Struggles to remain in Kigali’s “unplanned” settlements: the case of Bannyahe

Abstract

Examining the precarious status of informal settlements in Kigali at a time of large-scale planning-induced expropriation, this article considers urban contestation in the context of the city’s changing spatial-legal regime. We analyse the case of one informal settlement’s expropriation and relocation – the settlement of Bannyahe – and the contestation that has ensued as resident property owners take the District of Gasabo to court. Through interviews with settlement residents, we follow the fates of these displaced urban citizens and consider their struggles to remain in their homes. Finally, we suggest that such contestation over legal procedural regularity and negotiation over property valuation at the neighbourhood level forms the limit of overt opposition to the city’s masterplan. Terming these limits to contestation “silent boundaries” that circumscribe contestation for property owners in the Bannyahe settlement, we offer perspectives on contestation and compromise amidst urban socio-spatial reordering in the “new Kigali”.

From Closed to Claimed Spaces for Participation: Contestation in Urban Redevelopment Induced-Displacements and Resettlement in Kigali, Rwanda

“…Under the latter option, the affected people are relocated to another site. These urban redevelopment-induced resettlement projects in Kigali are currently being challenged by strong resistance from affected slum dwellers [70].…”

Carceral urbanism: Reconstructing the architecture of punitive space in post-genocide Rwanda

“…Here, the central prison as the nodal point of colonial town planning (similar in some ways to 'prison towns' that are present in continental Europe and parts of the Eastern United States), was noticeably removed or functionally reorganized confluent with the advent of city masterplanning, and running in tandem with concerns over overcrowding and prison safety. My interviews and studies in the disappearing informal areas of the capital (Kimisagara, Kangondo and Kibiraro (also called Bannyahe), Gitega, and older built areas of Nyamirambo and Muhima) showed that masterplanning processes lacked wide participation amongst and accountability to low-income residents of the capital (Esmail and Corburn, 2020). The city was becoming a clean panopticon of restricted urban movement, negatively affecting the lives and livelihoods of many of its low-income residents.…”

Editorial: Acquiring housing – understanding outcomes, improving choices and “leaving no one behind”

“… 6. Esmail, Shakirah and Jason Corburn (2020), “Struggles to remain in Kigali’s “unplanned” settlements: the case of Bannyahe”, Environment and Urbanization Vol 32, No 1, pages 19–36. …”