Urbanization and Flood Vulnerability in a Peri-Urban Neighbourhood of Dakar, Senegal: How can Participatory GIS Contribute to Flood Management?

Abstract

Land and water are intricately connected and the inability to manage one component will necessarily impact the other. As urban sprawl grows out of control of authorities in developing countries, poor populations are forced to settle in hazard zones. Thus, comprehending the urbanization process is key in understanding flood vulnerability. This research uses the urbanization process as a starting point to understand the social and environmental dynamics behind floods in a peri-urban neighbourhood of Dakar, Senegal. Participatory GIS (PGIS), land use change analysis, interviews, transect walks and ethnographic observations were used to understand settlement in flood-prone areas. Limited access to risk knowledge was identified as a contributor to flood vulnerability. We argue that although risk awareness existed among peri-urban communities, an uneven access to knowledge led to settlement in risk-prone lowlands. We demonstrate risk awareness among the community by looking at the influence of three variables on the urbanization process: landforms, land availability and land price. This paper concludes with a critical analysis of PGIS regarding analytical and empowering outcomes of this methodological approach.