Introduction

In Burkina Faso, the rate of urbanisation has increased successively from 6.4 per cent in 1975 to 15.5 per cent in 1996. In 2006, this rate is estimated at 20.3 per cent and it could reach 35 per cent by 2026. These urbanisation rates are among the lowest in the sub-region. Urban growth or urbanisation is often synonymous with improving the physical living environment of the population (the construction of superstructure equipment, infrastructure, the servicing of living spaces, basic urban services and so on). However, the population explosion in Burkina Faso is accompanied by disjointed urbanisation, posing a crucial problem in the near future: access to decent housing, especially for the poor. The paradox in underdeveloped African countries in general, and in Burkina Faso in particular, is that the process of urbanisation is generating enormous social deficits and a high social demand that is almost unfulfilled when we consider the resources available for development. In Burkina Faso, urban growth is fundamentally characterised by a simple increase of the population living in cities (Ministère de l’Habitat et de l’Urbanisme, 2008; Cities Alliance, 2012), which has as immediate corollaries: (1) a lack of basic infrastructure and difficult access to basic urban services (health, education, sanitation, transport, environment and so on); (2) a growing housing deficit; (3) endemic unemployment and underemployment; and (4) urban insecurity development.

The spontaneous and uncontrolled growth of urban centres will invariably produce social inequities that are detrimental to the harmonious development of the whole country. This chapter looks at self-construction experiences in Ouagadougou and their implications for urban development. It also explores how self-construction or changing relationships in housing production are related to major urbanisation issues, such as those outlined in Chapter 1 on ‘contested urban governance’. The chapter is built around the following points: (1) the historical stages of urban development in Burkina Faso; (2) inconsistencies in public housing measures; (3) actors in real estate promotion; and (4) the emergence of a civil society in the planning of housing and town planning.