This thesis will examine the socio-cultural and political dimension of rapid rural-urban transformation at the Kasumbalesa border in DRC-Zambia. Starting from an in-depth study of this Congolese border town, the thesis aims to better understand the new emerging cross-border identities in a context of booming development and urbanization. She will contribute to debates on cross-border urbanization and rural-urban transformation, which are mainly within social anthropology and urban anthropology in Africa.

It builds on existing research in the DRC on new forms of border urbanity and urban identities in rapidly growing cities as described in the work of Vlassenroot & Büscher (2013) and Büscher & Mathys (2013). This research has made a significant contribution to the relationship that people have with urban space in a context of high mobility and cultural diversity, it still shows a clear gap on the subject of cross-border mobility and its impact on cross-border trade. and urban governance.