Fredrick Omolo: The evolution and practice of physical planning in Kampala

Abstract

The history of towns and town planning in the most rapidly urbanizing parts of the world is still a relatively neglected topic, yet what can make history worth writing, and what can make some history worth reading is the understanding of all the multifarious ways in which the general stimulus is related to the particular response. The process of learning and understanding the background and growth of a city can offer insight into origins, growth, theories, personalities, crisis, organizational culture, current trends, and future possibilities.

Kampala city was first planned in 1912, 1919 and later in 1930, 1951, 1972 and 1994 respectively. The out come of these interventions are not clearly known since there is little information available about planning in Kampala. There is very little documented about the history of physical planning and the ideas, theories, actors and processes that shaped the physical planning practice and plan preparation at each period. This has presented enormous problems to planning and continues to raise questions on the discrepancies and successes of the planning practice vis-à-vis outcomes available to see. Besides lack of documentation, limited research on the history of physical planning further compounds the problem, as there is limited historical reference to guide current and future planning practices in Uganda and Kampala in particular.

This study is henceforth an attempt to contribute towards addressing the above issues by exploring the historical development and practice of physical planning in Kampala by piecing together the disjointed data that may be available and establishing whether there is evidence of planning on ground according to the prepared and approved physical plans in some selected spatial contexts.

Attachments

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Fredrick Omolo: The evolution and practice of physical planning in Kampala DOC PDF PS