Policy making and political implications and contradictions in changing urban environment - Housing and public transport in Abidjan, Ivory Coast

Abstract

Abidjan is the largest city in the Ivory Coast with an area of 629 km² and about 5 million inhabitants in 2019. The urban environment has changed over time due to population growth produced by the increase in the natural growth rate and migration and economic and political crises. This change has also occurred through the different systems that have been adopted: traditional practices during the colonial era, the colonial model during the period of colonization, and the Ivorian model after independence. This phenomenon has led to a spatial fragmentation of the city and socio-economic segregation which means that today the city faces major demographic, social, cultural, and political challenges with significant pressure on housing and transport. Through the Afrobarometer indicators, we have identified that housing and transportation issues are among the problems that the government should address at the urban center level. This work shows why it is interesting to look at policies in these two sectors in Abidjan, and how these policies have impacted, are impacting, and will impact the evolution of the urban environment. It also shows how these policies do not correspond and/or do not respond to the challenges that the city faces. Recommendations are proposed to address the problems in these two sectors