A new proposition for the curbing of spontaneous housing in urban area in Cameroon

Abstract

In Cameroon, quarters with spontaneous housing occupy more than 60% of urban areas and concern about 75% of town dwellers. These quarters have a negative impact on the urban environment but are the focus of an intense communal life. These highly dense zones of insalubrious housing constitute the main emanation of urban disasters, very high in Cameroonian towns: fires, floods, air or underground water pollution, landslides, torrents which take away children. The solutions up to now have been based on typical models of restructuring and settlement which have shown their limits. Our new proposal takes advantage of a better knowledge of the site and its two components; it may be summarised as: (i) restructuring and valorisation of the informal sector of housing production; and (ii) distribution and sharing of the resorption responsibilities between the partners, i.e. state, NGOs and the users, taking the efficiency into account. These actions must be clear, simultaneous and must integrate simple solutions or even selective support for each of the partners.