Understanding the concept of neighbourhood in Kigali City, Rwanda

Baffoe, G. , Malonza, J., Manirakiza, V. and Mugabe, L. (2020) Understanding the concept of neighbourhood in Kigali City, Rwanda. Sustainability, 12(4), 1555. (doi: 10.3390/su12041555)

Abstract

Though the relevance of the concept of neighbourhood in both research and policy oriented circles is unquestionable, the concept remains contested and fluid, making its operationalisation a daunting task, particularly in practice. This study explores how the concept of neighbourhood has been operationalised in Kigali city and how the neighbourhood boundaries and typologies are defined. This paper dwells on the review of relevant literature, interviews with 25 practitioners and field observations. It is argued that neighbourhood conceptualisation in Kigali is both theory—it bears the common aspects of neighbourhood definitions—and practice driven, reflecting modernity and context. On the one hand, modernity suggests the desire of planning authorities to follow contemporary planning practices. Context, on the other hand, reflects the desire to tailor local policies to country specific challenges. While boundaries follow subjective, administrative and physical models, typologies tend to be overly physical, focusing mainly on housing structures. This study identified three conventional neighbourhood typologies—planned, informal and mixed types. Given the predominance of informal and mixed neighbourhoods, this study further argues that such areas form the ‘bedroom’ and ‘transit point’ for most lower- and middle-class workers, in addition to serving as a ‘laboratory’ for testing various social interventions. This study recommends a well-serviced mixed classification typology to foster a strong sense of belongingness.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This study was conducted as part of the GCRF Centre for Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods’ (SHLC) activities. SHLC is funded via UK Research and Innovation as part of the UK Government’s Global Challenges Research Fund (Ref: ES/P011020/1).
• Keywords: urbanisation, neighbourhood, boundary, typology, Kigali.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Baffoe, Dr Gideon

Creator Roles

Baffoe, G.: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft

• Authors: Baffoe, G., Malonza, J., Manirakiza, V., and Mugabe, L.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
• Journal Name: Sustainability
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2071-1050
• ISSN (Online): 2071-1050
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Sustainability 12:1555
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
300882		GCRF Centre for Sustainable, Healthy, and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods (CSHLH)	Ya Ping Wang	Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)	ES/P011020/1	S&PS - Urban Studies