The role of flooding on urbanization: the case of the reconfiguration of urban trajectory of Dakar, Senegal

Papa Gueye Sow, Université Gaston Berger de Saint-Louis (Sénégal) & Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)
Stéphanie Dos Santos, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)
Cheikh Samba Wade, Université Gaston Berger de Saint-Louis, (Sénégal)

Urban floods constitute one of the greatest disasters affecting population with significant human and material damage. The recurrence of floods is linked to several factors, but it is often urbanization that is highlighted as the main responsible. In the literature, rapid and uncontrolled urbanization observed particularly in African cities is more often indexed. Dakar – the capital city of Senegal– the increase in floods over the last few decades is directly correlated with rapid and uncontrolled urbanization. The effect of urbanization on floods is generally well studied, calling for land-use regulation and effective flood risk management to cope with urban growth. However, it is also relevant but much less studied to analyze the influence of floods on the reconfiguration of urban trajectories. This is the aim of this communication. To achieve this, we used a plural method. First, we used remote sensing to analyze changes land use in some Dakar neighborhoods between 2003 and 2023. Then we studied life histories of 55 people affected by severe flooding and 5 interview surveys of decision-makers. We demonstrated how urbanization is reconfigures by forced population displacements. The results also shows how these displacements affect family re-compositions and their relationship to the city.

Keywords: Population, Environment, and Climate Change, Internal Migration and Urbanization, Population, Shocks and Pandemics, Population Policies

See extended abstract.