The governance and politics of urban space in the postcolonial city: Kampala, Nairobi and Dar es Salaam

Abstract

With the fading of colonial memory in postcolonial Africa, dramatic changes are emerging and are shaping urban cities in quite significant ways. Urbanization is exploding. Large numbers of Africans are becoming town dwellers. Informal settlements alike are becoming the norm rather than the exception. Urban challenges have thus become complex, hence the need for an infrastructural rethink to urban governance and development in Africa. The interest for this paper is to explore the governance and politics of urban space in the postcolonial African city. My research question, put in its most general form, asks: what constitutes the governance and politics of urban space in postcolonial African city? By taking three East African cities of Kampala, Nairobi and Dar es Salaam as my main analytical units, I focus on: (1) understanding urban structures and dynamics of urban governance and political frameworks and networks of survival, and (2) exploring realities that shape urban governance within the global and neo-liberal context of postcolonial Africa. I draw upon comparative, qualitative and reflective exploratory research within the ream of socioanthropological, legal–political and architectural–geographical investigation. The article is hoped to invite further debate on this important phenomena.

A case for urban liveability from below: exploring the politics of water and land access for greater liveability in Kampala, Uganda

“…Our findings are in line with several research studies pointing out that central government officials frequently intervene altering actions, choices and decisions of the municipal council (Goodfellow and Titeca 2012; Gore and Muwanga 2014), preventing the local government to have a full and functional autonomy over its activities (Guma 2016;Lambright 2014;Madinah et al 2015;Mbazira 2013). As a result, the performance of the local councils has been weakened and deteriorated.…”

“…In mapping out the agents of urban liveability and understanding the institutional settings around delivery of services in the city, we review policy documents and reports on urban development and water services developed by the regional and local governments (KCCA 2015a, 2015b; MoWE 2016; NWSC 2016) and by NGOs and other organisations (Mugabi 2004; Tumushabe, Muyomba-Tamale, and Ssemakula 2011). We combined this with an analysis of other document types, such as memoranda, reports, press releases and articles in scientific journals (Bashaasha, Mangheni, and Nkonya 2011;Goodfellow and Titeca 2012;Gore and Muwanga 2014;Guma 2016;Lambright 2014;Madinah et al 2015;UBoS 2017). Furthermore, we conducted interviews with officials from the Ministry of Water and Environment, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) as well as NGOs to triangulate data for further confirmation of our understandings of barriers to water provision in slum areas in Kampala.…”

Navigating the city: dialectics of everyday urbanism

“…It is at these moments that forms of collaboration with the state become vital in providing the type of support and opportunity that is so difficult, and in many cases impossible, through the efforts of residents individually and collectively. This is complicated by the dual role of the state – on the one hand, KCCA, alongside the wetland and railway authorities, are planning to evict and demolish many parts of Namuwongo, partly in view of a major redevelopment plan for the city that extends to Lake Victoria (Guma ). But on the other hand, the municipality has also been responsible for providing at least some essential urban services – even if they are partial and temporary – such as waste collection and road improvements.…”

The climate crisis, carbon capital and urbanisation: An urban political ecology of low-carbon restructuring in Mbale

“…Here, the case study provides an example of what Rice (2014;385) terms the 'territorial politics of carbon' as it becomes entwined in longer histories of structural adjustment and (post)colonial control across East African cities (Guma, 2016). The process and outcome of this restructuring has been both predicated upon and helped to expand neoliberal logics of infrastructure operation (Graham and Marvin, 2001) through mobilising low-carbon intervention.…”

“…This is a fiscal context in which the Government of Uganda (2010: 3) has, 'adopted a policy of public-private partnership as a tool for the provision of public services and public infrastructure.' This turn toward the private sector across municipalities has been intensified through ongoing World Bank led reforms, especially concerning procurement from the late 1990s onwards that have effectively privatised many municipal services (Guma, 2016). In this case study the publicprivate partnership, a standard outcome of neoliberal governance (Brenner and Theodore, 2005) is extended into circulations of urban resources.…”