Planning Greater Abidjan’s Rebirth

Challenge

Twenty years of alternating civil wars, military coup d’etat, and political power struggles had stymied investment in Abidjan’s infrastructure, causing it to poorly meet the population’s needs. A master plan approved in 2000 had languished without implementation because of the political gridlock; it required updating and replacement in order to guide future development of the city. A challenge for both OC Global and our Ivorian partners was to conduct large-scale surveys to underpin a scientific approach for the master plan. They included 11 comprehensive transport surveys and a land use survey covering this city of 5 million people and neighboring suburbs.

OC Global provided comprehensive technical knowledge to formulate the master plan, including mapping and transport surveys, strategic environmental assessment, elaboration of a socioeconomic framework, future traffic demand projections, urban and transport planning, and cost estimates for projects identified in the master plan. In addition to the urban and transport master plans, topographic maps of the study area were produced for the counterpart agencies.

Results

Close collaboration amongst the OC Global team, locally employed project staff, and Ivorian counterparts resulted in the proposed master plans being authorized by the government as a presidential order in 2015. The urban and transport master plans for Greater Abidjan – officially the Project for the Development of the Urban Master Plan in Greater Abidjan, or SDUGA, its French acronym – are currently utilized as the foundation to attract private investment for further urban development. Moreover, OC Global continues to support the country by providing consulting engineering services for projects such as the Solibra Interchange and Three Flyover Projects along Boulevard Mitterrand.