Sustainable urban development for a better life in Namibia’s informal settlements

Context

Namibia is in the middle of transition from a rural to an urban society. By 2050, an estimated three-quarters of its population will live in cities. People’s ways of life, choices and goals are changing, with development challenges such as poverty, education and health increasingly shifting to the cities.

Cities grow primarily by establishing, condensing and expanding informal settlements. However, the occupants of the settlements lack secure land rights and live in poor conditions. Particular challenges of upgrading neighbourhoods are cost efficiency, resilience, safety, hygiene and lack of income opportunities.

Objective

The conditions for further developing informal settlements into liveable neighbourhoods in Namibia have improved.

Approach

With the support of the Namibian Ministry of Urban and Rural Development and selected partner cities, the project pools the engagement of residents and experts from various disciplines to create liveable neighbourhoods for inclusive and long-term urban development.

In the process, the project advises its partners on participatory and integrated urban development.

To achieve this, it improves skills and conditions as well as the applied cooperative planning of selected informal settlements with local planning stakeholders and the local population. The project also helps implement neighbourhood initiatives and, in cooperation with the Namibian Association of Local Authority Officials (NALAO), the establishment of an urban network for exchanging experience.

The project supports infrastructure financing by the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) and the use of digital solutions by the Innovation Technology Accelerator for Cities of the United Nations (UNITAC) Hamburg.

Last update: March 2024