Afflicted by a serious problem of inaccessibility and internal mobility, the district of Andavamamba, situated in the city of Antananarivo (Madagascar), was a scenario dominated by extreme road congestion and a very high pollution index. The few sanitation infrastructures, the precarious nature of the housing, which was not equipped for the challenges posed by the continuous flooding, and the absence of drinking water and health facilities in the area additionally favoured the appearance of epidemics such as cholera or the plague. This circumstance, worsened by the severe lack of public resources and the State’s indifference towards the district, led to an extremely serious and growing situation of degradation.

The project for the reconstruction of the Andavamamba district set itself the goal of developing the main avenue leading into the city, building drinking water fountains and refurbishing the district’s central market. The problems that needed resolution were numerous and varied in their typology. Firstly it was necessary to recover several road links (many of them impassable and, in many cases, transformed into open sewers); it was then necessary to put a stop to the widespread insalubrious conditions by eliminating the sediment of solid waste, a source of various illnesses.

The first task was to refurbish the main axis road (RN1) that links the district with the rest of the city and to adapt the urban space to all types of users. This was followed by a whole series of reforms to improve and expand the deficient sanitation and drainage systems. Then came the building of different sanitation facilities, such as for example 5000 public drinking water fountains, lavatories and showers. The final step was the refurbishment of the central Anosibe market.

The integral refurbishment of the sanitation and housing infrastructures in Andavamamba eradicated the cases of cholera in the newly developed area. Rebuilding the main access to the city (4.5 Km long) considerably improved mobility in the entire south-west area of the capital and increased the circulation of goods and persons. Thanks to opening this road and also thanks to reactivating the market (with a 45.000-m2 expansion and over 1.700 sales stalls), the commercial structures have grown and new socioeconomic activities have been implemented, raising the value of land in the district.

This initiative has been possible thanks to the coordination of the various NGOs that operated in the area, reinforcing the associative fabric between the districts, above all through the communal management of the sanitation facilities. The social actions set in motion within the framework of this project, accompanied by an awareness campaign, have served as a test case and will allow the municipality to start up similar municipal projects on its wider territory.

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