Green and innovative Kampala Generate Synergies and Join Forces for an Urban Transition to face Climate Change Kampala 2019 Workshop Synthesis Les Ateliers internationaux www.ateliers.org de maîtrise d’œuvre urbaine Le Verger, rue de la Gare ISBN 979-10-93009-14-8 95000 Cergy Les Ateliers is a non-governmental The workshop approach is suited organization that brings together an international network of professionals, for urban development concerns scholars and decision-makers in the field of urban development. Focused The Les Ateliers’ methodology and process are on the practice of urban management, the association organizes workshops what’s in the air today regarding the global challenges imagined as sources of design and of urban development in emerging and developed creativity aimed at providing local decision-makers with an international countries. Frédéric Mion, Director of Science Po perspective and innovative propos- (Institute for Political Studies) in Paris, recently testified als for their development challeng- to this when he shared his vision on the subject. es. Created in 1982, Les Ateliers was originally aimed at students and young His words are particularly relevant to Kampala: professionals. Per the request of local communities, governments and oth- “In view of the many challenges facing cities in the er partners, it has added workshops open to experienced professionals context of our climate crisis, it is essential to design new and volunteers since 2005. In France urban planning projects from a holistic perspective. and abroad, these workshops provide local authorities with illustrated and Urban areas are melting pots of innovation and innovative proposals for their strate- solutions already in the making. Future specialists with gic territorial and urban development hybrid profiles should be trained in these issues”. projects. Through the confrontation of different professions and cultures, these workshops also serve to chal- lenge traditional notions of learning models and high-level exchanges. Text The Kampala workshop team Les Ateliers organized an inter- Jean Grébert and Blanca Calvo Boixet Blanca Calvo Boixet, architect national urban planning workshop in and urban planner, Pilot Uganda in 2019, initiated by the Kam- Coordination Jean Grébert, architect and pala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Simon Brochard mobility expert, Pilot and the French Development Agency Véronique Valenzuela, geographer and urban (AFD). From the more than 80 appli- Proofreading planner, Project Director at Les Ateliers cations received, 18 participants of Susanna Hsing Christine Lepoittevin, sociologist, varying nationalities and specializa- Director of Les Ateliers tions were selected. Divided into three Layout Annet Twinokwesiga, architect and teams, they volunteered their expertise Emmanuel Kormann urban planner, Assistant Pilot and time for the entire duration of the Simon Brochard, geographer and workshop from 26 October to 8 No- Illustrations historian, Assistant Pilot vember 2019. The workshop closed Cover by Emmanuel Kormann Priscilla Namwanje, architect and with an international jury, during which Project maps and sketches by the workshop teams urban planner, Assistant the three teams presented their work to Photos by Les Ateliers team Juliette Lombard, Management assistant a gathering of stakeholders from Kam- Paintings p. 23 and 35 reproduced with the kind Jenny Ngoma, Logistics assistant pala and Uganda, elected represen- permission of Samson Xenson Ssenkaaba tatives from East Africa, international Find his work as Xenson Xpression on partners and experts. This Synthesis instagram, facebook and twitter. compiles the conclusions developed during this workshop — Green and In- novative Kampala. Green and innovative Kampala Generate Synergies and Join Forces for an Urban Transition to face Climate Change We most sincerely thank the French Embassy, the In this regard, the Climate Change Action Plan (2016) Ugandan Government, the AFD, all of you partners, is high on our agenda. It is one of our guiding instru- and all the experts from within and outside the country ments in dealing with climate change challenges and mitigating those excesses. Our ambition is to reduce As a city, we embarked on a vigorous and robust carbon emissions by 22%, because we are now having agenda to take the direction towards achieving SDGs a challenge of business as usual scenario. We have ad- (the Sustainable Development Goals as set by the UN, opted a number of deliberated policies to shift from to be achieved in 2030), specifically the SDG 11: to have that business as usual scenario to a properly planned a resilient and functional city. We are worried that there and guided direction and path. is a lot to be done to make the SDGs a reality, to make Kampala a liveable, resilient and sustainable city within Thank you very much for the support you are giving this one remaining decade. This is something that is us so that we are moving towards another policy shift, weighing so much on our minds. As an institution, we a paradigm shift from being regulators to facilitators take it as a critical challenge. In all spheres, in all sectors, and enablers of economic growth and development. we are glad and happy that you have diagnosed each Because we cannot achieve our vision and mission by and every aspect that touches our agenda. merely acting as regulators, specifying the do’s and the don’ts, implementing only acts and ordonnances. As an institution, we are in the process to prepare Apart from licences and regulations, we want to reach our five years development plan. We are synchronizing out and transform our communities, and make them our development plan with the national development sustainable.. plan (Vision 2040), and of course other national instru- ments. These proposals are going to be guiding tools You have taken Kampala into a laboratory, carried in shaping that strategic plan. That is why we treasure out an examination, and made a prescription. If Kampala them so much. What you have done here is to show us would be a body, what you have done here is a CBC : the priorities because we have a very narrow resource a complete blood count. This is why you have taken us envelope and that has always been a big challenge. But through all these issues. Your ideas are treasured, they optimum utilization of resources is equally important. are going to guide us in our policy formulation process- Thanks to the jury that helped us to look at the recom- es, and also to guide us to determine the priorities and mandations, in terms of multiplier effect, quick wins, take decisions on where to take the city. impact on climate change, and so on. Hon. Erias Lukwago, Lord Mayor of Kampala Excerpts from his speech during the jury event, 2019-11- 08 Introduction Kampala is a survival city. The ‘population tsunami’ The workshop’s main objectives: that the city is experiencing poses significant pressure on available resources, affecting the basic needs of › To explore ways to combine bottom-up and top-down residents and exacerbating the effects of violent cli- initiatives and approaches in order to realize Kampala’s mate change episodes. Facing a scarcity of land, money, full green and innovative potential. housing, energy, food and jobs, residents have taken the development of the city into their own hands and have › To view the city as an urban ecosystem and therefore resorted to informality to deal with some of the city’s suggest ideas of how to fill-in the existing gaps between shortages. Figures speak for themselves: only 20% of the projects, strategies and initiatives that are currently de- city benefits from planning, 60% of the population lives veloped and implemented in a fragmented and isolat- in slums, and the informal economy accounts for 50% ed manner. The ultimate aim is to generate synergies of the labour force. While informality is a huge source capable of building a sustainable future that addresses of opportunities, it often comes with risks and negative climate change concerns in a context of scarcity. effects on the environment. In light of this situation, the Kampala Climate Change Action Strategy was approved › To instil a new dynamic to tackle urban issues that is in 2016 to ensure that the development of the city fol- based on frugality, the promotion of existing assets and lows a low carbon emissions approach, builds resilience the valorization of doing more with less. and maximizes the co-benefits of efficiency, economic diversity and human well-being. › To transform Kampala’s identity from Kampala Capital City into Kampala Champion City of Urban Resilience To continue this effort, the Kampala Capital City and Sustainability. Authority (KCCA) and the French Development Agency (AFD) invited Les Ateliers to hold a professional work- The essence of the workshop, therefore, was to draw shop in October–November 2019. Their objective was to on existing assets and initiatives to build a cross-cutting solicit innovative ways in which the city’s development regard that could provide a direction for the city’s sus- could respond to the challenges of climate change while tainable development in a resource-efficient manner. also emphasizing an integrated vision of Kampala. As such, the workshop — Green and Innovative Kampala — used the prism of climate change to address the specific challenges faced by the city. Low-productivity crops, landslides, floods and other kinds of disasters threat- en the city and have an impact on the daily lives of its inhabitants. The intention of the workshop, therefore, was to come up with responsive strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change and to develop proac- tive measures to reduce Kampala’s contribution to the phenomenon. Kampala, a major East African city facing climate change challenges A CITY UNDER PRESSURE MAJOR CHALLENGES MAJOR ASSETS AND OPPORTUNITIES AN INFRASTRUCTURAL AND FRAGMENTED APPROACH TO URBAN DEVELOPMENT THE OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD A NEW IDENTITY A CITY UNDER PRESSURE a result, a large number of unplanned developments are popping up, many of them in restricted areas such With an estimated growth rate near 4%, Kampala is as wetlands.