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Saudi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (SJHSS)
Volume-3 | Issue-02 | 189-199
Original Research Article
Multiplicity of Urban Fronts and phenomena in Cameroonian Cities: example of Douala the Economic Capital
Tende Renz Tichafogwe, Zephania N. Fogwe
Published : Feb. 15, 2018
DOI : 10.21276/sjhss.2018.3.2.4
Abstract
Good multitudes of Cameroonian cities are characterized by a strong recurrence urban front issuant of combined population surge and industrialization. Douala as a sub-Saharan millionaire city witnessed an accelerated spiral of population increase and spatial sprawl in the wake of uncontrolled development of fronts. The fronts depict dynamic limits of growth of urban perimeters with uncoordinated urban physiognomy. The development of Douala is not homogenous in its planning and infrastructural growth due to improper monitoring of urbanisation process. This paper examines the modus-operandi of front development in the city and explains the gaps that have led to an unproductive dynamics of fronts in Douala. The study aims at mapping existing urban fronts and introducing control strategies to reduce unproductive front development in Douala. Field observations, interviews, on-the-spot appraisals, archival sources and documentary research constituted significant data collection sources. The urban space of Douala was determined from satellite images of two periods while the population increase was treated through the Microsoft excel spreadsheet to obtain results. Results revealed that urban front proliferation in Douala is triggered by a rapid population upsurge representing some 405.87% increase in 40 years with the population moving from 476.000 inhabitants in 1975, to 1.931.977 in 2015. The urban space of Douala increased in 24,251 hectares for the past 44 years passing from 3249 hectares in 1970 to 27500 in 2014. Douala is largely an archetypical urban mismanagement territory of poor planning policies, uncoordinated spatial layout of urban settlement and anarchical occupation of land. Legislation and governance has not succeeded in shaping land ownership and buildings leading to anarchy and unproductive dynamics of the fronts in the city. The paper suggests that a participatory management approach involving the public and private actors be used to implement control and address the anarchy that reigns in Douala.
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