This master’s thesis explores the practices of intermediate logistics carried out by coxeurs in Dakar, analyzing their role in the coexistence between local urban development and institutional planning. Focusing on the strategic area around the Sandaga Market, the study highlights how these often-invisible actors structure commercial flows through sociotechnical networks and intermediation skills. Using a mixed-method approach (interviews, geolocated questionnaires), the author demonstrates that coxeurs constitute an essential human infrastructure, combining relational know-how, vernacular tools, and spatial anchoring to optimize logistical flows in an urban context marked by scarcity.

The research examines the tensions between urban modernization (such as the BRT project) and ordinary systems, advocating for a critical revaluation of these practices as levers for inclusive urbanism. Drawing on postcolonial frameworks (Subaltern Studies, Postmodernism), it argues for a hybridization of planning models, integrating local logics of spatial and logistical organization. The findings underscore the resilience and efficiency of these discreet systems while outlining pathways for their institutional recognition, aiming to reconcile urban development with the right to the city for marginalized actors.

This work contributes to debates on informality, urban governance, and globalized circulations, offering a situated and decentered reading of African metropolises in transition.