Memoire Online - From unplanned settlement to new housing development in Kigali city: the case study of Amahoro cell, Muhima sector

This dissertation is dedicated to my late father who passed away by the time I had started it (on 30^th May 2011),

Acknowledgements

Above all I thank the Almighty God that started the work in me and has been my shepherd throughout my life in general, but particularly in my bachelor's degree course and in this research work.

First and foremost I thank the government of Rwanda through students financing agency of Rwanda (SFAR) for granting me the scholarship which helped me to complete my bachelor's degree and this research in particular.

In a special way, I conceive and extend my sincere gratitude to my supervisor and mentor at the same time Mr. Jean Pierre BIZIMANA, for all the academic inputs that shaped this work and ultimately shaped myself. Your proper and timely guidance given to me not only when I sought help, but also whenever it deemed necessary to you, is an unforgettable mood in my life!

My growth in academia has been a result of combined efforts from different individuals especially all lecturers in the department of geography. Special thanks go to the former heads of department of geography Prof. Emmanuel TWARABAMENYE and Dr. Theophile NIYONZIMA; the current head of department Mr. Alban SINGIRANKABO, all geography department staff especially Dr. Gaspard RWANYIZIRI, Mr. Charles GAKINAHE, Mrs. Marie Christine SIMBIZI, Mr. S. MUSANGWA and all visiting members of staff.

I also acknowledge both local leaders and residents of Kigali city who sacrificed their time to answering my questions and attending my interviews.

Without contributions of my classmates, I wouldn't have been able to make certain achievements. I thank all my classmates especially Mr. MUNYESHYAKA Jean Pierre who in most assignments made great contributions hence benefiting the whole group.

I cannot forget the happiest moments I shared with Mr. GABINEMA Celse, Mr. BYIRINGIRO Fabrice and Mr. MUNYESHYAKA Jean Pierre whom we stayed together in one room in my final year.

1 Abstract

Resettlement planning is a new kind of planning in Rwanda that was introduced after the approval of the Kigali city conceptual master plan in 2007 as a means of renewing the city and ensuring proper planning. The master plan proposes the extension of the central business district (CBD) in Muhima sector which is occupied by informal settlements on the prime land suitable for vibrant business. As the first phase in implementing the master plan of the CBD, a zone of Ubumwe cell was cleared and residents were resettled in Batsinda housing estate. This attracted the author to do research on the challenges in the transition from unplanned settlement to new housing development in Kigali city by considering Amahoro cell that is targeted in the second phase of implementation of the CBD.

The data was collected using semi-structured and structured questionnaires for Amahoro cell residents and leaders at different levels in Kigali city, to know their perception on the resettlement process in Kigali city through expropriation and the challenges involved therein.

The study was exploratory in nature and combined both descriptive statistics and explanatory methods to analyze quantitative and qualitative data which was collected from the field respectively. Microsoft excel was used to analyze quantitative primary data, and this appears in tabular output frequency tables, and charts were used to analyze the relationships between the variables.

The results show that the main challenges in the transition from unplanned settlement to new housing development are low expropriation prices, reluctance of investors to acquire expropriated land for development, dissatisfaction of constructed houses by Kigali city, large informal settlements and low awareness of the residents about the benefits of expropriation in public interest.

Key words:unplanned settlement, expropriation, relocation, new housing development

List of tables

List of figures

List of photographs

List of acronyms and abbreviations

2 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

2.1 Background to the study

It's easy to understand the fundamental need for shelter. People require protection from weather elements, somewhere to bring up their families, a place to work from and a home to call their own. Yet, at present, over one billion people - a fifth of the world's population - are either homeless or live in very poor housing (Mutekede, 2007). The majority of them are the poorest people of the world's developing countries. Poor families in developing countries are forced to improvise with their housing, either because building materials are too costly or - in areas vulnerable to natural hazards such as floods and landslides- good building land is too expensive.

With affordable, suitable land becoming scarcer, especially in urban areas, poor people find it increasingly difficult to find the resources to build houses of their own or to buy or rent houses built by professionals. Instead, they build houses with poor and unsustainable materials on a small piece of land which cannot support any other domestic activities. When such kind of houses concentrates on a given urban area, especially without land rights, they result into informal settlement or slum. This type of settlement is characterized by inadequate infrastructure, unsustainable environments, uncontrolled and unhealthy population densities, poor access to health and education facilities and employment opportunities, lack of effective governance and management and inadequate dwellings (Durand-Lasserve, 2007).

According to UN estimates, 924 million people - nearly one out of three urban dwellers - were living in slums in 2004. Of these, 874 million are from low and middle-income countries (millennium project, 2005). In addition, urban poverty is clearly increasing: 43% of the population of developing cities is living in slums (28% in north Africa, 71% in sub-Saharan Africa, 42% in Asia and 32% in Latin America) ( UN-Habitat, 2003). By 2020, this figure is expected to increase to 1.5 to 1.7 billion, depending on estimates. According to Cohen (2004), estimates suggest that 2.8 billion will need housing and urban services in 2030. The slum population is expected to increase from 32% of the world population in 2001, to 41% in 2030.

So far, no satisfactory solution for addressing the challenge of slums has been found. Conventional responses are usually based on the combination of three main types of settlement: (i) in situ upgrading in existing informal settlements; (ii) evictions followed by resettlement on serviced sites on the periphery of cities; (iii) the preventive provision of low-cost serviced plots for housing (UN-Habitat, 2003). These responses have achieved limited results. Despite some major successes where political will and continuity, economic development and mobilization of resources in sufficient quantities have made possible the implementation at the national level of innovative policies for housing the poor (South Africa, Brazil, Tunisia etc), scaling up remains a major problem. Most slum policies are simply treating the symptoms and cannot be considered as structural and sustainable policies.

In the United Nations millennium declaration (UN-Habitat, 2003), world leaders pledged to tackle this immense challenge, setting the specific goal of achieving significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by the year 2020. This goal may be achievable through governments putting in place special urban policies that address the plight of slum dwellers and the poor.

Rwanda is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa, and its capital Kigali is growing at a rate of about 6% per annum (MINECOFIN, 2006). Until recently, there was no national law or policy relevant to construction, housing, or urbanization, apart from a national program to cluster rural housing in Imidugudu. This led to a spontaneous development of informal housing in most parts of the city.However, as a roadmap to achieve Rwanda's 2020 vision, together with other planning documents , Kigali conceptual master plan was established in 2007 (MININFRA, 2007). According to KCMP existing situation analysis, existing city development portrays a largely unplanned mixed use settlement, except in industrial areas where these uses are likely to be more concentrated in random parts of the city outskirts. Redevelopment and upgrading in the existing urban area must be addressed as a special case within the overall urban development because of a number of complexities.

2.2 Definitions of the working concepts

Unplanned settlement:unplanned settlements are areas where housing is not in compliance with current planning and building regulations (unauthorized housing).

Slum:usually a heavily populated area, characterized by poverty, poor housing, etc. (investors.com)

Slum clearance:the removal of old decrepit buildings to allow the land to be put to a better and more productive use; also frequently referred to as urban renewal (investors.com).

Slum upgrading:the consistence of physical, social, economic, organizational and environmental improvements to slums undertaken cooperatively and locally among citizens, community groups, businesses and local authorities (Wikipedia).

Public interest: welfare of the general public in which the whole society has a stake and which warrants recognition, promotion and protection by the government and its agencies (legal-dictionary). According to the law No. 18/2007 of 19/04/2007 relating to expropriation in public interest in Rwanda, an act of public interest is an act of government, public institution, nongovernmental organization, legally accepted associations operating in the country or of an individual, with an aim of public interest.

Expropriation:according to business dictionary, expropriation is a compulsory seizure or surrender of private party for the state's purposes, with little or no compensation to the property's owner. Governments or their agencies can affect an expropriation by making changes in legal code, tax code or regulations such as zoning. According to the law No. 18/2007 of 19/04/2007 relating to expropriation in public interest in Rwanda, expropriation is defined as the taking of private property in public interest aimed at development, social welfare, security and the territorial integrity.

Informal settlement:areas where groups of housing units have been constructed on land that the occupants have no legal claim to, or occupy illegally.

Master plan:according to answers.com, a master plan isa comprehensive document that describes, in narrative and with maps, an overall development concept of a city or planned-use development.

2.3 Problem statement

The world is faced with the reality that many large- and medium-sized cities are increasingly becoming areas of impoverished urban exclusion, surrounding comparatively small pockets of urban wealth (UN-Habitat, 2003). Frequently, this trend is the spatial outcome of mismatches and disconnections between national macro-policies and the absence of coherent connections with the policies at the city level. Worldwide, cities are predominantly and preferred residential locus of the majority of the population. However, a big number of this urban population live in informal settlements due to poverty since most of them are rural-urban migrants with low or no income. This has increased the need for adequate housing in urban areas (MININFRA, 2008).

Most cities in sub-Saharan Africa and some in northern Africa and western Asia showed considerable housing stress, with rents and prices rising substantially while incomes fell, probably corresponding to higher occupancy rates (UN-Habitat, 2003). In addition, slum areas increased in most cities, and the rate of slum improvement was very slow or negligible in most places. Most governments have established policies to camp down the problem of slums/informal settlements but these policies seemed to treat symptoms rather than eradicating the problem.

In South Africa, a very large housing program reduced the numbers in informal settlements significantly. However, the housing formalization that occurred in South Africa reinforced the marginalization and stigmatization of the poor (Bond and Tait, 1997:28). The process of housing in South Africa is taking place within a context of widespread poverty (Smit, 2000). Smit's report revealed that unemployment rate was 34% and an estimated 39% of the population had less than minimum nutritional intake of 2000 Kcal per day according to the 1996 census. This implies that providing necessary infrastructures alone by the government cannot uproot informal settlements.

In 2008, the government of Rwanda adopted the national urban policy that aims at guiding government objectives and priorities in line with the objectives as laid down particularly in the vision 2020, the EDPRS and the national investment strategy (MININFRA, 2008). According to the aims of vision 2020, about 30% of the population will live in cities with access to basic infrastructure necessary to ensure sustainable development. However, there is a big challenge of addressing the existing informal settlements that comprise a larger part of Rwandan urban areas.

Slums and poor settlements characterize Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, like any other city in third world countries. The current statistics by Kigali city council (KCC) show that the unplanned settlements comprise a massive more than 70 percent (Martin, 2007). Some individuals in Kigali City were formerly allocated plots and they built without plan irrespective of the laws governing the built environment of the country. This resulted into slums and poor structures that hinder infrastructure development and the government's ability to provide other services in such areas.

During the postcolonial era, soon after independence, the republic of Rwanda decided to make Kigali the capital city of Rwanda. This designation as capital of Rwanda and relocation of all national ministry functions fueled growth of Kigali beyond the Nyarugenge hill to five neighboring hills: Nyamirambo, Gikondo, Kimihurura, and Kacyiru. From 1962 to 1984, the population and the built area of Kigali expanded rapidly. The population grew at around 16% from around 6,000 people to over 150,000. The built area expanded over 12 square kilometers. Kigali continued to expand until 1994 without prior urban planning.

After 1994 genocide, a massive population from exile in neighboring countries, and immigrants from rural areas in fear of insecurity, settled in Kigali city by acquiring land illegally and constructing informal houses. The rural-urban exodus to Kigali city continued, and currently the population of Kigali city is about one million. Informal settlement/slum quarters developed and grew in areas such as Muhima in a place commonly known as «Kiyovu cy'abakene», Kimihurura, Kimicanga, Gikondo and Nyamirambo. These slum areas shelter the majority of urban poor who have no regular income and they characterized by high fertility rates. The high density of the houses in informal settlements results in poor sanitation, lack of infrastructure such as roads, water supply and other basic public utilities.

In order to direct urban development for the next 30-50 years, Kigali conceptual master plan (KCMP) was established in 2007 after two years of study. The implementation of KCMP is hindering the majority of Kigali city urban dwellers in informal settlements (most of whom low-income earners) from making small redevelopments on their houses or extending them because they do not conform to the required construction standards or minimum plot size. In addition, these people may be settling in an area that is planned for other land use rather than residential according to the master plan and may be susceptible to relocation. In line with the implementation of KCMP, Kigali master plan implementation projects have been developed starting with immediate developmental zones.

Among these projects is the central business district (CBD) development project that will be implemented in phases. In phase 1, central business district 1(CBD1) will be developed and will cover a total project area of 150Ha of Muhima sector. In phase 2, central business district 2 (CBD2) will be developed and will focus on the upgrading of the existing CBD. This will be an ongoing scheme that will involve the active participation of the existing business community of this area.

As part of the implementation phase of CBD1, a quarter known as `Kiyovu cy'abakene' in Ubumwe cell was cleared. According to detailed master plan for CBD1 (Anandan and Hrydhal, 2010), the cleared site was selected for the development of phase 1 of the CBD- the city's first experience in developing large-scale commercial development. This site has been marked for high-end commercial and mix use developments, supported by high-quality public spaces and facilities. A central green space flanked by high-rise and office blocks mark the core of the development. In order to develop the CBD, privately-owned land need to be acquired. This means that compensating them through expropriation must relocate residents in the selected site. Some expropriated residents in `Kiyovu cy'abakene' were helped to acquire new houses in Batsinda while others were not satisfied with the standard of the constructed houses and the available infrastructures in Batsinda and were given their compensations and went to find their chosen standard of houses. Most of the expropriated residents say that compensations are low compared to the cost of land after clearance of their houses. They complain that they were paid cheaply and that Kigali city wanted to make enormous profits from Ubumwe cell (Ester, 2009). The cost of land in Ubumwe cell after expropriation is several times higher than the expropriation cost. This seems to be the reason why investors are reluctant to acquire land in this site for the construction of proposed buildings.

Amahoro cell is another site in Muhima that will be developed for a new CBD (CBD1). Currently, a relatively large part of Amahoro cell is predominantly settled by residents in semi-permanent, high-density houses, scattered and found in and around the wetland. This situation implies that the government, Kigali city or investors must acquire land from private owners for the development of the CBD, construction of necessary infrastructure or conservation of the wetland and green spaces.

The problem is however, how the low-income earners in informal/slum settlements of these areas will cope with this new development. Will they be expropriated and released to find new settlements in other areas?

Will the city council in collaboration with its donors, private sector, NGOs or other government agencies provide decent housing to these people?Or they will be evicted on government power domain since most of them have no land tenure documents or building permits? What is the perception of Amahoro cell residents on expropriation for new housing development?

This research sought to answer these questions and analyzed the impacts these solutions will incur if implemented, considering Amahoro cell in Muhima sector, Nyarugenge district as case study.

2.4 Research interest and motivation

As UN-Habitat stipulates, 46% of the African population lived in slums/informal settlements where poverty, overcrowding, unemployment, crime and pollution are prevalent (ECA and UN-Habitat, 2008). This is a big challenge not only to the governments and their partners, but also for researchers to offer their contribution in revealing areas that need immediate intervention and recommending sustainable remedies to respond to ever-increasing housing needs.

With reference to Kigali city, the city council in collaboration with the government has established policies and laws to streamline urban housing and informal settlement upgrading. These include urban housing policy, land tenure reform policy, land law and Kigali master plan. The implementation of these policies, laws and other regulations in place faces a lot of challenges due to a significant number of informal quarters in Kigali city. This has attracted attention of the researcher and encouraged him to carry out a study in one of the informal settlement quarters in Kigali city to assess the impact of the transition from informal housing to formalized housing.

In addition, this research was conducted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a bachelor's degree of science in geography at the national university of Rwanda.

2.5 Research hypotheses

1. There are challenges in implementing rules and regulations related to housing especially at grass root level in Kigali city.

2. Residents in informal settlement are inappropriately expropriated which results in creation of new informal settlements in the neighborhoods/peripheries of Kigali city.

2.6 Research objectives

The overall objective of this research was to assess the challenges in the transition from unplanned settlements to new housing development in Kigali city.

Specific objectives	Research questions
Highlight the existing situation and new trends of housing in Kigali.	1. How is informal housing defined in Kigali city? 2. How is the housing status in Amahoro cell in Muhima sector? 3. What is planned for Amahoro cell according to Kigali conceptual master plan? 4. What does the government plan for the poor residents in informal houses in Amahoro cell?
Analyze residents' perception on new housing development strategies in Kigali city.	1. How do people in informal houses perceive housing development in Kigali city? 2. How do people in informal houses conform to the new building requirements in Kigali city especially in their cell?
Discuss policies, rules and regulation standards that control housing in Kigali city.	1. What are the policies, rules and regulations that control housing in Kigali city? 2. What are the strategies used to implement housing policies, rules and regulations in Kigali city?
Analyze the impact of implementing new housing development policies on unplanned settlement dwellers in Kigali city.	1. What are the positive and negative impacts that result from the implementation of new housing development policies on unplanned settlement dwellers in Amahoro cell? 2. What does the leadership of Kigali city do or plan to do in order to overcome the negative impacts? 3. What are the recommendations towards better and socially inclusive housing in Kigali city?

2.7 Research design

2.8 Scope of the study

This research focuses on the housing conditions in Amahoro cell of Muhima sector, Nyarugenge district in Kigali city. It also reveals planning implications in Amahoro cell and how they affect informal urban dwellers. The research concludes by suggesting some recommendations towards decent and socially inclusive housing development in Kigali city.

2.9 Problems and limitations

Apart from constraints of time and resources, reluctance and irregular availability of local leaders to meet agreed appointments for interviews, no other major limitations that were faced in conducting this research. Therefore the research bears the output of the set objectives.

2.10 Organization of the research

This study is organized into four chapters, each with sections and subsections. Chapter one introduces the study by giving background information on the study, problem statement, definitions of the working concepts, research motivation, objectives of the study, scope of the study and the research design; chapter two is about research methodology and description of the study area; chapter three presents the results and their interpretations; while chapter four states major conclusions and recommendations.

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Study area

Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda is subdivided into 3 districts; Gasabo, Kicukiro and Nyarugenge. Amahoro cell which is the case study is found in Muhima sector, one of the 10 sectors comprising Nyarugenge District i.e. Gitega, Kinyinya, Kigali, Kimisagara, Mageragere, Muhima, Nyakabanda, Nyamirambo, Nyarugenge, and Rwezamenyo. Muhima sector is populated by 31, 866 people spread over 7 cells (Tetero, Kabeza, Kabasengerezi, Amahoro, Nyabugogo, Ubumwe, Rugenge) with a total area of 292 hectares. It is characterized by a habitat under-equipped and spontaneous. It is the subject of urban restructuring that is part of a pilot project of the new blueprint for the city of Kigali, which aims to make this site a hub of business.

Sector	Villages/Imidugudu	Number of households	Population	Total population
Muhima	Amahoro	130	843	5,083
	Amizero	415	914
	Inyarurembo	126	555
	Kabirizi	256	847
	Ubuzima	395	989
	Uruhimbi	254	935

Amahoro cell is located at the northern part of Muhima sector as the following map shows:

3.2 Data collection methods

Data collection techniques refer to a set of methods and principles that are used when conducting a study on a particular subject or doing a particular kind of research work. This part shades light on the different methods in which data needed for the research was obtained. These techniques included:

3.2.1 Secondary data collection

Secondary data used in this research was obtained from different publications from library and electronic sources. The publications are categorized as follows:

3.2.1.1 National documents and policies

In order to link the primary information and the researcher's ideas with the government programs, different policies and laws were reviewed.

3.2.1.2 Spatial datasets acquisition

Shape files of Rwanda administrative boundaries were extracted from the geodatabase of Rwanda natural resources authority in order to localize the study area on a map.

3.2.1.3 Academic documents

Dissertations and theses were consulted to find out how much work already done on the topic in different parts of Rwanda or other parts of the world by other academicians.

3.2.2 Primary data collection

This technique was employed to gather data directly from the targeted population in the study area and concerned government authorities. The following instruments were used to collect the necessary primary data from the study area, residents in the study area and government officials.

3.2.2.1 Field observation and field measurement

This method will be used to explore the current situation of the study area in terms of the nature of housing. This technique is a systematic approach that involves accurate watching and noting of the situation as it occurs in the natural order. With this technique, some photographs were taken to well represent the situation on the field.

3.2.2.2 Field survey

To obtain necessary data through field survey, two techniques were used; questionnaire and interview.

3.2.2.2.1 Questionnaire survey

In order to obtain further primary data through field survey, a structured questionnaire was used.The questionnaires were designed and administered through self-completion of the responses directly from the respondents. Two kinds of questionnaire were designed- one designed for each selected household in the study area, and another one for the local leaders.

3.2.2.2.2 Interview

In this method, direct questions were administered between the researcher and respondents in which a positive approach was used to obtain the required information. Relevant questions to those designed in the questionnaire were asked in the same sequence to ensure consistency, efficiency, and accuracy.

The targeted interviewees were the personnel in charge of urban planning in Nyarugenge district, the one in charge of infrastructure in Muhima sector and the executive secretary of Amahoro cell. And one personnel in charge of urban planning in Rwanda housing authority was interviewed.

3.2.3 Sampling techniques and sample size

Simple random sampling was employed in order to secure necessary data from the study area, which gave a chance to every individual household in the study area. To determine the sample size, the following formula was used (Javeau, 1985):

N: B In the study area, the target population was represented by households and the total number of households in Amahoro cell was 1576, no (the constant) is calculated from two complementary events p and q. where p=q=0.5 p+q=1

In his theory, Cochran (1963:75) developed the equation which gives the value of no as follows:

Where z is the threshold of confidence which is estimated to be equal to 2 and e is the stroke of errors that is estimated to 10% or 0.10.

However, the sample size that was surveyed in the study area was 100 households.

The respondents were selected (at random) in equal proportions in the whole villages comprising Amahoro cell (table 2). To get the sample size for Umudugudu, we took the total number of the households in the cell and divided it by the number of the households in the Umudugudu, multiplied by 100.

Umudugudu	No. of households	Population	Sample size
Amahoro	130	843	9
Amizero	415	914	26
Inyarurembo	126	555	8
Kabirizi	256	847	16
Ubuzima	395	989	25
Uruhimbi	254	935	16
Total	1576	5,083	100

Also leaders and decision makers at different levels in Kigali city were interviewed. The following table shows the categories of interviewed leaders:

Administrative level	Position held
Cell	Executive secretary
Sector	Personnel in charge of social affairs
District	Land and infrastructure manager
Rwanda housing authority (RHA)	Personnel in charge of planning

3.3 Data integration, processing and analysis

Data collected was organized, compiled and compared in order to evaluate them. During the evaluation of the acquired data, judgments were made about their relevancy to the particular research questions, the total quantity and their quality. The evaluated data was analyzed statistically in tables using Microsoft excel to get the frequency of occurrence of responses to particular questions. In addition to statistical analysis, ArcGIS9.3 software was used to localize the study area on maps.

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

4.1 Relocation experience in Ubumwe cell

The undergoing implementation process of the master plan suggests either on site-upgrading and/or urban renewal planning i.e. resettlement in some areas depending on how badly they are affected or how important they are, for other developmental activities. Implementation of the master plan started with zoning of some parts of Kigali city especially those on prime land but poorly developed areas.

Among the zoned areas for renewal is Ubumwe cell, in Muhima sector, in Nyarugenge district ( part of the central business district) of Kigali city whose land will be predominantly commercial, mixed with high-rise residential and institutions according to the master plan, as opposed to the existed informal settlement (figure 1). Residents of Ubumwe cell were expropriated and resettled in Batsinda housing estate in Kinyinya sector (Gasabo district). In Ubumwe cell, 336 households were expropriated. Adoption of the master plan happened to be the origin of Batsinda project which was started by Kigali city council in collaboration with the Rwanda social security board (RSSB) and Rwanda Housing Bank to handle the resettlement process and develop the land which was taken to be a waste land due to informal settlements in the area.

Batsinda housing project was (still is) targeting low, medium, and high-cost housing, $10,000 being the maximum for low-cost and$30,000 being the maximum for medium-cost. The first phase established 250 single-family, low-cost homes and this was finished with people already relocated into Batsinda houses from Ubumwe cell. However, only 123 former Ubumwe dwellers accepted to be relocated out of 250 Batsinda phase I houses (49%), the remaining 127 houses were given to other vulnerable groups like soldiers, demobilized soldiers and teachers due to their low income level (Esther, 2009).

The cleared site of Ubumwe cell is now being serviced by providing roads, street lamps and other basic physical infrastructures (photo 1). Some buildings are being raised while other plots are still vacant. This redevelopment seems to be slow since there are now 3 years after the relocation of the residents on that site. According to one of the sector officials in charge of infrastructure and land management, the redevelopment is relatively slow because the parcels are very expensive. But the city council says that the parcels are expensive because of the great expenditures made in servicing land and providing infrastructures

4.2 Existing situation of Amahoro cell

4.2.1 Nature of housing

Houses in Amahoro cell are generally characterized by high density, old roofs and are built with unsustainable materials.

Parcels in this area are very small to the extent that in most cases the house occupies the whole parcel space with no room for extension, improvement or for other domestic purposes. Most parcels were acquired before 1990 (65%) and most houses were constructed during this period. Another massive acquisition of the parcels and construction of new houses occurred between 1995 and 2000 (refer to table 4).

This was the period of the aftermath of genocide and liberation war during which Rwandese refugees that had fled the country since 1959 and years after, returned to their mother land and had to acquire vacant land for their establishment since most of them were born and grew in exile and had no land in the country. The acquisition of land parcels occurred illegally without prior planning, and in most cases involved dividing the existed land parcels without respecting minimum parcel size hence creating a slum. Since 2006, the rate of acquiring new parcels in the area and construction of new houses is very low. This is due to the establishment of the new policies (land policy, 2005 and Kigali master plan, 2007) that restrict further illegal housing development.

Question	Response	Frequency	Percentage
When was the plot acquired?	1960-1970	2	3.5
	1971-1980	21	37
	1981-1990	14	24.5
	1991-1994	2	3.5
	1995-2000	13	22.8
	2001-2005	3	5.2
	2006-2011	2	3.5
	Total	57	100

Building materials of the houses are unsustainable and old. The roofing materials (100% iron sheet) have changed their original color due to rust as a result of long time exposure to elements of rusting without replacement. Most iron sheets disintegrated and the owners use stones or other high-density materials to support them (see photo 2).

Walls of most houses are built in mud bricks (53%), 28% in earth and wattle, 15% in burnt bricks and the remaining 4% in cemented blocks (figure 5).

According to the regulations of Kigali city council, no house upgrading that involves changing its shape and size that can be made without written authorization from the relevant officials at the district. This, together with poverty, has restricted upgrading by some residents and their houses are wearing out and slowly falling down (photo 3).

4.2.2 Physical and social infrastructure

According to the urban, financial and organizational audit of Nyarugenge district by the ministry of infrastructure, Muhima sector where Amahoro cell is found has 52 Ha of surface area that was settled spontaneously, with a population of 8765 living in this spontaneous settlement (MININFRA, 2009). Muhima sector has a housing density of 120 houses per Ha. But in some cells such as Amahoro (the case study), Nyabugogo and former Ubumwe informal residential area the housing density is higher. Amahoro cell has one paved road crossing the cell from Kacyiru in Gasabo district to the city centre, another one crossing it along the wetland from Kimicanga through Ubumwe cell to Nyabugogo (figure 6) and 3 other unpaved roads feeding different villages of the cell.

Amahoro cell has one hospital (Muhima hospital), five churches and no public water collection. People fetch water from poor sanitary sources such as wetlands (photo4).

The above photograph shows the common place near the wetland where households without piped water supply in their homes fetch. Water fetched here is not pure since comes from an open source and it becomes worse especially when it rains.

The drainage system in Amahoro cell is not well constructed. Most of the gutters channeling rain water and sewage from households are exposed and gradually expand attacking nearby buildings (photo 5). These gutters (Ruhurura) have bad odor which affects people close to them and worse enough they drain in the wetland affecting the ecosystem.

4.3 Planning implications of Amahoro cell

According to Kigali city subarea master plans, Amahoro cell like other parts of Muhima sector is planned for multi-storey buildings for commercial and institutional services (commercial business district, CBD). Currently, Amahoro cell is occupied by informal residential houses with unsustainable building materials. According to the level of income of the residents in Amahoro cell where 68% of the households earn less than 50,000 Rwandan francs per month, they are not able to construct houses that comply with the required standards.

In 2008, Kigali city council valuated immovable properties of residents in both Ubumwe and Amahoro cells. However, Ubumwe residents were compensated and resettled to Batsinda (a housing project initiated by Kigali city council, Rwanda Social Security Board and Rwanda Housing Bank) but residents in Amahoro cell were not paid.The cell executive secretary said that after expropriating Ubumwe cell residents, the city council saw that the acquisition of plots by investors was slow and decided not make more mass expropriations. When an investor needs to acquire land, then he/she expropriates the land owners occupying the surface area that he wants to cover. According to law No. 18/2007 of 19/04/2007 chapter 3, section3, article17 relating to the expropriation in public interest, `The owner of the land is not allowed to carry out any activities after the land survey and the inventory of the properties thereon and coming to terms with the beneficiaries. In case he or she carries out any activities, they shall not be valued in the process of expropriation'. This hindered residents who were able to upgrade their houses. Time came when this step of land survey and inventory of the properties towards compensation and relocation lost validity. But residents are still bound by the regulation of Kigali city council which states that no new building should be erected in the area without prior authorization from the district which confirms that the building conforms to the requirements by the master plan. Upgrading the house by changing the shape and size of the building is not acceptable and any upgrading is authorized by the district.

However, recently Kigali city council took a decision to improve the city's sanitation and physical outlook by mobilizing all residents to remove all stones, metallic objects and other woody materials that were put on roofs to support old iron sheets and paint them (photo 6). These measures are taken to keep the city clean while in the transition of implementing Kigali conceptual master plan.

4.4 Resident's perception on informal housing upgrading and master plan implementation

Urban renewal involves upgrading of the existing urban buildings and structures or clearing the existing informal settlements for new developments. The latter is planned to be implemented in Amahoro cell according to the subarea master plan of Muhima sector. One of the objectives of this research was to assess Amahoro residents' perception on this renewal envisaged in the master plan and what they would demand if susceptible to expropriation or relocation.

4.4.1 Perception on Kigali master plan

Generally residents admit that the nature of housing in their neighborhood is not good depending on the sustainability of the building materials, minimum parcel size and basic infrastructure provision and accessibility. About 73% of the surveyed households responded that the nature of housing in their neighborhood is poor while only 27% said that their neighborhood is good in terms of housing development (table 5).

Surveyed households said that they have heard about Kigali conceptual master plan and that their neighborhood will be developed into a business centre with multi-storey buildings. They also said that KCMP is one way and a step towards achieving Rwanda's vision 2020 for its citizens. They further said that its implementation will lead to the country's overall development through enhancement of commercial services and extension of both physical and social infrastructure.

However, they added that the implementation of the master plan will displace them to the city's periphery which will hinder accessibility to their jobs in the city centre.

Table 5: Residents' judgment on the sustainability of building materials in their neighborhood

Question	Response	Frequency
Nature of housing in the neighborhood depending on the sustainability of building materials	Poor	73
	Good	27
	Total	100

4.4.2 Perception on expropriation process and relocation

According to the law relating to expropriation in public interest no. 18/2007 of 19/04/2007, expropriation is carried out by the government only in public interest and with prior and just compensation. No person shall hinder the implementation of the program on pretext of self centered justifications. No land owner shall oppose any underground or surface activity carried out on his or her land with an aim of public interest. In case it causes any loss to him or her, he or she shall receive just compensation for it.

Depending on this law, the researcher had an objective (among other objectives) of assessing residents' views on expropriation and their willingness to resettlement once the government need to acquire their land for development in public interest. Residents have different views on new housing development taking place in Kigali city. Some residents say that the new housing development intends to evict them since they are poor and cannot build houses with the required minimum standards (see table 6 below). However the majority of these with fear of eviction are tenants. Others have the view that once the government takes their land for new development, they will be compensated and find elsewhere to establish new homes in the city. The majority with this view are land owners who think that when given just compensation they can build or buy new comfortable and affordable houses in another residential area established by the city council.

The remaining percentage of interviewed residents said that they hope to get a new decent house once the government acquires their land for new development in public interest. Residents with this view are those with poor houses on a very small plot of land who think that compensation from their properties cannot allow them buy or build a new house in the city. So, according to them, the relevant authorities should take their land showing them a ready new house to occupy.

Question	Response	frequency
How do you think the implementation of KCMP will affect you?	Will evict me	47
	Will expropriate me	33
	Provide me a decent house	20
	Total	100

According to the expropriation carried out in Ubumwe cell and in some other parts of Kigali city, some expropriated persons were assisted to get new houses constructed by Kigali city council in collaboration with other housing partners. Batsinda housing estate established by Kigali city council in partnership with Rwanda Social Security Board and Rwanda Housing Bank to receive expropriated persons from Ubumwe cell were resettled.

However, not all of them went to Batsinda because some of them were not satisfied with the size, location and standard of the houses in Batsinda. To know what residents of Amahoro cell would prefer if susceptible to relocation, they were asked whether they would accept compensations for their properties alone and look for other houses for themselves, compensations and a serviced plot so that they can construct a house of their choice or be compensated and assisted to get a new subsidized house which they would pay in installments. The chart below shows their responses.

As it is obvious in the chart above, a half of the respondents (50%) need to be assisted to get a new house instead of giving compensations for their properties alone. The reason they put forward is that they are poor and have poor quality of houses which would be compensated little money that can only buy a plot of land without a house. They also added that compensation prices are low while the prices of houses and plots increase as the demand increases. The following chart reveals residents' judgments on the expropriation prices in Kigali city.

Kigali city land commission approved Kigali expropriation prices in July 2008 (see Annex 3) which were used when expropriating Ubumwe cell residents and are still applied to date. Unfortunately the prices on the land and housing market increase frequently. This seemingly fixed price does not favor expropriated persons because they cannot easily get an equivalent plot of land and be able to construct a new building especially for the already poor residents.

4.5 Housing regulation in Kigali city

Before the establishment and approval of Kigali conceptual master plan in 2007, there was no specific guiding blueprint for housing and infrastructure development in Kigali city apart from broader policies, laws and regulations (established by the city council) to control housing development. Regulations by Kigali city council had their basis on the laws and policies in place established by the government. These regulations were implemented by the lower local government authorities (districts, sectors, cells and Imidugudu). The regulations were not fully enforced by all local leaders since some of them (local leaders) were influenced by corruption and could tolerate illegal buildings. This led to the continuous growth of informal settlements even though these regulations and laws were in place. Below we discuss some of the policies and laws that are based on to regulate housing development in Kigali city:

A national consultative process that took place in village Urugwiro in 1998-99 resulted into Rwanda's vision 2020. This vision is a basis for policies and laws developed since its establishment. Vision 2020 acknowledges that Rwanda is characterized by low but accelerating urbanization.

This has happened in a rapid and uncoordinated manner, meaning that social services and employment opportunities are lagging behind. Vision 2020 anticipated that from then (1999) until 2010,each town will have regularly updated urban master plans and specific land management plans.

It is in line with vision 2020 that Kigali conceptual master plan was established in 2007 and district municipal master plans. According to Kigali conceptual master plan, a long range vision for how development might occur over the next 50-100 years to accommodate another 2-3 million people is provided. While this might seem like a long time into the future, urban planning experience shows that by establishing along range plan for key infrastructure and systems early on, they can guide future incremental growth with carethoughtfulness, concern for real human needs, citizen participation, cost effectiveness and efficiency.

The goal of this plan is not to control the growth of Kigali in an authoritarian way, but to provide the framework and flexibility to prompt a long term process that is guided by Rwandans as they shape their capital city incrementally, responding to changing needs; and that creates a vibrant, unique and truly Rwandan city. Subarea master plans have been established for different parts of Kigali city while others are underway. Implementation has already started in some areas such as Muhima, Akumunigo in Nyamirambo, and Kimicanga. Any building to be erected must conform to the respective subarea master plan. In case land is needed for the development in public interest, it is acquired from private owners through expropriation. The expropriated persons are relocated to a new site primarily designed for residential use. An example is the relocation of former residents of Ubumwe cell in Muhima sector to Batsinda in Kinyinya sector of Gasabo district.

Unlike in the past, no new building or even any upgrading on the existing building can be done without the building permit from the relevant officials at the district level. In case a person wants to build a house or upgrade his/her house must pass through the Umudugudu, cell and sector officials who confirm that the land belongs to that person and that it is found in that area where he/she wishes to build the house. When the seeker of the building permit meets the requirements, he/she is given an authorization. Leaders at the Umudugudu must make thorough supervision to ensure that no building is erected without the license from the district. Any building found to have been erected without authorization is demolished by the sector officials with permission from the district. These procedures are more respected by local authorities than in the past because any illegal tolerance is punished by law.

In 2008, national urban housing policy was established to guide Government objectives and priorities in line with the objectives as laid down particularly in the Vision 2020, the EDPRS, and the National Investment Strategy (MININFRA, 2008). According to the aims of Vision 2020, about 30% of the population will live in planned cities with access to basic infrastructure necessary to ensure sustainable development. This policy proposes the establishment of a regulatory body, an Urban Development Board to manage the development of urban areas and urban housing in particular. This body will regulate the issues concerned with allocation of land, its development, standards associated with housing and construction, private and public estate development among other functions.

Two years after the establishment of the national urban housing policy (2010), Rwanda housing authority was established as a public institution to implement the national housing and construction policy through coordination, conception, development, monitoring and evaluation of actions and programs set out in its mission. Currently in its early stage of work, the Rwanda housing authority (RHA) evaluates district municipal land use master plans and is setting relevant regulation documents. Rwanda housing authority serves as the overall project manager on the behalf of the state for all projects related to housing and construction.

4.6 Impact of new housing policies on unplanned settlement dwellers

4.6.1 Positive impacts

Housing development in Kigali city according to the master plan will greatly change its image and the living conditions of its citizens. The implementation will lead to the dissolution of slums and upgrading of informal settlements. Poorly developed prime land will be redeveloped to maximize investments hence economic growth. Also land use zoning will allow maximum and efficient use of land while giving Kigali city an aesthetic physical structure.

According to the surveyed residents in Amahoro cell, they expect improved lifestyle as a result of new housing development. Some of them said that when expropriated they will buy land and practice agriculture which will help to improve their living conditions. Others said that expropriation of their properties for new housing development will help them buy new houses of their choice.

Kigali city officials emphasized the accommodation of a fast growing population of Kigali that will result from the development of apartments and zoning specific areas for residential use, industrial or commercial uses. According to the personnel in charge of social affairs in Muhima sector, the construction of apartments will shelter many families on a small surface area than it is for detached houses. One of the officials in Rwanda housing authority in urban planning unit said that planned housing development will ease the provision of infrastructures such as roads, water supply, electricity connections and development of the green spaces. He further added that planned settlements will lead to better land management and efficient waste evacuation systems.

4.6.2 Negative impacts

On the side of the Kigali city council, the implementation of the new housing development as stipulated in the master plan is a fruitful result. However, on the side of informal settlement dwellers especially those on prime land that is targeted for redevelopment are worrisome because they are susceptible to relocation. To these residents, resettlement will affect their livelihood because they will be taken far from the city centre where they can earn a living through casual labor and where they easily get to their work.

Asked on what they think would be the negative impacts on their livelihoods if expropriated, surveyed households in Amahoro cell revealed that they are worried about the expropriation prices. 48% of the respondents said that they will not be able to reintegrate themselves in the new area once they are under-expropriated. They further added that buying a new plot and erecting a new house is expensive.

The rest of the respondents gave the following as negative impacts once expropriated: they said `we would be relocated to an area far from the city centre which may increase transport costs since our jobs are in the city centre'. Others said that `we initiated long term projects; these may be affected negatively once we are relocated to a different place'. However, most of them showed reluctance in their mind towards relocation saying that it is not easy to admit to shift without knowing where to go, and that separating with friends is not easily welcomed.

4.7 Housing demand in Kigali city

Statistics indicate that a single house costs about 20 million Rwandan francs. This means that total housing demand would require a financing package of up to 500 billion Rwandan francs per year. In a breakdown, Kigali city alone demands about 10,000 housing units per annum (MININFRA, 2008).Although the demand for housing has grown, involvement of the public and private sectors has not improved much from the 10% that was registered in 2003. Last year alone, the construction growth rate was estimated at 16% (MININFRA, 2008)

Rwanda needs about 25,000 housing units per year, a basic right for her citizens, quoted in the Istanbul declaration. This estimation is for urban centers of the country only.Due to the growing demand for housing in urban areas and the rapid development of slums, planning and organized settlement is becoming a complicated issue. Moreover, it appears that urbanization of principal urban centers in Rwanda resulted more from accumulation of the population often of rural origin, around the structured city and not from within, thus generating perimeters of sub-urbanized zones where the density reaches 700 people per km². This spontaneous growth of urban centers has led to the breakdown of social functions and spatial segregation, with land wastage that blocks any attempts for sustainable development.

4.8 Strategies for housing low and medium income groups in Kigali city

Kigali as a capital city of a developing country faces many challenges. The numerous issues impeding Kigali city's growth include significant lack of infrastructure including water, electricity and waste management systems, inadequate garbage collection methods, poor drainage, poor roads, inadequate public transport network, insufficient housing supply and spontaneous settlements. In order to find solutions for these problems, Kigali city council is striving to design feasible, cost-effective and fair solutions through policies, guidelines, new laws and law reforms. With regard to housing issue, the city council faces a challenge of poor residents in informal settlements (Utujagari) who are not able to cope with the new housing development trend in Kigali city as stipulated by the adopted Kigali master plan.According to the master plan, every citizen of Kigali city will have access to basic needs and stay in a livable city environment: adequate housing, education and workplace opportunities, infrastructure and transport, healthcare and services, and quality of life.

Since a large part of the city is built with informal houses (above 70%), Kigali city council through different planning project phases is acquiring private land through expropriation to provide serviced land to real property investors. However in order to cater for expropriated persons, and prevent further development of informal settlements, Kigali city council developed `a model house project' in Kinyinya sector, Gasabo district. The model house project was used to show that local materials can be used to build decent and safe low-cost housing for expropriated persons and other low-income earning groups.The Batsinda housing project was initiated based on the model house to provide adequate housing and basic infrastructure to people that were expropriated from Ubumwe cell in Muhima sector as discussed in section 3.1 above.

Consequent to the CBD and Kimihurura gateway development projects for the transformation of prime land currently populated by slums into profitable schemes for maximum use of the land, there has been a challenge of providing alternative good quality yet affordable housing with all amenities to the people. However, projects are being developed for profits gained from these schemes to be applied in the development of subsidized and planned residential hubs for the relocated residents. These are Akumunigo and Kinyinya residential hubs which will exhibit easy accessibility to all services such as banking, shopping, recreational, income earning opportunities among many.The Kinyinya residential township project emphasizes adequate housing availability for city dwellers over an area of 338Ha. This scheme is to cater for all income brackets hence the term affordable housing. Kigali inner city is characterized by approximately 50% of informal and indecent settlements that need to be addressed.This does not rule out the different slums in the other parts of the city, however, the inner city slums are being immediately addressed because some of them have been established on prime land for modern development in the Central Business District.

Kinyinya residential township project commenced in January 2009 through a first phase that will cover an area of 26Ha and provide a total of 10,350 units. The figure below shows the housing prototype for Kinyinya residential township. As it is obvious from the figure below, many families will be accommodated in one multi-storey building hence reducing the surface area of the built environment and the scarcity of land.

4.9 Major housing developers in Kigali city

Apart from self provision of housing units by individuals in Kigali city (and they are the majority), there are both public and private institutions (firms) that play a significant role in real estate development.Rwanda social security board (RSSB) is the major public institution that has concentrated efforts and finance in real estate development especially in residential housing development. One of the Rwanda social security board's developments is Gacuriro estate in Kinyinya sector of Gasabo district. Gacuriro estate is a well developed residential site with basic infrastructures such as paved roads and streets, electricity and water connections (photo 7). There are 302 houses that were built in 2003 on Gacuriro estate site. It is said that these houses were built to facilitate low-income people to own a shelter. However, the standard and cost of houses built by RSSB in Gacuriro seem to be high compared to income of the majority of Kigali residents. Rwanda Social Security Boardsold each house at a cost of 23 million Rwandan francs with 5 million paid in advance. The rest of the money could be paid in installments. Houses that were not bought are being rate rented at a price of 1200$ per month.

Rwanda Social Security Board is undertaking another housing project scheme of 2600 in the same area. Private land owners were compensated according to the expropriation law of Rwanda.

Kigali city council (KCC) has also contributed to the housing of its low-income citizens especially those displaced (relocated) by expropriation in public interest. To provide affordable housing to low-income groups, KCC developed `a model house' constructed using sustainable low-cost materials (photo8). In the first phase, 250 low-cost model houses were constructed in Batsinda, Kinyinya sector in Gasabo district. The site is provided with a school health center, roads, electricity and water. KCC resettled residents that were expropriated in Ubumwe cell, Muhima sector in Nyarugenge district. The cost of each house was 10,000$. The cost was somehow affordable to poor families since they were assisted to pay, through collaboration of Kigali city with Rwanda Housing Bank (RHB) which provided loans. Even though somehow affordable in terms of cost, some occupants claim that a two-bedroom house is too small for large families. KCC is planning to build more houses in the following phases.

Rwanda Housing Bank (RHB) is a public financial institution that was established by the government to finance housing development in Rwanda. The institution basically provides loans to individuals who want to build their houses. The Rwanda Housing Bank normally gives loans to individuals that want to purchase, complete or upgrade their homes. Also the bank provides loans to property developers wishing to construct houses for sale. The developers should have a 40% of the project cost; while the bank gives a loan of 60% (the bank offers loans to qualifying buyers as well). However the bank also developed 52 houses in Gacuriro that were sold to individuals.

Some public institutions, like the national bank of Rwanda, have built houses for their employees to facilitate them to own a shelter. This has contributed to housing ownership by most public servants.

In addition to housing development by public institutions, there are private estate developers that build houses and sell or rent them to individuals. Kigali top mountain company is one of them and has constructed 58 houses in Gacuriro cell. The Kigali top mountain company is opting to widen its housing supply in Kigali city. Another private company that constructs houses for sale is real constructors, the proprietor of Kabuga hillside estate. The new Kabuga hillside estate located in Rusororo (Gasabo district) enjoys a range of residential pleasures. Kabuga hillside estate is located 7 kilometers from Kigali international airport. It has 79 units each with 4 bedrooms on spacious 25x25m plots.

A general observation is that most houses built by either public or private firms (or institutions) are expensive and cannot be bought by most low-income earners in Kigali city.

4.10 Challenges in new housing development in Kigali city

The main challenge in the new housing development is a large number of informal settlement quarters on prime land that need to be expropriated for efficient redevelopment. In an interview with an official in charge of housing in Kigali city, he said that expropriating and redeveloping land by providing basic amenities such as plot servicing, roads, electricity and water supply, is an expensive multimillion project. This could delay the implementation of the housing development.

Poverty is another big challenge to this development since the majority of residents in informal settlements are poor. Apart from some informal settlement quarters on prime land that need to be removed for renewal, there are others that need to be upgraded as proposed in the master plan. But this upgrading is a threat to the poor residents.

Another important challenge that cannot be left behind is the poor terrain in most parts of the city. Erecting multi-storey buildings requires that land must be flattened. This is expensive because about 50% of land in Kigali city is on poor terrain.

Resistance to new changes by residents; normally people are reluctant to relocate because they are not sure whether life will proceed as they used to do. In this case, some people have fear of relocating without knowing where to go for resettlement. As a result, they go in the city peripheries and develop new informal settlements.

Increased rental prices; 57% of surveyed households are tenants and in expropriation they are released to find another rent. This increases the prices since the number of seekers is bigger than the available houses for rent.

Lastly, as discussed in section 3.3 above, residents claim that the expropriation prices are low such that it is not easy to re-establish in a new area with a decent house and lifestyle. Even if assisted to get already constructed houses, they are not satisfied with the standard and size. Considering Batsinda housing estate built for people expropriated in Ubumwe cell, the majority refused to acquire them saying that they are small and of low standard.

5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

6 Conclusion

As the main objective of this research was to assess the challenges in the transition from unplanned settlement to new housing development in Kigali city, variables such as residents' perception and awareness were measured against expropriation policy in line with the implementation of the Kigali conceptual master plan. Amahoro cell in Muhima sector where this research was carried out is one of the quarters planned for the development of the CBD1. Residents were asked about what they think is the master plan & its importance, expropriation process and relocation with regards to the experience of their neighboring Ubumwe cell.

Household survey revealed that 73% of the respondents recognize that the nature of housing in their neighborhood is not good in terms of planning and the durability of the building materials. They said that at least they have heard about the master plan and the planning implications of their area since their properties were surveyed for expropriation in 2008 but they were not expropriated and the survey lost validity to date. Constructing a new residential house in this area is not easily acceptable until residents are expropriated and the land is developed for commercial purposes.

Concerning the effect of implementing the master plan in their area, 47% of the surveyed households revealed that they will be evicted. However, these are tenants who have no immovable properties in the area. 33% have the perception that they will be expropriated to allow the government implement the master plan. But 20% of the surveyed residents showed a strong belief and hope that during expropriation the government will provide them new decent houses in another area better than the ones they are living in. people with this perception are those with little monthly income and relatively families in poor housing.

About 50% said that they would prefer compensation of their properties and helped to get a new house if susceptible to relocation because re-establishment in 90 days provided by the law to have shifted after expropriation would not be easy for them. Another 12% said that they would prefer expropriation of their properties and assisted to get a serviced plot where they can build a house of their choice relative to their financial capacity and family size. And 35% said that they would prefer compensation alone and re-establish themselves in a new area of their choice, while 3% said that they would refuse any attempts to relocate them because they have the rights on their land.

Also results showed that 67% of the surveyed households regarded the expropriation prices in Kigali city to be low by considering the experience in Ubumwe cell. They added that the prices seem to be fixed while the land and housing costs increase frequently in the city.

Regarding the impacts of implementing the new housing development on unplanned settlement dwellers, research revealed that there are both positive and negative impacts: positively, residents expect improved lifestyle and sanitary conditions as a result of new housing development. Negatively, relocation to a new area for new developments will affect residents who already have their jobs in the current area of residence by losing them or by increased transport costs.

Lastly, the results showed that the main challenges to the new housing development in Kigali city are lack of enough capital to expropriate residents in informal settlements and help them get new residences, poverty among residents, poor terrain in some areas and resistance to change by some residents.

6.1 Recommendations

As Kigali city is undergoing renewal and upgrading projects, it is important to take into consideration the needs and expectations of its residents; low, medium and high income classes. Before carrying out expropriation, prior consultation of the stakeholders should be held to raise people's awareness about the importance of the project. Surveyed residents gave the following as recommendations to Kigali city council and other housing partners in the housing development:

Kigali city council should build houses of different standards instead of single-fashioned category of houses so that expropriated persons may make choice depending on the family size and financial status. This would reduce dissatisfaction of expropriated persons.

If a certain area is planned for a given land use and the occupants must be expropriated, expropriation should be carried out when the city or other investors are ready to develop the land. This would avoid relocating people in a hurry saying that the land is going to be developed in public interest, and the land takes more than two years without development- like the case of Ubumwe cell.

In order to prevent new developments of informal settlements in the city's periphery, poor expropriated persons should be helped to get already built houses in appropriate serviced residential area. This can be helpful if they can pay back in installments when assisted to get a source of income.

Since there are a big number of tenants in informal settlements susceptible to displacement as a result of expropriation of houses of their landlords, the Kigali city or expropriators should build multi-storey apartments to accommodate tenants and other expropriated persons that may wish to settle in apartments. This would also reduce the built surface area.

Zones planned for residential purpose should be prepared by constructing basic amenities such as schools, health centers, roads, markets, electricity connections and water supply and other basic services to attract people. In this case plots should be left vacant so that people build standards of their choice according to the zoning plan.

Thorough mobilization of the residents should be done before expropriating them to raise their awareness and should be informed earlier before expropriation so that they may be able to appraise among the alternatives.

Expropriation prices should be revised each year in order to match with the current costs of building materials and the cost of land.

To interested researchers, more research should be done to analyze how expropriation procedures in Kigali city affect urban planning and development.

Reference

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Annex 1: Questionnaire for residents

Dear respondent, my name is MUGISHA John, a student at the national university of Rwanda in the department of geography. I am conducting a research on unplanned settlements in Amahoro cell with the objective of `assessing the challenges of the transition from unplanned settlement to new housing development in Kigali city'

Questions for this research are solely intended to fulfill the academic requirements for a bachelor's degree at the national university of Rwanda in geography department. Your responses and feelings will only be used for academic purposes.

1. Name of the respondent (optional): ...................................................

2. Village (Umudugudu): ................................................................

3. Cell: ....................................................................................

a. 1960-1970 b. 1971-1980 c. 1981-1990 d. 1991-1994 e. 1995-2000 f.2001-2005 g.2006-2011

Through: a. purchase b. inheritance c. gift d. the government e. squatting f. Other Specify: .................................

If yes, specify the document(s): .....................................................................

g. Other: .............................................................................

8. Roof: a. iron sheet b. clay tiles c. other: ...............................................................

9. Wall: a. burnt bricks b. Adobe bricks c. earth and wattle d. other: ...........................

10. Floor: a. earth b. cement c. Tiles d. other: ........................................

15. Kigali city is implementing its conceptual master plan. What does it mean to you?

...............................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................

17. How do you think the implementation of Kigali conceptual master plan will affect you?

18. If your plot is susceptible to expropriation in public interest, what would you prefer?

....................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................

20. Former residents of Ubumwe cell who were relocated to Batsinda complain that they were paid cheaply and that Kigali city wanted to make enormous profits from Ubumwe cell. What is your perception on this matter?

21. What would you demand if you were among expropriated residents of Ubumwe cell?

......................................................................................................

22. How do you judge the expropriation process in Kigali city? The expropriation cost is:

23. What challenges do you envisage in the new housing development in Kigali city?

..................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................

a. ...............................................................................................................

b. ...............................................................................................................

Annex 2: Questionnaire for local leaders

Dear respondent, my name is MUGISHA John, a student at the national university of Rwanda in the department of geography. I am conducting a research on unplanned settlements in Kigali city with a case study of Amahoro cell, with the objective of `assessing the challenges of the transition from unplanned settlement to new housing development in Kigali city'. Your responses will serve a great deal towards achieving this objective.

a. Position: ...........................................................................

1. According to the national housing policy for Rwanda, 80% of Kigali is composed of unplanned settlements. Is this a problem to housing development in Kigali?

2. If the previous answer is yes, how is informal settlement defined in Kigali city?

............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................

5. If yes, what are the main factors that are helping housing development to boost?

...........................................................................................................

6. If no, what are the main factors that hinder the housing development industry in Rwanda?

7. In line with the implementation of the KCMP, Kigali master plan implementation projects have been developed starting with immediate developmental zones. Is this redevelopment clearing or relocating the existing informal settlements?

8. If the previous answer is yes, who are the main stakeholders in this redevelopment project?

9. Could you explain the main stages in this redevelopment project implementation and relocation/expropriation of existing unplanned settlements?

.....................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................

16. According to Kigali conceptual master plan, a bigger part of Muhima sector (150 Ha), and Amahoro cell inclusive, is planned for the central business district (CBD1). Yet, at present there is a large living in informal settlements. What do you plan for them?

17. Is there another site that will receive expropriated or evicted residents from the central business district zone?

............................................................................................................

19. What strategies are you using to implement the new housing development in Kigali city according to the master plan?

a. ......................................................................................................

b. .........................................................................................................

c. .........................................................................................................

a. .........................................................................................................

b. .........................................................................................................

21. What do you think will be the impacts of implementing Kigali conceptual master plan on the residents in informal houses?

i. .............................................................................................

ii. .............................................................................................

iii. .............................................................................................

i. .............................................................................................

ii. ............................................................................................

iii. ...........................................................................................

a. ....................................................................................................................................

b. ...................................................................................................

23. What would you recommend the residents or the Kigali city council for decent and socially inclusive housing?

a. ...................................................................................................

b. ...................................................................................................

ANNEX 3:Compensation prices

KIGALI CITY EXPROPRIATION PRICES AS APPROVED BY KIGALI CITY LAND COMMISSIONS TO BE USED WITH IN THE BOUNDARIES OF LIGALI CITY WITH EFFECT FROM JULY 2008.

NB: the following table shows an extract of land expropriation prices in Muhima sector. The expropriation prices are valid only in case of public interests.

Sector	Cell	Land price/m²	Land located along stone made road	Price of land/m² located along stone made road	Land located along tarmac road	Price of land/m² located along tarmac road
Muhima	Rugenge	1,950	1.25	2,438	1.5	2,925
Muhima	Kabeza	1,800	1.25	2,250	1.5	2,700
Muhima	Tetero	1,775	1.25	2,219	1.5	2,663
Muhima	Kabasengerezi	1,675	1.25	2,094	1.5	2,513
Muhima	Ubumwe	1,650	1.25	2,063	1.5	2,475
Muhima	Amahoro	1,575	1.25	1,969	1.5	2,363
Muhima	Nyabugogo	1,575	1.25	1,969	1.5	2,363

From unplanned settlement to new housing development in Kigali city: the case study of Amahoro cell, Muhima sector

Acknowledgements

1 Abstract

Table of contents

List of tables

List of figures

List of photographs

List of acronyms and abbreviations

2 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

2.1 Background to the study

2.2 Definitions of the working concepts

2.3 Problem statement

2.4 Research interest and motivation

2.5 Research hypotheses

2.6 Research objectives

2.7 Research design

2.8 Scope of the study

2.9 Problems and limitations

2.10 Organization of the research

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Study area

3.2 Data collection methods

3.2.1 Secondary data collection

3.2.1.1 National documents and policies

3.2.1.2 Spatial datasets acquisition

3.2.1.3 Academic documents

3.2.2 Primary data collection

3.2.2.1 Field observation and field measurement

3.2.2.2 Field survey

3.2.2.2.1 Questionnaire survey

3.2.2.2.2 Interview

3.2.3 Sampling techniques and sample size

3.3 Data integration, processing and analysis

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

4.1 Relocation experience in Ubumwe cell

4.2 Existing situation of Amahoro cell

4.2.1 Nature of housing

4.2.2 Physical and social infrastructure

4.3 Planning implications of Amahoro cell

4.4 Resident's perception on informal housing upgrading and master plan implementation

4.4.1 Perception on Kigali master plan

4.4.2 Perception on expropriation process and relocation

4.5 Housing regulation in Kigali city

4.6 Impact of new housing policies on unplanned settlement dwellers

4.6.1 Positive impacts

4.6.2 Negative impacts

4.7 Housing demand in Kigali city

4.8 Strategies for housing low and medium income groups in Kigali city

4.9 Major housing developers in Kigali city

4.10 Challenges in new housing development in Kigali city

5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

6 Conclusion

6.1 Recommendations

Reference

Annex 1: Questionnaire for residents

Annex 2: Questionnaire for local leaders

ANNEX 3:Compensation prices