The Evolution of Town Planning Ideas, Plans and Their Implementation in Kampala City 1903-2004
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School of Built Environment, CEDAT Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda and School of Architecture and the Built Environment Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden The Evolution of Town Planning Ideas, Plans and their Implementation in Kampala City 1903-2004 Fredrick Omolo-Okalebo Doctoral Thesis in Infrastructure, Planning and Implementation Stockholm 2011 i ABSTRACT Title: Evolution of Town Planning Ideas, Plans and their Implementation in Kampala City 1903-2004 Through a descriptive and exploratory approach, and by review and deduction of archival and documentary resources, supplemented by empirical evidence from case studies, this thesis traces, analyses and describes the historic trajectory of planning events in Kampala City, Uganda, since the inception of modern town planning in 1903, and runs through the various planning episodes of 1912, 1919, 1930, 1951, 1972 and 1994. The planning ideas at interplay in each planning period and their expression in planning schemes vis-à-vis spatial outcomes form the major focus. The study results show the existence of two distinct landscapes; Mengo for the Native Baganda peoples and Kampala for the Europeans, a dualism that existed for much of the period before 1968. Modern town planning was particularly applied to the colonial city while the native city grew with little attempts to planning. Four main ideas are identified as having informed planning and transformed Kampala – first, the utopian ideals of the century; secondly, “the mosquito theory” and the general health concern and fear of catching „native‟ diseases – malaria and plague; thirdly, racial segregation and fourth, an influx of migrant labour into Kampala City, and attempts to meet an expanding urban need in the immediate post war years and after independence in 1962 saw the transfer and/or the transposition of the modernist and in particular, of the new towns planning ideas – which were particularly expressed in the plans of 1963-1968 by the United Nations Planning Mission. The post-independence era also saw the various ideas articulated under traditional land use and zoning practices especially expressed in the 1972 and 1994 plans. While a great deal of planning work has been done in both the colonial and postcolonial eras, findings on ground show that almost all planning ideas expressed in the colonial planning schemes of Kampala City in 1912, 1919, 1930 and 1951 have had physical impact on the spatial structure of Kampala City compared to any period after independence. The postcolonial era experienced little application and implementation of the planning ideas and plans. This is attributed to several factors including: governance issues, lack of financial resources and manpower, the complicated land tenure systems emerging from 1900 Buganda agreement, lack of political commitment, and importation of foreign models without reorienting them to the local context, and so forth. The study concludes by highlighting some of the reflections and the implications for future planning, considerations which perhaps may be useful for the planners of tomorrow and may influence the development of planning policy and perhaps „new‟ planning approaches. Key words: planning, planning ideas, implementation, colonial, postcolonial ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. ii LIST OF TABLES......................................................................................................... v LIST OF BOXES........................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... v LIST OF ACRONYMS ............................................................................................... vii PREFACE ....................................................................................................................viii 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY.............................1 Introduction....................................................................................................................1 Research Background and Context................................................................................2 Choice of Kampala ........................................................................................................5 Thesis Structure .............................................................................................................7 2. RESEARCH STRATEGY AND METHODOLOGY ..........................................9 Research Sources .........................................................................................................10 Data Analysis and Presentation ...................................................................................16 Reliability, Validity and Generalization ......................................................................16 Challenges Faced .........................................................................................................17 3. TOWN PLANNING IDEAS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA .............................19 Town Planning and Public Health Ideology ................................................................21 Race and Power ...........................................................................................................27 Urban Land Use Planning and Zoning ........................................................................28 The Modernity and the „New Towns‟ Idea..................................................................30 4. KAMPALA: THE CITY IN TRANSITION .......................................................35 The Kibuga: the Native City ........................................................................................36 The Organization and Transformation of the Lubiri (Kings Palace)...........................37 The British Uganda Protectorate and the creation of Kampala City ...........................40 The 1900 Buganda Agreement and the Evolution of Duality .....................................44 Kampala‟s Transformation – Township to City ..........................................................46 5. KAMPALA CITY IN THE COLONIAL ERA: TOWN PLANNING IDEAS AND THEIR IMPLEMENTATION............................................................................50 The Beginning of Formal Town Planning – 1903 .......................................................50 THE 1919 PLANNING EPISODE..............................................................................55 Segregation for Health: Origin of the Ideology ...........................................................56 Other diseases: Plague .................................................................................................59 Kampala Township – Planning along Health Segregation Ideology ...........................60 Deliberations on Simpson‟s Ideas - the 1919 Planning Scheme .................................63 Implementation of the 1919 Planning Scheme ............................................................65 THE 1930 PLANNING EPISODE – “PLANNING THE TOWNSHIP ALONG MODERN LINES” ......................................................................................................67 Implementation of 1930 Planning Scheme ..................................................................70 Roads and Railways................................................................................................ 70 Open spaces and Gardens ...................................................................................... 71 Old Kampala........................................................................................................... 73 Green Belt (Kampala golf course).......................................................................... 76 Kololo and Nakasero Residential Area .................................................................. 77 Lower Nakasero: Commercial bazaar.................................................................... 79 Across Kitante valley: Asian quarters .................................................................... 80 KAMPALA AFTER WORLD WAR II ......................................................................81 African Housing Zones - Invitation of Ernst May .......................................................82 KAMPALA 1950-1951 PLANNING EPISODE ........................................................89 Considerations for the Preparation of 1951 Planning Scheme ....................................90 iii Implementation of the 1951 Planning Scheme ............................................................92 Summary of the Planning Epoch 1903-1951 ...............................................................96 6. PLANNING IDEAS IN THE POST-COLONIAL ERA ....................................97 THE 1963-69 EPOCH: UNITED NATIONS KAMPALA-MENGO PLANNING MISSION .....................................................................................................................97 The First UN Mission: “Kampala-Mengo Urban Planning Mission” .......................100 The Second UN Mission: “Kampala-Mengo Regional Planning Mission” ..............101 Approaching the issues: “the Modernization Ideology”............................................105 A metropolitan Growth Model: A Regional Perspective ..........................................106 The Pre-determined Form for Kampala-Mengo: Geometry of the Ideal Settlement.110