Implications of urbanization and Impact of Population Growth on Abidjan City, Cote d’Ivoire.

Abstract

The Absorption of rural Landscape by the process of urbanization is a critical issue leading to several, economic and environmental complications. Urbanization drives land use and land cover change (zoya et al., 2016), and, since the First Industrial Revolution (from about 1760 to 1840), has been characterised by the growth of urban population and spatial extension of cities. With the beginning of the twenty-first century, urbanization has gone hand in hand with development in emerging countries often leading to massive rural exodus. Since 2008, it is estimated that more than half of the global population of 6.7 billion people lives in cities with more and more fuzzy borders compared to one-third in 1950. Abidjan is the economic capital of Cote d'Ivoire and also the most populous and largest city with 4,707000 inhabitants or 21% of the country's total population (General Census, RGPH 2014). The city has 60% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is experiencing a rapid growth characterized by strong industrialisation and extensive urbanization. In 2005, the distance between Abidjan and the neighbouring cities of Grand Bassam, Bingerville, Dabou and Anyama was more than 10Km. However, in 2019, these clearly defined boundaries in Abidan no longer exist, and these neighbouring cities are viewed as part of Abidjan. The purpose of this study is to analyse the rapid growth of the Abidjan District and its impact on territorial and spatial land management. The land Consumption Ratio (LCR) and Land Absorption Coefficient (LAC) were used to understand the evolution of land use consumption in Abidjan between 1955 and 2014. The results of this will contribute to the initiating plan for sustainable development of Ivorian cities by reconciling urban development and land management in Cote d'Ivoire. Keywords: Abidjan, Urbanisation, Population Growth, Land Use, LCR,LAC