Analyse de la dynamique spatiale du port de Dakar de 1900 à 2009 : enjeux multi-scalaires et aménagements

Abstract

This study analyzes the spatial evolution of the port of Dakar over a little more than a century (1900-2009) and considers its linkages with political, economic and territorial issues since its inception. Spatial analysis was used to follow the transformation of the port area at a micro-local scale; it provides a few cues about how the port is linked to other scales.The space-time analysis showed that port management could somehow adapt to changing maritime traffic through spatial management and logistic arrangements. The extension phase which was initially linked to the port’s call function, then to the country’s commercial and industrial development, involved an extension of the port’s domain over the sea, because of an urban influence that had soon become a major spatial constraint. The specialization phase focusing on containerization occurred only in 2000, 25 years after the first container shipments to West Africa.But the port is now at a critical point. Indeed, if the space has been occupied at more than 90% capacity over the last decade, its current configuration does not allow it to support the future growth of maritime flows. The option of embankments, which has been the response to the congestion of terminals, doesn’t offer guarantees for the security of naval operations. This announces a dissociation phase, with the displacement of the ore terminals out of the city and reuse of the freed space. But this costly option calls for a strategy that is coherent with the country’s economic development, and the involvement of a diversity of investors.

Keywords

• spatial analysis
• scale
• zoning
• container
• fishing
• maritime traffic