Cameroon has a strong population growth in the cities as the urbanization rate increased from 32 per cent in 1987 to 52 per cent in 2010.

The information was made public by the Department of Housing and Urban Development after the Government organized the first urban forum on the theme "planning and control of urban development: move from ideas to action" whose objective was geared towards a better planning of the Cameroonian cities.

"Submerged" in the future, as the lack of planning is originally the cause of urban mess which is the order of the day in the Cameroonian cities, experts believe that, "the objective is to raise awareness among managers of cities so that they understand how to plan, use the professionals of the sector, i.e. urban planners, architects, engineers, and lawyers before anything else".

For a city like Douala whose population is estimated at over 3.5 million inhabitants, space occupation is an enormous problem. Consequently, "people settled everywhere, even in swamps", said the CUD.