Urban Incubator of Dakar
The Urban Incubator of Dakar (PUD) project is an initiative of urbaSEN, GRET, urbaMonde, Studio Bainem and Transitec.
Overview of the project
It is part of a context of redefinition of mobility in the Dakar agglomeration, marked by the implementation of two urban mobility programs, the regional express train (TER) and the rapid transit buses (BRT), as well as a complementary program to structure future feeder lines.
It aims to help users and all residents, including the most vulnerable, to take ownership of public transport facilities, through the co-design and co-construction of public spaces using participatory approaches, information and animation.
The project aims to change the practices of participatory urban planning through the implementation of innovative, demonstrative and replicable tools for inhabitant participation. This project contributes to a more sustainable and inclusive city.
Three steps in the implementation of the project:
- “What are our uses?” : Diagnostic phase;
- “Across the lines”: Mobile dialogue device to initiate the co-design process of micro-projects;
- “The place belongs to us!” : Support for the realization of urban development or animation microprojects led by residents and users, through co-design and co-construction.
The strong points of this project are :
- The integration of the PUD project with other ongoing and future programs on mobility in Dakar;
- The intervention focused on users (appropriation, access, intermodality, etc.), particularly the inclusion of vulnerable populations in public transport;
- Development actions that make it possible to link the network to public space or the street;
- The issue of replicability (exemplarity, innovation, leverage effect).
The project aims to support the implementation of participatory, inclusive and sustainable public spaces designed with the inhabitants and the Senegalese transport authorities in the vicinity of major transport projects structuring the city of Dakar, namely the BRT and the TER.
Ongoing research
01/06/2020 - 31/12/2022
- 3 development sites have been completed (Pikine TER station, Icotaf 1, PNR TER station, Rufisque, KMF TER station, Mbao);
- 2 sites are being launched (to be completed in October 2022);
- 10 participatory planning workshops mobilizing different tools created within the framework of the project (a mobile radio with the realization of 5 outdoor public programs),
- 1 curiosity device called “Sentoukaye”,
- Modelling on the video game Minecraft (models of the intervention zones),
- Several animations to dynamize the intervention zones (1 collective urban graffiti, 1 vegetation campaign, 1 film, etc.)
- 1 cross-cutting program of community activities on public transport uses (focus group, talks, social mobilization, etc.)
The project has made it possible to animate areas that are often neglected by organizations in charge of planning public spaces.
The developments made it possible to link the different groups of actors who make the city, to bring them together around the table for discussions.
The inhabitants feel involved and are committed to improving their living environment. They are active in setting up community dynamics that complement the works, they are involved in the management and maintenance, and there is a real appropriation of the spaces.
This project is co-financed by the French Development Agency (AFD) and UN Habitat.
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Studio Bainem / Florent Chiappero- Studio Bainem / Florent Chiappero
organisation
UrbaSEN is a Senegalese NGO, founded in 2009, composed of urban professionals who supports groups of inhabitants of precarious neighborhoods in Senegal, in order to integrate them in the process of management and improvement of their housing, their neighborhood and their living environment.
Since 2007, urbaSEN has been implementing projects aimed at participatory urban restructuring, land security, management of flood risks and the impacts of climate change, and the reconstruction or improvement of housing in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
It also promotes the organization and empowerment of citizen groups organized through the Senegalese Federation of Inhabitants for increased participation in the management of the city and housing.
in collaboration
The local authorities benefiting from a framework agreement with the NGO urbaSEN, the MSEs, ASCs, CSOs present in the intervention areas, the Senegalese Federation of Inhabitants which supports the process and is in charge of implementing a cross-cutting community mobilization program on the uses of public transport, the craftsmen of the suburbs who are continuously trained by the NGO on all the projects carried out.