ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the development of a new university town, analyzing the ways in which government uses the siting and development of new university campuses to impact urban development in general and higher education secondarily. It is a case of university land development as provincial/regional urban economic development. The argument here is that university land development in developing countries is not always first and foremost about higher education; and where university and government policies are undertaken in such a matter, there are often as many negative as positive consequences, especially for the existing local community. I will discuss the new university town plan, the development of the universities and the town, and the impacts such development has had on the area. This discussion will be followed by an assessment of university-community relations and initiatives taken by universities. The central premise of this assessment is that as a center of “enlightenment,” the university bears the burden of initiating and sustaining dialogue between university representatives and local community stakeholders.
