The digital birth of an African city. The case of Douala (Cameroon)

THE DIGITAL
BIRTH OF AN
AFRICAN
CITYTHE CASE OF DOUALA (CAMEROON)
Marta Pucciarelli
PhD Thesis Presentation
Faculty of Communication Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana,
Lugano, 11 November 2019

1. Introduction
2. Problem setting
3. Goal of the research
4. Literature review
5. Research gaps
6. Research questions
7. Methodology
8. Outcomes
9. Conclusion
10.Limits of the research
11.Practical implications
12.Future developments
INDEX
2

4
Largest city in Cameroon (population?)
Commercial capital
Richest city in the whole CEMAC region
Equatorial climate
Cultural city/heritage
INTRODUCTION

Incongruences between available online information about developing countries
and the real-world!
PROBLEMSETTINF
6

To understand how the
online representation of
developing city is produced
and what are the relations
with the physical city.
GOALOFTHERESEARCH
7

INTERNET
STUDIES
URBAN
STUDIES
ICT4D
STUDIES
Infromational
and knowledge
society
(Castells 1996,
UNESCO)
Techno-centric
and socially
constructed
digital city
(Aurigi, 2017)
LITERATUREREVIEW
9

Timeline showing the digital characterisation of the city from 1964 to 2016 according to Stephen
Graham and Marvin (1996: 9) and Katharine S. Willis and Alessandro Aurigi (2017:8). My source,
2019.
TOWARD A DEFINITION OF THE
DIGITAL CITY
11

This thesis intends the digital city
development as a spontaneous
process of content production
by a defined urban community
which uses internet to
communicate its own existence
in the digital landscape to a
non-expert public.
(Couclelis, 2004; Schuler 2001)
LITERATUREREVIEW
12

Digital city
in Africa
LITERATUREREVIEW
13
INTERNET
STUDIES
URBAN
STUDIES
ICT4D
STUDIES

DIGITAL CITY IN AFRICA
Cocchia, 2014. Geographical representation of studies related to digital
vs smart cities
14

Models of
access
(Wharshauer,
2004)
Digital
divide
(Unwin
2009, 2015)
Geographies of
access,
participation,
representation
(Graham, 2013)
Information
inequalities
(Heeks,
2002)
LITERATUREREVIEW
15
INTERNET
STUDIES
URBAN
STUDIES
ICT4D
STUDIES

DIGITAL/
ONLINE
CITY
PHYSICAL/
OFFLINE
CITY
HYBRID
CITY
LITERATUREREVIEW
17
HYBRID SPACES

1. Empirical gap
A. 2% of researches is in Africa
B. 36% of empirical case-studies
C. Evolution of the socially-constructed digital city
“the challenge of any ICT City initiative would be to understand
how the digital city can make the invisible visible” (Odendaal, 2006)
2. Methodological gap
A. Historical perspective
B. GIS with ethnographic data
3. Theoretical gap
A. New epistemology of “space-in-between” within developing
countries
RESEARCHGAPS
18

RQ1: What does access to
information and knowledge mean in
Douala?
RQ2: How is the digital Douala
produced?
RQ3: How is the digital
representation of Douala
(mis)aligned with the physical one?
RESEARCHQUESTIONS
19

2nd Phase
Digital cityContext
1st Phase
How the digital Douala is produced?
Whose voices are
contributing to
shape the digital
Douala?
Where do they
come from?
What part of the
city is represented
and hidden online?
How has the
digital Douala
evolved during
time?
Quantitative analysis
May-July 2014
Document
analysis
Online research
May-July 2014
Online research
on website of
economic
activities
May-July 2014
Document analysis
Online research on
website of
economic activities
May-July 2014
Online research
on domaintool.org
Descriptive
analysis
Descriptive
analysis
Map analysis Descriptive
analysis
Pucciarelli, M., Vannini ,S., Cantoni, L. (2014). Mapping the digital Douala: lights and
shadows of an African City. In Proceedings of CIRN 2014. Prato, Italy.
Pucciarelli, M., Cantoni, L., Kalbaska, N. (2016). The Digital Birth of an African City.
An Exploratory Study on the city of Douala (Cameroun). In Proceedings
of ICEGOV2016. Montevideo, Uruguay.
How the digital representation of Douala
is (mis)aligned with the physical one?
What are the
social
representations
local people and
foreigners have
of Douala?
How are offline
representations
(mis)aligned with
the representations
of the city that are
produced online?
Qualitative analysis
Nov. – Dec. 2013 and October 2016
2nd. Ethnographic study: interviews
(n=39), one focus group, ethnographic
field notes
Online research on Trip Advisor: User
Generated Content (n=130)
Content analysis Comparative
analysis
Pucciarelli, M., & Vannini, S. (2018).
Douala as a “hybrid space”: Comparing
online and offline representations of a
sub-Saharan city. Semiotica, 2018(223),
219-250.
3dt Phase
Hybrid city
RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
What access to
information and
knowledge means in
Douala?
Sub questions What are the challenges
of accessing information
within and about the city
Itself?
What are the tendencies?
METHODOLOGY Mixed method approach
Data collection Dec. 2012 – Jan. 2013
Online research
1st ethnographic study:
Ethnographic observation,
qualitative interviews
(n=40), questionnaires
(n=200)
Data analysis Content analysis
Descriptive analysis
PUBLICATIONS Pucciarelli, M, Sabiescu,
A, Cantoni, L.(2013).
What do we know about
Douala. Access to
information in and about
the largest Cameroonian
city. In Proceedings of
IDIA 2013. Bangkok,
Thailand.
METHODOLOGY
21

METHODOLOGY 2ND PHASE
Data Collection 2014
Document analysis
Douala Zoom (2010-2011) a
sort of yellow pages directory
which provides details of every
formally registered socio-
economic activity in Douala
Online research
On Google search
engine: google.cm
(Cameroon), google.fr
(France), and google.it
(Italy).
Activity
category
Name
activity
Neighbo
urhood
Address Email Online
presenc
e
Website Social
media
Origin Year
Art
galleries/mus
eums
Espace
doual’art
Bonanjo
4.043344,
9.687063
yes yes
www.doualart
.org
www.faceboo
k.com/pages/
Doualart/352
3733882335
81?ref=ts&fre
f=ts
local 2007
On the official website
of socio-economic
activity in Douala
On Domain tools
www.domaintools.
com)
METHODOLOGY
22

Context
1st Phase
The predominance of orality and of the role of the
civil society
The interplay between information
production and information access
From oral to digital and the written media gap
• Investments in digital production of
information
• Widespread distribution of mobile devices
• Usage of mobile phones for accessing
leisure content
Private vs. public access
OUTCOMES:CONTEXTUALSTUDY
24
RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
What access to
information and
knowledge means in
Douala?
Sub questions What are the challenges
of accessing information
within and about the city
Itself?
What are the tendencies?
METHODOLOGY Mixed method approach
Data collection Dec. 2012 – Jan. 2013
Online research
1st ethnographic study:
Ethnographic observation,
qualitative interviews
(n=40), questionnaires
(n=200)
Data analysis Content analysis
Descriptive analysis
PUBLICATIONS Pucciarelli, M, Sabiescu,
A, Cantoni, L.(2013).
What do we know about
Douala. Access to
information in and about
the largest Cameroonian
city. In Proceedings of
IDIA 2013. Bangkok,
Thailand.

Online presence
(Website/Facebook)
Online communication
(email)
11.37%
57.19%
20 Macro-categories
(micro-communities)
88.63%
42.81%
OUTCOMES:THEDIGITALDOUALA
THE DIGITAL DOUALA
4529 socio economic activities
513 online presence
• 467 websites
• 46 Facebook accounts
2590 email account
26

ORIGIN
Local 59,1%
National
13,8%
International
27,1%
Local National International
27

DIGITAL HISTORY
the ascending
curve shows
the sum of
the online
activities from
1989 to 2013
histograms show the amount of websites and Facebook
accounts which emerge every year
28

150 online
activities
5 online
activities
ONLINE PRESENCE
N. of online socio-economic activities in the digital city
513 total online socio-economic activities
20 macro-categories
29

24
ONLINE PRESENCE
150 online
activities
59
57
30
20 macro-categories

ONLINE PRESENCE
47,8%
Douala as
economic and
commercial
capital
24
150 online
activities
59
57
31
20 macro-categories

11 online
activities
ONLINE PRESENCE
32
20 macro-categories

ONLINE SATURATION
27,5%
33
% of online activities within their own category
20 macro-categories

ONLINE SATURATION
27,5%
67% local
34
20 macro-categories

ONLINE SATURATION
27,5%
67% local
positive evolution
in the use of
technology among
the dwellers
throughout the
years
35
20 macro-categories

ONLINE SATURATION
27,5%
14th9.0%
36
20 macro-categories

ONLINE SATURATION
9.0%
8.3%
38
20 macro-categories

ONLINE SATURATION
8.3%
12.5%
10.9%
39
20 macro-categories

ONLINE SATURATION
8.3%
12.5%
10.9%
82% local
100% local
tendency to go online
of the categories linked
to educational, social,
cultural and urban
activities.
100% local
40
20 macro-categories

OFFLINE VISIBLE SPACES
53
neighbourhoods
present
socioeconomic
activities (45%)
41
N. of existing formally registered socio-economic activities in Douala
4529 socio-economic activities
118 neighbourhoods

36
neighbourhoods
present online
activities (30.5%)
2
neighbourhoods
represent 50.3%
of the whole
online presence
of the city
42
ONLINE VISIBLE SPACES
513 online socio-economic activities within neighbourhoods of Douala

2
neighbourhoods
(Akwa and
Bonanjo)
reaches 12.3%
and 19.2% of
online
saturation
43
ONLINE SATURATION OF VISIBLE SPACES
% of online activities within the neighbourhood

High
saturation
level for the
areas of
Airport
(45%) and
the Harbor
Zone
(35,29%)
44

High saturation
level of 10
peripheral
neighborhoods
Most
represented
online
categories:
“Banks and
insurances” and
“Industrial
production and
distribution”
45

2nd Phase
Digital city
The online visibility
does not result in
higher online
saturation
A significant online
growth is shown by
• local socio-
economic
activities
• less physical
presence
46
How the digital Douala is produced?
Whose voices are
contributing to
shape the digital
Douala?
Where do they
come from?
What part of the
city is represented
and hidden online?
How has the
digital Douala
evolved during
time?
Quantitative analysis
May-July 2014
Document
analysis
Online research
May-July 2014
Online research
on website of
economic
activities
May-July 2014
Document analysis
Online research on
website of
economic activities
May-July 2014
Online research
on domaintool.org
Descriptive
analysis
Descriptive
analysis
Map analysis Descriptive
analysis
Pucciarelli, M., Vannini ,S., Cantoni, L. (2014). Mapping the digital Douala: lights and
shadows of an African City. In Proceedings of CIRN 2014. Prato, Italy.
Pucciarelli, M., Cantoni, L., Kalbaska, N. (2016). The Digital Birth of an African City.
An Exploratory Study on the city of Douala (Cameroun). In Proceedings
of ICEGOV2016. Montevideo, Uruguay.
The digital –
visible Douala:
• economic and
commercial image
• Douala’s prestigious
areas
The digital –
invisible Douala:
• poor, highly
populated and
spontaneously
growth areas
• informal economy

3dt Phase
Hybrid city
OUTCOMES:THEHYBRIDDOUALA
47
How the digital representation of Douala
is (mis)aligned with the physical one?
What are the
social
representations
local people and
foreigners have
of Douala?
How are offline
representations
(mis)aligned with
the representations
of the city that are
produced online?
Qualitative analysis
Nov. – Dec. 2013 and October 2016
2nd. Ethnographic study: interviews
(n=39), one focus group, ethnographic
field notes
Online research on Trip Advisor: User
Generated Content (n=130)
Content analysis Comparative
analysis
Pucciarelli, M., & Vannini, S. (2018).
Douala as a “hybrid space”: Comparing
online and offline representations of a
sub-Saharan city. Semiotica, 2018(223),
219-250.

LOCALS’ SOCIAL
REPRESENTATION
DOUALA VILLE
COSMOPOLITE
DOUALA
CAPITAL
ÉCONOMIQUE
VIOLENCE AND
URBAN
DISORDER
TRANSPORT
ISSUES
INFORMAL
MARKETS
CITY
URBANIZATION
SOCIAL
INEQUALITIES
«DOUALA LA
BELLE,
DOUALA LA
REBELLE»
L’AMBIANCE
DE LA JOIE
UNHEALTHY
ENVIRONMENT
48

FOREIGNERS’ SOCIAL
REPRESENTATION
DOUALA VILLE
COSMOPOLITE
DOUALA
CAPITAL
ÉCONOMIQUE
VIOLENCE AND
URBAN
DISORDER
TRANSPORT
ISSUES
CITY
URBANIZATION
«DOUALA LA
BELLE,
DOUALA LA
REBELLE»
L’AMBIANCE
DE LA JOIE
“The city of Douala is a millefeuille, meaning that there are various layers, it is a
millefeuille to define its complexity […] it is not possible to write it in a
homogeneous way.” (L. Manga, 2013)
49

LOCALS AND FOREIGNERS’
TOURISTIC LANDMARKS
Touristic landmarks of Douala
according to foreigners
 4 neighbourhoods
Touristic landmarks of Douala
according to locals
 20 neighbourhoods
historical landmarks,
natural landmarks,
hospitality and
entertainment landmarks
informal markets.
historical landmarks,
Cultural landmarks,
.
static gap and urban
polarization between
the richest and
poorest areas of the
city
50

Access to information and knowledge in Douala is challenged by
a predominant oral tradition and a frail technological, educational
and social infrastructure.
however
In 2012 we assist to a leap from oral to digital communication and
the gap in written media
CONCLUSIONS
52

The synchronic view diachronic view
Static picture
(Castells, 1989)
Parallelism between
digital and social
inclusion/exclusion
(Graham 2014,
Unwin 2015)
Changing picture
Social transition of
Douala toward
becoming an
information/ knowledge
society (Castells, 1991;
Odendaal, 2011).
complementary perspectives
4529 socio economic activities in Douala
Where there is little activity formally registered, the greater is the effort and
motivation to be online, ensuring indirect visibility to the neighborhood they
belong to.
CONCLUSIONS
53

The African hybrid city seems
at its early stage of existence.
 Addressed to (and
influencing) an international
public that travels to Douala,
rather than locals
 Online and offline narrative
of Douala as a cultural city
is one of the most
representative example of
how the hybrid city seems in
the process of taking place.
CONCLUSIONS
54

1. Empirical contribution
The case of an African digital city, the city of Douala in Cameroon
2. Methodological contribution
Historical evolution of the digital city from a spatial, chronological
and representational perspective
Holistic view of the urban digital divide by combining quantitative
data and maps with ethnographic research and interpretation
3. Theoretical contribution
Hybrid city in Africa by exploring the actual stage of the hybrid
Douala
RESEARCHCONTRIBUTIONS
55

• Francophone literature
• Informal sector
• The use of only available
touristic map of Douala
LIMITSOFTHERESEARCH
56

• Business sector
• Policy makers
• International society and
travelers
PRACTICALIMPLICATIONS
57

• Extending the analysis of the
digital Douala until now
• UGC from different sources
(Airbnb)
• Comparative analysis of digital
Douala with that of others South
African cities
FUTUREDEVELOPMENTS
58

The digital birth of an African city. The case of Douala (Cameroon)

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