Know everything about Kinshasa

Geographic location

The City-Province of Kinshasa covers 9,965 km2, or 0.42% of the national territory. It is located in the west of the country between 3.9 and 5.1 degrees south latitude and between 15.2 and 16.6 degrees east longitude. It is limited to the North-East and East by the Province of Bandundu, to the South by that of Bas-Congo, to the North-West and to the West by the Republic of Congo-Brazzaville, on a liquid boundary, formed by part of the Congo River. The relief of Kinshasa consists of a large plateau, a chain of hills, a plain and swamps on the banks of the Congo River.

Indeed, the massive Kwango Plateau, 600 to 700 m above sea level, completely dominates the eastern part of the City-Province of Kinshasa. Its portion located in the City is called Bateke Plateau. It totals an area of approximately 7,500 square kilometers, or 75.3% of the total area of the City. The population density is very low there. Indeed, this part of the city is occupied by plus or minus 2% of the total population of the city. The chain of hills, not very steep (350 to 675 m) where we find the Ngaliema, Amba and Ngafula mountains, is the common border with Bas-Congo and forms the southern part of the city, until Southeast, where is the Bateke Plateau. These hills, including the heights of Binza and Kimwenza, would have come from the dismantling of this Plateau.

The plain of Kinshasa follows the bed of the Congo River and is enclosed between the Congo River, the Bateke Plateau and the hills. It has an average width of 5 to 7 km and has the shape of a crescent. This plain is between 300 and 320 m above sea level and has an area of about 100 km2. It is divided into two parts: - the plain of Lemba west of the river Ndjili, slightly undulating; - the plain east of Ndjili, towards the river Nsele which has a more flat shape, intersected by several rivers which flow almost parallel from the South-East to the North-West, to throw themselves in the Congo River. This is where the largest portion of the population of the Kinshasa City-Province is concentrated.

Climate

The Kinshasa City-Province has a tropical, hot and humid climate. It consists of a long rainy season of 8 months, from mid-September to mid-May, and a dry season that runs from mid-May to mid-September, but also, a small rainy season and a short dry season, which runs from mid-December to mid-February. As for the temperature, two large currents of wind blow throughout the year on the city, both at altitude and at low level.

On the heights, there are two main currents of winds: (i) the very hot and dry trade winds of the North-East which come from Egypt and (ii) a very humid equatorial current, almost permanent beyond 300 m altitude, coming from the East. The lower layers of the Kinshasa City-Province are constantly receiving the current of Bengwela, a very humid current coming from the South-West. The temperature differences are generally as follows: (i) more than 18 ? C for the daytime temperature of the coldest month of the year and (ii) about 22 ? C for the night temperature of the hottest month . For the period 1986-1995, the month of March 1988 had the highest temperature of 26.5 ? C and the month of July 1992 the lowest, 21.2 ? C.

From the rainfall point of view, during the last three decades, the average annual rainfall observed in the City-Province of Kinshasa is 1,529.9 mm and the monthly minimum is below 50 mm. November has the highest rainfall, averaging 268.1 mm. About 40% of precipitation falls between the months of October, November and December which are the wettest months of the year. Rainfall peaks are 203.3 mm in April and the number of rainy days reaches the annual average of 112 days, with a peak of 17.8 days of rain in April.

Hydrography

The hydrography of the Kinshasa City-Province includes the Congo River, rivers flowing into it, and shallow lakes. The Congo River, at the level of the Kinshasa City-Province, is expanding and reaches in some places more than 20 km wide. This is his last stop in the Central Cuvette, before the Kinsuka rapids west of Kinshasa.

The hydrographic network is composed of rivers of various dimensions which take their sources mainly from hills, flow from South to North, bathe the plain and flow into the Congo River, in particular at the level of Pool Malebo. These rivers are either from local sources like Kalamu, Gombe, Makelele and Funa, or from non-indigenous sources such as Ndjili, Nsele, Ma?ndombe and Bombo-Lumene. Some lakes of very small size are located here and there in the City-Province of kinshasa, including Lake Ma Valley and Lac Vert.

During the Second Republic, which runs from 1971 to 1997, the number of provinces will fluctuate with the rhythm of political moods of the Mobutu regime. In 1971, the province of Katanga becomes Shaba, the province of Central Congo becomes the province of Lower Zaire and Orientale province becomes the province of Upper Zaire. In 1988, the province of Kivu is divided into the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Maniema. In 1997, the province of Shaba becomes Katanga, the province of Lower Zaire becomes the province of Bas-Congo and the province of Haut-Zaire becomes the province of Haut-Congo then the province Orientale.

SOILS, GEOLOGY AND VEGETATION

The soil characteristics of the Kinshasa City-Province depend on the geomorphological structure of the place where it is located. Thus, they are different on the massif of the Bateke Plateau, on the hills, in the plains or in the marshes. In general, these soils are essentially sandy with some special elements. They have a low water retention capacity and therefore have marginal utility for agricultural activities.

The Bateke Plateau, which is a two-hour drive from the city center to the east, is covered by (i) arenoferalsols, with AC profile, a soil structure that is also found on the hills and ( (ii) podzols, as in flat areas and in dry pools. In other words, the surface of this Plateau consists of silicified rocks or polymorphic sandstone. Towards the southwestern hills, there are, in places, a mixture of arenoferalsols with other soils with a kaolinitic or ferralitic tendency. Overall, they are recent mineral soils, developed on Kalahari sand. They are characterized by a clay content of less than 20% over at least 100 cm deep, a low reserve of weatherable minerals and a low water holding capacity. "

The soil types of the Kinshasa City-Province condition the types of vegetation that grow there and which generally consist of savannahs dotted with shrubs and interspersed with steppes and gallery forests of low density and size. These savannahs are giving way more and more to urban development and are now located only on the hills and the Bateke Plateau. In the East, on the Bateke Plateau, in the Maluku Commune, there are steppe savannas or steppes, with Zambezian specificities, in the eastern and southern parts of this Plateau. The slopes are covered with secondary forests derived from anthropogenic actions. Subequatorial semi-caduciferous secondary forests and Guinean-type shrubby savannas are observed in Mont Ngafula Commune, along the Matadi Road. On the other hand, in the municipality of Selembao, more to the North-West of this one, grows, on clayey sand, a mosaic of savannah and savanna bushes with loudetia demeuse?, herbaceous plant which can reach 1.70 m of height. The marshy vegetation grows in the Pool Malebo.

POLITICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION

The administrative subdivision of the City-Province of Kinshasa meets the requirements of Decree-Law No. 081 of 22 July 1998 on the territorial and administrative organization of the Democratic Republic of Congo which, in Articles 3 and 5, gives the status of City- Province in Kinshasa and the status of Capital of the country by its article 4. This Decree-Law confers the municipalities of the City of Kinshasa the status of decentralized entities (EAD), with legal personality. They are administered by Bourgmestres and Deputy Mayor. In accordance with the provisions of Articles 7.1 and 7.1 of this Decree-Law, the City of Kinshasa is subdivided into: - communes (24); - in neighborhoods (at least 400);

The city of Kinshasa is directly connected to the Provinces of Bandundu, Bas-Congo and Ecuador, by road, water and air and also by rail particularly towards the Port Cities of Matadi and Boma, even in the cities of Moanda and Banana, located on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a national crossroads through which, for the consumption of its population, imports, exports or transit pass several goods from the Democratic Republic of Congo destined for national or international transactions.

Political environment

The Urban Director manages the Administrative Services, the officials and the agents of the City Hall of Kinshasa. These are assigned to Urban Divisions which represent the Ministries of Central Power. It also includes Special Services such as ANR, DGM, etc ...

The Governor and the Vice-Governors as well as the Bourgmestres and their Deputies currently manage the City of Kinshasa and the communes, with the collaboration of the "Security Councils" attached to their levels. These Councils are structures composed of those responsible for certain urban services that have public order, justice, peace, the safeguarding of territorial integrity and socio-political security in their attributions. In addition to the Governor, the Vice-Governors and the Urban Director, the burgomasters and their deputies, the main officials who sit on the "Urban or Communal Security Council" are the following: - the Commander of the Military Region; - the Urban Commander of the Congolese National Police; - the managers of the ANR and DGM; - the First Presidents of the Courts of Appeal; - Attorneys General at these Courts of Appeal.

The Governor of the City of the City is assisted by three Vice-Governors who in the current political configuration are responsible for one of the Political, Administrative and Socio-Cultural Questions, the other for Economic and Financial Questions and the third for the Reconstruction and Development;

Some highlights of the City of Kinshasa, from the colonial period to date

In 1889, King Leopold II had bequeathed, by will, the Congo to Belgium. This leg was recognized by the colonial charter of 18/10/1908 by which Belgium makes Congo its colony. From then on, Leopoldville became a Territory and the chief town of the Middle Congo District (1910-1923), one of the 12 Districts of the Belgian Congo.

Various personalities hereinafter have had to direct this Territory. It is :
1) Georges Moulaert (March 1900 - May 1919): Last Stanley-Pool District Commissioner. The latter succeeds himself at the head of the new District. He was the most famous officer with the clairvoyant spirit nicknamed "Bula-Matari Tala Tala". He is an indefatigable leader of Stanley's temper; he is the first who, on February 12 and June 15, 1912, asks the Governor General for the transfer of the Capital of Congo "on the banks of Stanley Pool". He organizes the City. His name is immortalized by the district "Bandal-Moulaert".

2) Heer (May 1910-June 1911);

3) E. Hebry (1919-1923);
In 1923, with the new territorial restructuring, Leopoldville acquired the status of the Capital of the Belgian Congo, but also the capital of the Province of Leopoldville and the Urban District of Leopoldville. It will be endowed with an Urban Committee appointed by the Governor of Province. 4) Ruwet (1923-1927);

5) A.J. Wanters (1927-1929);

6) Fernand De Boeck (1929-1933) very famous, to whom the City owes the splendid Botanical Park which bears the name of "Park of Boeck". 7) L. Morel (1934-1942).

- The order of June 25, 1941 gives Leopoldville the status of City. It covers 5,000 hectares and has a population of 53,000. It is headed by a District Commissioner assisted by an Urban Committee (deliberative body on the important matters of the City: public safety, police, roads, social services, finance, planning, organization of markets, etc.). 8) P. Burmagne (1942-4947);

9) Jean Torcieur (1953-1957)
The Decree of March 26, 1957, amended by that of the same year and confers on the City of Leopoldville the civil personality, provides that it is administered by a "Premier Bourgmestre", while the Commune by a Bourgmestre. - The First Mayor of the City of Leopldville are:

1. Jean Torcieur (1957-1959)
The city has 11 municipalities whose bourgmestres are:
• Municipality of Kalamu: Arthur PINZI
• Kasa-Vubu commune (formerly Dendal): Joseph KASA-VUBU
• Commune of St Jean (Lingwala): Pierre CANON
• Commune of Ngiri-Ngiri: DIOMI Gaston
• Municipality of Kintambo: BHIKELA Alphonse
• Commune of Limete: MICHAUX Baptiste
• Municipality of Bandalungwa: NGOMA Oscar
• Commune of Gombe (formerly Leopoldville): VAN HECKE Robert
• Commune of Barumbu: SWANGA Paul
• Commune of Kinshasa: Eugene LUTULA
In 1958, two new municipalities are created:
• Municipality Matete
• Commune of N'djili.

- On 4/01/1959, the First Mayor, Jean Tondeur, banned the meeting of KASA-VUBU, Mayor of Dendal and President of ABAKO. The popular anger that followed degenerated, during three days, in first riots and looting of L?opoldville during three days.

The "Fundamental Law" of 19 May 1960, drawn up by the Belgian Parliament for the Independent Congo, gives the City of Leopoldville, the capital, the status of a neutral city, the seat of the Chambers and the Constituent Assembly. The First Mayor were:

1. Joseph KULUMBA (early 1960);
2. Daniel KANZA (1960-1963);
3. Zo?o Boniface (1963-1965);

Since 1966, President Mobutu has changed the title of the City Manager and opted for the title of "Governor". And the governors of the City of Leopoldville from 1966-1968 are: 1. Colonel Bangala 2. Paul Nauwelaerts.

In 1968, L?opldville became KINSHASA. By Order-Law No. 00-24 of 20/01/1968, Kinshasa has the status of "Region" in the same way as the other Regions (Provinces). The Governor is assisted by one or more Urban Commissioners, all appointed by the President of the Republic. But from 1969 to 1980, the name of the City Managers became "Urban Commissioner and Assistant Urban Commissioners".

The Urban Commissars of the City of Kinshasa from 1969-1980 are:
1. Jean Foster
2. MANZIKALA;
3. NDJOKU E'YOBABA, known for his peculiar ways and very much concerned with animating popular gatherings before inviting President Mobutu to speak;
4. SAKOMBI INONGO: The City keeps with him the memory of the use of a cup of plastic 40 cl called "SAKOMBI" as standard reference for the sale of foodstuffs (rice, beans, flour, peanut, sugar , salt, etc.);
5. MANDUNGU BULA NYATI;
6. MABOLIA INENGO TRA BUATO.

The same ordinance 00-24 of 20/01/1968 increases the number of communes from 14 to 24. The ten new communes are: Bumbu, Kimbanseke, Kisenso, Makala, Maluku, Masina, Mont-Ngafula, Ngaba, N'sele and Selembao.

The law of January 20, 1978 fixes a new status of the City. This (the city) has the civil and legal personality. The law determines the organs and their competences: the Urban Commissioner and his Assistants; the Urban Director and a body deliberating the City Council. The City is divided into 24 Zones and 238 Neighborhoods (localities). The Zone is a politico-administrative entity with legal personality. The Neighborhood is an undefined basic structure with no recognized executive power. But with the pre-eminence of the Party-State MPR, the executive of the city returns to the name of "Governor" preceded by "Regional President of the MPR". KISOMBE KIAKU MWISI (1980-1981): The city keeps him remembering taxis painted yellow;

2. SAKOMBI EKOPE (1981-1983);
3. KABAYIDI WA KABAYIDI (1983-1985): he initiated the project of embellishment of all the big roundabouts with the help of the companies of the place;
4. TSHIMBOMBO MUKUNA (1985-1986);
5. NZUZI WA MBOMBO (1986-1986), the first woman to join this position;
6. KONDE VILA KIKANDA (1987-1989): he tried, but to no avail, to demolish all the drink kiosks along the arteries;
7. Gabriel AMELA LOKIMA BAHATI (1989-1990);
8. MOLEKA NZULAMA (1990).

As of the speech of the democratization of the country, on April 24th, 1990, one resorts again to the denomination of "Governor" to designate the Person in charge of the City. New personalities lead the city in the following order: FUNDU KOTA (1991-1992): Its mandate recalls the first looting of the city in September 1991, perpetrated by the Armed Forces of the country; 2. KIBABU MADIATA NZAU (1992);

3. MUNGUL DIAKA Bernardin (1992-1996), appointed head of the City to counter the political unrest created by the Sacred Union of the Radical Opposition (USOR). The second looting occurred in February 1993, and sounded the death knell of an already sick economy of a long period of megadiation. This work is attributed once again to the army.

4. MUJINGA SWANA (January - February 1996): he successfully engages in a merciless struggle in the sanitation of the City and particularly in the removal of rubbish, the cleaning of the central market, its surroundings and the surrounding area. Avenue of Commerce. He is the father of the program SALUBRITE PUBLIQUE. Its mandate is short-lived.

5. NKOY MAFUTA (August 1996-May 1997): Succeeds MUJINGA and continues the program of Public Health. Replaced by a Military Governor at the time of the war of the AFDL, it has in the course of its mandate brought the currency traders to constitute Exchange Offices, in collaboration with the National Bank.

6. General AMELA LOKIMA BAHATI (April - May 1997): appointed Military Governor during the state of emergency of the AFDL war to organize the defense of the City of Kinshasa. The city will fall, despite everything, under the power of the AFDL.

7. Prof. Theophile MBEMBA FUNDU (1997 ? 2001): First Governor at the advent of KABILA, after the fall of Marshal MOBUTU. It marks its mandate by a substantial mechanical equipment and a methodical organization of the sanitation and embellishment of the city;

8. Christophe MUZUNGU (February ? September 2002: he takes over from Th?ophile MBEMBA FUNDU, appointed Director of the Office of the President of the Republic and decrees, without success, the operation "KANGA VAGABOND" operation that consisted in ridding the city of the children of the street that he will intern, without any material assistance, to the city of N'sele on the outskirts of Kinshasa.

9. Prof. LOKA ?ne-KONGO (september 2001 ? june 2001): his relatively short client did not allow him to achieve more than the one-stop shop installed by BIC Bank within the confines of the Hotel in order to channel revenue to expand the financial base of the H?tel de Ville.

10. NKU IMBIE (June 2002-May 2004)

11. Jean KIMBUNDA (May 2004): as soon as he enters, he stands out by the demolition of kiosks and anarchic constructions across all major arteries of the City of Kinshasa in the operation he called "Punch" .

Linguistic elements

The City of Kinshasa is, in large part, inhabited by people from all the Provinces of the DRC and various countries of the world. All the languages and dialects of origin of these inhabitants are therefore spoken in this City.

However, five languages are official there, namely:
- French for commercial exchanges, administrative management and education,
- the Kikongo, spoken by the nationals of the provinces of Bas-Congo and Bandundu;
- Swahili spoken by nationals of the Provinces of Katanga, South and North Kivu, Maniema and Province Orientale. He has also entered the Army and the Congolese National Police since 1996-1997, under the leadership of the AFDL;

- Tshiluba, spoken by the nationals of both Kasai and North Katanga;

- Lingala spoken everywhere in Kinshasa, the main language of the City of Kinshasa, the official language of the Congolese National Army and Police since colonial times, of all Churches, music and popular theater.

Lingala is not the language of a tribe or an ethnic group. Its origin is explained by some authors. "Originally, according to Rev. Guthrie, the Lingala language was a rudimentary language, forged by foreign soldiers (Hausa, Zanzibar and Europeans) who lived among the natives (engaged in the army), in the camps. Mankanza military force founded by COQUILHA in 18841, in the Province of Ecuador, near the town of Mbandaka.

Bishop E. DE BOECK attests that the new Lingala language was spoken around 1905 by the Bangala. It is a language of many dialects that reached the two capitals Kinshasa and Brazzaville "Lingala has undergone a remarkable evolution: very few children or young people, indeed, learned to speak, like their parents, the language of their tribe Young people, even newcomers, spoke only Lingala, and at the same time, Lingala tends to become a working language in the capital.

Phenomena of street children

Like all the other cities, Kinshasa has not escaped this evolution, because it would be proved that to this day, more than 60% of its population came from customary backgrounds, and that the natives who are their descendants are still confronted with cultural mixing and the difficulty of being both traditional and modern; so a society made of maladjusted. The children and young people of the street are none other than those who are the consequence of this situation made of multiple forms of social maladjustment. The rapid and unrestrained evolution of this phenomenon spares no neighborhood and no social class today in Kinshasa. The entire population attends daily the events and disastrous situations caused by the presence of thousands of children in the streets of the Capital. The social reaction often remains negative in the face of this harsh reality, because the consequences of this phenomenon are innumerable and constitute a serious problem of human development.

If the phenomenon of street children has distant origins, the story of this terminology "child street" is rather recent. It was around 1984-85 that the term appeared. In Africa, the term has taken its meaning at the Forum of Abidjan (Ivory Coast), held from February 25 to March 2 in 1985, where several countries were found to make the state of place of this new social situation that is the growing presence of children on the streets of African cities. From then on, any child wandering the streets, either living there or working there, was henceforth called "child of the street".

At UNICEF's Ideas Forum in 1984, UNICEF defined the street child as "any girl or boy who has not reached adulthood, for whom the street (in the broad sense of the term that is to say, including abandoned buildings, vacant lots, etc.) has become its usual home and / or source of existence, and is inadequately protected, supervised or directed by one or more responsible adults "1. The first consists mainly of children who are still in contact with their family environment. Their lives continue to be centered on the family home. Some attend school, they return home after their day of work in the legal or illicit resourcefulness ("Kobeta libanga" in Lingala jargon of Kinshasa). Most feel part of a neighborhood. So they are children on the street. This terminology has evolved. Since these children take to the streets purely for profit, to work informally (labor, theft, begging, prostitution) in order to survive by self-support, and by taking care of their families, the terminology who designates them is "Working Children" in the acronym WCY which constitutes the World Movement of Children and Young Workers in acronym MEY of which our country is represented.

This terminology is also outdated, because it is pejorative when we have to refer to human rights, and more particularly to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which promotes the inherent dignity of every human being. The reality is that these children no longer have family ties and are totally separated from theirs. This harsh reality has caused them to be called "children at family and social rupture" in the abbreviation "ERFS".

Note that among the WCYs and the ERFS, there are sub-groups for example, the "Sheikers" at the airport of Ndjili, the "Bana imbwa" at the Beach Ngobila, the "Romans" on the Avenue du Commerce, the "Italians" deemed crooks throughout the city of Kinshasa, etc.

Section 1: Urban history of the city

Kinshasa occupies a very special site that has been chosen by the Belgian authorities for its geographic advantages: proximity to the river, alluvial plain easy to urbanize ... but the city quickly exceeded the initial capacity of this site, to extend on less land propitious. And the perfect mastery of urbanization instituted by the settlers has been replaced by a galloping urbanization without control or support by infrastructure and equipment.

Birth of Kinshasa: river port on the Congo

After his first exploration between 1874 and 1877, the Anglo-American explorer Sir Henry Stanley returned to the Congo with the mission of colonizing the lands through the AIA (International African Association), created by Leopold II of Belgium.

In 1881, Stanley signed a pact of brotherhood with the local chiefs, and obtained the right of establishment on the site of Kintembo. It gives the name of Leopoldville to this first installation on April 14, 1882, in tribute to the King of the Belgians. At that time there were about 66 villages and 30,000 inhabitants in the plain occupied today by the city.

This site was chosen as the point of establishment for its configuration and position along the Congo River. Indeed, it is a flat, stable and protected by hills, located at the edge of the river, which is at the time the main way of penetration in Central Africa. It is from this point that the river becomes navigable upstream.

The Congo was handed over to King Leopold II of Belgium during the Berlin Conference of 1885, during which Africa was declared res nullius, that is to say, a thing not owned by anyone. In 1888, the creation of the Stanley Pool district with L?opoldville as chief town: this statute also allows the emergence of the first administrative services (police station, marine and transport, courts, posts, customs ...), as well as infrastructures medical requirements. A railway line is built between the port of Matadi and Leopoldville. Its construction was completed in 1898. It also marks the real start of the city with major works to develop.

In the meantime, a second activity development center has started east of the first district of Kintembo, on the current site of the port. This site has proved more interesting for river activities than Ngaliema Bay. The major development works following the arrival of the railway start with the meeting of Leo West (Administrative Kintembo) and Leo East (the port and businesses) by large avenues planted and lined villas.

Between 1900 and 1920, the city developed around these two poles, and in the intermediate space. Georges Moulaert's plan of 1911 provides for the construction of a larger port.

In 1922, a decree forced all companies to build camps for their workers. This is how the first planned cities appear on the sites of Mampeza and Kilimani. In 1923, the decision to transfer the capital from Boma to Leopoldville was taken. This decision will be effective in 1929. The N'Dolo airport sees the landing of the first plane in 1925, connecting Leopoldville to Europe by air.

Kinshasa: capital of the Belgian Congo

In 1929, we witness the actual transfer of the capital to Leopoldville. To support this transfer, the administrative core is located on the Kalima Point between the two existing poles of L?o Est and L?o Ouest. At the same time, the shipyards and the industrial zone are created. The main industries are related to the textile sector and the processing of sugar cane.

In 1933, the three-zone separation was proposed in Ren? Schoentjes' scheme: the European city, the indigenous city and a neutral zone between the two. We first find in the neutral zone: the Fernand de Boeck Park, the golf course and the zoo, but also vegetable crops; then: missions, markets military camps, prisons and hospitals. We then witness the construction of the cities of Lingwala, Kinshasa and Barumbu south of the railway, N'Dolo airport and port infrastructure. Towards the end of the 1940s, new cities (Kasa Vubu and Ngiri Ngiri) were erected, and reserved for the evolved (indigenous who could demonstrate their ability to live in the European fashion). The plan of L?opoldville, proposed by Georges Ricquier in 1949, provided for a monumental avenue that would cross the city, and the expropriation of cities to refound a larger neutral area. It was not realized.

The industrial zone of Limete is created, according to the plan of urbanism of Van Malleghem, which replaced very quickly the plan of Ricquier. In 1949, the Office of Indigenous Cities (then African) was created for the construction of social housing for low-income populations. Several cities are built, and the last is Lemba, completed in 1959. The OCA builds 20,000 homes in 10 years.

The population is starting to become important and the supply of the capital is becoming more complex. To overcome these difficulties, programs to create market gardening areas in the city were born, including, in 1951, the development project of 28 hectares in the N'Djili Valley, intended for the production of fresh vegetables.

Independence today

Independence put an end to migration controls, which limited and planned the extension of Kinshasa until 1960. There is a massive influx of people who settle without authorization on the free lands, including on the hillsides. Housing problems are very quickly felt. In 1965, there was the creation of the ONL (National Housing Office), which results from the merger of the OCA and the advance fund. It is responsible for producing housing but will be virtually ineffective. In 1967, a Regional Plan of Development was produced, also called Plan Auguste Arsac (French Mission of urbanism). This will be the last approved plan for the city of Kinshasa.

In 1968, the city's boundaries were expanded to include new urbanized areas. The number of municipalities has increased from 11 to 24, as they still are today. In 1972, to cope with a still galloping urbanization, we witness the creation of the green belt and presidential valleys. They are mainly intended for urban agriculture, but will be rapidly occupied by urbanization.

In 1975, the political turning point of Zairianization also led to the construction of Pharaonic projects of President Mobutu (exchangers of Limete and Kinkole, Lumumba Boulevard, City of the African Union, stadium ...). It is at this time that will be built the largest monuments and avenues that still characterize Kinshasa today. This period also probably marks the end of major works on Kinshasa, which will only resume in 2007, despite the different plans and planning documents that were subsequently developed: SDAU Kinshasa in 1975 (which has never been approved ) and Urban Development Project in 1985, which led to no achievement, but still allowed the creation of the OVD in 1987. The years of war that preceded and followed the removal of President Mobutu in 1997 have was terrible for the city, which has not only been the refuge for many people fleeing the conflicts inside the country, without investments to support these new facilities, nor maintenance program for the infrastructures in place. The economic consequences were also disastrous: Kinshasa lost more than half of its jobs in the industrial sector during this period.

The return of stability has taken time, and it is only in 2007 that we see the reappearance of major works, and that the situation, at least in terms of traffic in the city, begins to improve (boulevard du June 30, Triumphal Avenue, Lumumba Boulevard, Colonel Mondjiba Boulevard, Tourism Avenue etc.). We are witnessing the return of private investments, large-scale real estate development, high-rise buildings in the city center, with luxury buildings, hotels, shopping malls (Cit? du fleuve, Congo Trade Center, Chinese promotion of future center SCTZ city, ...) Kinshasa is changing its face, and this change is fast. It is important to frame all these private and public initiatives, to ensure their consistency, and to give the city a modern image that will give it a national and international influence.

Essentially sandy and with some coarse elements (UNDP / UNOPS, 1998). As a result of this texture, soils are very sensitive to erosion even on a low slope and are not agricultural. The city of Kinshasa is destabilized by nearly 600 heads of ravines identified and resulting from serious erosions due to the accelerated runoff of rainwater.

The intense land reclamation, without any real control by the planning authorities, as well as their lack of knowledge of the effective actions that can be taken against land degradation through regressive gullies, are currently to aggravate the situation of instability and danger in the hills. The latter, considered at the time colonial as unfit for construction, were distributed by the customary chiefs regardless of their sensitivity to erosion and potential risks.

Some of these ravines, like that of Mataba located in the municipality of Ngaliema, continue to take more than alarming proportions, reaching imposing sizes (about 1 km long, 10 m deep and 300m wide) and reducing the more often than not any attempt to stabilize the sites. This ravine causes significant material losses (houses, roads, school buildings, dispensaries, ...) and human (deaths during landslides). If, locally, the population knows where the ravines are, no overall vision exists at present.

The most important ravines are:
• Ravine de Mataba: it encompasses the entire neighborhood around the Delvaux market to the great ravine in front of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in the Commune of Ngaliema. Several branches or heads compose it. He is currently threatening or progressing at Mbekama, Matadi, Kinsuka, Kilambo and Kinsiona avenues.

• Maternity Ravine: It is located on the extension of the Maternity Road between Pumbu avenues and Brother of Christian schools in Binza Delvaux. To this one, are added 2 other heads in the extension of this avenue towards the Laloux district valley. Presently, there is a total deterioration of the road which has become impassable following the influx of water from the Pigeon side. At the rate where this erosion is going, it is likely to take homes along this avenue if nothing is done.

• Ravine of Kinshasa Campus: The university site alone has 20 ravines on an area of less than 5 Km2. One of these ravines is due to the bursting of a retention pond that stored the sewage from one of the Homes.

• Manenga Ravine: It is located in the Binza Village district to the west of the Veterans' Area between the Matadi Road and the Binza River (Ngaliema Commune). More than 15 erosion heads are linked to this ravine.

• Okapi Ravine: This ravine is located in the Punda district (common Ngaliema) between the main avenue Laloux and the Matadi road. It extends to the Lubudi River Valley. It houses the equestrian circle called Etier de Binza, the Congo district behind the Okapi Hotel and extends to the cemeteries in the Kintambo Valley. The lack of a competent and capable drainage system, the lack of maintenance of the one that existed there make of this site one of more erosive and most dangerous in the city of Kinshasa. It has more than 30 erosion heads.

• Dreve de Selembao Ravine: Located in the Binza Pigeon district on Yandonge Avenue on the Lubudi River side (Ngaliema Commune). More than 9 erosional heads are already listed.

• Ravine Lolo the Shrimp: it is located on the slope 150 m from the Church of St. Luke and Nguma Avenue. This ravine was due to overflowing waters of the Mapenza River at the Hotel Lolo la Shrimp. The Saint Luc site is currently under threat, including Nguma Avenue, the main access road to Kintambo Shopping Center, the school avenue that links Matadi Road to Nguma Avenue and the surrounding block. the Church.

• Kingu / UPN Ravine: Located in front of the UPN Market. It is bounded by Matadi Road, Liberation Avenue and Madiata district. The catchment area, located some 250 meters from the Matadi road, is completely silted up for lack of maintenance. This is at the origin of the birth of new erosion heads, 2 of which are particularly menacing.

Ravin Ngafani: it is located in the Ngafani district (Commune of Selembao), next to the Bypass Road. This erosion which progresses towards the Avenue Gemena with 13 branches took away the Catholic Church Saint Maximilian. Other branches are moving towards Parc Avenue. The silting up of the three basins at the Catholic primary school threatens the By Pass road while other heads head for Salongo, Kisanga and Kipati avenues.

• Bolikango-Health Ravine: It is located in Binza Delvaux (Municipality of Ngaliema) in the presidential concession. The basin built in 1991 in the enclosure of the fence and which constituted the valve of the security of the district was carried away by the rain. The non maintenance of this basin is at the base of its destruction. Indeed, since its establishment until its break, all the elements of the ground cleared (Eroded products) accumulated in the basin. These made it impermeable. Unable to retain the critical volume of water, the basin has yielded and evolved subdivided into several erosional heads. Various works have been carried out without real success to stabilize the district.

• Kindele Ravine: The ravine is located in the commune of Lemba and is the result of a diffuse runoff of rainwater, associated with the non-servicing of neighborhoods and the lack of maintenance of some existing drainage works.

• Ravine Top: The ravine is located next to the Matadi road, at the entrance to Masikita Avenue between Binza Delvaux and UPN neighborhoods.

Flooding

The site on which the city of Kinshasa is built is drained by several rivers, the most important of which are the N'Djili (with a basin of 2,000 km2), the N'Sele (with a basin of 6,000 km2), the Mbombo and Lumene rivers. The rivers of average importance are Gombe, Funa, Basoko and N'Dolo.

Many other watersheds are only minor streams. This is the case of Lubudi, Lukunga, Binza, Mampenza, Makelele, Yolo, Matete, Bandalungwa, Tshangu and Ikusu, which have low and seasonally variable flows. Their waters overflow after heavy rains and dry up during the dry season. These rivers originate in the hills with medium to high slopes. Before throwing themselves into the river, they cross the plain part where the slopes are weak or very weak. This causes that in this part of plain are deposited a lot of sediments and other garbage carried. These deposits are blockages to the natural flow of water and raise the level of rivers. Thus, in case of rain, the rivers overflow and cause floods often important especially along the rivers.

There is also a backflow of river waters upstream, due to the flood of the river in which they flow. This phenomenon causes or aggravates floods. This repression is also observed in the rivers that receive tributaries, for example at the level where the Matete flows into the N'Djili, causing flooding in the lower districts of the Kingabwa zone. In some seasons, floods become natural disasters. According to the testimonies and the archives of the newspapers of Kinshasa, one day one counted about thirty dead, nearly a hundred wounded and important material damage with a gravity in Limete-Mombele, Ngaliema, Kinseso, Ngaba, Kimbanseke, Bumbu and Selembao. In case of flood, several houses are destroyed, bridges are cut, preventing traffic and insulating some neighborhoods, pipes are destroyed, causing water cuts to some neighborhoods, etc.

The site occupied by the city of Kinshasa is particularly sensitive to environmental problems. They come from the nature of the soils and the steep slopes of the surrounding hills, but above all from the anthropic pressure on an already fragile environment. The waterproofing of soils, anarchic constructions and without retaining walls that weaken the slopes, the obstruction of the river beds ... have direct and indirect impacts, too often catastrophic. We can not intervene in one part of the city without any consequences for the neighborhoods around us. It is essential in the preparation of the planning document that is the subject of this study to take into account this fragile environment and to propose corrective or safeguard measures for already urbanized areas, and to provide upstream the necessary adjustments. for those who will be urbanized in the future.

3.7%. If it follows the same rhythm, it should cover, in 2030, about 86,000 hectares, almost twice the surface it occupies today. The city is spreading rapidly on its margins, mainly east and southwest, along the roads of Matadi and Bandundu, allowing access by public transport to the city center which polarizes most of urban jobs. However, since the beginning of the 1990s, neighborhoods have developed far from the city center and transport routes (eg Cogelo district, Chad, Mandela, Department, Plateau); they do not benefit from any urban convenience. Between 1995 and 2005, on the one hand 30% of urban growth occurred on slopes of more than 15%, that is to say a significant risk of erosion and, on the other hand, nearly 50% of growth urban is more than one kilometer from the major communication axes, or in the interstitial spaces that are difficult to access.

If the population of the city is to double in the next 15 years, the area it occupies will probably double as well, even if dense housing is advocated. Thus, of the 450 km2 occupied today, it will probably have to occupy 800. It will be necessary to find new land to expand in the coming years. An analysis of the surrounding areas is therefore essential at this stage to assess the site's capacity to absorb the expected extensions of the city.

The plain occupied today by Kinshasa is bordered by a cirque of hills, which reach 600m altitude to the south and east. The still flat part is entirely occupied in the West, and the observed urbanization front is mainly along the Matadi road, even if the space between this road and the river tends to fill up. However, the lands are on steep slopes, and the administrative boundaries of the province, soon exceeded.

However, the relatively flat space between the river and the East Hills barrier is not unlimited. The provincial services have also expressed the desire to contain the urbanized space within the curve formed by the N'Sele River. The positioning of the contour lines makes it possible to identify a potentially urbanizable zone of 240 km2, and a second zone north of the river with an area of 38km?. But this part is today occupied by the agricultural domain of N'Sele.

It can be said with certainty that Kinshasa is the largest city in Central Africa and one of the largest cities in Africa. However, certainty fades when it comes to numbers on its population. There are several sources for the estimation of the current population of Kinshasa: the projections established by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) following the 1984 census and the administrative counts carried out annually within the communes and synthesized by the 'City Hall. They do not reach the same conclusions, and both have their supporters and their detractors. Being two official sources, it is advisable to discuss them.

After the summer of 2005, the "enlistment" operation with a view to the deadlines set at the end of the transition period provides a third source of information, namely the enumerated population. By the age pyramid, we can indeed reconstruct the total population from this theoretical population of over 18 years to be registered on the electoral lists. All these sources can give estimates of the population of Kinshasa although they do not reach the same conclusions. In 1984, the population counted in Kinshasa was 2.6 million inhabitants and according to the results of the INS, this population was estimated at 8,683,000 inhabitants in 2010 considering an average annual growth rate of 3, 4%. Given the fact that the census will only take place in February 2015, new projections have been made up to 2015 under the assumption of the constant annual growth rates estimated between 1984 and 2005 and the stability of sex and age structures of the population. The estimated population for 2013 and 2015 would therefore be 10,558,000 and 11,575,000, respectively, as shown in Table 1.1.

The administrative counts show much lower figures, estimating for the same year, 2004/2005, nearly 2.3 million inhabitants less than those estimated by the INS. The observed annual growth rates are inversely related to those of the NSI.

A third source that can be studied is the IEC (Independent Electoral Commission) which, in 2005, enlisted voters in Kinshasa. The results of the enrollment campaign resulted in 2,962,779 enrollments, which is expected to match all persons over 18 years of age. The 2001 MICS study indicates that the share of people over 18 in the population represents 46.7%, which makes it possible to establish the population of Kinshasa in 2005 to 6 200 000 inhabitants in 2005. In conclusion, the convergence of population calculations based on the electoral census and projections of the INS revised downward around a population between 6.0 and 6.5 million makes this interval the most likely; this value is also obtained by applying to the administrative counts a corrective rate corresponding to their probable underestimation of approximately 20%.

The extension of the city has always been advocated towards the East, it is the other important front of urbanization which one observes currently. With the construction projects of the rail-road bridge and the creation of the Special Economic Zone in Maluku this trend is expected to strengthen. However, the relatively flat space between the river and the East Hills barrier is not unlimited. The provincial services have also expressed the desire to contain the urbanized space within the curve formed by the N'Sele River. The positioning of the contour lines makes it possible to identify a potentially urbanizable zone of 240 km2, and a second zone north of the river with an area of 38km?. But this part is today occupied by the agricultural domain of N'Sele.