Urban Master Plan Development for Cities in Arabic Countries Application to Nouakchott
Abstract:
The world recently entered an unprecedented period of urbanization due to the formation of dozens of super and hyper-cities (Muggah 2016). By 2050 city-dwellers are expected to account for two-thirds of the global population, or an estimated 6.4 billion people (Bosetti, Ivanovic, Munshey 2016). While a number of the world’s largest cities still reside in North America and Western Europe, most future population growth will occur in sprawling cities and slums of developing countries in Africa and Asia. Urbanization brings with its possibilities of improved access to jobs, goods and services for poor people in developing countries. However, there are tremendous challenges and threats, with major implications for the humanitarian and development sector (Muggah 2012). As the world continues to urbanize, natural disasters, economic shocks, climate chang es and other factors will increasingly affect populations in cities, potentially making it more fragile. Sitting on the frontline of global emergencies, cities are actively searching for ways to cope, adapt, and bounce back. Nouakchott is one of the largest cities in the Sahara. Located on the Atlantic coast and it lies on the west coast of Africa. It is the capital and largest city of Mauritania which serves as the administrative and economic center. Since the establishment in 1960 this city has known an exponential growth. According to the statistics by the National Statistical Office (OSN) of Mauritania the population has grown from around 2,000 in 1957 to 558,195 in 2000, and to number now over a million, encompassing around a third of the national population. This rapid growth of the city was driven not only by the “pull factors” such as commercial and economic cen ter of the country, but also by some “push factors” such as serious poverty and scarcity of foods in the inland and rural areas caused by droughts and sandstorms took place in 1970’s. Ever since, Nouakchott has spread in an uncontrolled, anarchic way until its star-formation covers about 30km in diameter. The site of the city presents a number of risks, among which: the shifting dunes surrounding the city, the fragile western costal cordon in the midst of salt-water wells. This city thus threatened by sand, salt, and water, all at once. Water is the foremost threat: recurring inundation and freshwater droughts are two major issues. This paper aims to issue a preliminary overview of the urban dilemma in Nouakchott and to highlight the most important risk factors that contribute to fragility of this city. In 2020 the Mauritanian government issued a new master plan for Nouakchott city made by JICA expert team. This master plan come up with three basic orientations in order to improve the city. The research aims to understand how these orientations will participate in minimizing the risks and solving the urban problems of Nouakchott, and how the city will be in 2040. Mauritanian institutions responsible for urban development are implementing fundamental changes, including new urban and housing policies in addition to the development of their legal frameworks. The research aims to understand how these changes will support the developing he Mauritanian cities in the future.
