Urban Dynamics and Access to Housing in Bouake

Urbanization has become an inescapable phenomenon in recent decades in Côte d'Ivoire. According to the INS (2014, p.45), the urbanization rate in Côte d'Ivoire rose from 32.1% in 1975 to 45.3% in 1998, then to 50.3% in 2014. According to estimates, this rate will be 57% in 2018 (BNETD. 2015, p.7). This urbanization requires planning and a range of actions to be carried out in order to meet the aspirations of the increasingly growing urban population. Among the needs of this population, the question of access to housing arises acutely, as is the case in the city of Bouaké. Since 2012, Bouaké's remarkable urban dynamics have led to a real housing crisis. Characterized by an imbalance between supply and demand for decent housing, the housing crisis is also reflected in soaring rents and the proliferation of precarious and unhealthy housing. The failure of the sanitation system in these squatter settlements is a factor in the deterioration of the living environment for the people of Bouaké.