Urban Land Vulnerability in a Sahelian City in West Africa: The Case of the Niamey 5 Communal District, Niger

Abstract

Urban land vulnerability leads to many socioeconomic and environmental problems. Sahelian cities face this problem due to the non-respect of urban planning documents. Therefore, this study tries to determine the different forms of household land vulnerability and their differentiating factors among urban households in the Niamey 5 municipal district. A total of 388 households were surveyed based on a stratified random sample. Chi-squared test and the percentage were used for data analysis. The results of the statistical analysis reveal that 55.4% of households occupy informally divided spaces (informal housing development, squatter, village core). Only 16.98% of household owners have a definitive land title, compared to 83.73% who only have precarious security documents: customary ownership (38.20%), transfer deed (17.92%), sale deed (16.98%), and no papers (9.91%). Few tenant households (17.3%) have a lease agreement that can secure their tenure status, while 88.7% do not. Land vulnerability varies from one household to another depending on the household's tenure status. Households in a low land vulnerability situation are 96.90% owners and 3.10% co-owners. On the other hand, the 40.6% of households in a high vulnerability situation are tenants and 12.8% are rent-free. This study provides a baseline for policy makers to improve urban planning conditions.