Human Settlement Dynamics in the Bamenda III Municipality, North West Region, Cameroon

Human settlements appear to be the most dynamic human elements over the earth’s surface [1]. Settlements are the most visible signs that human culture has imposed on the natural world [2]. This dynamism is propelled by a rapid urbanization in the world which is the result of an ever increasing population. Globally, since 1950, the process of urbanization has been faster with more than half of the world’s population now living in urban areas with about 54.5% in 2016 as compared to 37.9% in 1976 [3]. The present dynamic state of human settlements in the world is the outcome of urbanization. A broader socio economic and political process in the world shall affect human settlements at all levels; global, national and local. About 52% of the developing world’s population shall be living in cities by 2020. Demographic explosion in Africa and Asia is certain. The success or failures in urban development policies shall be observed in the physical structure of human settlements and their nature; formal or informal [4]. In the developing world, the Latin American and the Caribbean areas are considered as the most urbanized. Argentina, Uruguay and Venezuela are at an advanced stage of urbanization. Human settlement dynamics has accompanied urbanization through expansion into new areas and the densification of the Centre for Research on Settlements and Urbanism