In 2020, a geography class completed a walking study of Nyamwamba, an unplanned neighbourhood on the outer edge of Kampala, Uganda. Fig. 1 is a field-observ...
Question 1 Report
In 2020, a geography class completed a walking study of Nyamwamba, an unplanned neighbourhood on the outer edge of Kampala, Uganda. Fig. 1 is a field-observation drawing from a point beside a seasonal stream. Recent population growth in this city has increased demand for low-cost housing. The sketch shows narrow footpaths, small dwellings, shared water points and electricity wires. Some homes occupy the stream corridor, while a newer brick development is being built on higher ground. The class also noted that many residents travel to the urban centre for work, so consumption of water and energy rises during the evening. Kampala is one of many rapidly growing cities in lower-income countries, although international aid projects have supported drainage and renewable energy schemes in some areas.
Use Fig. 1 and your knowledge of urban development.
(a) Identify two features in Fig. 1 that suggest this is an informal settlement. [2]
(b) Describe how the location of some homes shown in Fig. 1 could increase risks to residents during heavy rainfall. [4]
(c) Explain why rapid population growth can make it difficult for a city authority to provide safe water, sanitation and energy supplies in informal settlements. [6]
(d) Assess the extent to which upgrading an existing informal settlement is a better strategy than relocating residents to a new planned development. Use the information in Fig. 1 and a named city or case study you have studied. [8]
Answer Details
(a) Two features suggesting an informal settlement are closely packed small dwellings and narrow, unplanned footpaths. Shared water points, temporary or corrugated materials, and rough overhead electricity connections are also acceptable. [2]
(b) Homes beside or inside the stream corridor are exposed when heavy rain increases stream discharge. Floodwater can enter homes and damage belongings. Blocked drainage can cause water to collect around buildings, while contaminated floodwater may contain sewage or waste and increase disease risk. Wet, unstable ground may also collapse or cause landslides. Any four developed risk points gain credit. [4]
(c) Rapid population growth raises total demand for clean water, so existing standpipes and pipes become insufficient and queues become longer. Housing may be built before sewers, drains and toilets are installed, causing waste to enter streams or open ground. Greater electricity use can overload limited networks and encourage unsafe informal connections. The authority may lack the finance, land, staff or time needed to expand services at the rate the population is growing. [6]
(d) Upgrading can provide piped water, drainage, toilets, safer electricity and improved roads while allowing residents to remain close to employment and social networks. It can cost less than purchasing a new site and constructing all new infrastructure. In Nyamwamba, improved drainage and moving homes a short distance from the stream corridor could reduce flood risk while retaining access to the urban centre.
However, limited space, insecure land tenure and homes on flood-prone land can restrict what upgrading achieves. Relocation can provide planned roads, sewers, safer construction and renewable energy from the start, but a distant planned development may increase travel costs and cut access to jobs, schools and transport.
A supported judgement is that upgrading is usually preferable where risks can be reduced and livelihoods retained, as in parts of Nyamwamba. Relocation is justified for households facing severe flood danger that cannot be made safe. [8]
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