CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGICAL
CONSIDERATION
2.1. Description of the course of the data-gathering
By who will be carried out measurements? Who holds
the various databases necessary to the study? Which steps is it necessary to
get them? ...
Such were the questions which should prevail during the
proceed of the data-gathering.
The people to«investigate» should be selected on the
basis of data and preliminary library search, i.e. according to their
susceptibilities to have resort to the use of the data specific to urban
environment or other various data for which we had needs for our study. Among
the preselected organizations, we had: the MINDUH, different CameroonianCity
Council in particular that from Yaoundé, Douala Bafoussam and Bamenda;
various communes of district and different research department and companies
having taken part in construction and/or realization of various works requiring
such data in particular EGIS, MAETUR, etc.
At the end of this pre investigation, it was reported to us
that the Yaoundé City Council had various document of city planning
among which figure the «Plan de Déplacement de la Ville
de Yaoundé»: a document which the development
required the realization of the almost totality of the investigations and data
we needed for our study. This document, plus the «Plan
Directeurd'Urbanisme de la ville de Yaoundé 2020» and
the «Plan
Somaired'UrbanismedeYaoundéNord» et
«Plan Somaired'Urbanisme de Yaoundé
Sud» which we already had should thus constitute a reliable
source data enough for the realization of our study
So, rather than to remake the investigations and research
(which would cause important waste of time and money) we decided rather to
resort in the search of this document (the «Plan de
Déplacement de la Ville de Yaoundé»).
We thus could have it within the services of the documentation of
the YCC.
However, because of quality of the investigations carried out, of
the quantity of data provided and finally of the relativerecent of the studies
(compared to the other available), we chose to work, throughout this memory,
much more on the basis of the studies made at the time of the realization of
the PDU.
2.2. Description of the environment targets of study
The selection of the environment of study will have been
strongly influenced by the availability of the data necessary to unfolding of
the study.Once all these data defined, and their availability checked, the
following stage was to make the choice of a ground of study which would gather
the various criteria to be defined for the model. Moreover this field of study
should allow the application of the various methods of investigations and data
acquisition.
Thus, at the end of the preliminary stage of pre-collection of
the data, with the sight of the importance of the database put at our
availability we decided to make the town of Yaoundé, our environment of
study.
Capital of Cameroon and second bigger city of the country
after Douala, Yaoundé shelters the essence of the administrative
superstructure of the country and part of the head offices of the enterprises.
It is also the chief town of the Centre region. Its economic activity, the
daily mobility of the inhabitants and the offer of transport are strongly
influenced by the presence of the central public administrations.
The administrative territory of the Yaoundé City
Councilcovers a surface of 28.798 hectares. The city is located in anirregular
relief, plates staged between 700 and 800 m of altitude and the mountainous
solid masses reaching up to 1200 m of altitude. If the site presents a certain
charm, it imposes constraints on infrastructures and transport. It increases
the cost of the transport infrastructures which must be lengthened to avoid too
stiff slopes and also to include several works of crossing. Lastly, the
irregular relief increases the painfulness of the walking and the use of the
bicycle. In 2002, the urbanized site occupied nearly 16.000 hectares, that is
to say 56% of the administrative surface of the city. The average density of
urban infrastructure was of approximately 100 inhabitants per hectare. This
weak density leads to a lengthening of the distances from displacements for the
population. The climate of Yaoundé is subtropical moderate with two dry
seasons in alternation with two wet seasons and of precipitations exceeding
1.600 mm on the whole per year. The strongest rains intervene in September and
in October, period of beginning of school year. The temperatures oscillate
between 18°C and 28°C during the wet seasons, and between 16°C
and 31°C, during the dry seasons.
In 2005, according to the results of the 3rd General Census of
Populations (RGPH), the population of Yaoundé was of 1,8 million
inhabitants, that is to say approximately 10% of the population of Cameroun.
Between 1987 and 2005, that is to say 18 years, the population of the city has
almost triplet, recording an intercensal growth annual average of 5,9% per
year.
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