Recourir à l’entre-deux : une proposition pour mieux nommer et décrire la production des espaces informels de Ouagadougou

Abstract

The urban fabric of the capital city of Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou), like that of other sub-Saharan cities, is characterized by two main types of districts: formal and informal. In 2006, about a quarter of Ouagalese lived in informal districts. One of the major difficulties faced with by these urban area dwellers is the lack of basic social services. Due to the lack of urban services, these territories may be regarded as spatial margins of the city. Based on the current state of the knowledge on the issue and data from the Observatory of the population of Ouagadougou (OPO), this article highlights the interplay of actors responsible for the production of those margins of Ouagadougou in order to better understand the rationale behind their "transitional" nature. Then, it explains the mechanisms of their exclusion from public urban service policies (including access to water and electricity, and garbage collection). Finally, the article spotlights transitional processes in the urbanization development that may be qualified as an "in-between" process; the "between " concept seeming finally easier to characterize than the " two ".

Keywords

• Afrique
• Burkina Faso
• ville
• informel
• services urbains