Kampala is creating more urban centres
Urban Kampala refers to the Kampala City administrative territorial zone and the areas extending beyond the legal city boundaries currently experiencing urban development
Urban Kampala refers to the Kampala City administrative territorial zone and the areas extending beyond the legal city boundaries currently experiencing urban development. These are also known as “urban sprawl areas.â€
These areas have tended to follow the major transportation routes radiating out of the city.
Such areas include Kireka, Bweyogerere, Namanve, Namugongo, Namasuba, Zana, Kajansi, Bwebaja and many others. Attracted in the sprawl areas are a range of land uses which are commercial, industrial, and varying residential densities.
There are also educational and health facilities, telecommunication and water facilities. Added to these, agriculture lies in wait for potential urban development.
The notion of Metropolitan development is a situation where there are a series of towns close to each other and interlinked physically and functionally. The physical space they occupy is a “metropolitan area.†Thus the stated sprawl areas not only form part of ‘Urban Kampala’ but are also part of its Metropolitan area.
The metropolitan growth concept was pioneered, among others, by a middle class Englishman called Ebenezer Howard. He focused on creation of new towns in the countryside separated by green belts from the urban mass of the central city, but linked functionally and economically by an intra-metropolitan transport.
The intention was to minimise the occurring urban blight features in the older cities such as unemployment and poverty, dilapidated housing, excessive high development densities, pollution, high crime rates and fast deteriorating urban beauty, among others.
Kampala city’s outward expansion is giving rise to concentrations of urban centres. these and their immediate service areas are fast and steadily overlapping to form more or less continuous corridors of urban development. The current trend of development may not in so many years engulf the towns of Mukono, Entebbe, Gayaza and possibly Mpigi to form a large Metropolitan Kampala.
The result is that the sprawl areas are increasingly experiencing the following consequences:
Haphazard and conflicting land use developments
irrational use of land based on individuals’ perception and interests
land prices are beginning to escalate because of increasing demand
irregular and excessive land subdivisions leading to high densities and lack of sufficient land reserve for roads, water and telecommunication mains
Poor hygiene and health conditions resulting from absence of appropriate sanitation and waste disposal facilities, and haphazard dumping
increasing destruction of the countryside local unique scenery
All sorts of investments in various sectors as housing, industry, commercial and educational among others are just happening with no broad planned vision.
Traffic congestion is now extending from the city to the sprawl areas
Lack of common growth management tools across the sprawl areas and total absence of linkage on management issues that are common to all.
The often overlapping sprawl urban areas are making a clear separation for purpose of planning more difficult. This fast mushrooming, unplanned, uncontrolled development trend is a mere Kampala City Sprawling “Suburban slums†and is becoming the greatest problem.
Therefore, a unified planning approach needs to be applied to guide the development of Kampala city and the identified sprawl areas. This strategy is the “Metropolitan Planning†approach. Way back in the ‘60s a UN mission made studies on Kampala and recommended this form of planning to cover the then fragmented townships of Nakawa, mengo, Kampala municipality and the immediate peripheral areas of Kireka and Najjanankumbi.
The City Plans of 1971, and 1994, pointed out the need to extend the planning area boundaries beyond the city administrative boundaries though no concrete actions were put forward.
As a first step, the Metropolitan area has to be physically defined where the planning action would be executed. This area would be purely for planning and defined development classes. The identified areas would now form the “Kampala Metroplitan Planning Area.†The earlier highlighted service centres and their immediate surrounding areas form the possible Metropolitan planning area.
The development in this area would then be guided by metropolitan planning that would establish a Metropolitan land use master plan. This would delineate environment and ecological sensitive areas, industrial parks locations; major residential, commercial, office and business park development areas.
This would also include major roads, water, sewerage, power supply line reserves and other infrastructure alignment zones; major institutional areas; major open spaces/green corridors and recreation zones.
Within this framework, would be specified guidelines for preparation of the xity and sprawl areas’ structure plans, detailed plans and any other local planning and development actions.
This strategy would guide smooth transition from agriculture to commerce, industry and other urban uses. It would also reconcile the rights of individuals with the interests of the community and consolidate urban development in defined locations other than the current rampant manner.
A body to prepare and oversee the execution of the Metropolitan Development Plans would be put in place, to be known as a Metropolitan Planning Board or Agency. It must not be part of Kampala city council or the Department of Physical Planning, but have very close working liaison with the two.
This body could possibly be under the Ministry of Local government that administers the local authorities. The approach is comprehensive and integrative of developments in the entire Metropolitan area, and would direct areas for present and future urban development.
Under such a system it is easier to supply, coordinate major urban infrastructure plans for the entire area and execute them.
The writer is a Senior
planning Consultant,
ID-forum
These areas have tended to follow the major transportation routes radiating out of the city.
Such areas include Kireka, Bweyogerere, Namanve, Namugongo, Namasuba, Zana, Kajansi, Bwebaja and many others. Attracted in the sprawl areas are a range of land uses which are commercial, industrial, and varying residential densities.
There are also educational and health facilities, telecommunication and water facilities. Added to these, agriculture lies in wait for potential urban development.
The notion of Metropolitan development is a situation where there are a series of towns close to each other and interlinked physically and functionally. The physical space they occupy is a “metropolitan area.†Thus the stated sprawl areas not only form part of ‘Urban Kampala’ but are also part of its Metropolitan area.
The metropolitan growth concept was pioneered, among others, by a middle class Englishman called Ebenezer Howard. He focused on creation of new towns in the countryside separated by green belts from the urban mass of the central city, but linked functionally and economically by an intra-metropolitan transport.
The intention was to minimise the occurring urban blight features in the older cities such as unemployment and poverty, dilapidated housing, excessive high development densities, pollution, high crime rates and fast deteriorating urban beauty, among others.
Kampala city’s outward expansion is giving rise to concentrations of urban centres. these and their immediate service areas are fast and steadily overlapping to form more or less continuous corridors of urban development. The current trend of development may not in so many years engulf the towns of Mukono, Entebbe, Gayaza and possibly Mpigi to form a large Metropolitan Kampala.
The result is that the sprawl areas are increasingly experiencing the following consequences:
Haphazard and conflicting land use developments
irrational use of land based on individuals’ perception and interests
land prices are beginning to escalate because of increasing demand
irregular and excessive land subdivisions leading to high densities and lack of sufficient land reserve for roads, water and telecommunication mains
Poor hygiene and health conditions resulting from absence of appropriate sanitation and waste disposal facilities, and haphazard dumping
increasing destruction of the countryside local unique scenery
All sorts of investments in various sectors as housing, industry, commercial and educational among others are just happening with no broad planned vision.
Traffic congestion is now extending from the city to the sprawl areas
Lack of common growth management tools across the sprawl areas and total absence of linkage on management issues that are common to all.
The often overlapping sprawl urban areas are making a clear separation for purpose of planning more difficult. This fast mushrooming, unplanned, uncontrolled development trend is a mere Kampala City Sprawling “Suburban slums†and is becoming the greatest problem.
Therefore, a unified planning approach needs to be applied to guide the development of Kampala city and the identified sprawl areas. This strategy is the “Metropolitan Planning†approach. Way back in the ‘60s a UN mission made studies on Kampala and recommended this form of planning to cover the then fragmented townships of Nakawa, mengo, Kampala municipality and the immediate peripheral areas of Kireka and Najjanankumbi.
The City Plans of 1971, and 1994, pointed out the need to extend the planning area boundaries beyond the city administrative boundaries though no concrete actions were put forward.
As a first step, the Metropolitan area has to be physically defined where the planning action would be executed. This area would be purely for planning and defined development classes. The identified areas would now form the “Kampala Metroplitan Planning Area.†The earlier highlighted service centres and their immediate surrounding areas form the possible Metropolitan planning area.
The development in this area would then be guided by metropolitan planning that would establish a Metropolitan land use master plan. This would delineate environment and ecological sensitive areas, industrial parks locations; major residential, commercial, office and business park development areas.
This would also include major roads, water, sewerage, power supply line reserves and other infrastructure alignment zones; major institutional areas; major open spaces/green corridors and recreation zones.
Within this framework, would be specified guidelines for preparation of the xity and sprawl areas’ structure plans, detailed plans and any other local planning and development actions.
This strategy would guide smooth transition from agriculture to commerce, industry and other urban uses. It would also reconcile the rights of individuals with the interests of the community and consolidate urban development in defined locations other than the current rampant manner.
A body to prepare and oversee the execution of the Metropolitan Development Plans would be put in place, to be known as a Metropolitan Planning Board or Agency. It must not be part of Kampala city council or the Department of Physical Planning, but have very close working liaison with the two.
This body could possibly be under the Ministry of Local government that administers the local authorities. The approach is comprehensive and integrative of developments in the entire Metropolitan area, and would direct areas for present and future urban development.
Under such a system it is easier to supply, coordinate major urban infrastructure plans for the entire area and execute them.
The writer is a Senior
planning Consultant,
ID-forum