An investigation into the causes of poor housing in kampala slums ,A case of Kasokoso slum.

Abstract

Most governments and housing agencies like National Housing and Construction Company have remained hesitant to execute urban planning principles and standards while resettling people and internally displaced persons. Government in particular has failed to integrate slum development into the local Planning. As evidence from various literatures shows that slum settlements are potential areas where urban planning principles and standards can be applied although most of the settlements are still being governed by disjointed urban planning policies. The target population for this study was principally drawn and selected from slum settlers, community and Government workers in Kasokoso. Interview guides for survey questions were developed and administered for data collection. Data analysis employed mixed methods approach that addressed the needs of qualitative and quantitative data. Microsoft Excel and ArcGIS were used to analyze data. Of the entire settlers who were interviewed 80% of them do not know what Physical Planning and its relevance to human settlement organizations is all about. Only 20% who owned some buildings and plots understood it. However, settlers were building and others have built permanent houses both commercial mainly in Kiganda zone and along the major road and residential where they reside within the slum settlement. These required Physical Planning interventions and guidance which was never evident yet the absence of urban Planning in the slum settlement presented so many challenges like limited accessibility both in the areas where they reside and in the commercial areas , there is vulnerability in case of fire outbreak in the slum settlement, limited access to water facilities, limited access to electricity, poor drainage system, limited privacy since the settlers build without any guidance from the Physical Planning Department, poor housing conditions, poor sanitations due to absence of wastes management facilities both solid and wastes water, vulnerability to diseases like cholera due to the poor hygiene in the slum settlement. However, such challenges can be combated by applying planning/physical planning in the slum settlement as prescribed in the United Nations Toolkit on planning for slum settlements.