Les midis-séminaires: L'agglomération de Port-au-Prince, entre modes d'appropriation foncière et création des quartiers

For the second lunchtime seminar of the session, Pierre Martial Placide presents "L’agglomération de Port-au-Prince, entre modes d’appropriation foncière et création des quartiers".

For almost 30 years, Haiti has been marked by an incessant political crisis. This crisis, which began with the departure of the Duvalier in 1986, marks a radical turning point in the country's political order. It caused the collapse of the state and the breakup of the country's cities, especially Port-au-Prince. The change in the organizational order and management of space in Port-au-Prince is taken in a context of political crisis but also in a period when the cities of countries have become the object of concern because of the land dynamics. The urban population must be increased without the help of a supplier of equipment and facilities necessary to ensure a better living environment for the inhabitants (Michel et al, 2011). The number of inhabitants of the city of Port-au-Prince has increased disproportionately not only by the growth of the population but also by the rural exodus and the migration of other cities to Port-au-Prince. The Haitian state does not have a housing policy. Since the state is unable to implement a management plan through a policy that considers the different layers of the population, the inhabitants, although poorly appropriate space to their hands to make themselves a place to stay. In this perspective, on the one hand, those who have means, large or small will buy plots, purchase, lease or occupation to build a home. On the other hand, those who are not able to cope with the costs of plots enjoy the least opportunity, political unrest, natural disasters, etc. to squat or appropriate parcels. For these forms of land appropriation and many others such as inheritance, sometimes the games of professionals or those involved in land management intertwine. The expansion of the opposite city by building blocks that are close to each other to weld it to the main city.

Bring your lunch and join the discussion on Thursday, March 22 at room 3073 of the University of Montreal's Faculty of Environmental Design, starting at noon. Arrive early, places are limited!