An evaluation of the Hilly settlements for Internally Displaced People(IDP) In Banda.

Abstract

There are about 980 million people living in slums globally. Of these roughly 300 million are in Africa, 4 million in Uganda and 60% of them reside in Kampala Metropolitan area (NSUSP). Acholi quarters in Kampala accounts for roughly 50000 of these people (Elena Archipovaitė 2009). The impacts of continued rapid growth in African cities include acute housing shortages, pollution, and uncontrolled peri-urban sprawl. The region’s cities exhibit high levels of poverty and inequality. Many of these informal areas are also the most susceptible to disasters because they are located on marginal lands. Lack of adequate planning places these populations at a great risk in the event of a disaster. To reduce urban poverty and household vulnerability focus needs to be directed to effective urban planning. To do this, it is imperative to understand the housing, economic, and social structures in informal urban areas. Some of these informal urban areas are occupied by IDPs who suffer from a general assumption that they are economically better off than encamped IDPs, and that they have reached a durable solution in the city. But “According to the Framework for Durable Solutions, IDPs are considered to have reached a durable solution when they have either returned to their place of origin, have locally integrated in the areas in which they initially took refuge, or have settled or integrated in another part of the country and no longer have displacement-specific needs” (Forced Migration Review, 2010) This research therefore focusses on studying the hilly settlements for Internally Displaced people concentrating on slum areas of Acholi quarters found in Banda zone 11 B. During the course of the research, priority is given to concepts like identifying and classifying existing house types in the settlement, studying how spaces are used in and around households, studying the quality of spaces created, and generally understanding how the settlement is planned. The facts obtained from the data collected would then help guide on how best Housing in hilly settlements can be better designed and implemented. This research also gives recommendations that designers and planning authorities can consider while planning for hilly settlements.