Assessing the impact of inadequate land use planning on upgrading Katanga slum
Abstract
Land is a significant factor that determines the quality of life of not only the rural communities
but also that of the urban dwellers for housing, agriculture and space for government agencies.
Unfortunately, not all people have direct access and legal ownership of land forcing housing
for low- and moderate-income families to the peripheries of urban areas where they may incur
substantial costs, both in time and money, in commuting to employment opportunities in the
urban center and where infrastructure and urban services are often lacking or deficient. This
results into creation of slum settlements whose living conditions can be improved by slum
upgrading, a process which involves the improvement of both physical and social
environments. Slum upgrading depends on factors such as the capacity of the urban
government to finance infrastructure and deliver basic services which requires proper land use
planning. Land use planning contributes greatly to the orderliness in a city by reason of spatial
organization of the different uses. This study assesses the impact inadequate land use planning
has on upgrading of Katanga slum. Questionnaires, direct observation and interviews were
employed to collect data from the field and data was analyzed using SPSS software and
presented in form of tables and charts. Study findings showed that inadequate land use planning
has a great impact on upgrading of Katanga slum. This impact is in form of low infrastructure
development, disorderly human settlement, poor waste management, limited access to water,
education and medical services.