Abstract
Though the relevance of the concept of neighbourhood in both research and policy oriented circles is unquestionable, the concept remains contested and fluid, making its operationalisation a daunting task, particularly in practice. This study explores how the concept of neighbourhood has been operationalised in Kigali city and how the neighbourhood boundaries and typologies are defined. The paper dwells on the review of relevant literature, interviews with 25 practitioners and field observations. It is argued that neighbourhood conceptualisation in Kigali is both theory—it bears the common aspects of neighbourhood definitions—and practice driven, reflecting modernity and context. On the one hand, modernity suggests the desire of planning authorities to follow contemporary planning practices. Context, on the other hand, reflects the desire to tailor local policies to country specific challenges. While boundaries follow subjective, administrative and physical models, typologies tend to be overly physical, focusing mainly on housing structures. The study identified three conventional neighbourhood typologies—planned, informal and mixed types. Given the predominance of informal and mixed neighbourhoods, this study further argues that such areas form the ‘bedroom’ and ‘transit point’ for most lower- and middle-class workers, in addition to serving as a ‘laboratory’ for testing various social interventions. The study recommends a well-serviced mixed classification typology to foster a strong sense of belongingness.
Highlights
Rapid urbanisation has increasingly become a major developmental problem, in developing countries
This study presents how neighbourhoods in Kigali have been conceptualised and defineInd,thwiisthparerts,ptehcits tsotubdoyunpdreasreienstsanhdowtypneoilgohgbieosu. rThhoeodfisrsitnpKarigt adloi chuamveenbtesevnociocenscefrpotumaltihseedfiealndd, wdhefeirneeads,twheitshecroenspdepctartot dbioscuunsdsaersiecosmanpdrethyepnosliovgeieosb.sTerhveaftiirosntspoafrtnediogchubmouenrhtsoovdosiciensKfriogmalitchiety.field, whereas the second part discusses comprehensive observations of neighbourhoods in Kigali city. 4.1
As reflected in the views of the research participants, in practice, this study finds that neighbourhoods in Kigali are still not boldly defined in the city Master plans, attempts were made to categorise them into the three conventional typologies: planned, unplanned or informal and a mixture of the two—mixed neighbourhoods
Summary
Rapid urbanisation has increasingly become a major developmental problem, in developing countries. The global urban population has grown from 751 million in 1950 to 4.2 billion in 2018, and it is projected to increase further to 6 billion by 2050 [1,2]. Urbanised regions include Northern America (82% living in urban areas), Latin America and the Caribbean (81%), Europe (74%) and Oceania (68%). Africa remains the least urbanised region, with 43% of its population living in cities [1], it is currently urbanising at a faster pace. The continent’s urban population is estimated to more than triple in the 40 years, reaching 1.339 billion in 2050, corresponding to 21% of the world’s projected urban population [3]. Scholars have described Africa’s urban growth as atypical [4,5]
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