1. URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN KHARTOUM 1.1 Introduction It was during the British rule of Sudan (1898 - 1956) that the country experienced the first great changes in its socio-economic and political structures, with urban systems gradually replacing traditionalsettlements. In addition, the existing and new urban centres of Sudan have gone through a process of transformation as a result of urbanisation. The British colonial planning and design interventions, due to an extreme urbanisation, have made the greatest impact on this process. Khartoum, the primate city of Sudan and one of the famous colonial cities in Africa, has evolved from a traditional system of settlements into a pre-planned administrative and economic urban complex. In this process, its spatial and socio-cultural patterns have exhibited a wide range of evolutionary and revolutionary changes resulting fromincreasing powers of attraction and accommodation that Khartoum as a dominant urban centre offered. The present complex of Greater Khartoum comprises diversified cultural groups manifesting various socio-cultural and spatial patterns. 1.2 Geographical and Historical Background Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, is actually composed of three towns Khartoum, Khartoum North and Omdurman, thus it is called the triple capital. The city is located at longitude 32' 32 E and latitude 15' 36 N, and at an elevation of 1352 feet above sea level. The three towns are situated on the nearly flat alluvial plain of the Niles, with Khartoum on the left bank of the Blue Nile and Khartoum North on its right bank, while Omdurman is situated at the junction of the White and the Blue Nile rivers. Tuti Island lies in the middle of the Blue Nile just as it joins the White Nile to form the River Nile (Figs. 1.1 and 1.2). Khartoum lies in the transitional zone between the Sahara and the Savannah belts. It has a tropical continental climate, characterised by very hot dry summers with occasional rainfall during July to September. Dust storms or 'haboubs' are frequent prior to the rainy season. Archaeological research shows a history of settlement on the site of present day Khartoum going back to 4000 BC. There is also evidence of settlements during the Napatan (750- 300 BC.), Meriotic (300 BC. • AD. 350) and Christian (AD. 450- 1504) periods. Early archaeological findings, in 1929, both south and west of Khartoum North show human settlement in the area from the seventhcentury AD. Other archaeological Fig. 1.2 Stages in the Growth the Three Towns. Source: .:..n Atlas of Khartoum onurbation Pre 1 92 1925-1955 1955-1970 findings were found at AI Shagara area (southwest of Khartoum, along the White Nile) during the excavations for the Egyptian irrigation post, and the ruins of a church were found on Tuti Island in 1931. During the Alawa Kingdom (Christian Nubian Kingdom AD. 450 - 1504) the town of Khartoum was unknown and the centres of Halfaya (North of Khartoum North) and Gerri were more prominent. At the beginning of the Fungi Kingdom, with the destruction of Saba in 1504 and the shifting of the capital to Sinnar, many of the Mahas people of the northern Sudan migrated to Khogalab and Halfaya along the Nile north of present day Khartoum North, and to Tuti Island. During the Fung Sultanate (AD. 1504-1821), Halfaya and Gerri (the capital of AI Abdallab tribe) flourished and Halfaya became the capital of the region. This influenced the development of Khartoum until the beginning of the Turkish era. The Khartoum area was generally uninhabited, covered with forests and often flooded with water until the year 1691 when Sheikh Arbab AI Agayed, a leading religious figure in the region, left Tuti Island to establish the first settlement in Khartoum on the southern bank of the Blue Nil. Sheikh Khogali and Sheik Hamad also left Tuti Island to settle at Khartoum North, and Sheikh Abdel Mahmoud Alnofalabi settled in Omdurman during the same period. Aziz quotes that: "There was in 1821 no town of Khartoum. A Frenchman, Brun Rollet, who lived many years in the Sudan however tells us that, "Gartun" was already a considerable town in former times; the Chelouk (an equatorial African tribe living in the south of present day Sudan) entered it one night 83 years ago, massacred the inhabitants and reduced it to nothing. When the Turks came there 34 years ago they found only three-huts and 1 large cemetery. Today it possess a population of 40 or 50 thousands." Sudan came under Turkish rule in 1821. Kurshid Basha was the first Turkish governor and he induced the people of Khartoum to abandon their huts of skins and reeds and build houses of bricks. The birth of Khartoum as a town only started during the Osman Beck period (AD.1821 - 1825) , yet in 1830 the town became the capital of Sudan. The early history of Khartoum can be divided into three stages. During the first stage the area remained unsettled with bushes and forest on the upper lands while the lower arable lands were cultivated by the people of Tuti Island. In the second stage, after Sheikh Arbab AI Agayed had chosen it as the centre for his religious activities, the first habitation started. In the last stage Osman Beck built a military camp on the site and that camp was developed into the administrative capital of the country in 1830. The first formal plan of Khartoum was designed by the military engineer Abbas Rasmi in 1883. 1.3 Urban Planning Policies of the City Prior to the condominium joint British and Egyptian rule after 1898) settlements in Sudan, in the form of transient settlers, existed which represented focal points of tribal centres, religious leadership or commercial activities. The buildings were mostly indigenous and vernacular shelters constructed out of local materials with traditional and local skills using mud, animal skins, thatch and wood. During the Turkish era, modern imported building materials and foreign technology w e r e used in Khartoum a n d Suakin. Egyptian and foreign engineers and skilled labourers were brought in to build and to train local people in new technologies and methods of construction. The Mahdiya period (an independence movement based on Islamic rule, 1885 - 1898) was too short for an urban building tradition to crystalise. This resulted, for example in the case of Omdurman, the capital of the Mahdiya, in the use of local building materials and traditional design and construction methods. The layout of the town was based on a control and supervision strategy, whereby neighbourhoods were separated by wide streets, but individual plots were more spontaneously planned. The neighbourhoods themselves were identified with the religious; military or ethnic ranks of the residents. During the British-Egyptian condominium administration, policies were set primarily to establish strong regional centres to serve the objectives of the new rulers. The concept of land classification was first introduced in 1906 (the legislation of division of housing land). This affected the housing opportunities of the entire population. Preference was given to government officials and wealthy people to live in Khartoum town. In 1924 the concept of the 'Native Lodging Areas' was introduced to accommodate temporary urban workers living in towns. CLASS TENURE MINIMUM AREA BUILDING m2 MATERIAL Primary 151 2nd Total Period Renewal Renewal FIRST 50 30 80 800 Red bricks, stones & cemen SECOND 30 20 20 70 400 Red bricks, Fig. 1.3 Housing Classification stones & cement System, 1947. Source: An Atlas of Khartoum Conurbation THIRD 20 10 10 40 300 Mud Gishra As a result of the expansion of Khartoum, the Towns and Lands Schemes Act was introduced in 1947 to enforce the division of housing into three classes: first, second and third class (Fig. 1.3). The system envisaged three classes of residential zones differentiated by plot size, building material and lease duration. This system continued until the 1960s, when changes were introduced as a result of the need for more urban land and a desire to build in concrete, brick and cement. Therefore the plot sizes were reduced by an average of 25% for all classes. The present classification system is a further development comprising five classes, two more classes than the previous system, and introducing again the elements of building in mud (Class 4) and in non- permanent materials (Class 5). (see fig. 3.1 in Chapter 3) During the condominium era the site and services housing financing policy, which aimed at financing the initial stages of house provision as well as local community services (schools, markets, electricity, roads, water lines, etc.) of new housing schemes, was introduced. The morphology of greater Khartoum has been shaped by the planning policies set during the condominium era. The Town Planning Conference held in London on 10 - 15 October, 1910 shows clear cut strategies and policies for the future of the three towns at that time. The Mclean paper, "The planning of Khartoum and Omdurman", presented at the conference, laid out the official policy of the condominium government towards planning and housing in Sudan. Khartoum was chosen to serve primarily the ruling class while Omdurman and Khartoum North were left partially to serve the local inhabitants. The land in Khartoum was divided into parcels for government and first class, second class and third class residential land. Land in Omdurman and Khartoum North was divided into government and third class residential land. Building materials and codes for each class were stipulated. The classification system has therefore created the specific urban fabric of Khartoum by determining plot size, coverage and road widths in different parts of the capital. The condominium policy towards housing also clearly states social divisions of housing and compulsory usage of specific building materials for construction.