Metropolitics

Producing Affordable Housing in West Africa: How States Respond to Demand and Local Realities

Mathilde Mouton & translated by Oliver Waine — 2025-10-10T05:00:00Z

Based on her consulting work in West Africa, Mathilde Mouton highlights the limitations of state-led social housing programs. She calls for greater consideration of initiatives in the informal sector to produce housing that is adapted to the needs and resources of local populations.
A plan for 100,000 new homes in Senegal, a plan for 150,000 social housing units in Côte d'Ivoire, a plan for 40,000 dwellings in Burkina Faso, a plan to build 20,000 homes in Benin… Over the past decade, many

- From the Field / Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, Senegal, housing, affordable housing, informal housing, social housing

Dakar, Portrait of a Capital City

Armelle Choplin — 2025-09-12T05:00:00Z

Dakar, métamorphoses d'une capitale, by architects Carole Diop and Xavier Ricou, takes readers on a journey through the history of the Senegalese capital, from pre‑colonial Lebu villages to contemporary urban laboratory.
In their book Dakar, métamorphoses d'une capitale, Senegalese architects Carole Diop and Xavier Ricou present a masterful exploration of Dakar. Through meticulous archival research and iconography, the authors explore the lesser-known history of the former West African

- Reviews / Dakar, housing, history, housing policy, heritage, Africa, culture, urban planning, urban growth, West Africa, Senegal

Large-Scale Farming in the Face of Competing Land Uses in Abidjan District, Côte d'Ivoire

Adjoba Marthe Koffi-Didia & translated by Oliver Waine — 2025-03-21T06:00:00Z

To the west of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire's largest city, large farming operations—owned by multinational companies geared toward export markets—are today facing an obstacle posed by Abidjan's growing urban sprawl and the rise of land claims among Indigenous communities whose customary rights are threatened.
Songon Subprefecture is located to the west of the Abidjan metropolitan area, 23 km (14 miles) from Abidjan's central business district (Le Plateau), and covers an area of 621.71 km² (240.04

- From the Field / land rights, Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Global South, agriculture, farming, land use, Africa, customary law, access to land, West Africa

Fablabs in Africa: Digital Innovation for Sustainable Cities?

Armelle Choplin & Martin Lozivit & translated by Oliver Waine — 2021-04-16T05:00:00Z

In a context where “smart cities” are being promoted in urban projects in Africa, Armelle Choplin and Martin Lozivit examine the role “fablabs” can play in cities' futures. They show that their emergence can be an opportunity to design a frugal African city, by making use of inhabitants' ingenuity.
The next Africa-France summit—initially to be held in June 2020, now to take place in July 2021—will focus on the “sustainable city” with digital technology and innovation at the heart of debates.

- Essays / innovation, Global South, fablab, Africa, West Africa, technology, digital city

Made in China, Sold in West Africa

Anne Bouhali & Nora Mareï & Mamadou Dimé & translated by Oliver Waine — 2019-05-31T05:00:00Z

From a small border post between Senegal and Mauritania, Anne Bouahli, Nora Mareï and Mamadou Dimé follow the journey of goods from Europe and China, as well as locally produced merchandise, with a view to examining and analyzing the different forms that globalization is taking in these little-studied areas.
Along the Tangier–Nouakchott–Dakar coastal corridor, the Rosso crossing on the Senegal River is both a border and a discontinuity in terms of transit. As the missing link in the

- From the Field / commerce, borders, mobility, globalization, Africa, West Africa, China, Morocco, Mauritania, Global South, Senegal