ABSTRACT

Cap-Haïtien is the second largest city, following Portau-Prince, located in the northern region of the country. Its population is estimated between 250,000 to 600,000 inhabitants, indicating the informal nature of its actual urban growth (the most recent census counted 63,000 inhabitants in 1982). As in other urban areas in Haiti, the majority of today’s citizens have only recently settled where urban land is still available (or wherever it can be created), specifically in the peripheral urban neighbourhoods. Nearly two thirds of the population of Cap-Haïtien live in shanty settlements where corrugated iron, stagnant water and general detritus relentlessly accumulate. Most citizens live in poor conditions that are worsened during the hurricane season between July to October. In 2004 hurricane Jeanne caused heavy floods, mudslides and hundreds of deaths.