The Unprecedented Shrinking of Public Spaces LOSING and Land in Ugandan GROUND? Municipalities A publication of the Cities Alliance Joint Work Programme for Equitable Economic Growth in Cities By Paul. I. Mukwaya, Dmitry Pozhidaev, Denis Tugume, and Peter Kasaija © UNCDF and Cities Alliance 2018 AUTHORS Paul. I. Mukwaya, Department of Geography, Geo-informatics and Climatic Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda Dmitry Pozhidaev, United National Capital Development Fund, Kampala, Uganda Denis Tugume, Department of Geography, Geo-informatics and Climatic Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda Peter Kasaija, Department of Geography, Geo-informatics and Climatic Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda JWP MANAGEMENT AND COORDINATION Rene Peter Hohmann, Cities Alliance Fredrik Bruhn, Cities Alliance GRAPHIC DESIGN Creatrix Design Group This publication was produced by Cities Alliance and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) as part of the Cities Alliance Joint Work Programme (JWP) for Equitable Economic Growth in Cities. The U.K. Department for International Development (DFID) chairs the JWP, and its members are the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), UN-Habitat, Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF), Ford Foundation, Institute for Housing and Development Studies (IHS) at Erasmus University Rotterdam and the World Bank. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the Cities Alliance, the United Nations, including UNCDF and UNOPS, or the UK Department for International Development (DFID). 2 Losing Ground? SUMMARY There is increasing importance being attached to is to promote economic growth that benefits ALL public spaces and other municipal assets, such as citizens. The Joint Work Programme implements its land, in promoting inclusive and resilient cities. Urban partnership approach through three components: land is a municipality’s most valuable resource, but it is liable to misuse. The issue of land in Uganda 1. Global Policy Dialogue. Promoting structured has been a contentious one, resulting in sometimes global policy dialogue to explore and address violence, murders and chaos. As urban areas grow, the role of local public goods and services in public spaces and land risk becoming occupied, stimulating growth and reducing inequalities reallocated and grabbed. It is a distressing reality of in cities. many municipalities across Uganda that their public spaces and land are shrinking and disappearing 2. Generating Global Knowledge. Addressing altogether. The Auditor General of Uganda in his key knowledge gaps by producing peer- reports has expressed concern at the rate at which reviewed global knowledge products to inform government land is being lost to encroachers at practitioners and policy makers at the global, unprecedented scales with little or no concern from national and local levels. the respective government entities. The most affected 3. Equitable Economic Growth Campaign Cities. lands are government schools, Ministry of Agriculture, Facilitating local partnerships in selected cities universities, the Uganda police force and the defence in partner countries, supporting the promotion forces (Wamajja, 2016), but urban areas have not of equitable access to public goods and been spared either. The shrinkage of public spaces services based on local needs, capacities and land across many municipalities, including many and priorities. rural areas in Uganda, has raised political, media and public concern. The study has established that the early planning This study is designed to stress the urgency of the of most colonial towns in Uganda was built on the continued loss of public lands by establishing a neighbourhood principle, which provided a network reliable evidence base with respect to prevailing of public spaces and municipal assets including land, practices and approaches to public space and land such as golf courses, cricket grounds, children parks, management in Uganda. It uses a broader national rugby grounds, Central Forest Reserves, playgrounds, approach to explore and explain the drivers of stadiums, school playgrounds and so on. Table 1 public space and land losses across Mbale and provides a breakdown of public spaces in Mbale and Gulu Municipalities. Through a review of grey and Gulu Municipalities. The researchers for this study scholarly literature, systematic audit and inventory observed that residents of the two municipalities are of the respective public space, examination of land not well served with public spaces. The distribution management mechanisms, integrated with community of public spaces across the selected municipalities consultations and Town Hall meetings, the study drew is so skewed that a large section of the public has valuable insights into how the relevant authorities been denied access to them. The amount of public in these two municipalities, but also other local space in municipalities varies widely and for the two governments in Uganda, could improve provision of selected municipalities, results indicated that Mbale public services for equitable growth. Municipality has twice the amount of public spaces (in fact, 2.16 times more) as Gulu Municipality. There This study was conducted in the framework of the are many internationally recommended indicators Cities Alliance Joint Work Programme (JWP) on of the size of public space (in hectares) for every Equitable Economic Growth in Cities. The JWP is 1,000 people ranging from 1.2 to 14.2 hectares/1,000 implemented in a number of countries, including for the City of Regina (Canada) and World Urban Uganda. Recognizing the needs and capacities of Parks (2014), respectively. This study found that cities and local governments, the JWP works with current provision level of public space per 1,000 development partners to produce global knowledge, residents was 0.85 and 0.92 hectares for Gulu and facilitate policy dialogues and support city-level Mbale respectively, which fall well below standard diagnostics and policy recommendations. The goal recommended by the City of Regina. 2 Losing Ground? 3 The Unprecedented Shrinking of Public Spaces and Land in Ugandan Municipalities TABLE 1: SIZE OF PUBLIC SPACES BY CLASSIFICATION IN MBALE AND GULU MUNICIPALITIES Mbale Municipality Gulu Municipality #Sites Hectares #Sites Hectares Stadium 1 3.548 1 2.413 Green/ Open Spaces 11 41.074 10 31.035 Playgrounds 12 6.656 1 15.973 Markets 5 3.834 10 30.468 School Grounds 8 18.234 11 33.189 Natural Areas 1 222.575 1 25.077 Cemetery 2 2.635 0 0 Library 1 0.127 1 NA Total 41 298.683 34 138.154 To quantify how much public space was available and this examination revealed that public lands in all and how much is required, the gap analysis showed urban areas across the country are under threat. In that currently the municipalities require 107.22 ha some cases, individuals have fraudulently acquired and 180.37 ha of public space for Mbale and Gulu public lands by colluding with land officers and Municipalities, respectively. Based on projected high profile government officials to the detriment of population increases, future public space supply is municipal residents. However, the shrinkage of public estimated to drop substantially to 0.429ha/1,000 spaces is attributed to many factors, structures and residents and 0.676ha/1,000 residents in Mbale and processes: (1) demographic trends and processes of Gulu Municipalities, respectively, by 2030, if the two municipal urbanization; (2) multiple public space and respective authorities take no decisive action to management actors; (3) existence of powerful land reverse current trends. The proportion of public space cartels and syndicates; (4) weak municipal planning could drop even further to 0.19ha/1,000 residents and institutions; (5) fragmentation of public space planning 0.519ha/1,000 residents in both cases respectively and manipulation of legal regimes; (6) inadequate under a business-as-usual scenario by 2050. These municipal land regulation and enforcement of findings show that the municipalities are anticipated development controls; (7) inadequate municipal to remain deficient in the future with regards to public budgets. space supply. Moreover, once proper planning is done in the two municipalities and given the current As the two municipalities clamour for a city status, population growth rates, the projected future public they are challenged in a constantly changing space needs by 2030 would amount to 212.96 ha environment to provide high-quality public spaces and 245.16 ha for Mbale and Gulu Municipalities, and manage urban lands appropriately. This situation respectively. This would increase to 482.82 ha places additional responsibility on the municipality and 319.21 ha by 2050 for the two municipalities, planners, politicians, developers and the community respectively. This demonstrates the need for the to work together to provide a common vision for their municipal authorities to be very proactive in providing public space system. The researchers of this study more public space and to take decisive action to observed that it is still a huge challenge to manage enforce the protection and maintenance of existing public spaces and land in both municipalities, and public spaces. their recommendations arise out of discussions with technical personnel, including discussions The observed shrinkage of public space and