Urban sprawl, Guadeloupe's headache

"At some point, you have to say enough is enough!" Mayor of Baillif, in the Guadeloupe region of Basse-Terre, Marie-Yveline Théobald-Ponchateau was the first elected official on the island to launch a manifest abandonment procedure for an unmaintained building, in April 2023.

At the entrance to the small coastal town of 5.000 inhabitants, the 419 m2 plot had been abandoned for years, the imposing building that stood there was visibly deteriorating. New housing and shops are to be built in its place.

The challenge for Baillif, which is adjacent to the capital of Guadeloupe, Basse-Terre, is to "requalify the town centre" to remain an attractive city. "We cannot let decrepitude set in," insists the mayor.

In Guadeloupe, the problem is massive. A study by Déal and the Public Land Establishment (EPF) in 2017 revealed that 17,6% of the 13.487 buildings listed were vacant, and 9,4% of the 11.295 plots examined were "empty teeth".

"In a small island territory with limited natural resources, limiting urban sprawl and revitalizing town centers are major challenges," the study stressed.

Between 2010 and 2019, the urban area grew by 16% in Guadeloupe, according to INSEE. For Thierry Sabathier, deputy director of the local Déal, this "excessive consumption of land" is slowing down the sobriety expected within the framework of the "zero net artificialization of land" (ZAN) included in the Climate Law of 2021.

"With land at 250 euros per square meter, it is difficult to be frugal: it encourages people to sell," worries Mr. Sabathier.

Corine Vingataramin, director of the EPF, qualifies. "Today, we no longer declassify agricultural land as before," says the woman whose establishment has been working since 2013 to identify abandoned land areas and has already acquired 300 plots.

A complex hunt, which requires finding the beneficiaries and sometimes drawing up "family trees over several generations", adds Ms. Vingataramin.

The puzzle of joint ownership

Because in a territory whose land registry only dates back to the 1970s, joint inheritances freeze urban landscapes. Although a 2018 law facilitates pre-emptions, many elected officials hesitate to engage in lengthy legal battles against their constituents.

Arsène Faraux, director of urban planning in Morne-à-l'Eau, in the north-east of Guadeloupe, is counting on the declaration of "imminent danger" to raze abandoned buildings.

His municipality has already carried out 10 demolitions and built an eco-district on these vacated lands but "these remain long-term procedures", acknowledges Mr. Faraux.

To combat urban sprawl, there remains the possibility of renovating buildings for uses other than those for which they were initially intended, adds Axel Grava, facilitator of the Sustainable Urban Planning Network of Guadeloupe.

"This must be included in the reflection on reconstruction to anticipate developments in society," he notes.

In Pointe-à-Pitre, the heart of a city of 100.000 inhabitants, Mayor Harry Durimel has proposed transforming the former university hospital into an accommodation and integration center.

The key is "real work on the issue of insalubrity", recalls Jean-François Moniotte, the sub-prefect of Pointe-à-Pitre, a city faced with numerous "hollow teeth" and other unsanitary housing which has an impact on security.

A state and city program planning the demolition of 1.200 homes and the construction of 2.400 new ones has been announced in Abymes, right next door. The budget is substantial: 445 million euros, of which more than 200 are financed by the state.