West African Studies Urbanisation Dynamics in West Africa 1950-2010 Africapolis I, 2015 Update (eBook)

Dominique Harre, Francois Moriconi-Ebrard, Philipp Heinrigs (Autoren)

eBook Download: PDF

2016 | 1. Auflage
92 Seiten
OECD Publishing (Verlag)
978-92-64-25223-3 (ISBN)

Infos

Since 1950, the number of urban agglomerations in West Africa increased from 152 to almost 2 000, and today towns and cities are home to 41% of the region’s total population. Cities and their inhabitants are increasingly shaping West Africa’s economic, political and social landscape. Yet there is little up-to-date data available for analysis and the formulation of development policy at the local, national and regional levels.

Africapolis, a comprehensive and homogenous dataset on urbanisation, is a significant step towards closing this data gap. The 2015 update covers 17 West African countries spanning the period 1950 to 2010. Its original methodology combines demographic sources, satellite and aerial imagery to provide population estimates and geolocation at the level of individual agglomerations. The morphological approach adopted by Africapolis helps identify territorial transformation processes which are at the core of West Africa’s complex urbanisation dynamics and can be observed at several levels: metropolises, secondary cities, the merging of villages and the formation of conurbations.

The identification of cities with fewer than 100 000 inhabitants is a major contribution of Africapolis – 90% of West Africa’s cities, or a combined population of 45 million people, fall into this category – a figure which underscores the important role of small cities within the urban system. This edition also includes new measurements of urbanisation in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, constituting the most complete dataset on urbanisation dynamics in this country to date.

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Since 1950, the number of urban agglomerations in West Africa increased from 152 to almost 2 and today towns and cities are home to 41% of the region's total population. Cities and their inhabitants are increasingly shaping West Africa's economic, political and social landscape. Yet there is little up-to-date data available for analysis and the formulation of development policy at the local, national and regional levels. Africapolis, a comprehensive and homogenous dataset on urbanisation, is a significant step towards closing this data gap. The 2015 update covers 17 West African countries spanning the period 1950 to 2010. Its original methodology combines demographic sources, satellite and aerial imagery to provide population estimates and geolocation at the level of individual agglomerations. The morphological approach adopted by Africapolis helps identify territorial transformation processes which are at the core of West Africa's complex urbanisation dynamics and can be observed at several levels: metropolises, secondary cities, the merging of villages and the formation of conurbations. The identification of cities with fewer than 100 inhabitants is a major contribution of Africapolis 90% of West Africa's cities, or a combined population of 45 million people, fall into this category - a figure which underscores the important role of small cities within the urban system. This edition also includes new measurements of urbanisation in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, constituting the most complete dataset on urbanisation dynamics in this country to date.

Inhalt

Foreword 5
The Sahel and West Africa Club 6
The global e-Geopolis programme 7
Executive summary 12
Table of contents 9
Overview - Updating knowledge on urbanisation in West Africa 
14 
Notes 
19 
Bibliography 19
Chapter 1. 
21 
1.1 THE DEFINITION OF URBAN 22
1.2 THE GEOLOCATION OF LOCAL UNITS: MAJOR ADVANCES 22
1.3 THE SPECIAL CASE OF NIGERIA 24
1.4 PERSISTENT PROBLEMS, BUT A MINE OF NEW INFORMATION 24
1.5 CONSTRAINTS IN EVALUATING THE TOTAL NATIONAL POPULATION 25
Notes 
34 
Bibliography 34
Chapter 2. 
35 
2.1 RE-ACCELERATION OF URBAN POPULATION GROWTH 36
2.2 CONTINUED INCREASE IN THE LEVEL OF URBANISATION 36
2.3 DENSIFICATION AND DIFFUSION OF THE URBAN NETWORK 39
2.4 COASTAL AND URBAN CORRIDORS 40
2.5 CONTRASTED GROWTH BETWEEN METROPOLISES AND SMALL AGGLOMERATIONS 42
2.6 A “WEST AFRICAN SYSTEM”? 48
Notes 
52 
Bibliography 52
Chapter 3. 
53 
3.1 THE DEMOGRAPHIC CONTEXT 54
3.2 TOWARDS THE FORMATION OF METROPOLITAN REGIONS 56
3.3 SPATIAL EXPANSION OF SECONDARY CITIES 58
Notes 
62 
Bibliography 62
Chapter 4. 
63 
4.1 THE ISSUE 64
4.2 LACK OF RELIABLE DEMOGRAPHIC DATA 65
4.3 THE PARTICULARITIES OF GEOGRAPHIC SUBDIVISIONS IN NIGERIA 70
4.4 A DEFICIENT ADMINISTRATIVE CARTOGRAPHY 77
4.5 METHODOLOGY 81
4.6 RESULTS 86
4.7 CONCLUSIONS ON NIGERIAN RESULTS 90
Notes 
90 
Bibliography 90

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 18.3.2016
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Wirtschaft ► Volkswirtschaftslehre ► Makroökonomie
• ISBN-10: 92-64-25223-1 / 9264252231
• ISBN-13: 978-92-64-25223-3 / 9789264252233