A bus station in the heart of Dakar’s popular markets: conflicts and trade-offs in the planning of a sustainable city

This article analyses the challenges of creating a ‘sustainable city’ in the context of African metropolises, focusing on the urban planning associated with the creation of a new Bus rapid transit (BRT) system on dedicated urban lanes in Dakar (Senegal). Based on action research carried out in the context of the Petersen Bus Station area development project, the future BRT terminal, the article examines how urban actors are addressing the problem of traffic saturation around the site. By tracing its history, it shows that the polarity of the ‘Petersen Bus Station’ is linked to the commercial identity of the neighborhood, forming a full-fledged market infrastructure in the heart of the city. The market embeddedness of the station is key to understanding the dynamics of spatial appropriation and the recurring conflicts over space. It is also at the center of political struggles and compromises between authorities and workers. Over time, this dynamic creates a form of spatial liminality, combining marginalization with the right to temporary occupation. The article describes how the work of planners, exploring novel equilibriums, struggles to fully reintegrate the market functionality of the neighborhood into new imaginaries of a sustainable city.