The influence of urban sprawl on Ecological areas in peri-urban areas of Kampala: a case study of Mutungo ward.

Abstract

Urban sprawl is one of the complex urban planning issues triggering broad environmental implications particularly to the suburban residents in the affected areas. In areas where sprawl is not controlled, the concentration of human presence in residential and industrial settings often leads to an alteration of ecosystem patterns and processes. This research adopts the problem of urban sprawl on ecological areas that has become a phenomenon affecting the environment and climate in general. It broadly defines urban sprawl exploring the causes and effects to peri-urban areas of Kampala city. The paper sheds light on a local case study of Mutungo ward in Makindye Ssabagabo municipality to present a contemporary picture of the current trends of urban sprawl in Uganda and its effects on the area‟s ecological assets. This research takes on qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. The required analysis was undertaken by using field surveys, satellite imagery and interviews among other methods. The research findings clearly indicate that there is a great and continuous reduction in the quality and quantity of ecological assets in these peri urban areas of Kampala city like Mutungo, which problem has been greatly affiliated to increasing human settlement and activities. Basing on the analysis of these impacts, possible contemporary solutions and strategies were suggested and recommended by the researcher so as to solve the problem at hand especially in the study area. It was because of the recent increase in the rate of urban sprawl and its effects through unprecedented growth in peri urban areas especially along Kampala Entebbe highway that the researcher was compelled to carry out a research on some of the possible strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of urban sprawl.