Thesis:

Physical Planning and Urban Development in Rwanda: A Case Study of Muhima Sector Kigali

Despite the approval of several Physical plans in Rwanda with the aim of guiding and managing urban development in a planned manner, still town plans have yet to be put on the ground effectively to guide urban development thus urban areas are developing haphazardly. The main objective of this study is to analyze physical planning and urban development in Rwanda with specific objectives that include identifying aspects of physical planning, to assess the level of urban development, to identify the main stakeholders roles in physical planning in Rwanda and to examine the relationship between physical planning and urban development. This study is envisaged to benefit Policy makers who can use the information on physical planning to formulate policies. Investors can utilize the information to know how to structure their intervention to overcome the challenges in the sector. These institutions will understand what challenges they are dealing with and the scale of the issues they are supposed to deal with. Through literature review it was realized that Rwanda has no data on Physical Planning and urban development which led to the need of the research. The study utilizes both quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis. The sampling procedure for households was systematic random sampling while the sample size chosen was ensured to be as representative since the sample is more than 30% of the population. Some of the instruments used include household questionnaires which are dispensed to 130 households and interview schedules to 10 key informants. Data obtained from the field was processed and analyzed through computer-based programs. The analysis included both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. The findings of the study indicate that there are a variety of factors that leads to various trends in urban development through physical planning. The factors include failures in the processes of plan preparation especially in the initial stages at 48%; the limited resources that include finances, time and skilled labor in the planning field at 32%; lack of synchronization of plan objectives with those ones of the community development at 20%. Further the data collected indicates that there is a link between various aspects of the residents of Muhima sector with their development needs. The respondents who are below 40years of age needed interventions of the plan that focus more on enabling them earn a living. This includes interventions that bring more employment opportunities to their area and more business opportunities within their area of residents. Stakeholder involvement is key to the success of projects hence all projects should identify all the stakeholders and involve them in the project to boost success and ownership of the projects. Before a project is initiated, one should ensure that the resources are sufficient to run the project to conclusion to avoid stalling of projects. Prioritization of project subsets comes in handy to boost the success of projects. The case of Muhima means that we need to identify immediate entry points as they come out from stakeholder consultations. Projects are interlinked in city context. The case of Muhima indicates that physical planning projects are interdependent with other projects going on within the city. A case of housing project within the city that will lead to affordable housing for the people will tend to pull people who would either settle in Muhima to settle voluntarily in the alternative site hence minimizing stress on social networks. The length of physical planning project determines the level of satisfaction with such projects. People like to reap the benefits of a project as soon as possible hence the longer it takes the more it reduces satisfaction. Physical planning projects are like all other projects hence project phases should be keenly taken into consideration to minimize project stress and challenges. The recommendation from this study is that physical planning is an important tool to guide urban development therefore it should be utilized. All stakeholders should be involved to ensure that the plans produced represent their interest