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Senegalese cities have experienced rapid urbanisation, leading to profound landscape changes. Dakar, one of Senegalese's fastest-growing cities, is experiencing rapid urban expansion, significantly reducing green spaces. These green spaces, essential for urban sustainability and resilience, have become increasingly scarce, affecting the city's environment and the quality of life for its residents. This study aims to assess the spatiotemporal changes in Dakar's green spaces from 1990 to 2022. Using satellite imagery, this study produces land use maps to quantify green space coverage over the years. The results show a gradual decline in green spaces in Dakar between 1990 and 2022. In 1990, green spaces covered an estimated 13.36% of Dakar's area, which decreased significantly to 9.54% by 2022. In contrast, other land uses, such as built-up areas, increased significantly over this period, rising from 19.23% in 1990 to 39.34% in 2022. Moreover, built-up areas are not the sole contributor to the reduction of green spaces in Dakar. The study revealed that, between 1990 and 2022, 5.49% of green spaces were converted into bare soil due to excessive tree cutting. This pattern highlights the growing challenge of green space availability as built-up areas expand rapidly, particularly when growth is unplanned. This study underscores the importance of sustainable urban planning that integrates the protection and conservation of Dakar's vegetation to preserve vital ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although access to drinking water is a fundamental human right, the most disadvantaged populations are forced to adapt to multiple socio-economic and environmental pressures: tradeoffs in the allocation of the resource, disparate equipment, monetization of the service, degradation of aquatic environments, impacts of global climate change. Based on an empirical survey in Senegal and problematized around the relationships between spatial justice and environmental inequalities, the article relates the social conditions of populations with the quality of their living environment, their level and types of access to water services with the modalities of allocation of the resource in space and time. The latter depend on the governance of resources combined with a differentiated treatment of spaces and populations. The Saint-Louis region of Senegal is particularly illustrative of these issues of environmental inequalities - shortage, water pollution - to the detriment of indigenous populations during the colonial period and rural populations today. Access to water resources is thus limited by partial service, by the prohibitive cost of network water and by organizational dysfunctions that the reform of management methods, community-based and then recently delegated to private companies, does not resolve. While access to clean drinking water is deemed a fundamental human right, it remains a challenge for the most marginalized communities, who are forced to navigate through a myriad of socio-economic and environmental pressures. These challenges include trade-offs in resource allocation, disparities in infrastructure, commercialization of water services, degradation of aquatic ecosystems, and the adverse effects of global climate change. Drawing from empirical research conducted in Senegal, this article delves into the intricate interplay between spatial justice and environmental disparities, shedding light on how social factors interact with the quality of living conditions and access to water services. The allocation of water resources, both spatially and temporally, is intricately linked to governance mechanisms and the differential treatment of various regions and demographics. The case of the Saint-Louis region in Senegal serves as a poignant example, highlighting historical injustices such as water shortages and pollution that disproportionately affected indigenous communities during the colonial era and continue to impact rural populations today. Despite efforts to address these challenges through reforms in management practices transitioning from community-based initiatives to recent delegation to private entities significant barriers persist. Access to water resources remains constrained by inadequate supply, prohibitive costs associated with centralized water systems, and persistent organizational inefficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In Senegal, as in all West African countries, rainfall is marked by a sharp decline since the 1970s and by a great variability in both inter-monthly and intra-seasonal. Today the situation down and irregularity of rainfall, combined with strong population growth particularly in rural areas, poses the fundamental problem of access to water in sufficient quantity and satisfactory quality. The main objective of this study is to characterize rainfall variability and to analyze its implications on water resources in the borough of Fimela. For the study of rainfall variability, monthly and annual data from the climate station of Fatick over period 1950 to 2007 and from the rainfall station of Fimela over period 1980 to 2007 were used. Analysis of the monthly and interannual averages of rainfall and other climatic elements has shown a decreasing trend and irregular rainfall from year 1972. The comparative analysis also leaves a deficit rainfall of less than 24% for the period 1972 to 2007. Hydraulic data from the direction of management and planning of water resources (DGPRE) and the local development plans (PLD), as well as information collected in the field, indicate that the character of rainfall in both randomness and deficiency has impacted heavily on the availability and quality of water resources. Moreover, the lack of rainfall has also caused the expansion of saline soils and degradation of plant cover which most affected component is the stand of mangroves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]