Publication: Flood-Resilient Mass Transit Planning in Ouagadougou
Date
2021-06
ISSN
Published
2021-06
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
Ouagadougou, the largest city in Burkina
Faso, is growing rapidly, with the annual rate reaching 9
percent by some estimates, and with commensurate challenges
for ensuring efficient mobility for its residents. Like many
urban areas in Sahelian West Africa, Ouagadougou is also
highly vulnerable to extreme hydro-meteorological events. In
the context of the plans to develop an efficient, bus-based
mass transit system in Ouagadougou in the medium term, the
study aimed to characterize the spatial distribution and
severity of flood risk affecting the planned system; and to
identify, evaluate, and prioritize interventions that will
increase its resilience. The study focuses on a pilot sector
of 67 km, covering a large part of central Ouagadougou and
its strategic infrastructures, at the intersection of the
future planned mass transit system and the areas of the city
a priori considered more flood prone (for example, near the
major dams). By working with a local drone operator and an
international flood modelling firm, the study constructed
high spatial resolution digital elevation and digital
terrain models for the area of interest (AOI), which served
as inputs for developing a hydrological model. To further
classify the road and future mass transit sections in order
to prioritize interventions, the analysis applied the
criteria of an area priority score and a flood criticality
score, which together combine into an overall impact score.
The importance of good planning and policy and regulatory
actions vis-a-vis more structural engineering solutions is
underlined by the fact that the top two measures singled out
by the multicriteria analysis are so-called soft solutions -
related to the maintenance and cleaning of the flood-related
structures and the reinforcement of the waste collection system.
Citation
“World Bank. 2021. Flood-Resilient Mass Transit Planning in Ouagadougou. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35983 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”