In partnership with the government of Uganda, GIZ, UN-Habitat, and Pedro Ortiz, Thomas of TSPA will facilitate a workshop in Berlin to promote a compact, socially inclusive, integrated, and connected system of cities in the Greater Kampala metropolitan region.
The MetroHUB workshop approach will combine capacity development in planning, governance, and finance aspects with hands-on teamwork on acupuncture projects. The main elements of the capacity development workshop in Berlin include a series of seminars and lectures, presentations on planning, governance, and finance, exploration and discussion of case studies and good practices, field visits, and the definition of acupuncture projects in Uganda.
Concept Note
Uganda is experiencing rapid urbanization, which has serious implications in terms of demand for land, housing, water, health, education, jobs, and urban services. While urbanization in the country is still low at 15% and younger compared to its East African counterparts such as Kenya and Tanzania, it has a high urban growth rate estimated at 5.1% per annum. The country’s capital, Kampala, remains the dominant city with a population of 1.5 million, but clear growth of secondary towns is evident, with 50% of the urban population living in 22 designated municipalities and 174 town councils. It’s projected that by 2035, 30% of the country’s population will be living in urban areas.
Over the past two decades, remarkable economic growth at an average rate of 7% in the 1990s and early 2000s, coupled with political stability, has led to increased urbanization and agglomeration of people and higher-order economic activities. Within this context, unless urban areas are managed properly, they will grow into large unplanned settlements. Currently, the country’s cities and urban areas are experiencing planning and development challenges, including congestion, the development of slums and informal settlements, urban sprawl, environmental degradation, high levels of unemployment, urban poverty, and crime—clear indications that the urbanization process in the country needs to be better managed.
The urbanization challenges experienced in Uganda compel the country to proactively manage urbanization within its town councils, cities, and secondary towns to ensure a better urban future for its residents. There is a need to move quickly, as it is always easier to establish competitive cities by building solid foundations when the rate of urbanization is still relatively low. To achieve this, the capacities of both central and urban local governments to manage the country’s urbanization process, as well as partnerships to effectively manage urban growth, need to be enhanced.
