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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Residential Morphology of Kampala |
Author: | Calas, B. |
Year: | 1992 |
Periodical: | Eastern and Southern Africa Geographical Journal |
Volume: | 3 |
Issue: | 1 |
Period: | January |
Pages: | 65-74 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs., ills. |
Geographic terms: | Uganda East Africa |
Subjects: | urban planning capitals Urbanization and Migration Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Development and Technology Military, Defense and Arms Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment geography Kampala (Uganda) urbanization land use urban environment |
Abstract: | This article focuses on the morphology of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. It examines the factors which account for Kampala's morphology and its specific characteristics. The dominant characteristic of the urban weft is the morphological opposition which exists between the east and the centre of the city, which display a rational development plan, on the one hand, and the rest of the built-up areas, whose organization is difficult to define, on the other. The dichotomy between private and public land underlies the constitution of two opposing plans symptomatic of the two logics informing the city's growth: public in the east and private in the west. This dichotomy derives from the history of Buganda's colonization by the British. Furthermore, a distinction based on social factors exists between the comfortable areas of the south and the common areas of the north. The site of Kampala, which is made up of oblong hills separated by large and badly drained valleys, has also influenced the urbanization process. Although twenty years of civil war have left their marks on the city, the destruction of buildings seems to have been fairly limited in number. However, the collective dwellings of old Kampala are in an incredibly dilapidated state due to lack of maintenance resulting from the political and economic turmoil of the past twenty years. Notes, ref., sum. |