Extension urbaine et protection naturelle : La difficile expérience d’Abidjan

Abstract

Cities, facing accelerated spatial dynamics, generate adverse effects on nature as is the case of Abidjan. This African metropolis is well-known for its rapid urbanization- with more than three million people living there. Yet, since it has been designated as the Ivorian capital city, its development has been planned. So as not to jeopardize biodiversity as regards economic growth, the government adopted a policy to serve the urban ecosystem by creating a national park within Abidjan and a reserved forest (Anguededou ) on the northern outskirts of the city. But beyond the economic benefits, there stand problems due to the management of population growth. At the economic level, informal activities develop in a chaotic way. Governments try in vain to reorganize them and environmental impacts are significant. The development of economic activities along roadways makes it difficult to reach green city objectives. There is also a significant reduction of natural areas for the benefit of housing. Abidjan spreads to meet the high demand for housing of urban people when suburban agriculture is continually threatened. The degradation of Abidjan natural heritage is so worrying that the impacts of population pressure extend to protected areas. For agricultural practice, some populations infiltrated the classified forest of Anguededou a few years ago and even settled there. The threat of the primary forest’s extinction of Abidjan outskirts is real while the measures against the deterioration of the urban environment do not seem to consider the problem of city spread.

Keywords

• biodiversity
• urban agriculture
• urban expansion
• population pressure
• urban spread