations. Legal analysis is supplemented with social and economic data from Soucoupapaye, a periurban neighbourhood in Ziguinchor, in order to demonstrate that the effective application of State land law in an urban community is subject to political and socioeconomic constraints.
