Town Build
Andrew Amara is an architect and urban planner working in Kampala. I read a piece he wrote on the Uganda Society of architects Blog questioning, how architects solve the slum Dilemma; he challenged the role of the architects and other professionals in the construction industry in tackling some of the major urban issues in Kampala. I met with him and we discussed a number of topics from the role of architects in Kampala to views on the current development plans of the city. I was particularly interested by a planning and housing project he has been working on, town build, in Nansana (12 Km away from Kampala). It involves input from a number of different stakeholders with the main client being the residents themselves.
A few key points about town build
Scales of project: Town | Housing | Single House
Local Nansana town Council saw the need to update and plan for their rapidly growing town
They have a mandate and budget from ministry of local government to hit certain goals of development for their town.
Project team
(Architects, Engineers, Planners) facilitated the process whereby the council established and updated rules of development (ie. for roads, water, power)
Project team involvedlocal residents about the town planning rules/regulations/policies; many of residents were not aware of the council's existing structural plan
Stakeholders invited to join the discussion and participate in the town's new masterplan:
Local council
Buganda Land board (concerned with tenure)
Ministry of Housing & Urban Planning
Locals residents (wanted services)
Students from Makerere (helped with research, learners)
NGOs serving the housing and urban development sector
National Water (responsibility to extend water into this new town)
Umeme (extension of electricity into town to their advantage, formalises provision and increases their revenue)
Approach:
Project team identified area of 150 houses to test this project.
Various field visits with members from stakeholder groups in which local residents were asked to identify problems in their neighbourhood
Project team produced a masterplan and constructed a prototype house which they handed over to the Nansana town council
Prototype house - focus on collecting rainwater using an innovate curved roof and also used compressed bricks made using local materials
Aspirations:
Monitor growth and try implement project in other parts of the town and other parts of the Country
SEE MORE : http://townbuild.org/word/?page_id=218