Publication
Background Phenomena like rapid growth, unmanageable cities, an urban space in crisis, and the disproportionate expansion of capital cities have rendered instruments traditionally associated with planned urbanism ill-suited for city planning today. Traditional urban planning instruments, plans and top-down approaches are now generally pitched against participatory and bottom-up approaches. Today, the city is re-designed through its residents and its stakeholders. Without overlooking the role of participatory approaches in the creation of a city, we must first examine traditional instruments like plans and city models, the motivation behind them as well as the way in which they are constructed. In order to comprehend the urban dynamics at play and the stakes associated with the public space, the next step will be to conduct a comparative study between available planning knowledge and the public space. Research has already addressed this issue at two distinct levels: the city as a whole and the public space. A comparison of these two levels will enable us to identify the link between the shape a city takes as the result of plans or as a result of local practices. The role of the city as a restrictive or a constructive force will also be examined. This procedure will improve our understanding of how these levels interact. Starting at the micro level – the street, local practices and strategies of city stakeholders – we shall seek to return the general, to those elements which call into question the city in its entirety. The aim here is to deduce and propose innovative approaches to city planning. Our analysis of the city as a whole will look at its history, its spatial development as well as planning and design documentation. The aim here is to identify those major trends which emerge independently of the plans. Our analysis of the public space will look at the ground itself. In other words, we shall examine the street as the environment in which the stakes of the city take root. In African society, the public space questions the city in terms of its social, economic, cultural, political and spatial dimensions. In this era of globalisation, the public space has consolidated its position as a site of experimentation and of the collective construction of economic and social alternatives (WP2, 2005). As such, it has become a shield against the social annihilation of at-risk populations. In order to provide a thorough analysis of this issue, three African cities were selected which are interesting for three reasons. First, they are examples of a new city. Second, from the moment they were founded they had urbanism plans in place. Third and finally, they are heavily characterised by informal "urbanism". Case study Nouakchott, Mauritania. Dakar, Senegal. Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. General research objectives The general objective of the present research is to analyse how the urbanisation process, urban models, social practices, spatial changes (to the public
Marine Françoise Jeannine Villaret