ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses aerial photographs and shapefiles of Zinder and its urban area. The city of Zinder was also the seat of the government of the French military territory, then of the French colony between 1911 and 1926, before Niamey replaced it as the capital city of the colony. Niger, right after the independence in 1960, took steps to ensure the management of local affairs, through the structures of the decentralized and de-concentrated administration. The measures defining the institutional framework for the operation of local authorities was taken in 1964. Local authorities have been given general as well as specific prerogatives by the law on the free administration of communities and the law on the transfer of powers. As regards remit transfer, most of the sectors concerned have a direct or indirect link with urban development. In terms of urban management, which concerns municipalities in particular, the interventions are generally the result of a multiplicity of actors or operators.
