Peri-urbanization and Land Transformations in the Niamey 5 Municipal District

Abstract

Peri-urbanization is a universal phenomenon and more and more African cities are in a dynamic of peri-urbanization. This article aims to identify and analyze the implications of this phenomenon in the Niamey 5 Communal Arrondissement. To do this, a methodological approach based on the collection of data through household surveys (a total of 388 households) in the neighborhood and villages of ACN5 was adopted. A mapping using satellite images to assess the dynamics of urban space on the rural was done. The study highlighted that the villages of ACN5 was increasingly engulfed by the city as well as their land. The process of land mutation, which initially takes place in the peripheral areas of the commune through purchases and sales of gardens and fields, has intensified in recent years with both formal and informal subdivision operations undertaken by both public and private actors. Land changes have also resulted in the increase in land prices, but also and above all in changes in the use of spaces. The subdivided plots of 400 m2 that cost 65, 000 FCFA (106.95dollars) cost 4,500 000 FCFA (7404,19 dollars) in 2022, while the unsubdivided plot that cost 800,000 FCFA (1316.30 dollars) in 2012 was sold in 2022 for 2,500,000 FCFA (4,113.44 dollars). Pasture areas, fields and gardens have unexpectedly become plots of land subject to speculation or housing. Authorities must take steps to safeguard these activities, which are important to the population. These measures include the adoption and implementation of land use planning and management tools.