During the last fifty years the city of Benghazi in Libya has attracted huge streams of migrants from villages and small towns. This is due to the pull factors of jobs and social services in the city and to the push factors associated with the neglect of villages and small towns. This resulted in the city quickly increasing in size, leading to rapid population growth, culminating in many economic, social and demographic problems. However, little is known about Libyan migration especially in relation to the challenges posed by internal migration. Therefore, there is a need to examine the phenomena of internal migration and its effect on Benghazi, in order to provide planners and policy makers with up-to-date and relevant information to help them make appropriate decisions. The key aim of this study was to determine and critically evaluate the impact of internal migration on Benghazi using an interpretive approach. This was achieved by combining quantitative and qualitative methods. The empirical core of this thesis is based on field work data, including questionnaire interviews with 150 heads of household who had migrated to Benghazi; supplemented by 10 in-depth narrative studies with selected families; and semi structured interviews with key informants (policy makers) to investigate Government policy and the economic, social and demographic impact of internal migration on the city of Benghazi. The starting point of the theoretical basis of this study is based on theories developed by Ravenstein, Lee and Sjaastad. The research shows that there has been a high rate of migration flow to Benghazi over the last fifty years, and that the economic elements (job opportunities, higher incomes and more regular work) are the most important motives for migrating, in addition to social factors namely attending education and having access to health services. The research found that migration to Benghazi involved a bulk exodus of the whole family unit to take advantage of a better lifestyle in Benghazi. The thesis further reveals that these family streams of migrants have affected the social, economic and demographic situation of Benghazi. Despite the Libyan Government seeking to reduce streams of internal migrants, some of these policies have worked, others have not. There is thus difference between what was planned and what has actually been achieved on the ground, demonstrating the need for research such as this.

The development of a methodological framework for local and institutional sustainability assessment can be helpful for planners and urban governments. The aim of this research is to develop an approach to local and institutional sustainability assessment (ALISA). It is designed to assist in the clarification, formulation, preparation, selection, and ranking of key indicators to facilitate the assessment of city sustainability at the local and institutional level in the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) cities. The ALISA methodological framework is developed using joint documentary and analysed data in the two case studies of Benghazi and Amman. The data for this also includes focus-group discussions, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaires that reflect the approach required in order to develop a combined framework that assists the development of sustainability indicators. The initial list of proposed sustainability indicators for Benghazi contains 37 indicators. This list was developed based on logical information and procedure which has been supported by consultants and specialists in sustainability and urbanization from the University of Benghazi in the form of workshops as well as searching through the literature on sustainable development. Similarly, with support from consultants and specialists in sustainability and urbanization from the Applied science University a list of 36 indicators was also developed in Amman. Both lists were given to the local communities in Benghazi and Amman to be ranked based on priority to identify two final lists of sustainability indicators. The results indicated that economic and social indicators were highly ranked in Benghazi and Amman, respectively.

Cette thèse, sur la traite des esclaves noirs en Libye, dans les temps modernes, en particulier aux XVIIIe et XIXe siècles, a nécessité une recherche à partir de questions telles que : quelles sont les origines et les catégories des esclaves noirs qui arrivèrent en Libye ? Les divers prix pratiqués ? Les stations commerçantes les plus importantes du Sahara ? Les routes caravanières empruntées pour le transport des esclaves vers l’Afrique du Nord et plus particulièrement la Libye ? La thèse porte sur les principaux marchés libyens, les méthodes d’achat et de vente, les prix des esclaves, les impôts, les douanes. La Libye a servi, en premier lieu, de plaque tournante pour l’exportation des esclaves vers d’autres destinations et notre étude s’est attachée à ses ports d’où partaient les esclaves en direction de l’Egypte, de l’Empire ottoman, du Levant et des pays du Maghreb. La thèse met aussi l’accent sur la vie sociale des esclaves, leurs rituels religieux, leurs traditions et coutumes, leur habitat, leurs relations avec leurs maîtres, leur intégration dans la communauté libyenne et musulmane jusqu’à en faire partie, le point de vue de la société libyenne sur ce phénomène de l’esclavage. La dernière partie de la thèse aborde la diminution du phénomène de l’esclavage en Libye, puis l’interdiction et l’abolition du commerce à partir de la pression internationale exercée sur l’Empire ottoman. Une évaluation est faite sur la qualité des mesures gouvernementales à cet égard, à travers un récit historique des évènements jusqu’à la fin du commerce à partir de l’occupation italienne, en 1911. / This thesis is about the black slaves’ trade in Libya in the modern era especially in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It illustrates a range of research issues such as, the sources of black slaves which came to Libya, its types and prices, the important commercial stations in the desert, the routes of the caravans which carried the slaves to North Africa and to Libya in particular. The research study comes across the most important markets on the Libyan soil, the methods of purchasing and buying, the slaves’ prices, the taxes and the customs. Hence, Libya was the area of re-exporting the slaves in the first place, the theses will mention the important exporting harbours and the important destinations such as Egypt, the Ottoman State (Turkey), and the Levant and the Maghreb countries. The thesis extends its scope to cover the social life of the slaves, their religious rituals, their customs and traditions, their houses, their relationships with their masters, the perception of the Libyan society to the slave phenomenon until they become an important component of the Libyan society and the Islamic societies in general. The last part of the thesis deals with the history of abolition of the slave trade and the disappearance of the slave phenomenon totally in Libya. This will be done by following the sequence of events starting with the international pressure on the Ottoman Empire for the abolition of slavery, the assessment of the seriousness of the governmental measures (procedures) and recalling the historical events until the end of the slave trade by the Italian occupation to Libya in 1911.