The geo-history of urban land governance in Côte d’Ivoire: An analysis of urban sprawl in Bouaké

African cities are characterized by urbanization, social and economic problems that very often favor crises in the development of their spaces. The city of Bouake, in the center of Côte d'Ivoire, has been experiencing urban sprawl since 1980. This urban sprawl is the result of shortcomings in urban land governance in Côte d'Ivoire following several land reforms. This study analyzes the successions of urban land reforms poorly suited to population growth and a difficult economic context in Bouake. The results obtained, from documentary research supported by field surveys, have revealed that the sprawl of the city of Bouake, as it appears today, is the result of a long process of land reforms rooted both in the history of the city, land planning and urbanization policies. The analysis of this spread territory from multifactorial analyzes has revealed that Bouake is characterized by a complex space, animated by dynamics of very marked socio-spatial differentiations. Several socio-economic factors and urban policies are very decisive in this phenomenon which continues to marginalize peri-urban households, increasingly subject to constraints of access to infrastructure, concentrated in the town center. This uncontrolled extension therefore leads to reconsider the evolution of the spatial occupation of Bouake.