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African cities today are confronted with the problem of rapid urbanisation, poverty and land use abuse. Yaounde the political capital of Cameroon is a victim of this situation. Faced with population growth, competition, pressure and high cost of land in the heart of the city, populations involved in informal service for survival have been displaced by the Yaounde city council and ministry of towns responsible for urban planning. These victims many of who are poor and vulnerable have occupied suburban areas some of which are risk prone environments. Mbankolo, Febe and Messa areas in the north west of Yaounde are victims of this spontaneous land occupation. The victims comprising poor urban dwellers are migrants from western Cameroon that have resisted returning to their place of origin. Urban disorder and land use abuse characterised by uncontrolled deforestation and soil degradation for settlement, agriculture and commerce is high necessitating research and measures to prevent future disaster in this area. Faced with the volume of data to handle, this work exploits Geographic Information System tools to map out this phenomenon in Cameroon for decision making.

Urban Growth; Poverty; Land use abuse; Risk; Yaounde