Abstract
The distribution of health care services in Bouaké, as it appears today, is the result of a long process rooted in both the history of the city and in health policies. This study thus focuses on the link between the logic of the establishment of health care structures and access to health care in Bouaké. The results, obtained from a census of all the health structures in the urban area and their geo-positioning, reveal that different rationales for their establishment are at work and that they are at the origin of socio-spatial inequalities in access to health care in Bouaké. Thus, the private sector is more concerned with profitability than with supporting the public sector. The faith-based private sector is characterized by its commitment to vulnerable households. As for the public sector, although it is guided by a desire to respect the health map, it offers poor technical facilities and limited capacity. These differentiated logics of installation result in a concentration of health care facilities in the city center and along the main roads. Health care facilities become scarce as one moves towards the periphery and areas that are difficult to access. This unequal distribution of the health care offer by health care sector reveals potential inequalities in the satisfaction of the health needs of the population.