Urbanisation : Think About The Future

C ameroon is rapidly urbanising with 53 per cent of the population living in urban centres. The rapid urban population growth is projected to even triple by 2050. According to the World Bank, Cameroon’s urban growth rate stands at 3.6 per cent per year. The World Bank therefore projects that urban population in Cameroon will attain 73 per cent by 2050. However, rapid urbanization has not yet led to economic transformation in Cameroon. Across the globe, cities are drivers of job creation and economic growth. The growth rate in urban po­ pulation rather exacerbates vulnerabilities due to inadequate infrastructure and governance challenges. The population growth in urban areas is not propor­ tionately matched with intracultural growth, leaving a huge gap in housing for instance and over pressured urban infrastructure. Some of the infrastructures constructed decades ago are today still serving the population which has basically tripled over time. The UN Habitat reports that Cameroon is facing a housing deficit of about 2.5 million units. Urban road networks, bridges, water and electricity utilities infrastructure put in place several years ago are still being used whereas ur­ ban population is constantly on the rise. Douala and Yaounde for instance, are said to be hosting more than 4 million inhabitants each while secondary cities like Bafoussam, Bamenda, Garoua, Maroua, Buea, Limbe, Kribi, Ngaoundere etc, are exploding. Between 70-80 per cent of inhabitants are living in informal housing while about 33.7 per cent of urban population (2018 UN Habitat data) live in slums. In Yaounde and Douala, it is said that only 40 per cent of the population have access to potable water. This brings to mind the issue of urban infrastructure like water and sanitation. As the cities are sprawling, basic social amenities seem to be stagnant with same water infrastructure constructed several de­ cades ago still in place. This explains why there is constant potable water scarcity as the water utility company rations the precious liquid from one neigh­ bourhood to another. The same scenario occurs for electricity where some neighbourhoods go for days without electricity. In Buea for example, which has witnessed an influx from rural exodus because of the Anglophone crisis induced movements from the rural areas, electricity transformers have been ex­ ploding one and the other in various neighbourhoods. This is because; these electricity facilities were ins­ talled decades ago according to the population of the city at that time, without thinking about the possible growth in the future. The situation is not different as far as urban road infrastructure is concerned. Today, cities like Douala, Yaounde, Buea etc are more congested as roads have become ina­ dequate following increasing population growth. The Employers Association of Cameroon in one of its recent reports indicates that Douala loses about FCFA 30 billion a year in traffic congestion. Ten years ago, the city of Buea knew nothing about traffic congestion but with the increase in urban population, traffic congestion has become the order of the day. This is further compounded by the dete­ riorating road network in the city, making circulation extremely difficult. Lack of drainage systems, poor waste management, haphazard construction resulting from poor town planning, ill-adapted infrastructure are characteristics of Cameroon urban cities which makes them prone to floods and other disasters. These urban development challenges notwithstan­ ding, the government is making efforts to modernize the cities. This is why the National Devel...