These cities, encapsulating deep-rooted cleavages based on competing nationalisms and arguments over state legitimacy, constitute an essential analytical scale for studying contemporary intra-state patterns and processes of ethnic conflict, violence and their management. Amidst deep-rooted enmities, the basis for sustainable peace lies not just in reconstituting a legitimate and inclusive national-level government, but in reconciliation among communities and economic and social reconstruction at the local tier. The author's research on the role of ethnicity in urban development, and how urban peace-building may be possible amidst deep political conflict, took him to these politically contested cities in 1994, 1995 and 1999. These observations are from some of the over 100 interviews he conducted with urban policymakers, community leaders and city residents.
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Scott A. Bollens (2001) studied this question.