REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN

Peace- Work- Fatherland Paix- Travail- Patrie

UNIVERSITY OF BAMENDA UNIVERSITE DE BAMENDA

FACULTY OF ARTS FACULTEE DES ARTS

P.O. BOX. 39, BAMBILI B.P. 39 BAMBILI, BAMENDA

DEPARTMENT: GEOGRAPHY AND PLANNING

Course Code: GPLA6104

Course Title: Regional Planning

ASSIGNMENT
To What Extent do Housing Developments in Third World Cities Invalidate the
Concept of Sustainable Urbanization? Refer To Specific Urban Areas.

PRESENTED BY: 
Mokwe Bea Patrick Junior
UBa18AP064

Supervisor
Prof. Fombe Lawrence Fon

June 2019

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Contents
1. Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
1.1. The Concept of Sustainable Urbanization..............................................................................3
1.2. Housing Development in Third World Cities.........................................................................3
1.3. Challenges from unsustainable urbanization.........................................................................4
2. Conclusion.........................................................................................................................................5
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................................6

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 1. Introduction

Africa has been classified within the last decade as the fastest urbanizing continent. This urban
growth is driven by large scale migration from the countryside, as a result of a search for
improved quality of life, and as a result of poverty, famine, drought, disaster, conflict and other
factors which are driving people off the land (UN-HABITAT, 2014).
However, such unprecedented rate of urbanization has not been sustainable since it has resulted
in rapid urban expansion beyond the control of local authorities and central governments alike.
Many African countries have experienced rapidly increasing inequality, rising informality and
mushrooming urban slums and informal settlements as well as low levels of quality of life. At
the same time, the continent is experiencing vigorous and sustained economic growth. Much of
this economic growth is riding on the back of the urbanization process, as cities are engines of
growth and development in the continent (UN-HABITAT, 2014), especially the Capital cities.
One outstanding problem which has prevailed from this rapid urbanization and which forms the
focus of this write-up, is inadequate and uncontrolled housing development, especially
manifested through Slums. With an estimated 38% of Africans classified as urban coupled with
a projected half of Africa’s population to live in urban areas by 2025 (meaning Africa will have
1.2 billion people living in urban areas, i.e., 1/4 of the world’s urban population), the importance
of the capital cities (with over 10% of the urban population), urban housing development issues
(notably slums) are expected worsen if proper measures are not taken (AMCUHD 3, 2010).

Urbanization has become synonymous with slum formation in Africa. Rapid urbanization and
inadequate capability to cope with the housing needs of people in urban areas have contributed
to the development of informal settlements (www.who.int/ceh/indicators/informalsettlements.pdf),
in Fombe, 2012. With the fastest rates of urbanization and highest rates of slum formation in the
world, African cities experience rapidly expanding informal settlements with poor basic
infrastructure and sometimes life threatening living conditions (UN-HABITAT, 2010). In
Cameroon, this situation is most evident in the cities of Douala and Yaoundé with increasing
concerns in various towns such as Buea, Bamenda and Bafoussam. This overwhelming situation
is rendered possible by a myriad of factors like high influx of population into the urban milieu,
high level of poverty and poor planning within these urban areas (Nomo, 2013). This therefore,
amidst other issues, makes such urbanization unsustainable.

1.1. The Concept of Sustainable Urbanization

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Keles (2001) defines Urbanization as the movement of populations from rural to urban areas,
the growth of cities in number and size and the increase of the share of urban population in total
population. Urbanization also entails a transformation in the structure of the economy and
proceeds in parallel with a certain change in human behavior, at least in theory. Sustainability
adds new dimensions to urbanization. Conversely, urbanization, depending upon its pace, nature
and patterns, may create numerous problems or opportunities that will need special treatment.
Therefore, sustainable urbanization is the maximization of economic efficiency in the use of
resources including air, water and soil, maintaining natural resource stocks at or above their
present levels, ensuring social equity in the distribution of development benefits and costs, and
avoidance of unnecessary foreclosure of future development options (Keles, 2001).
We cannot talk about sustainable urbanization without making mention of the Five Dimensions
of Urban Sustainability according to Allen, A. (2001) which include:
Economic sustainability; the ability of a practice to be able to put local/regional resources to
productive use for the long-term benefit of the community, without damaging or depleting the
natural resource base on which it depends and without increasing the city’s ecological footprint.
Social sustainability; the fairness, inclusiveness and cultural adequacy of an intervention to
promote equal rights over the natural, physical and economic capital that supports the
livelihoods and lives of local communities, with particular emphasis on the poor and
traditionally marginalized groups. Ecological sustainability; the impact of urban production
and consumption on the integrity and health of the city region and global carrying capacity.
The sustainability of the built environment; the capacity of an intervention to enhance the
liveability of buildings and urban infrastructures for ‘all’ city dwellers without damaging or
disrupting the urban region environment. Political sustainability; the quality of governance
systems guiding the relationship and actions of different actors among the previous four
dimensions. Thereby, it implies the democratization and participation of local civil society in all
areas of decision-making.

1.2. Housing Development in Third World Cities

Housing is a basic necessity that holds a place of singular importance in the general strategy of
development for its socio–economic characteristics (Okpala, 1994). It is becoming an
increasingly expensive commodity in all countries. Between 1997 and 2004 average housing
prices grew by 195 percent in South Africa. Further, the cost of a dwelling can often be 2.5 to 6
times the average annual salary. In Ghana the average cost of a decent low-income family house
is more than 10 times the average annual salary of most key workers in Ghana. Given the

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number of steps linked to the delivery of serviced land for housing, land is also one of the major
impediments to the delivery of formal housing, particularly low income housing. It generally
takes so long to undertake all the steps that the land is invaded by slum dwellers before formal
titles are conferred.
The rapid urban growth associated with accelerated tempo of socio–economic development has
seriously aggravated the shortage of dwelling units, resulting in overcrowding, high rent, slum
and squatter settlements which are feasible features of the urban scene in developing countries
(Ozo, 1990).
Sixty percent of many African cities are composed of slums, much of it on informal land
arrangements. This can be directly attributed to inappropriate, inadequate or non-existent urban
land policy, land administration and land management, and a poor governance framework
(AMCHUD 3, 2010).
In developing cities of the world, housing development schemes which were put in place to
address housing provision issues have always ended as fiascos. Many of such schemes meant
for housing the poor ended up as middle class housing. Glaring examples in Cameroon include
Camp CIC in Buea, Cite CIC in Kotto-Douala and Yaoundé which are only within the reach of
middle income earners.
The anarchical growth in structures and population is principally the result of non-usage of
urban land for the purpose for which it was intended (Fombe and Forgwe 2000 & Fombe, 2012)
and so are exploited by the desperate who hope to improve on their living conditions. In Akwa
(Douala) and Briqueterie (Yaounde) massive destruction was undertaken by the municipal council
authorities with over 2,000 victims involved in the October 2007 clean up, indicating a massive
resurgence in wooden structures in Douala and Yaounde after a similar exercise was already done in
2000 (Fombe, 2012). The substandard housing pattern reappeared between 2001 and 2007
owing to the fact that the land made available by the destroyed settlements was not put into
another use.

1.3. Challenges from unsustainable urbanization

The challenges include land degradation, coastal pollution (the case of the Limbe Dockyard
area); marginalization of the poor in access to land; rising frequency and severity of extreme
weather events like droughts, floods (common in Douala’s slums and Malingo in Buea), and
storms; coordinating the supply of land and land use planning approaches with the supply of
infrastructure; unrealistic planning, building and land standards; urban sprawl, poor access to

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environmentally-sound housing, and de-densification of urban areas leading to increased
greenhouse gas emissions from urban transport.

Also, poor land use planning has contributed to urban sprawl and an overdependence on
motorized transport (with a lack of alternatives) which exacerbates traffic congestion along
(unplanned and narrow) roads as seen in Yaounde, Douala, Bamenda, etc, a relative uniformity
of housing options, and pedestrian-unfriendly spaces. The building sector is a large consumer of
energy and a greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter. Encouraging the use of more energy-efficient and
lower GHG emitting construction materials and technologies can provide a rapid contribution
towards climate change mitigation from within cities.

2. Conclusion

It is therefore evident that the irregular and uncontrolled development of urban housing in most
third world cities across the globe poses serious challenges to the concept of sustainable
urbanization. This is especially true since evidence from these cities show that the process has
created a lot of urban problems which invalidate sustainability. Urbanization has not been
matched with a corresponding increase in provision of services to the majority of the urban
poor. As a result, the informal settlements have no basic services such as water, solid waste
management, sewerage, schools, health and information centers. Standard housing is not just the
use of contemporary and durable housing materials to ensure health and safety of occupants. It
involves a much more holistic approach to the problems of health, hazards and the wellbeing of
those who seek shelter in it (Fombe & Agbortoko, 2014).
Land is at the core of housing and urban development in Africa (AMCHUD 5, 2014). Almost
every urban facet, in one way or the other, is linked to the land issue. The location of settlements
and the modality of housing construction; distances between activities and mobility flows; the
valorization of assets deriving from agglomeration and contiguity; choices and options for
location of economic enterprises; the potential for flora and fauna to thrive; and the utility of
physical features including hills, valleys as well as shore lines and water streams are all
components dictated by how the land issue is addressed.
It is essential that land be managed in such a way that security of tenure can be guaranteed for
the existing and forthcoming growing urban population. All these are critical for the
improvement of the quality of life of the cities’ citizens. Slum upgrading at scale, slum
prevention, including the supply of planned, legal and affordable for land for housing and basic
services (including building vertically) to meet present and future demand needs to have
operating land and urban systems, including for peri-urban areas.

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