Accessing the impact of land use planning on social economic development in Kampala.

Abstract

The objectives of the research were to assess the implications of effective land use planning on socio-economic development, assess the implications of ineffective land-use planning on socio-economic development so as to assess the impact of land use planning on economic development. This study contains a broad description of the various land use planning patterns and the importance of land use planning. In order to draw a relationship between land use planning and socio-economic economic development, the following socio-economic development indicators were applied i.e. Access to amenities and other social services, standards of living, level of education, transportation, level of employment, access to green spaces, land and real estate values, access to emergency services and access to health services. In this research, 150 questionnaires were used to collect data from 10 well-chosen residential areas from all the five divisions of Kampala. For every division, one well planned area and a poorly planned area were chosen as sample areas. A total of 15 questionnaires were used for each sample area. The data collected was then processed using Microsoft excel and the results presented and explained in the data analysis chapter. In this chapter, graphs showing a comparison of socio-economic development indicators for both well planned and poorly planned areas were plotted. It was discovered that well planned areas had achieved higher levels of socio-economic development as compared to the poorly planned areas which implies a positive correlation between physical planning and socio-economic development. Interviews were carried out with experts from the physical planning and surveying departments of Kampala Capital City Authority at city hall to get an expert view of the research findings. This included the challenges faced in the land use planning process and measures employed to curb the challenges. In the concluding chapter, challenges from the research are included together with recommendations of how to improve land use planning process so as to attain higher levels of socio-economic development.