TITLE:
Urban Dynamics and Emergence of New Centers in the Dakar Region (Senegal)
AUTHORS:
Mouhamadou Moustapha Mbacké Ndour, Mohamed Lamine Ndao, Alphousseyni Ndonky
KEYWORDS:
Urban Dynamics, Movement Flows, Urban Forms, Land Use, Dakar
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geographic Information System,
Vol.16 No.4,
July
23,
2024
ABSTRACT: Due to the status of the Dakar region as the former capital of AOF (French West Africa) and current capital of the Republic of Senegal, it is home to a very large part of the population and most of the socio-economic, administrative and cultural activities on a very small area of the country (0.28%). This situation makes it a very attractive region and subject to strong land pressure. The objective of this article is to study past and current urban dynamics as well as changes in natural spaces, in order to identify new urban centers. The methodological approach consists in analyzing satellite images to understand the evolution of different forms of spatial occupation in the Dakar region, and to study population movement flows and urban forms in order to reveal new urban centers. The results of the study show that the Dakar urban space is characterized by diverse forms which express a heterogeneous set of spaces. They also revealed the emergence of new clusters between 1986 and 2016, notably Ngor, Grand Yoff, Parcelles Assainies in the North-West, and Keur Massar and the North of the communes of Rufisque in the eastern part of the Dakar region.