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Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth

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  • RAISON, Windhoek, Namibia
Informal settlements in Namibia:
their nature and growth
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban
development more socially just and inclusive
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Informal settlements in Namibia:
their nature and growth
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more
socially just and inclusive
Beat Weber and John Mendelsohn
With the special assistance of Esleen Guriras and Alina Nambuli
2017
1
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
2
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Informal Settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Occasional Paper
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Beat Weber and John Mendelsohn
2017
Development Workshop Namibia
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Google earth: all satellite imagery.
978-99945-85-81-6
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Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Table of contents
Foreword 6
1 Introduction 11
2 Research approach and methods 12
3 Informal settlements and urban growth in Namibia 15
3.1 The growth of informal settlements in Namibia 15
3.2 Urban growth in the future 17
3.3 Drivers of informal urban growth 19
3.4 Characteristics of informal settlements in Namibia 21
3.4.1 Provision of infrastructure and services 22
3.4.2 Housing materials 25
3.4.3 Tenure security 26
3.4.4 Physical arrangements and location 27
3.4.5 Environmental challenges 29
3.4.6 Informal land and housing markets 31
3.5 Dierent typologies of informal settlements 33
4 National housing programmes and urban planning legislation 37
4.1 National housing programmes and initiatives 37
4.2 Planning legislation, policy, institutions and procedures 40
4.2.1 Town planning legislation and policy 40
4.2.2 Town planning institutions 41
4.2.3 Town planning processes: Township Establishment 42
4.2.4 Town planning tools: Town Planning Schemes 43
4.2.5 New legislation: Flexible Land Tenure System & Urban and
Regional Planning Bill 43
4.2.6 Costs of planning, surveying and servicing urban land 47
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Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
5 Urban planning and informal settlements: the cases of Gobabis, Outapi,
Oshakati, Windhoek and Otjiwarongo 49
5.1 Gobabis 49
5.1.1 Informal settlement growth 49
5.1.2 Characteristics of informal settlements 52
5.1.3 Urban planning and development approaches of the Municipality 53
5.2 Outapi 58
5.2.1 Informal settlement growth 58
5.2.2 Characteristics of informal settlements 60
5.2.3 Urban planning and development approaches of the Town Council 61
5.3 Oshakati 64
5.3.1 Informal settlement growth 65
5.3.2 Characteristics of informal settlements 70
5.3.3 Urban planning and development approaches of the Town Council 71
5.4 Windhoek 72
5.4.1 Informal settlement growth 73
5.4.2 Characteristics of informal settlements 79
5.4.3 Urban planning and development approaches of the City of Windhoek 81
5.5 Otjiwarongo 85
5.5.1 Informal settlement growth 86
5.5.2 Characteristics of informal settlements 88
5.5.3 Urban planning and development approaches of the Municipality 91
6 Conclusions and recommendations 92
6.1 The dynamics of informal settlements 92
6.2 Gaining control over informal settlement expansion 93
6.3 Importance of tenure security for social equity and economic eciency 94
6.4 Recommendations 95
7 Bibliography 97
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Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Foreword
This timely publication on the challenges of urban development in Namibia oers practical
and achievable solutions to help address current challenges in informal settlements, and
provides approaches for towns and villages to be pro-active in developing settlements in
future.
Research undertaken by Development Workshop Namibia explains the current situation of
unplanned urban growth and the challenges of contemporary urban development trends
in Namibia. It goes on to discuss how the challenges can be addressed eectively and
sustainably. It is encouraging to read how some local authorities lead the way by providing
aordable land to low income earners.
More than anything else, the research provides proof that pragmatic action by local
authorities is the key to success. While the new Urban and Regional Planning Bill will
provide a more appropriate framework for facilitating sustainable urban development, the
examples provided in this book clearly show that eective action is possible within the
limitations of current legislation. Budget constraints and outdated legislation are limiting
factors, but not excuses for inaction.
The Harambee Prosperity Plan calls for more private sector involvement in addressing
the housing crisis in Namibia. Unfortunately, most private sector attention is still on the
middle and upper income land and housing markets. Banks and developers are hesitant to
engage in the lower income segments of the market, especially due to the fact that prot
margins are low.
Our cities are our common future, however. Persistent poverty greatly aects the local
and national economy. If Namibia is to grow as a middle-income country, the same
opportunities must be open to everyone, irrespective of economic and social class. As
long as the majority of Namibians are excluded from the benets of a growing economy
- and the ownership of urban land is one of the most important cornerstones of inclusive
equitable economic growth - there are great risks that this growth will not be sustainable.
Presently, this exclusion is no-where more visible than in our informal settlements.
In many aspects, this book provides a wake-up call, showing that we are running out
of time. While informal settlements are growing rapidly, their absolute size is still small
compared to those of many of Namibia’s neighbours. With will and concerted action,
informal settlements can become a thing of the past in Namibia. Many have pointed out
correctly that informal settlements have no place in an upper middle-income country.
This research clearly shows that what is needed foremost to redress the situation is the
provision of legal land to the urban poor. With local authorities leading the way, I strongly
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Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
encourage banks and the private sector to support such action. Innovative thinking is
needed, as well as pragmatic approaches. Ignoring the urgent need for low cost land
demonstrates short sightedness and a lack of understanding that we are bound together
as a society and a country.
Strategic investments of Corporate Social Responsibility funds, international donor funding
and innovative commercial nancing can complement national and local authority budgets
to achieve the desired outcomes. The examples in this book show it clearly: with the right
attitude and will, informal settlement growth can be steered so that in-migrants have the
opportunity to develop their homes, families and enterprising vitality in structured, legal
settlements. It will then be easier for local authorities to ensure that newly established
settlements do not become isolated low income residential areas. With that foundation,
much of what is now regarded as an urban problem can be turned into a real opportunity
to build Namibia’s social and economic wealth.
I congratulate Development Workshop Namibia for this valuable initiative in urban
development in support of national development priorities.
Hon. Sophia Shaningwa
Minister of Urban and Rural Development
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Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Acronyms
ALAN Association of Local Authorities in Namibia
BTP Build Together Programme
CoW City of Windhoek
CSR Corporate Social Responsibility
DW Development Workshop
DWN Development Workshop Namibia
EIA Environmental Impact Assessment
FLTS Flexible Land Tenure System
GIZ Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (German Cooperation)
ILMI Integrated Land Management Institute
MLR Ministry of Land Reform
MURD Ministry of Urban and Rural Development
MHDP Mass Housing Development Programme
MULSP Mass Urban Land Servicing Programme
NAMPAB Namibia Planning Advisory Board
NCE Namibian Chamber of Environment
NDP National Development Plan
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
NHAG Namibia Housing Action Group
NHE National Housing Enterprise
NUST Namibia University of Science and Technology
OSHIP Oshakati Human Settlement Improvement Project
SADF South African Defense Force
SDFN Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia
UN United Nations
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Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Acknowledgements
A great number of people and organisations contributed to the production of this book.
These include all informal settlement residents that were interviewed in the course of
the research and the Town Councils and Municipalities in Gobabis, Outapi, Oshakati and
Windhoek.
The following NGO, private sector and academic institutions also provided valuable
assistance: Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia, Stubenrauch Planning Consultants,
Urban Dynamics Town and Regional Planners, Knight Piésold (Pty) Ltd. (Namibia) and the
Department of Architecture and Spatial Planning of the Namibia University of Science and
Technology (NUST).
Special thanks are due to the following people for their assistance: Methusalem Ashipala,
Leon Barnard, Chris Brown, Allan Cain, Ase Christensen, Søren Christensen, Guillermo
Delgado, Conrad Dempsey, Steve Galloway, Pieter Genis, Esleen Guriras, Thomas Hänert,
Martha Iitula, Eldo Kaiyamo, Frans Kambonde, Ndinelao Kakonda, Yvonne Kavezepa, Faniel
Maanda, Patricks Mbala, Martin Mendelsohn, Judith Middleton, Cilliers Mostert, Anna
Muller, Alina Nambuli, Melki Namupolo, Johann Opperman, Ted Rudd, George Samuels,
Orestus Shilunga, Herman Strydom, Günther Stubenrauch and Claudia Uushona.
We gratefully acknowledge the nancial support of the German Cooperation oce in
Windhoek (GIZ) and the Namibian Chamber of Environment (NCE).
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Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
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Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
1. Introduction
Namibia is undergoing a rapid and major transition from a rural-based society to one
based largely in urban areas. This transition is most visible in rapid urban growth, especially
in informal settlements that accommodate poor families in shacks on the edges of towns.
Namibia’s urban areas now have some 140,000 informal houses, a number likely to double
over the coming 7 or 8 years if this trend is not addressed urgently. Similar patterns of rapid,
unplanned informal settlement growth are to be seen elsewhere in southern Africa, and in
developing countries around in the world.
The economic, social and environmental costs of informal growth and unplanned urban
development are huge for Namibia as a country, and as a society. New forms of poverty
and inequality will be entrenched over generations to come if towns fail to develop in
ways that facilitate the transition from rural to urban society.
By many standards, the continuous rapid growth of informal settlements is one of Namibia’s
biggest development challenges. However, relatively little information is available on the
nature and characteristics of informal settlements, and their growth in towns across the
country. Similarly, the absence of a national, eective eort to address informal settlement
growth is visible in the rapid expansion of shack settlements in most Namibian towns.
The main objective of this book is twofold:
First, it aims to provide objective information about the growth of informal
settlements and their social, economic and environmental dimensions.
Second, the book describes dierent approaches to urban planning and development
that have been applied by local authorities to address informal settlement growth.
Five towns were selected for detailed study: Gobabis, Otjiwarongo, Oshakati, Outapi,
and Windhoek. While details dier from town to town, some of the key issues that were
identied are clearly linked to broader Namibian development and institutional contexts,
in particular the movement of people from rural to urban areas and the consequent
expansion of low-income settlements. It is therefore hoped that these ndings contribute
to the formulation of policy and programs that improve social and economic development
in Namibia.
11
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
2. Research approach and methods
Several methods were used to gather information for this research. First, informal settlement
growth in Gobabis, Otjiwarongo, Oshakati, Outapi, and Windhoek was measured using high
resolution satellite imagery or aerial photographs. Roof-top counts of shack-like structures
were made from images taken around the time of the national 2011 census, and a second
count for each town was then done using images taken in 2016 or 2017. The dierence in
the number of shacks counted in 2011 and 2016 or 2017 provided a measure of informal
settlement expansion.
The mapping also provided information on where informal settlements were developing
and how they developed and expanded.
Figure 1: The location of the ve towns that were the subject of study for this book, and the
location and size of informal settlements across Namibia.1
Gobabis
Windhoek
Oshakati
Outapi
Otjiwarongo
Number of shacks
Less than 150
150 - 300
300 - 500
500 - 1,000
More than 1,000
1 Information on the location and size of informal settlements was adapted from SDFN (2009)
12
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Probable informal houses were identied and mapped using the following criteria: they
were in areas that lacked a formal structure or layout (for example of roads and plots);
the houses were similar in size (to exclude larger shops, stores or tiny shops and toilets);
spacing between adjacent houses was roughly similar in any area; and the roofs of these
houses lacked the structure, pattern and size normally seen in low-income formal housing.
The shack count for each town was done twice by dierent technicians to minimize errors
and bias. Nevertheless, the counts are certain to include some structures that were not
houses, and – conversely – to exclude some that were houses. Nevertheless, the counts
provide measures of the growth, distribution, size and nature of informal housing.
Secondly, the towns were visited and meetings were held with town council and
municipality representatives. Informal settlements and the locations of projects mentioned
in this book were visited, and information was gathered on informal settlements that
had been upgraded recently or were in the process of being upgraded. These areas
were mapped and described in the respective chapters for each town. The mapping of
these areas provides a measure of the local authority’s progress in upgrading and the
formalisation of informal settlement areas.
A more general objective was to understand how local authorities deal with rapid informal
settlement growth. Given that local authorities are the main implementers or coordinators
Figure 2: Part of the Kanaan informal settlement in Gobabis. Each mapped informal house is
marked as a red point.
13
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
of any housing or urban development program, it was desirable to assess the success of
dierent approaches to providing land and housing. Field work in the towns was also used
to gather perspectives on the many levels of informality, and the complexity of upgrading,
formalising and proclamation eorts.
Third, census data from 1991, 2001 and 2011 was analysed to provide data related to urban
growth, especially that of informal housing. The following variables were used to assess
growth in the informal sector: types of housing (formal buildings versus shacks); types of
fuel for cooking (electricity, gas, paran versus wood); and types of toilet (formal types
versus no toilet, i.e. the bush). These are all measures of informality, as are the counts of
shacks in unstructured settlements visible in aerial and satellite photographs.
Fourth, existing documentation was examined and interviews were held with key
stakeholders from local authorities, the private and NGO sector.
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Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
3. Informal settlements and urban growth in
Namibia
3.1 The growth of informal settlements in Namibia
Namibia’s overall population grew from 1,409,915 in 1991 to 2,113,077 people in 2011. The
urban population almost tripled from 382,280 to 903,434 over that period, while the rural
population only increased by about 220,000 people from 1991 to 2001, and then actually
decreased by some 20,000 people from 2001 to 2011. National growth over the past two
decades thus largely occurred in towns and cities.
Between 1991 and 2011, most Namibian towns achieved an annual growth rate of more
than 4%. Some urban centres grew even faster, for example Oshakati at an average of 7%
per year. By contrast, some towns in southern Namibia grew rather little.
Figure 3: The number of people in rural and urban areas recorded during
censuses between 1936 and 2011.
0
300,000
600,000
900,000
1,200,000
1,500,000
Rural
Urban
Number of people
2001199119811970195119461936 2011
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Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Table 1. The population sizes and growth rates of selected towns using census gures
from 1991, 2001 and 2011.
Town 1991 2001 2011 Annual growth
rate 1991-2011
Total growth
1991-2011
Rundu 26,125 40,714 61,872 4.4% 137%
Oshakati 9,303 26,775 35,600 6.9% 283%
Katima Mulilo 12,599 23,786 28,200 4.1% 124%
Windhoek 141,562 227,543 322,300 4.2% 128%
Walvis Bay 21,249 42,015 61,300 5.4% 188%
Keetmanshoop 13,643 14,945 18,900 1.2% 26%
Gobabis 8,330 13,739 19,101 4.2% 129%
Outapi 2,351 3,373 6,727 5.4% 186%
Otjiwarongo 14,558 19,477 28,249 3.4% 94%
The age structures of urban and rural populations are quite dierent. In particular, rural
populations are dominated by young people whereas urban areas consist predominantly
of working-age people. This is a consequence of high rates of in-migration by young adults
to urban centres.
While overall urban growth has been considerable, it is important to understand how
much of this growth occurred in formal urban areas and how much in informal areas. The
structures of homes provide a useful measure of this. As indicated in Figure 5, bricks or
block houses and shacks made of corrugated iron dominate urban growth. From 1991 to
2011, the number of brick or block houses roughly doubled from 73,881 houses to 163,793.
During the same period, the number of shacks (and, to a lesser degree, houses made of
Figure 4: Age pyramids of rural and urban areas recorded during the 2011 census.
15
65
RURAL
50,000
50,000
100,000
100,000
URBAN
50,000
50,000
100,000
100,000
90+
85-89
80-84
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64
55-59
50-54
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
15-19
10-14
5-9
0-4
Male Female Male Female
Age
Number of people
16
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
traditional materials such as wood) multiplied more than seven times from 10,288 to
77,899 homes. The growth rate of shacks was therefore more than three times higher than
of formal brick or block houses. In 1991, 86% of all urban houses were made from bricks or
blocks and only 12% where shacks, but by 2011 one third (32%) of all urban homes were
shacks. The map in Figure 1 shows that informal settlements are across Namibia, even in
the smallest towns. A survey in 2009 counted a total of 398 separate informal settlements
in Namibia (SDFN 2009).
These statistics also provide a measure of the demand for housing and services, since it can
be assumed that families living in shacks are in need of formal housing and piped water,
sewage, waste removal and electricity services. Thus, in 2011 about 78,000 formal houses
were needed to replace the urban shacks. That gure had grown to about 140,000 houses
in 2017.
The rate of annual growth in the number of urban shacks between 1991 and 2011 was
10.6%, which likewise provides a measure of how demand for formal houses increases
each year.
3.2 Urban growth in the future
Projections using growth rates recorded between the 1991, 2001 and 2011 censuses
provide indications of how housing will change in Namibia, in particular the numbers and
proportions of formal and informal urban homes. The projections are presented in Figure 6
in which there are several points of interest:
1. There are now about 140,000 urban shacks in Namibia, 10 times more than in 1991.
2. The number of urban shacks will outnumber formal urban brick/block houses by
2025, and it will outnumber all rural houses by 2023. The predominant form of
housing in Namibia will then be urban shacks.
15
65
RURAL
50,000
50,000
100,000
100,000
URBAN
50,000
50,000
100,000
100,000
90+
85-89
80-84
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64
55-59
50-54
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
15-19
10-14
5-9
0-4
Male Female Male Female
Age
Number of people
Figure 5: Pie diagrams of the percentages and a table of the numbers of different house types
in 1991, 2001 and 2011.
Other house
Shack
Brick or block
2
2
1
12 21 32
86 77 67
Year 1991 2001 2011
Brick or block 73,881 106,594 163,793
Shack 10,288 29,765 77,899
Other house 1,849 2,321 1,687
Total 86,018 138,680 243,379
17
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
3. Namibia will have over half a million urban shacks 13 years from now in which about 2
million people will live.
4. The number of urban homes in 2030 will be about 3.5 times more than all the rural
homes.
These projections are based on the assumption that growth will persist at the rates
recorded between the last censuses. Based on current experience and past trends that
seems possible, perhaps even probable. For example, the number of urban shacks grew
each year by 11.2% between 1991 and 2001, and by 10.1% between 2001 and 2011. Urban
formal housing grew at 3.7% each year between 1991 and 2001, and by 4.4% from 2001
to 2011.
Based on the 2001-2011 growth rates, the estimated numbers of formal brick houses and
informal shacks from 2015 to 2017 are given in the following Table. These gures indicate
that of an estimated 21,632 urban homes built between 2016 and 2017, 12,712 (59%) were
shacks and 8,911 (41%) were formal structures.
Table 2: Estimated number of formal and shack houses in 2015, 2016 and 2017
2015 2016 2017
Formal housing units 194,447 202,983 211,894
Number of additional formal units 8,536 8,911
Informal housing units 114,393 125,947 138,668
Number of additional informal units 11,554 12,721
Total number of additional homes 20,090 21,632
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Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
3.3 Drivers of informal urban growth
Urban growth is usually fuelled by two major processes: natural growth of the resident
urban population and in-migration from rural to urban areas or from smaller towns to
bigger ones.
In Namibia, most urban growth has been caused by in-migration (Pendelton et al. 2014). In
the case of Windhoek, for example, the 2011 census shows that 62% of all the city’s 324,470
residents were born outside Khomas region.2
Figure 6: Numbers of formal (brick or block) and shack homes in Namibia between 1991 and
2011, and projected forwards to 2031.
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
houses
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
Year
533,500
386,500
251,500
Urban shack homes
Rural homes
Urban brick/block homes
2 Nickanor (2013) notes that in her household survey in the constituencies of Tobias
Hainyeko, Katutura Central, Khomasdal North, Samora Machel and Moses Garoëb, over
80% of interviewed heads of household were born in rural areas. This indicates that the
percentage of people born outside Windhoek is higher in informal areas than in formal
ones.
19
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Why do so many Namibians move from their rural homes to live in informal urban
housing? The major reason for most movements to towns is the quest for jobs and money
(Pendleton et al. 2014, Indongo et al. 2013). Other reasons include rural poverty, family
issues and education, with many households having multiple reasons for migrating.
There are important linkages between these factors. For example, people seeking higher
education at urban universities are also attracted to the greater availability of jobs in
urban areas. Graduates are therefore unlikely to return to rural areas. Likewise, economic
conditions in towns are particularly attractive to people who live in places where there are
few jobs or opportunities to start enterprises. This is the case in most rural areas of Namibia
where farming is the dominant land use. Here it is hard to earn signicant incomes from
farm produce because environmental conditions – notably low soil fertility and shortages
Figure 7: Birthplaces of people living in Windhoek during the 2011 census, shown by the
percentages of Windhoek people born in different regions or outside Namibia. Most people
were born in the areas shaded dark.
//Karas 2.0%
Hardap 4.0%
Otjozondjupa 3.9%
Omaheke 3.4%
Oshikoto 5.4%
Oshana
5.0%
Kunene 1.0%
Zambesi1.6%
Khomas 38.3%
Omusati
10.5%
Ohangwena 9.8%
East & West Kavango 3.3%
Erongo 3.1%
Elsewhere 8.7%
20
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
of rain – keep farm production very low, with little chance of having surpluses that could
be made available for sale. Access to markets is also not easy in a large country with such a
small population as Namibia. Additionally, many farmers prefer to keep any surpluses and
livestock as security for the future.
For these reasons most cash in circulation in communal areas comes from pensions,
orphans’ grants, wages for teachers and other civil servants, remittances and retail trade.
The majority of income therefore comes from sources that have nothing to do with farming
or rural homes.
Migrants are thus attracted by urban economic opportunities, but also spurred away by
the poor economic prospects that prevail in rural areas. Since migrants have aspirations
similar to people who have spent their entire lives in urban areas, planners may expect
immigrants to grow their own families, to wish for comfortable lives, and to have long-term
goals for their urban future.
In summary, rural life is tough in most parts of Namibia, especially for anyone wishing
to earn a moderate income. There are exceptions: large commercial farms, big livestock
holdings on communal land, irrigated smallholdings, lodges and tourist camps, mines,
special plant products to harvest and sell (devil’s claw for example) and trophy hunting. All
these exceptions generate money, but there are too few enterprises to support substantial
numbers of people.
3.4 Characteristics of informal settlements in Namibia
With informal settlements dominating urban growth, it is important to understand the
nature and characteristics of these settlements, how people live in them, what opportunities
they may have, and what constrains their quality of life.
Many international organizations identify key features that characterise or dene slums or
informal settlements,3 and many countries use their own criteria appropriate to the local
characteristics of their informal settlements. However, commonly included denitions
relate to the provision of infrastructure and services, housing materials, tenure security,
the physical structure and location of settlements, environmental challenges and informal
land and housing markets.
3.4.1 Provision of infrastructure and services
Infrastructure and services strengthen the socio-economic development of a household.
Electricity, water, sanitation and good transport facilitate the lives of household members,
freeing-up time for productive economic activities and reducing socio-economic
3 See for example: United Nations (2015), World Bank (2008)
21
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
vulnerability, as well as many preventable illnesses. While investments have been made
to service some urban poor in Namibia since independence, the investments have not
kept pace with the rapid growth of informal settlements. Many settlements are therefore
partially serviced, or not at all.
The Namibian 2011 census provides indicators to assess the numbers of urban people who
lack basic services. Two indicators are considered here: the types of cooking fuel and types
of toilets used by urban residents.
Figure 8 shows the use of dierent cooking fuels over three census periods (1991, 2001
and 2011). While the use of electricity (and also gas) expanded considerably by 2011, some
54,000 urban homes with approximately 205,200 people4 still relied on wood as the main
cooking fuel in 2011. With increased woodland loss at the periphery of informal settlements,
the distances and time taken to collect wood increase. Furthermore, open res are a health
and safety hazard, especially in winter when open res are used to warm shacks. For those
who buy rewood, the considerable expenses can be higher than household expenses for
schooling, or even transport.5
4 Number of people calculated on an average urban household size of 3.8 according to the
2011 census.
5 Nickanor (2013) assessed household expenditures in her sample population: On average,
households used about 13-16% on fuel, compared to 11-13% on transport, 8-11% on
education and 8-9% on housing. The biggest expenditure was on food (20%) and utilities
(15-19% of total household expenditure).
Wood
Paran
Gas
Electricity
Year 1991 2001 2011
Electricity 44,245 76,905 141,354
Gas 14,146 17,078 31,803
Paran 1,079 14,305 15,219
Wood 25,816 28,589 54,226
Other fuel 732 1,803 777
Total 86,018 138,680 243,379
51 55
58
1
10 6
16 12 13
22
21
30
Figure 8: Pie diagrams of the percentages, and a table of the numbers of all urban households
using different types of cooking fuel in 1991, 2001 and 2011.
22
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
While the use of private and shared ush toilets increased considerably after 1991, by 2011
there were still about 57,000 urban households with approximately 250,800 residents
lacking access to any toilet facilities (Figure 9). These census results also show that the
percentage of urban residents without toilets almost doubled from 13% in 1991 to 24%
2011.
The ensuing lack of hygiene has considerable negative impacts on the safety and health
of people in informal settlements, as well as on people elsewhere in towns. For example,
women face safety risks when obliged to use the bush at night. And faeces on open
ground are the cause of many illnesses, especially for children. In Windhoek, diarrhoea is
the third-most common cause for hospital attendance, and the second-highest cause of
paediatric admissions.6 This is a strong indicator of the profound negative impact of these
sanitary circumstances on informal settlement residents, adding an additional burden to
the already poor and vulnerable.
Many residents in informal settlements depend upon – and often fetch themselves – rewood
from naturally wooded areas around town.
6 See for example: The Toilet under the Rock (The Namibian, 25 April 2017) https://www.
namibian.com.na/163929/archive-read/The-toilet-under-the-rock
23
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
No toilet
Pit or bucket
Shared ush
Private ush
63 47
45
15
25
22
8
10
9
13 18 24
Year 1991 2001 2011
No toilet 11,317 24,726 57,288
Pit or bucket 6,584 13,281 21,898
Private Flush 54,337 65,195 109,518
Shared Flush 13,094 34,302 53,458
Other toilet 686 1,176 1,217
Total 86,018 138,680 243,370
Figure 9: Pie diagrams of the percentages of homes having different types of toilets in all
urban areas in 1991, 2001 and 2011, while the number of homes with different toilets are in
the table.
7 Anecdotal evidence suggests that a considerable percentage of shared ush toilets in
Windhoek’s informal areas do not function (Nickanor 2013).
Shared toilets, be they ush or other types, are
widely used in informal settlements, especially
in Windhoek. However, problems related to
maintenance responsibilities shared among
users are often the cause of their depilated and
dysfunctional state.7
24
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
3.4.2 Housing materials
The great majority of houses in urban areas are constructed of either bricks or blocks
(formal structures) or corrugated iron (informal structures). Information on the number of
homes built with these materials was presented in Chapter 3.1. Additionally, there are small
numbers of homes in prefabricated buildings and traditional structures.
Corrugated iron is cheap.8 A simple shack can be erected within a day or so, and in case
the shack has to be moved, the material can be used to erect a new structure in a dierent
location. Local authorities also tolerate corrugated iron in informal settlements, where the
use of permanent construction materials for houses is often prohibited.
However, many shack residents have the means to build with bricks if they were allowed to
do so. Recent research reveals the broad range of monthly incomes in informal settlements,
which in certain areas of Windhoek were found to range between N$300 and N$35,000,
and up to three-quarters of heads of household had some sort of formal employment
(Seliger 2016). With these kinds of incomes most shack owners could invest in permanent
housing structures, at least incrementally and over time. Residents of informal settlements
in neighbouring countries with generally lower income levels than Namibia normally
build much more with permanent building materials.9 Similar conditions hold in certain
Namibian towns where residents may build with bricks in some informal settlements,
sometimes to such an extent that housing with permanent building materials is the
dominant type of housing.10
Although residents of informal areas are poorer than other urbanites, shacks tted with
DSTV dishes and with cars parked in their backyard reect the relative afuence of many
shack dwellers.
8 The materials for the construction of a small 3 x 3 meter shack with a door and one window
may cost up to N$7,000. Some people add insulation, for example by applying wooden
panels along the inside of the walls.
9 In the case of Angola, see for example DW & CEHS (2005)
10 This can be observed in towns such as Ruacana, Rundu and Oshakati.
25
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
3.4.3 Tenure security
Secure tenure – or the lack thereof – is a third indicator of urban informality. In Namibia,
houses erected in un-proclaimed settlements are not eligible for freehold title and do not
have formal tenure security over the land on which they are built. This has many drawbacks
since land tenure security is fundamentally important for:
a. Socio-economic household development in terms of generating wealth;
b. Use as collateral for commercial loans;
c. Protection against eviction;
d. Regulating the transfer of rights.
a. Socio-economic household development in terms of generating wealth
Tenure security provides a means to secure investments made into a property, and
to generate wealth over generations. Investments in property are also one of the most
eective ways of building up savings, especially for the poor that often lack other methods
of savings available to the better o. For poor people, such savings are especially important
to reduce socio-economic vulnerability, and to provide an economic springboard for
future generations. Compelling evidence from across the world indicates that the poor are
able, and willing to create savings through their properties – if only they are provided with
the opportunity to do so.
The absence of tenure security therefore denies the poor one of their most important
investment opportunities, limiting economic development options, and maintaining
current vulnerability and poverty. Children from homes denied investments in land are
at a competitive disadvantage with those in the formal parts of towns that inherit legally
recognized, and therefore valuable property.
b. Serving as collateral for commercial loans
Namibia’s well-functioning banking sector often requires property as collateral security for
loans, and so the lack of a registered property makes it much harder for the poor to access
credit to further their economic development. This again puts – and keeps – the poor at
a competitive disadvantage compared with people in formal urban areas where property
owners benet from registered tenure security.11
11 Recent research in Namibia nevertheless suggests that the willingness of poor households
to mortgage their property for commercial loans may be limited, mainly because the
property is the only secure asset of the household and the risks of losing it are perceived as
high. See for example Seliger (2016).
26
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
c. Providing protection against eviction
Despite investments made into shacks, there always remains the risk of eviction and the
loss of these modest assets. The uncertainty of being evicted can put immense additional
pressure on households,12 and further make informal property owners reluctant to invest
to improve their living conditions.
d. Regulating the transfer of rights
Tenure security facilitates and regulates the transfer of land rights, thus helping protect
the vulnerable from abuse by the more powerful, for example. By regulating the sale and
inheritance of land, conicts are avoided, and the weaker, more vulnerable people are
protected, such as children, women and the poor.
3.4.4 Physical arrangements and location
Many informal settlements have irregular physical layouts that are not formally planned.
Furthermore, most informal settlements are located at the peripheries of the formal towns,
making commuting times costly and time consuming.
The lack of organised and planned physical structures creates various disadvantages for
informal settlement residents, three important ones being:
1. Laying and providing services to unstructured informal settlements is dicult.
Infrastructure such as water pipes, electricity grids and sewage systems are usually
laid along roads, without which the installation of infrastructure becomes challenging,
indeed often impossible.
2. Unstructured and unplanned settlements cannot be legally proclaimed under current
planning legislation and policy, eectively condemning them to permanent informal
status without tenure rights for their residents.
3. Once an unstructured informal settlement densies, restructuring and upgrading
becomes costly, since it usually involves resettling residents to provide space for the
layout of roads and erven.
12 For the case of Windhoek, see for example: Mooya & Cloete (2010) and Ishimael (2016)
27
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
The physical structure of an informal settlement therefore has a major inuence on its
development. If there is a basic road layout and space available for public services (such as
schools and clinics), the settlement can be proclaimed by regular administrative procedures
and upgraded with the installation of services and infrastructure. However, if a settlement
suers from both minimal structure and a high population density, development is
eectively blocked unless considerable resources are invested to physically reorder the
homes and other structures.
Physically ordered informal settlements thus have great advantages, increasing the
chances for residents to obtain secure tenure, services and all the associated benets
outlined above. As described in Chapter 5, many local authorities are well aware of this fact,
and have used scarce local resources to ensure that new, growing informal settlements
have basic road layouts that allow for proclamation, and the eventual installation of basic
services and infrastructure.
Table 3: Summary of implications of a lack of tenure security and planned settlement
structure
No structure 1. Limited options to legalise settlement
2. No secure tenure
3. Limited provision of services and infrastructure
4. Limited overall development options for the settlement
5. Development is nancially costly, requires the shifting of people and
may incur considerable political costs
No tenure 1. No investment or wealth generation options
2. Limited access to credit
3. Risks of eviction
4. Limited protection for the transfer of land rights
Examples of unstructured, unplanned and disorganised informal residential areas
28
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
3.4.5 Environmental challenges
Informal settlements create, or are associated with various environmental problems, most
of which stem from inadequate services, infrastructure and planned physical structure.
Three challenges are of particular concern in Namibia:
a. Removal of vegetation and degradation around informal settlements
b. Open solid waste and pollution of water resources
c. Flooding
a) Removal of vegetation and deforestation at the periphery of informal settlements
Large areas of natural woodland have been steadily cleared, mainly by residents in informal
settlements who are too poor to use other fuels for cooking and heating. Areas thus
degraded expand over the years, as result of increasing demands for wood and because
rewood is only available beyond zones that have already been cleared. The clearing
sometimes leads to increased soil erosion, mainly by water owing along paths trodden by
people harvesting wood. Interestingly, the production and sale of charcoal to low income
urban residents has not developed in Namibia, unlike in most central African countries.
A donkey cart is used to carry wood to an informal settlement in Gobabis. Bulk supplies of
rewood, such as this, are often for sale.
29
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
b) Open solid waste and pollution of water resources
Local authorities sometimes lack the resources or inclination to collect solid waste
systematically and regularly. The problem may be severe in informal settlements where
waste collection and removal services are often absent. The accumulated waste is
unsightly, and a source of disease and pollution, especially when heavy rains wash away
rubbish. Faecal material that accumulates in river beds, under bridges and in shrubby areas
is likewise a source of disease. In 2011, a total of 16,344 homes in Windhoek used the
bush for their toilet requirements. Extrapolations using growth rates between the 2001
and 2011 census indicate that there should now be about 30,000 Windhoek homes faced
with the same daily problem. With about 4 people in each home, the volume of excrement
generated by the 30,000 families each day is colossal.
Water in Windhoek’s Goreangab Dam is badly contaminated by domestic and human
waste, much of the pollution coming from surrounding informal settlements. It is widely
believed that pollution from Windhoek badly contaminated water in the Swakoppoort
Dam in 2011 when very heavy rain swept large volumes of waste into the dam. Even now
in 2017, the water remains so contaminated that it can only be used in a diluted state. As
one of Windhoek’s major sources of water, Swakoppoort’s contamination is an extremely
serious problem, especially when other water sources are meagre.13
Solid and other waste being swept down an oshana by ood waters close to Ongwediva.
Much of that waste will collect and settle downstream in the Omadhiya Lakes and even in
Etosha Pan.
13 Another possible explanation, or contributory factor, is that large volumes of minerals in
the dam had been leached by the heavy rain from rock formations in its catchment.
30
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
c) Flooding
The towns located in the Etosha-Cuvelai Basin (such as Outapi, Oshakati, Ongwediva,
Ondangwa and Oshikango) are prone to ooding. Space on higher ground above the
reach of oods is limited and fully allocated to formal urban uses. Informal settlements
have therefore expanded in drainage lines (iishana) and other lowlands that are periodically
ooded. The settlements suered severe damage in 2008, 2009 and 2011.
3.4.6 Informal land and housing markets
Access to residential land and housing in informal settlements is normally not regulated
by law or ocial procedures. The land and housing market is therefore also informal, in
contrast to the formal market in the ‘formal’ parts of Namibia’s towns. The market consists
of two segments: the land market, and the housing market.
a. The land market
Residents get access to land in a variety of ways, many of which characterise informality:
Illegal occupation: a resident simply occupies a piece of land without any authority.
This occurs commonly at the margins of informal settlements, and results in
unstructured urban sprawl. People living on land occupied in this fashion are
frequently targeted for eviction by local authorities.
Purchase: a resident purchases a piece of land from a land occupant or ‘owner’
who has some sort of ownership claim over the area. Research conducted in 2009
Badly ooded homes during the peak of the 2011 oods in Oshakati. Many residents had to
be evacuated from their homes and housed in tented camps.
31
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
indicated that amounts up to N$3,500 were then paid for informal residential plots
(Mooya 2009). Some evidence suggests that some informal plots may be sold for
prices as high as N$45,000,14 and informal plots in peri-urban areas are sold for
between N$10,000 and N$75,000.15
Allocation by community leader: some residents state that the land where they built
their shack was allocated to them by a local community leader.
Rent of erf: informal plots are rented with lease fees paid to either the plot ‘owner’ or
the local authority. The occupant pays a rental fee for the land, but puts up her/his
own shack dwelling.
Allocation by local authority: some informal land is allocated by local authorities. The
informal market is then at the interface with the formal market, with the expectation
of the informal land being formalised at some stage.
Allocation by family: in many cases new family members put up back-yard shacks on
plots that belong to their parents or other family members. Some residents report
that this form of land acquisition is often practiced to avoid being seen to occupy
vacant land illegally. This may be one of the most important factors contributing to
the continuing densication of informal settlements.
b. The housing market
Renting: Prices for rent vary, depending on the town, shack location and shack size. Some
are as low as N$100-400 per month, while a shack near a main road with its own electricity,
water and sanitation systems may rent for N$2,000, for instance.16 Rental agreements
between tenant and land lord are normally verbal, but often in the presence of witnesses.
Anecdotal evidence from the ve towns studied for this research suggests that the erection
and rental of shacks is an established business practice, their land lords often living in the
formal parts of town.
Shack purchase/sale: shacks are sold and purchased in informal settlements, with
prices varying according to town, location, size and quality of the construction.
According to some residents, prices may range between N$4,000 and N$10,000. Most
sales agreements seem to be verbal.
Self-construction: many residents that acquire informal land build their own shack.
The costs vary according to size and quality. A one-bedroom shack may cost as little
as N$1,500 for the materials and N$1,500 for labour.17 Bigger dwellings, with more
bedrooms, concrete oors, windows, doors and some insulation may cost N$7,000 or
more.18
14 For example, according to a sales advertisement on Facebook on 16 May 2017
15 Mendelsohn & Nghitevelekwa (2017).
16 The increasing cost of living in a shack (New Era, 20 May 2016) https://www.newera.com.
na/2016/05/20/increasing-cost-living-shack/
17 The increasing cost of living in a shack (New Era, 20 May 2016) https://www.newera.com.
na/2016/05/20/increasing-cost-living-shack/
18 According to cost assessments done in the context of this research at a construction material
retailer in Windhoek.
32
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Informal land and housing markets are dynamic, with variation in demand, supply and
prices often being considerable, depending on the town and the location in each town.
While informal renting is theoretically prohibited in some informal settlements,19 it can be
‘legal’ in others. As further discussed in the town case studies, local authorities use dierent
approaches and initiatives to shape and contain informal land and housing markets, with
varying results.
3.5 Dierent typologies of informal settlements
While most informal settlements have some common characteristics, many have details
that dier signicantly. For example, certain settlements consist of recently established
collections of small corrugated iron shacks at the edge of towns. They have no services
or roads, and risk demolition by local authorities because of their unauthorised presence.
Other informal settlements, however, are well established, have planned road layouts,
and are provided with electricity, water and sewage. These settlements are recognized
by local authorities, and erf occupants pay monthly rental fees or similar charges for their
land and services. The only dierences between such an informal settlement and a formal
residential area is the fact that the settlement has never been formally proclaimed, and its
residents don’t have registered tenure.
In many ways the concept of an ‘informal settlement’ is hard to dene, making it dicult
to create national policies and develop programmes for the broad range of circumstances
found in settlements. It would be useful and practical to distinguish types of informal
settlements, each requiring specic interventions for their upgrading to be eective and
economically ecient. A possible basic classication is the following:
1. Uncontrolled expansion area (sprawl);
2. Structured informal settlement;
3. Unstructured informal settlement with high density.
19 Renting a Shack in DRC (New Era, 7 March 2017) https://www.newera.com.na/2017/03/07/
renting-a-shack-in-drc/
33
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Table 4: A classication of informal settlements
1. Uncontrolled expansion area (sprawl) Level of intervention required: medium
Example: north eastern expansion area in Epako, Gobabis
Main characteristics:
No services
No organized physical structure
Minimal supervision by local
authorities
Low, but rising population density
Rapid expansion
Required interventions for upgrading:
Implement an ordered physical
structure, taking advantage of existing
low densities
Reservation of public space for future
infrastructure
Provision of services
Settlement proclamation
Provision of tenure security
2. Structured informal settlement Level of intervention required: minimal to
medium
Example: Uupindi informal settlement in Oshakati
34
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Main characteristics:
Basic services provided
Some form of organized physical
structure
Supervised by local authorities
Considerable percentage of permanent
homes built with bricks and mortar
Medium population density
Required interventions:
Settlement proclamation
Provision of tenure security
Continued upgrading through
incremental service provision
3. Unstructured informal settlement with
high density
Level of intervention required: very high
Example: Havana informal settlement in Windhoek
Main characteristics:
Minimal services
No organized physical structure
Minimal supervision by local
authorities
High population density
Continued densication
Required interventions:
Re-blocking (physical restructuring of
settlement based on layout plan)
Removal of some residents to new
settlement areas (long and costly
process)
Reservation of public space for future
infrastructure
Provision of services
Settlement proclamation
Provision of tenure security
35
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
The third category, unstructured high density informal settlements, is the most challenging,
and requires substantial eort and costs if the settlements are to be transformed into formal
ones. By contrast, uncontrolled expansion areas and structured informal settlements can
be upgraded with relatively little eort. It is particularly important that basic structures
and road layouts be implemented early in uncontrolled expansion areas, thus avoiding
uncontrolled densication that would lead towards Type 3 informal settlements.
In addition to variation between the three types, additional diversity results from dierent
development or upgrading eorts. For example:
Some settlements with obvious signs of informality (such as the prevalence of shacks)
have been provided with access roads and services but have not been proclaimed as
formal townships. Informal areas upgraded by the City of Windhoek are an example.
Some settlements that have been proclaimed recently and are therefore no longer
informal, but still have characteristics of informal settlements (such as shack housing
and the absence of services). Residents are in the process of purchasing their plots
as a precondition to being permitted to build permanent homes. Some recently
proclaimed extensions in Outapi are in this condition, for instance.
36
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
4. National housing programmes and urban
planning legislation
4.1 National housing programmes and initiatives
Several national housing programmes implemented by the government over the last
decades aimed to address the ever increasing housing backlog. However, most houses
produced by the programmes were not aordable to the majority of the urban poor.
Additionally, too few houses were built to keep up with, let alone reduce the demand
for housing. The programmes have therefore done little to contain or reduce the growth
of informal settlements. Notably, the main focus has been on the provision of serviced
houses. Minimal attention has been paid to the provision of land.
National Housing Enterprise (NHE)
The National Housing Enterprise is a state-owned company and acts as a developing
and nancing institution for individuals with incomes of N$5,000-20,000 per month, or a
combined income (of a couple) of N$30,000. The NHE derived its mandate from NHE Act
No 5 of 1993. Between its inception in 1993 and 2010, the NHE built over 8,000 houses
(NUST 2017), providing much needed housing for the middle-income segment of the
population. However, the prices of these houses and the requirements to qualify for loans
made NHE houses unaordable for the urban poor. In 2010, for example, a two bedroom
NHE house in Otjomuise cost between N$280,000 to N$303,000.20
Build Together Programme (BTP)
The Build Together Programme was a self-help programme initiated in 1992 to provide
shelter to low and ultra-low income earners in the country. Administration of the
programme was decentralised to regional councils and local authorities in 1998. It provided
home loans to people whose monthly incomes were less than N$3,000, and also assisted
middle-income earners who did not have access to credit from nancial institutions or
who were regarded as credit risks. The maximum loan amount was N$40,000, and the
interest rate varied between 4% and 7% over 20 years.
The BTP operated until 2013, and was then absorbed into the Mass Housing Development
Programme (MHDP).21 In 2016, however, the BTP was re-launched in response to the
fears of some local authorities that the housing needs of low income earners were not
being suciently addressed by the MHDP. The BTP had considerable success in providing
20 Long waiting lists for NHE houses (The Namibian, 8 February 2010) https://www.namibian.
com.na/62558/archive-read/Long-waiting-lists-for-NHE-houses-THE-demand-for
21 Govt to decide mass housing fate in May … Build Together Programme revived (New Era,
18 April 2016) https://www.newera.com.na/2016/04/18/govt-decide-mass-housing-fate-
build-programme-revived/
37
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
housing solutions for the very low income earners. (NUST 2017). However, it would have to
be scaled-up considerably to become more eective in addressing the housing backlog
and informal settlement growth.
Mass Housing Development Programme (MHDP)
The MHDP was launched in 2013. To full Vision 2030, this programme planned to build
185,000 aordable houses by the year 2030. During its pilot phase from 2013 to 2015
the MHDP built only 4,204 houses.22 Given these initial shortfalls, MURD appointed the
Integrated Land Management Institute (ILMI) at NUST to review the MHDP in 2017 (NUST
2017). The review points out that it is not realistic for government to provide ‘a house to
everyone, and recommends that government play an enabling and coordinating role to
facilitate access to adequate housing. The review recommends ways for the MHDP to be
adjusted to achieve its objectives eectively.
Summarizing, all the national housing programmes discussed here face three common
and fundamental challenges:
1. Their emphasis on providing housing units that are normally too expensive for the
low income segment of the population.
2. The programmes have been too small to reduce the national housing backlog and
meet new annual demands for housing and residential land.
3. They did not address the needs of low, and ultra-low income earners.
The programmes therefore did not address problems resulting from the rapid growth and
characteristics of informal settlements, as described earlier.
Mass Urban Land Servicing Programme (MULSP)
In the context of the shortcomings of national housing programmes, the escalating
housing backlog and pressure from the Armative Repositioning (AR) movement, the
government initiated the Mass Urban Land Servicing Programme (MULSP) in July 2015.
This new programme aimed to service 200,000 plots, thus providing a low cost housing
solution that recognizes that the availability of aordable land is the major constraint in
addressing the housing crisis in Namibia. Three towns were selected for the pilot phase of
the project, these being Oshakati, Windhoek, and Walvis Bay. While the MULSP was highly
praised by Namibian society and institutions, it has not taken o as originally planned and
seems to have stalled. Nevertheless, it had the potential to allow signicant numbers of the
urban poor majority access to housing.
22 Shaningwa (2016)
38
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN) and the Namibia Housing Action Group
(NHAG)
While the programmes and initiatives described above were driven by government, the
SDFN and NHAG provide civil society-based, non-prot platforms for the construction of
low cost houses.23
In essence, the SDFN is a network of saving schemes that aim to provide housing
solutions for low-income people living in shacks, rented rooms and for those without
accommodation. It was established in 1998, by 30 housing groups that had been formed
in Namibia since the late eighties. The NHAG was established in 1999 as a supporting NGO
to the SDNF. The SDFN has over 600 savings groups with 20,400 members in all major
Namibian towns. To date, its members have built about 3,488 houses and secured land for
some 6,230 families. Through negotiation with local authorities, SDFN groups often buy
an entire block of land that is then subdivided by the group itself, without involving land
surveying or town planning services. The groups also install their own water and sewer
services. In addition, the SDFN/NHAG is upgrading an informal settlement in collaboration
with Gobabis Municipality, and is promoting this approach nationally. Getting access to
land, where its members can build houses is one of the biggest constraints faced by the
SDFN programme.24
23 http://sdfn.weebly.com; http://namibia-shackdwellers.blogspot.com/2012/03/nhag.html;
24 See for example: Shack Dwellers give up as City drags feet. (Windhoek Observer, 16
February 2017 http://www.observer.com.na/index.php/national/item/7667-shack-dwellers-
give-up-as-city-drags-feet
39
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
4.2 Planning legislation, policy, institutions and procedures
4.2.1 Town planning legislation and policy
Town planning legalisation in Namibia is currently based on two main laws:
1. Town Planning Ordinance of 1954 (Republic of Namibia 2000)25
2. Townships and Division of Land Ordinance of 1963 (Republic of Namibia 2000a)26
Both ordinances are modelled on South African town planning legislation which itself was
guided by the English Housing and Town Planning Act of 1909. Key town procedures and
institutions dened by the two ordinances include: the Namibia Planning Advisory Board
(NAMPAB), the Townships Board, Statutory Township Establishment procedures, and Town
Planning Schemes as the main town planning tool.
One policy has a profound impact on urban development, despite not being part of
any legislation. This is the minimum erf size policy requirement of 300 square meters.
The Namibia National Housing Policy, in Article 5.2.6, states (MRLGHRD 2009): “This policy
framework sets the erf size at 300 m2 minimum with a provision that special motivation for
smaller erven can be submitted to the Minister of MRLGHRD for exemption consideration.
Although the policy embodies good intentions for lower income segments of the
population to have reasonably sized erven, its consequences have been problematic in
many respects, as discussed elsewhere (see for example Chapter 5.4).
Although not specied as such, the 300m² minimum erf size was for single residential
zonings only, as supported by the provision for the following considerations in the earlier
National Housing Policy:
The size of a given plot should be based on economic considerations in an eort to
promote an integrated development approach.
Planning regulations must be amended to provide for higher density utilisation of
land.
25 The Ordinance was amended by Ord. 13/1968, Ord. 13/1970, Ord. 11/1973, Ord. 23/1973,
Ord. 10/1977 and Ord. 5/1979. It was also amended substantially by Act 27/1993, which
makes it consistent with an independent Namibia. It is further amended by Act 15/2000
(sections 2, 4, 47). The application of the Ordinance in Export Processing Zones is affected
by section 5(e) of the Export Processing Zones Act 9 of 1995. Regulations pertaining to fees
are contained in GN 11/2008 (GG 3983).
26 The Ordinance was amended by Ord. 36/1967, Ord. 7/1969, Ord. 2/1970, Ord. 10/1973,
Ord. 17/1975, Ord. 9/1977, Act 3/1985, Act 28/1992 (which was brought into operation
by GN 142/1992, GG 511), Act 21/1998 and Act 11/2000. The schedule to the Ordinance
was amended by GN 63/1999 (GG 2083). The application of the Ordinance in Export
Processing Zones is affected by section 5(e) of the Export Processing Zones Act 9 of 1995.
Township Board Regulations are contained in GN 165/1973. Regulations relating to fees
are contained in GN 10/2008 (GG 3983). Notices relating to specic townships have not
been recorded.
40
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
4.2.2 Town planning institutions
Namibia Planning Advisory Board (NAMPAB)
NAMPAB is regulated by the Town Planning Ordinance of 1954. Members of the Board
are appointed by the Minister of Urban & Rural Development (MURD). They include the
Permanent Secretaries of MURD, National Planning Commission, Ministry of Agriculture,
Water & Forestry, Ministry of Works, Transport & Communication, Ministry of Fisheries &
Marine Resources, Ministry of Justice, Nampower, the Association of Local Authorities in
Namibia (ALAN) and one person appointed by the Minister (of MURD).
NAMBAP is a policy advisory body and therefore looks beyond technical issues to focus on
social, economic and political aspects of planning. Its purpose is to (MURD 2017, Simon
1995):
1. Oversee urban and regional planning in Namibia and to formulate town planning
policy for the country;
2. Supervise all Local Authorities and Regional Councils with regard to planning and to
advise and assist Local Authorities in the preparation of Town Planning Schemes;
3. Advise the Minister (of MURD) on the desirability and necessity to establish or to de-
proclaim townships;
4. Advise the Minister on the subdivision of land situated outside a proclaimed township
or outside the townlands of such a township where either the subdivision or the
remainder thus created is smaller than 25 hectares.
Townships Board
The Townships Board was established by the Townships and Division of Land Ordinance
of 1963. It is the statutory body responsible for all technical aspects of town planning in
proclaimed townships. These include the technical evaluation of subdivision proposals,
consolidation proposals and layout plans. Members of the Board are the Surveyor General,
the Registrar of Deeds, the Chief Roads Engineer of the Department of Works, the Director
of Works and Director of Local Government or their delegates, one delegate each from
the Department of Water Aairs and TransNamib, one member that represents the views
of local authorities and the interests of the inhabitants of areas of local authorities and a
person who is a member of NAMPAB. The functions of the Board are to consider and report
on applications for permission to establish townships, subdivisions and consolidations.
According to Simon (1995) the Board more specically considers:
The suitability of the land;
Obstacles which may aect the establishment of a proposed township;
The proposals and stipulations of the applications and the conditions on which the
applications should be granted;
The extent of the townlands and the reservation of land for the state or other public
purposes;
The proposed layout and name of the township;
The allocation of use zones for erven, and the order in which they may be sold;
41
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
The maximum number of houses which may be built on each erf, and the maximum
area of buildings on each erf.
After consideration, the Board recommends the approval or disapproval of applications to
the Minister of MURD.
4.2.3 Town planning processes: Township Establishment
In compliance of the legislation described earlier, the subdivision of urban land and
establishment of townships (creation of new urban neighbourhoods or settlements)
requires a dened procedure for local authorities to seek approval for establishing a new
township by NAMPAB, the Townships Board and then the Minister (MURD). In summary,
the process for establishing a new township is the following (De Vries & Lewis 2009; Urban
Dynamics 2017):
1. The town planner designs the subdivision and submits a layout to the local authority;
2. The local authority provides a council resolution for the subdivision of the area to be
developed;
3. An application for subdivision is submitted to NAMPAB. Once the application has
been approved by NAMPAB, the MURD issues two ‘certicates’, one for the subdivision
and one for permission to establish a township on the new portion;27
4. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is compiled (in parallel with the steps 1
and 2 above);
5. The urban layout is nalized by a planning consultant;
6. The layout is then submitted to the local authority council for approval;
7. An application is submitted to the Townships Board (supported by the two MURD
certicates, EIA and letter of approval from the local authority council);
8. A registered land surveyor surveys the layout, demarcates the erven, and produces
the General Plan;
9. The General Plan is submitted to the Surveyor General for approval;
10. The township is proclaimed in the Government Gazette;
11. A conveyancer prepares the Township Register which is opened at the Deeds Oce;
12. The erven are then sold to the new owners (often through a public auction);
13. The erven of the new township are registered by a conveyancer in the names of the
new owners.
While this process is well established in Namibia, it is often described as an inecient and
cumbersome land delivery system that impedes, rather than facilitates socio-economic
and urban development (De Vries & Lewis 2009, Genis 2015). For example, it takes up to
two years to complete the processes described above, making it lengthy and costly for the
applicants, and ultimately contributing to high land development costs (De Vries & Lewis
27 Subdivision procedures can vary considerably, depending on sizes, planned land use and
original land ownership. The subdivision procedure described here applies specically for
Township Establishment with the subdivision of 11 or more erven.
42
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
2009). Planning objectives have become secondary to administrative procedures (Genis
2015).
Despite the constraints that stem from legislative and procedural requirements, many local
authorities have taken commendable steps to reduce tenure and housing impediments
faced by in-migrants and low-income residents of their towns. These initiatives are
described in Chapter 5.
4.2.4 Town planning tools: Town Planning Schemes
The Namibian legislation denes the ‘Town Planning Scheme’ as the main planning
instrument to regulate urban land use. The term ‘Town Planning Scheme’ is derived from early
English town planning legislation and entails the notion that town planning is concerned
with two main activities: the preparation of a master plan for future development, and
zoning laws. A town planning scheme under Namibian law is thus a legal document that
denes the use of land and restrictions on its use within a certain area. Under current
practice, each town planning scheme contains extensive descriptions that spell out the
details of land use and land use restrictions, as well as illustrative maps, such as zoning
maps. Town planning schemes are implemented by local authorities. In the absence of in-
house planning capacities, local authorities can subcontract a town planning consultant.
4.2.5 New legislation: Flexible Land Tenure System & Urban and Regional Planning Bill
Flexible Land Tenure System (FLTS)
The Flexible Land Tenure System (FLTS) is based on the Flexible Land Tenure Act of 2012
and its regulations, which are expected to be enacted in 2017.28 It aims to (MLR 2016):
Create alternative forms of land title that are simpler and cheaper to administer than
existing forms of land title;
Provide security of title for people who live in informal settlements or who are
provided with low income housing;
Empower the people concerned economically by means of these rights.
The current formal system now provides three forms of secure land tenure (freehold,
sectional and leasehold title), while the FLTS is a separate land registration system that
provides two new forms of secure urban land tenure:
The starter title
The land hold title
Both titles are held by individuals, but group-based. Each holder has individual rights
within a block of land (called a blockerf), with the whole block of land being owned under
freehold tenure by the state, a private individual or a group of individuals. The system is
28 The regulations will specify the technical details of the starter and land hold title schemes.
As they are not yet enacted, some of these details are not yet known.
43
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
called ‘exible’ because it allows for upgrading from one kind of title to another. While the
starter title is a basic form of tenure (and cannot be used as security for credit), the land
hold title is a more advanced form of tenure that provides the holder with almost the same
rights over a piece of land as freehold title, and can therefore be used as security for credit
(MLR 2016). A starter title has fewer requirements and can be upgraded to land hold title.
However, a land hold title can also be acquired directly, without going through the stage
of a starter title.
The FLTS works through its own land registry system housed in a Land Rights Oce where
all starter titles and land hold titles are registered. The procedures for establishing a starter
title scheme and land hold title scheme are similar, but land hold title schemes have some
additional requirements. Compared to statutory township establishment, a FLTS scheme
does not require approval from NAMPAB or the Townships Board, except for the creation of
the initial blockerf. The design of FLTS is intended to allow faster delivery of low cost urban
land and the provision of tenure security in informal settlements. The MLR is currently
developing land hold title pilot projects in Outapi, Oshakati, Gobabis and Windhoek which
will provide tenure security to approximately 2,000 households. The establishment of a
land hold title scheme for example includes the following activities:
1. Creation of blockerf
2. Formation of associations
3. Development of a land hold plan (urban layout)
4. Establishment of scheme
Table 5: Steps required for the FLTS29
1. Creation of blockerven 1. Decision to establish a blockerf
2. Layout plan for blockerf
3. Feasibility and desirability study
4. Publication of notice in newspaper
5. Enumeration of potential beneciaries
6. Participatory planning of internal layout
7. Council approval of Layout Plan
8. Application to Township Board for approval
9. Registration of Survey Diagram
10. Registration in Deeds Oce
2. Formation of
associations
1. Initial training of intended beneciaries to prepare
them to form associations
2. Assist intended members with preparing constitutions
and management committees
3. Hold constituting meetings
4. Start continuous support and nancial literacy training
29 Summarized from MLR 2017. It is important to note that many of the steps can be taken in
parallel to save time.
44
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
3. Development of a land
hold plan (urban layout)
1. Conduct measurements for Land Hold Plan (Land
Measurer)
2. Examination and ling of Land Hold Plan with Land
Rights Ocer
4. Establishment of
scheme
1. Council approval of schemes
2. Setting of conditions for plots
3. Conclude transfer contracts
4. Notice to Land Rights Ocer and Registrar of Deeds
5. Endorsement on blockerf title deed (Registrar of
Deeds)
6. Endorsement as blockerf on diagram/General Plan
(Surveyor General)
7. Enter particulars and ling of endorsement notice in
Land Rights Oce
8. Issue and hand over certicates as proof of tenure
security
The FLTS may provide tenure security to residents having erven smaller than 300 square
metres. This could improve the circumstances of many informal settlement residents,
especially those in areas that have been upgraded but are now unable to have formal tenure
because their erven are smaller than 300 square metres. Furthermore, there is potential
to apply good urban design principles through participatory planning processes in the
development of new layouts, and creating neighbourhoods that respond to the needs of
the poor. For example, local businesses and lively neighbourhoods may be encouraged
if excessive zoning can be avoided in FLTS schemes. Infrastructure provision is not the
explicit concern by the FLTS, and largely depends on government or innovative local
funding approaches. The FLTS has the potential to make the upgrading and development
of new low income neighbourhoods more ecient and less bureaucratic. Its impact may
then be measured by how cheaply and rapidly land is provided to the poor, and whether
it can be expanded to address the demand for land and tenure security of the poor at a
national level.
Urban and Regional Planning Bill
In 1998 the National Land Policy stated the need to review town planning legislation to
reduce the time taken by planning applications, address issues of land rights of the urban
poor, and to increase exibility in planning schemes and issues concerned with urban
sprawl and density (Genis 2015). As a result, a new Urban and Regional Planning Bill was
eventually developed, and is currently been reviewed by Cabinet. According to MURD
(2017), the main objectives of the proposed Bill are:
To consolidate laws relating to town planning and township establishment;
To establish the urban and regional planning board;
To provide for a legal framework for spatial planning in Namibia;
45
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
To provide for principles and standards of spatial planning;
To decentralise certain matters relating to spatial planning;
To provide for the preparation, approval and review of the national spatial
development framework, regional structure plans and urban structure plans, and to
provide for the preparation, approval, review and amendment of zoning schemes;
To provide for the establishment of townships;
To provide for the alteration of boundaries of approved townships,
To provide for the disestablishment of approved townships;
To provide for the change of name of approved townships;
To provide for the subdivision and consolidation of land;
To provide for the alteration, suspension and deletion of conditions relating to land.
The proposed Bill is in line with Vision 2030’s objectives of integrated urban and rural
development. Once enacted, the Urban and Regional Planning Bill “will provide for a
uniform, eective, ecient and integrated regulatory framework for planning, land use
and land use management which promotes public interest” (Genis 2015). Some of the key
aspects of the proposed Bill are:
The term ‘township’ is to be replaced by ‘urban area’
The Townships Board and NAMPAB are replaced by the ‘Urban and Regional Planning
Board’
New authorised planning authorities are to be established.
The Bill places great emphasis on the hierarchic development of structural plans, from
higher (regional) levels to local (town) levels.
46
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
4.2.6 The costs of surveying and servicing urban land
Estimating these costs can be a complex process, since the costs vary according to such
aspects as the sizes of erven, the size, topography and soil composition of the township,
and the availability of bulk services. Nevertheless, estimates can be established to provide
benchmark costs for the planning, surveying and servicing of new erven. For purpose of
this book, estimates have been compiled for a township with 90 erven with the following
specications:30
Size of erven: 15 x 20 meters (300 square meters)
Road width: 12 meters
Bulk infrastructure: Assumed that connections can be made to existing bulk
infrastructure nearby. The costs therefore only cover the distribution of services within
the township, and connections to bulk supplies within 100 metres of the township.
Soil: loose, without particular obstacles, such as rock
Topography: at
Table 6: Land surveying and town planning costs
Land surveying N$ total N$ per erf
Topographical survey 25,000 278
Cadastral survey31 133,000 1,478
Total 1,756
Town planning
Layout planning fees 90,000 1,000
Statutory planning32 260,000 867
Total 1,867
Total land surveying and town planning costs 3,622
For this example, basic services include communal water points and levelled roads. A
sewage system is not included, since that would require domestic water connections.
However, residents could build pit latrines as a temporary solution.
30 Calculations provided by Knight Piésold (Pty) Ltd. (Namibia)
31 The cadastral survey includes pegging, production of a General Plan and survey records,
and submission to the Surveyor General.
32 Fees for statutory planning are regulated and vary according to the size of the settlement.
For 90 erven the cost is N$ 220,000, while for a much bigger area of 999 erven, the costs
are not much higher (N$ 280,000). The smaller the settlement, therefore, the higher the cost
per erf. For the estimate in this table, the cost was taken as that applied to a settlement of
300 erven (N$ 260,000), using the assumption that the 90 erven township would be part of
a bigger scheme. The statutory costs per erf therefore amount to N$ 260,000 divided by 300
47
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Table 7: The costs of basic services
Service Total N$ N$ per erf
Communal water point reticulation system 150,000 1,667
5 communal water points (prepaid system) 189,497 2,106
Levelled roads 278,587 3,095
Total per erf for minimal services 6,868
For comparative purposes, the following table provides the costs per erf for the provision
of full services.
Table 8: The costs of full services
Service Total N$ N$ per erf
Domestic water reticulation system 454,737 5,053
Overhead electricity grid including house connections 1,262,700 14,030
Sewer reticulation 680,000 7,556
Gravel roads* 1,262,700 14,030
Total per erf for full services 45,398
* The cost of surfaced (tar) roads would add N$ 5,722,537 or N$ 63,584 per erf.
Table 9: Summary of cost calculations
Land
surveying
Town
planning
Services Total
Cost for a minimally serviced erf N$1,756 N$1,867 N$6,868 N$10,491
Cost for a fully serviced erf N$1,756 N$1,867 N$45,398 N$49,021
48
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
5 Urban planning and informal settlements:
the cases of Gobabis, Outapi, Oshakati,
Windhoek and Otjiwarongo
5.1 Gobabis
Gobabis is situated 200 kilometres east of Windhoek along the Trans-Kalahari highway
to Botswana. It has municipal status, is the capital of Omaheke Region and serves as a
commercial centre for Omaheke’s rural community. The town has health, shopping and
recreational facilities and is rapidly developing as a commercial hub for the region, and as
a stop along the Trans-Kalahari highway. Tswana and Otjiherero are the main indigenous
languages spoken in the town.
5.1.1 Informal settlement growth
The population of Gobabis has grown rapidly over the past two decades. From 2001
to 2011, for example, the population grew from 13,856 to 19,101 inhabitants (Namibia
Statistics Agency 2011), its total growth being 37.8% at a rate of 3.3% per year. Much of
Gobabis’ urban growth can be attributed to the expansion of informal settlements.
All informal settlement expansion has taken place in the area of Epako, north-east of
the town centre. This was the area established and reserved for black residents prior to
independence. Counts of houses in images taken in 2012 showed there to be 3,226 shacks,
while the count in 2016 amounted to 5,297 shacks. This is equivalent to 518 new shacks
being erected each year, at an annual growth rate of 13.2%.
Gobabis
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000 Shacks
Bricks/blocks
201120011991
1991 2001 2011
Bricks/blocks 96% 70% 58%
Shacks 4% 30% 42%
Figure 10: Growth in the number of formal buildings (built of blocks or bricks) and informal
shack structures from 1991 to 2011 in Gobabis.
49
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
According to representatives of the Epako Municipal Centre, the increased inux of
people over the last few years was due to the eects of drought on rural livelihoods. The
Municipality admits that it has largely lost control of new settlement in the north-eastern
part of Epako as result of that recent inux. However, more than half of Gobabis’ informal
homes are in settlements that are being upgraded (Freedom Square) or have a minimally
planned structure (Kanaan).33
Formal housing
Non-residential formal
Informal houses in 2016
Informal houses in 2012
1 kilometre
Witvlei/Windhoek
Leonardville
Drimiopsis/Otjinene
Buitepos/
Botswana
Freedom
Square
Epako
North-east
expansion area
Central Gobabis
Kanaan
Figure 11. Satellite image of Gobabis taken in 2016 showing the location of informal houses
mapped in an earlier image from 2012 and then in 2016.
33 In 2016, 1,355 shack structures were counted in the area of Freedom Square and 1,514 in
the physically structured area of Kanaan. They make up 2,869, or more than 50% of all
informal houses in Gobabis.
50
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
An aerial view of the disorderly expansion area to the north-east of Epako where the
Municipality has little control on land occupation.
Aerial view of the northern periphery of Epako. Paths into the bush are clearly visible,
trodden by residents to collect rewood and ‘use the bush’.
51
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
5.1.2 Characteristics of informal settlements
Access to basic services is a major challenge in Gobabis’ informal settlements. Wood is
the main cooking fuel for residents in Gobabis, with almost 2,400 households relying on
wood in 2011. It can be assumed that almost all of these households are in the town’s
informal settlements. More than 50% of the town’s population do not have toilet facilities.
The construction of pit latrines is dicult due to the presence of a high water table, putting
the pits at risk of being ooded when water levels rise during the rainy season.
In recent years, however, the town has invested considerable resources to expand access
to basic services in the informal settlements, especially drinking water and electricity. All
registered residents in Epako’s informal settlements also pay a land occupation fee of N$50/
month to support the provision of services to these areas, such as waste removal. However,
the Municipality struggles to keep pace with the rapid growth of these settlements.
1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
Electricity Gas Paran Wood
No toilet Pit or bucket Private ush Shared ush
1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
Figure 12: Numbers of Gobabis households using different kinds of toilets (top) and cooking
fuel (bottom) in 1991, 2001 and 2011.
52
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
5.1.3 Urban planning and development approaches of the Municipality
Beside the installation of services in some informal settlements, the Municipality has
implemented two major informal settlement development projects over the last 8 years:
(a) the planning and establishment of the Kanaan settlement and (b) the participatory
upgrading of the Freedom Square settlement.
The planning and establishment of the Kanaan informal settlement
Kanaan is a structured informal settlement that was planned and demarcated by the
Municipality in 2009 and 2010 in response to high demand for land by low income residents.
This positive response resulted in the orderly settlement of Kanaan, and allowed the
gradual upgrading of services in recent years. Many parts of Kanaan today have communal
water points, domestic electricity connections and street lightening. Erven in Kanaan are
each between 150 and 180 square metres. According to the Municipality, this prevents the
township’s proclamation, and thus all Kanaan houses are built from corrugated iron, and
residents lack secure, registered tenure.
The well-structured access ways in Kanaan are clearly visible in this aerial perspective of the
informal settlement. Despite its orderly structure, good planning and intentions, Kanaan has
not be proclaimed and residents are not allowed to build with permanent building materials.
53
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Many areas of Kanaan have communal water taps, as in this photograph. Water from the
taps costs N$1 per 25 litres, and the town is currently in the process of selling tokens to
facilitate the management of these communal water points. The tokens are subsidised by the
Municipality, being sold to residents for N$300, but costing N$380 from the supplier.
Many houses in Kanaan are connected to its electricity grid that supplies the settlement.
54
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
The upgrading of Freedom Square
In collaboration with the Shack Dwellers’ Federation of Namibia (SDFN), Namibia Housing
Action Group (NHAG) and Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), the
Municipality is in the process of upgrading the large informal settlement of Freedom
Square, located in western Epako (SDFN and NHAG 2014).
The Municipality had planned to relocate the approximately 1,000 households of Freedom
Square, but that approach was met with resistance by the residents. The alternative was
to upgrade the settlement in-situ, which allowed the residents to stay in the area. The
upgrading consisted of the following main steps that took place from 2013 to 2017:
1. Establishment of partnerships and design of the upgrading approach
Partnerships were established between the Municipality and SDFN-NHAG, and between
NUST and SDFN-NHAG. SDFN-NHAG was to provide overall project guidance and technical
expertise, together with donor funding to support the project. NUST provided technical
urban planning expertise by involving students from its Department of Architecture &
Spatial Planning. A visit was organized to the Western Cape to learn from similar experiences
in South Africa.34
2. Socio-economic assessment of the informal settlement
A detailed socio-economic assessment was done of the project area as a rst step. That
provided useful information such as (SDFN and NHAG 2014):
Employment levels: 52% employed, 43% unemployed, 5% not known;
Average monthly incomes: 65%: less than N$800/month; 23%: N$801-N$1,600/month;
13%: above N$1600;
Development priorities perceived by residents: highest priority water, followed by
sanitation.
The assessment also served to disseminate the objectives of the project, and to achieve
buy-in from the residents.
3. Participatory planning and layout design
The project then engaged in a series of participatory planning activities where
representatives from residents, the Municipality, SDFN-NHAG and NUST discussed, and
jointly agreed on the layout and characteristics of the new neighbourhood. The issues
discussed included:
1. Water drainage, major access routes, social spaces, plot sizes, plot layouts, refuse
dump sites, hazardous sites, and storm water management;
34 Many cities in South Africa have made considerable progress in terms of informal settlement
upgrading. In 2017, the National Upgrading Support Program published a upgrading
manual that can be downloaded from http://upgradingsupport.org/
55
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
2. Identication of existing services and protected trees;
3. Discussion of sanitation options;
4. Needs of elderly residents;
5. Identication of areas suitable for urban agriculture and other income generating
activities.
4. Readjustment of plot boundaries according to the new layout
Based on the new layout, a process of readjusting plot boundaries began. Residents
located in areas planned for roads had to move to new plots that had been reserved and
demarcated for them in the new layout.
5. Implementation of infrastructure
Once all residents were relocated to the newly dened plots, the project began to install
infrastructure. Funding was acquired through MURD for bulk water infrastructure, and it
was decided to provide water connections to all households. The residents contributed
labour to dig the trenches for the water pipes. A sewerage system will be installed.
6. Provision of tenure security
The Freedom Square upgrading project is one of the MLR pilot projects for the Flexible
Land Tenure System (FLTS) (see Chapter 4.2.5), and land hold titles will be provided to
residents once the regulations for FLTS are gazetted.
As a result, what once was a disorderly informal settlement is today an organised
neighbourhood enjoying upgraded services. The residents of Freedom Square will have
tenure security, and be able to build permanent houses. Given its success, ocials from
various towns across Namibia visited Gobabis during 2016 and 2017 to learn more about
the approach. Its community involvement has been acclaimed as a particularly important
contribution to the success of the process.
56
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Gobabis has, and is investing considerable resources into informal settlements. The
successful upgrading of Freedom Square, planning of Kanaan in 2009 and 2010, and
incremental upgrading of services in various informal settlements demonstrate the
Municipality’s proactive and innovative approach. As mentioned above, more than 50%
of its informal settlement residents reside in areas that are currently being proclaimed
(under the FLTS in the case of Freedom Square) or have the potential to be proclaimed (in
the case of Kanaan). However, recent inuxes of people has stretched the capacity of the
Municipality to its limits, and it has lost control of settlement in the more recent expansion
areas at the north-eastern periphery of Gobabis. Urgent action is needed to regain that
control to ensure structured and planned expansion. The eventual costs of not taking
control now will be high.
The northern half of Freedom Square in 2012
before the upgrading
The same section of Freedom square in 2016
after the upgrading, with the new access
routes clearly visible
57
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
5.2 Outapi
Outapi, known also as Ombalantu, is the capital of Omusati Region. The town is 12
kilometres south of the Angola border, and located on an intersection of major roads
between Ruacana and Oshakati, and between Okahao and Helao Nadi. This location
has helped the town develop into an important commercial centre, attracting people to
its shops, markets and services from a wide area in Namibia, as well as adjacent parts of
Angola.
Outapi was declared as a town in 1997, and proclaimed as the administrative centre
of Omusati in 1998. A great percentage of the town’s growth can be attributed to the
establishment of government services, inuxes of public servants and the increased
purchasing power of Angolans following the end of their civil war in 2002. The town has
also enjoyed considerable infrastructure investments by government and the private
sector over the last decade, for example in the construction of a regional rehabilitation
centre, a primary school, a solar power plant, a regional library and an industrial park. A
new N$60 million sports stadium is being built now. The town is also known for hosting
the annual Olufuko festival. The festival combines business expo and cultural celebrations,
the heart of which is the initiation ceremony that prepares teenage girls for womanhood.
Outapi has thus become a hub for the whole region.
Like Oshakati (see Chapter 5.3), the topography of Outapi is extremely at and so the low
lying iishana channels ood extensively during years of good rain and inows of water
from Angola.
5.2.1 Informal settlement growth
Figure 13 shows Outapi’s exceptional growth over the last 20 years. From 2001 to 2011, the
town grew from 2,640 to 6,437 inhabitants, an overall growth of 143.8% which, according
to census data, was then the biggest growth of any town. The growth in the proportion
of informal houses has been comparatively small, and the smallest among the ve towns
documented in this study.
Outapi
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
Shacks
Bricks/blocks
201120011991
1991 2001 2011
Bricks/blocks 32% 78% 85%
Shacks 68% 22% 15%
Figure 13: Urban growth and informal housing in Outapi according to census data.
58
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Nevertheless, according to the Town Council the need to provide low cost urban land is
considerable, with more than 4,000 applications pending for land for housing.
A total of 984 shack-like structures were counted in an aerial photograph taken in 2011.
By 2016, the total number counted had reached 1,241, an increase of only 257 shacks over
the ve years.
In 2017, three extensions with shack structures were proclaimed (Extensions 5, 10 and 12),
and these settlements are thus technically no longer informal. The owners of the 454 shack
structures in the extensions may now buy their erven and build permanent houses.
The estimated 984 housing units present in informal settlements in 2011 has now declined
to 787 that remain in non-proclaimed extensions in 2017. Of course, most residents in
the new proclaimed extensions still have to obtain tenure certication and begin building
their permanent homes, but it does mean that the overall size of informal settlements
actually declined in Outapi.
Shack structures outside the town boundaries
The northern boundaries of Outapi are very close to the town centre and considerable
urban expansion has taken place north and east of this border. A total of 309 shack-like
buildings were counted in images taken in 2011, and an additional 331 structures were
counted in 2016, bringing the total last year to 640 shacks. Similar peri-urban housing
has been developing privately around many towns in Namibia, such as Katima Mulilo,
Ongwediva and Omuthiya.
The Town Council also eectively prohibits the erection of illegal shacks. One possible
consequence of this is that many shacks are crowded. According to the Town Council there
are often 5-6 people living in one structure.
59
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
5.2.2 Characteristics of informal settlements
In 2011, large parts of Outapi’s informal settlements had few services, reected by the
extensive use of wood as the main cooking fuel and the high percentage of residents
without access to toilet facilities. Since 2011, however, the Town Council has continued
to invest considerable resources into servicing informal settlements. The development of
these new services has been facilitated by the fact that most informal settlements have a
planned road layout. This was done gradually over several years as funds become available,
and provides another example of how well-structured informal settlements facilitate the
development of services.
Proclaimed settlement
Unproclaimed settlement
Formal housing
Non-residential formal
Informal houses in 2011 inside town
Informal houses in 2016 inside town
Informal houses in 2016 outside town
Informal houses in 2011 outside town
Oshikuku/Oshakati
Ruacana
Okalaongo
Tsandi/Okahao
1 kilometre
Townland boundary
Figure 14: Informal housing and different settlement areas in Outapi 2011 and 2016.
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Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
5.2.3 Urban planning and development approaches of the Town Council
Public Private Partnerships have been set up with several developers to build houses,
mostly for the lower middle income to higher income segments. The Outapi Town Council
has been proactive in trying to prevent the unorganized growth of informal settlements.
Based on urban layouts provided by a town planning consultant, the Council used in-
house capacity and basic surveying techniques to demarcate areas and erven designated
for low income housing. The erven were then distributed to people in need of land for
housing.
While the process of township proclamation is underway, the new land occupants pay a
monthly rental fee of N$6 per square meter of constructed shack oor area to the Town
1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011
Electricity Gas Paran Wood
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
No toilet Pit or bucket Private ush Shared ush
1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
Figure 15: Numbers of Outapi households using different kinds of toilets (top) and cooking
fuel (bottom) in 1991, 2001 and 2011.
61
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Council. Services such as water and street lightning were installed in some settlements
during the period before the proclamations were approved. The Town Council also
constructed communal pit latrines in some areas. Using that approach, the Town Council
has contained the kind of disorderly growth of informal settlements observed in many
Namibian towns.
Once a township is proclaimed, residents can buy their plot for N$15 per square meter,
which amounts to N$4,500 for a 300 square metre erf. For an additional N$2,700, the Town
Council also arranges for the registration and allocation of freehold title for each erf. Prices
of the erven do not include the capital costs of servicing, which are fully paid by the Town
Council. People can only buy the erven if their rental payments are up-to-date.
The Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia was allocated a block of land for development.
Members of the Federation planned and surveyed the erven in the block themselves.
Extension 12: an example of proactive planning and action to prevent uncontrolled informal
settlement growth. Extension 12 was created in 2010. Based on a layout provided by a town
planning consultant, the erven were demarcated by the Town Council and distributed to low
income residents. A shared washhouse was constructed and some residents have private
water taps. Neither electricity nor sanitation is provided in the area, however. Residents could
only build shacks before the settlement had been proclaimed, after which they could buy
their erven, acquire proper tenure and build permanent homes. A total of 266 shacks were
counted in the 2016 satellite image of Extension 12.The planned road layout is clearly visible
in these aerial photographs. Many of the shacks are quite large, and well-built and with
concrete foundations. The erf boundaries are often marked by hedges or fences established
by the land holders.
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Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
63
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
While the Town Council has been proactive in preventing the growth of unstructured
informal settlements, some challenges remain, one of which relates to the demarcation
of erven. In the absence of funds to pay for formal, accurate surveying in Extension 12,
in-house capacity was used to demarcate erven. This was considered preferable to not
surveying which would have led to people settling in a disorderly fashion.
Outapi provides an example of a small town that has kept informal settlement growth
under some control. Among the major challenges to be addressed over the coming years
are the proclamation of the remaining informal settlements, and the continued upgrading
of newly proclaimed townships. There is a major risk of de facto uncontrolled urban
expansion and informal housing beyond Outapi’s northern boundaries. The extension of
the town boundaries should be considered as urgent before those unorganized informal
settlements densify further. Town Council control of those areas will enable it to apply the
proactive approach to planning that has benetted Outapi in recent years.
5.3 Oshakati
Oshakati – the Oshiwambo name for ‘a place where people meet’ – is the capital of Oshana
Region. It was founded in July 1966 as a base of operations for the South African Defence
Force (SADF) during the Namibian War of Independence.
The 2011 Census recorded Oshakati as the biggest town in central northern Namibia, and
the country’s fth largest with a population of 36,541 residents. The town today is the major
commercial centre of northern Namibia, and a hub for trans-border trade with Angola.
Oshakati also forms part of a linear metropolis, together with bordering Ongwediva, nearby
Ondangwa/Onethindi and other, smaller adjacent commercial developments.
The majority of people in Oshakati are Oshiwambo-speakers from northern Namibia.
Oshakati town includes the electoral constituencies of Oshakati East and Oshakati West,
and is governed by a Town Council consisting of six councillors.
Oshakati lies in the Cuvelai Basin, which is shared between Angola and Namibia. The
Basin consists of hundreds of channels that are dry most of the year, but ooding follows
heavy local rains and strong ows of rainwater from Angola. The townships that make
up Oshakati towns are shaped by the potential for ooding, since the construction of
permanent houses is not possible in the iishana channels that pass through and around
the town. However, the danger of ooding is not always heeded, as the owners of these
low-income homes in Sky discovered in March 2011 (image on following page).
64
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
5.3.1 Informal settlement growth
Informal settlements developed in the 1980s in Oshakati. They were occupied by local
soldiers and rural people seeking better opportunities in the developing town. Some of
those earliest informal settlements from colonial times still exist today, such as Oneshila,
Oshoopala, Evululuku and Uupindi. Oneshila and Uupindi were occupied primarily by
civilian migrants, while Evululuku and Oshoopala were dominated by soldiers of the South
West African Territorial Force (Tvedten 2008).
65
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
The 2011 census recorded 2,113 shacks in Oshakati. However, while ‘shacks’ are a useful
indicator of informal housing in many towns in Namibia, this is not the case in Oshakati
where many of its informal settlements have been ‘semi-formalised’. Houses in these areas
are built with bricks, although they are still considered informal.
Since Oshakati’s informal settlements consist of both shack-like and brick structures, all
visible houses were counted in the informal settlements. A total of 8,815 houses were
identied in the aerial images taken in 2011, while 11,083 structures were counted
in the 2016 images. On average, 453 houses were therefore added each year to the
informal settlements between 2011 and 2016. A high percentage of these houses are in
semi-formalised informal settlements or extensions that are in the process of township
proclamation. These include:
Uupindi North and South (semi-formalised under the Oshakati Human Settlement
Improvement Project (OSHIP) in the 1990s)
Parts of Oshoopala;
Evululuko and Extensions 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 (all at dierent stages of upgrading and
township proclamation);
Oneshila (upgrading initiated in 2016).
About 7,500 housing structures were mapped in these areas in 2016. This is about 70% of
the 11,083 houses counted in all informal areas in 2016, which leaves roughly 30% of all
informal houses outside of areas that are semi-formal or currently being upgraded.
Residents in settlements that are semi-formal or being upgraded have certain occupancy
rights, and pay fees to the Town Council, such as for services or rent. People may build with
bricks and blocks in certain areas, but not in others.
Oshakati
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000 Shacks
Bricks/blocks
201120011991
1991 2001 2011
Bricks/blocks 68% 89% 79%
Shacks 32% 11% 21%
Figure 16: Numbers of formal and informal houses in Oshakati in 1991, 2001 and 2011.
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Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Space for housing in Oshakati is limited, which is why much of the growth of informal
housing has been in the form of densication of existing informal areas, and less through
urban sprawl. For example, in Uupindi North and South, some 3,000 housing structures were
identied in 2016, of which 900 were built between 2011 and 2016. Over the same period,
the settlement’s surface area expanded very little. Red dots are on houses present in 2011,
while yellow dots are for homes built between 2011 and 2016.
67
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Aerial view of Uupindi South where new shacks have been constructed over the last years.
Figure 17: Pockets of unorganized sprawl are visible in some peripheral areas of Oshakati,
such as in the area south of Extension 15. The Town Council expects to limit and control
this growth by making low-cost erven available elsewhere in the town. The blue line is the
boundary between Oshakati and Ongwediva (to the right).
Formal housing
Non-residential formal
Informal houses in 2016
Informal houses in 2011
2 kilometres
Oshikuku
Okahao
Okatana
Ongwediva
Uupindi South
Uupindi North
Oshoopala
Sky
Oneshila
Evululuko
Ext. 10 Ext. 11
Ext. 12
Ext. 15
Ext. 13
Ext. 14
Pohamba
Old Oshimbango
Okalaula
Ompumbu Proper
Kandjengedi
Onawa
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Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Formal housing
Non-residential formal
Informal houses in 2016
Informal houses in 2011
2 kilometres
Oshikuku
Okahao
Okatana
Ongwediva
Uupindi South
Uupindi North
Oshoopala
Sky
Oneshila
Evululuko
Ext. 10 Ext. 11
Ext. 12
Ext. 15
Ext. 13
Ext. 14
Pohamba
Old Oshimbango
Okalaula
Ompumbu Proper
Kandjengedi
Onawa
Figure 18. Informal settlements in 2017, and informal houses identied in 2011 and 2016 in
Oshakati.
69
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
5.3.2 Characteristics of informal settlements
The Oshakati Town Council has made considerable investments in the provision of services
over the last years. For example, in 2011 the number of homes cooking with electricity
surpassed those using wood fuel. The number of households with toilets increased
between 1991 and 2001, and again between 2001 and 2011.
Pit latrines are widely used in Oshakati’s informal settlements, providing a low cost solution
to improve sanitation. These toilets were introduced to Oshakati in the 1990s by the Oshakati
Human Settlement Improvement Programme (OSHIP) implemented by the Danish NGO
IBIS. They are still being constructed today, but according to local sources the knowledge
of how to build them is slowly disappearing. Almost a third (29%) of Oshakati’s families
use wood to cook, and another 9% use paran. The remaining 62% of the population rely
mainly on electricity or gas.
1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011
Electricity Gas Paran Wood
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
No toilet Pit or bucket Private ush Shared ush
1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
Figure 19: Numbers of Oshakati households using different kinds of toilets (top) and cooking
fuel (bottom) in 1991, 2001 and 2011.
70
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
5.3.3 Urban planning and development approaches of the Town Council
Informal settlement upgrading
Oshakati has made concerted eorts to control and upgrade informal settlements. It also
has the distinction of allowing people to build permanent homes in informal settlements
that have some structured layout. This anticipates the implementation of measures
to upgrade those areas without signicantly altering their physical structure. The living
conditions of many informal settlement residents has been improved as a result of this
pragmatic approach.
Upgrading eorts in Oshakati date back to the 1990s when the town experimented with the
Flexible Land Tenure approach in the context of the OSHIP programme. Four settlements
were upgraded during the project which aimed to improve livelihoods in the informal
settlements. For example, Uupindi became semi-formalised after plots, house numbers,
roads and open spaces had been provided. Infrastructure such as street lights was funded
by the Danish Council, while other services were supplied by the Town Council. After OSHIP,
the Oshakati Town Council continued to deliver land using various tenure arrangements.
Four FLTS pilot areas were surveyed in 2000. However, in the absence of a legal framework
for FLTS no starter titles were issued (Asperen 2014).
1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011
Electricity Gas Paran Wood
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
No toilet Pit or bucket Private ush Shared ush
1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
A typical pit latrine design found in many of Oshakati’s informal settlements.
71
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Provision of serviced land
Parallel to the upgrading of informal settlements, the Town Council recognized the need to
increase the availability of low-cost erven to contain the further densication and sprawl of
informal settlements. The area of Onawa (north-east of the town centre) was identied as
suitable for this purpose, following which an initial layout was provided by a town planning
consultant. The area has been selected as a pilot area for the FLTS.
Over the last three years, Oshakati Town Council serviced 2,210 plots, the highest number
of any town in Namibia.35 It also produced housing through the NHE and the Mass Housing
Programme. While most of this housing has been for the middle and upper income market,
the Town Council has demonstrated the ability and determination to implement urban
development and land servicing projects on a large scale. The Town Council hopes that its
application for an extension of town boundaries towards the north will be approved within
the next two or three years.
Oshakati has put considerable eort into addressing the challenges of informal settlement
growth within the framework of a broader urban development strategy. This has been
achieved using two strategies: the upgrading of existing informal settlements and the
(planned) delivery of low cost land to stem the uncontrolled growth of new settlements.
Although challenges remain, Oshakati provides lessons to be applied in the wider urban
development context in Namibia.
5.4 Windhoek
Windhoek is the national capital of Namibia, located in the centre of the country and at
the cross-roads of major north-south and east-west trunk routes. The city is perched on the
Khomas highlands at an altitude of about 1,700 meters. Colonial Windhoek was founded
on 18 October 1890. Over the past 137 years the city has developed as the political,
administrative, commercial and industrial centre of the country.
With 322,300 inhabitants in 2011, Windhoek then housed about one sixth of Namibia’s
population. It has the most vibrant economic and industrial development of all urban
centres in Namibia, this being the major pull factor to attract in-migration. Apartheid era
spatial segregation of its residents has been largely replaced by segregation based on
wealth. Windhoek reects Namibia’s social and economic inequality, with business and
upper income residential areas akin to any rst world town juxtaposed with large informal
settlements slighted by poverty, no tenure and limited services.
35 Oshakati humiliates Windhoek on land delivery (The Namibian, 19 June 2017) https://
www.namibian.com.na/165913/archive-read/Oshakati-humiliates-Windhoek-on-land-
delivery
72
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
5.4.1 Informal settlement growth
The city of Windhoek has grown rapidly since independence, from 141,562 inhabitants in
1991 to 322,300 residents in 2011, this being a total growth of 128% at an annual growth
rate of 4.2%. At that rate, the population in 2017 would amount to about 413,000 people.
Much of this growth occurred in the city’s informal settlements. While in 1991 only 3% of
all houses in Windhoek where shacks, they made up about one-third (32%) of all homes by
the time of the 2011 census.
Informal settlements were not tolerated during colonial times, and only began expanding
after independence in 1990. Between 1991 and 1994, the City of Windhoek (CoW)
established so called ‘reception areas’ to accommodate poor in-migrants temporarily, with
the objective to relocate them to permanent areas once they were available. The reception
areas soon became permanent, however, and informal housing within and beyond the
reception areas grew rapidly (Nickanor 2013). Uncontrolled growth has dominated the
expansion of Windhoek’s informal settlements ever since.
73
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
During the last census period from 2001 to 2011, the number of formal block or brick
houses increased from 40,640 to 57,742; an overall growth of 42%. By contrast, the number
of shacks grew by 92% from 13,927 in 2001 to 26,736 shacks in 2011.
Should that growth rate continue, Windhoek can expect to have about 51,000 shacks four
years from now in 2021, and then 99,000 shacks in 2031.
Many informal settlements in Windhoek are densely populated, lling river valleys and
sprawling across hillsides. The great majority of informal residents subsist in corrugated iron
shacks.
Windhoek
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000 Shacks
Bricks/blocks
201120011991
1991 2001 2011
Bricks/blocks 97% 74% 68%
Shacks 3% 26% 32%
Figure 20: The growth of formal brick or block houses and informal shack houses in Windhoek
from 1991 to 2011.
74
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Low density urban sprawl west of Havana and north of Goreangab.
75
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Formal housing
Non-residential formal
Informal houses in 2016
Informal houses in 2012
Partial ‘block’ upgrade
Upgraded but no tenure
1 kilometre
Figure 21. The city of Windhoek (inset on facing page) and the north-west of the city where
all informal settlements are located, and in which certain areas have been upgraded to some
degree. The areas in blue are block erven purchased by groups of residents, and which are
registered by the Surveyor General. The internal subdivision of individual erven was done by
the residents themselves and these individual erven are not registered. Nevertheless, once a
group of residents has a purchase agreement for a block erf with the CoW, they are allowed
to build with permanent construction materials. The areas upgraded by the CoW are planned
and with different levels of services, but the areas are not proclaimed and residents to not have
ofcial titles for their erven. For both block erven and areas upgraded by the CoW, the City
considers the Flexible Land Tenure System as the preferred option to provide tenure security.
76
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
The growth of Windhoek’s informal settlements has taken place through two processes:
1. Urban sprawl caused by the building of homes outside built-up areas;
2. The densication of existing informal settlements as a result of new houses being
built on small patches of vacant land within built-up areas.
As is clearly visible in Figure 21, a large percentage of informal expansion took place west of
Havana and Goreangab. This sprawl, including smaller areas in the north of Okuryangava,
accounts for approximately 40% of Windhoek’s informal settlement growth from 2012
to 2016. Some 6,700 shack structures were counted in these areas. The remaining 60%
(approximately 8,800 shacks) that were built during this period are within existing informal
settlements, contributing to increased housing and population density.
Okahandja
Gobabis
Rehoboth
77
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011
Electricity Gas Paran Wood
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
No toilet Pit or bucket Private Flush Shared Flush
1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
The blue line indicates the western limit of informal houses in Havana in 2012, with the red
dots representing shacks that existed at that time. All the yellow dots are for shacks identied
in 2016. Clearly visible is the westward sprawl (left of the blue line) and the densication
(yellow dots) within the area that had been partially settled in 2012.
78
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
5.4.2 Characteristics of informal settlements
Since independence, the CoW invested considerable resources to provide services to many
informal settlement areas. Communal water points, shared ush toilets and access roads
have been delivered on a large scale. Nevertheless, the growth of informal settlements has
tested the City’s capacity, and large areas remain with few, or no services.
In 2011, 66% of the city’s residents used electricity as the main source of energy, while the
remaining 34% of residents mainly relied on gas, paran and wood. It can be assumed that
most of these 34% are informal houses. And in 2011, 19% of Windhoek’s families consisting
of about 61,000 people did not have toilet facilities. This has serious implications for public
health.
1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011
Electricity Gas Paran Wood
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
No toilet Pit or bucket Private Flush Shared Flush
1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
Figure 22: Numbers of Windhoek households using different kinds of toilets (top) and cooking
fuel (bottom) in 1991, 2001 and 2011.
79
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Shared ush toilets have been constructed in many informal settlements to provide basic
sanitation. In some parts of Havana, for example, six families share a toilet on average.
However, residents frequently avoid shared toilets because they are often dirty and
unhygienic.
Communal water points are a common feature in many of Windhoek’s settlements. Water
cards are often provided for free, and can be re-charged at local oces of the CoW, such
as those in Ombili or Wanaheda. Twenty-ve litres cost 40 cents in 2017, and according to
some local residents N$50 may pay for water for a home of 4-5 people each month. That
corresponds to roughly 25 litres per household member per day.
Solid waste is collected from
centrally located dumpsters in
many of Windhoek’s informal
settlements. The municipality
provides refuse bags to residents
on a weekly basis in certain areas,
and also empties the dumpsters
once a week. Some areas are
insuciently serviced, however,
with the result that waste is
dumped in the open.
A shared ush toilet and communal water point in Havana.
80
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Large areas of informal settlements in Windhoek lack electricity or street lightening, one
reason being that the CoW’s upgrading strategy (see below) does not allow for electricity
to be provided to the lowest income residents.
5.4.3 Urban planning and development approaches of the City of Windhoek
Very little low-cost land has been made available to low income settlers. Rather, the CoW’s
main focus has been to upgrade certain existing informal settlements where considerable
resources have been invested over the last two decades. The CoW also has extensive,
detailed databases on many informal settlement areas, and regularly conducts household
surveys, especially where the City is upgrading services and providing infrastructure.
Areas that have been upgraded in some way since independence are shown are shown
on the map on page 76. Of the 56,000 informal housing structures (predominantly shacks)
counted in 2016, about 14,100 or one-quarter were in areas that have either been upgraded
by the CoW or where groups of residents have purchased a whole block erf from the City.
Upgrading activities are guided by the City’s ‘Development and Upgrading Strategy’
published in 1999 (City of Windhoek 1999). Its key aspects remain:
To focus on the low and ultra-low income population;
To introduce services that are aordable for residents;
To provide guidelines on upgrading of low and ultra-low income townships in terms
of physical structure, land tenure and services;
To provide guidelines for the promotion and facilitation of self-help development.
The document denes ‘upgrading’ as: “An action whereby an existing formal or informal
settlement is regularized to provide a form of security of tenure or where new or additional
municipal services are installed or a combination of these is pursued. An upgrading
programme may comprise of various combinations, depending on the target community’s
needs, priorities and aordability levels.
In terms of service levels, the strategy has several guidelines, such as:
Ensuring minimal health standards: in terms of service provision, convenience levels
may be compromised, but not reasonable health standards;
Financial sustainability: the costs of upgrading of informal settlements must be paid
by users, except for the lowest income levels for whom subsidies from government
are to be obtained;
Communal water taps should be no further than 200 meters from the most distant
household;
Sanitation: encourage the installation of on-site sanitation systems by community
members in all informal settlements;36
36 A sanitation system where the waste is treated at the site itself.
81
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Electricity to informal settlements at Development Levels 1-3 (see Table 10) will not
be provided, but investigations for alternative sources of energy for the poor are
encouraged;
Community involvement and contribution is strongly encouraged, especially for
lower development levels to compensate for low aordability;
The City applies the strategy in dierent scenarios. For example, a community group
(residents of a township or block of individual erven) may request additional services from
the CoW. All households participating in such a request must be fully up-to-date with all
payments for leases, erf loans and services before the request can be considered. And
upgrading of services will only be considered if the community has purchased the land
(block, without formal internal subdivision), or is willing to do so. The City then conducts
a feasibility study, one element of which evaluates if there is a reasonable chance of
recovering the cost of upgrading.
The strategy encourages the participation of organised self-help groups to purchase
blocks of land, and to develop the land with their own resources. Self-help groups are
obliged to implement at least Development Level 1 (see Table 10), but they can stagger
implementation according to their nancial capacity.
According to the upgrading strategy, future programmes for erf delivery will be based on
this strategy. The need for land in each development level will be estimated on the basis
of income data for the ultra-low income population. Thereafter, a land delivery strategy
will be devised, which will include a programme to indicate the annual delivery of erven
for each development level. The strategy encourages NGO involvement in areas such as
alternative energy sources, skills training and the promotion of saving schemes.
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Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Table 10: The six levels of development into which informal settlements are classied
by the CoW.37
Development
level (DL)
Income
groups
Services Land tenure Percentage
of population
that can aord
the services 38
DL 0-3: Ultra-low Communal services
such as communal
water points,
shared flush toilets,
pit latrines
Varying degrees of
service provision:
none/less at lower
level, more at
higher level
No electricity
Lease
Purchase of entire
blocks made
possible
Sale of individual
erven in upgraded
areas
DL 0: 20%
DL 1: 33%
DL 2: 29%
DL 3: 14%
DL 4 Low
income
Individual sewer
connections
Street lights in main
roads
Bin based waste
removal
Upgradable area
Sale of individual
erven in upgraded
areas
2%
DL 5 Low
income
Individual sewer
and water
connections
Street lights in
whole township
Bin based waste
removal
Upgradable area
Sale of individual
erven in upgraded
areas
Provision of land for
NHE housing
1%
DL 6 Medium
income
Fully serviced Individual erven 1%
According to the information in the table, most informal settlement residents in Windhoek
can only aord services provided by Development Levels 0-3. Furthermore, only about 4%
of all informal settlement residents will be able to aord services provided to Development
Level 4 and above.
37 This summarises information provided in City of Windhoek (1999)
38 Approximate percentage of residents, as per affordability table in the strategy document
(City of Windhoek, 1999)
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Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Erven in many of the upgraded areas are smaller than 300 square metres. According to CoW
ocials, this makes settlement proclamation and the provision of secure tenure dicult,
and seems to be the main reason why people are not allowed to build with permanent
building materials in upgraded areas.39 Many Windhoek informal settlements are so dense
that residents would have to move elsewhere if the 300 square metre requirement was
enforced. Where people could be relocated remains an open question, since low cost land
is barely available in Windhoek.
The sizes of erven in dense informal settlements are extremely small. In the example of
Havana Extension 7 (shown here), the average size of the mapped erven is about 100 square
metres.40 If an upgrading project where to provide residents with required 300 square metre
erven, two-thirds of the residents would have to be shifted elsewhere.
39 In the course of the research, this has been mentioned as a main reason why many upgraded
areas have not been proclaimed to date. However, Town Planning Standards and Urban
Design Guidelines for Principle Layout Plans (MRLGHRD 2013) explicitly state that “The
Minister of Regional Government, Housing & Rural Development may approve smaller
erven for informal upgrading projects or ultra-low income housing projects or other
special justied cases.” It is therefore not clear whether the CoW has fully explored this
option, or whether this exemption policy may have since changed.
40 The properties were mapped on this image to illustrate the size of shack erven.
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Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Windhoek’s development levels provide a useful tool that other towns might use to classify
informal settlements, and to identify levels of services that are aordable to the local
population.
However, the City of Windhoek has not set aside low cost land where it can control the
development of low income properties and housing. To date, almost all expansion has
taken place without planning guidance, unlike the proactive measures applied by other
towns. And without proactive planning, older settlements continue to densify rapidly,
which makes upgrading ever more expensive and dicult.
If land for owner-built housing units is not provided on a substantial scale, massive public
funding will be needed to subsidise other forms of housing for poor in-migrants. And if
informal settlements carry on growing without planning, Windhoek will continue to build
a legacy of missed opportunities, social inequality and economic ineciency.
5.5 Otjiwarongo41
Otjiwarongo is the capital of the Otjozondjupa. It is situated in central-north Namibia, on
the B1 road. The town was named by Herero people who rst settled there, the name
Otjiwarongo meaning ‘a place where fat cattle come to graze. The rst German settlers
arrived in 1900. Most other Namibians who migrated to Otjiwarongo before Independence,
were separated into the Herero, Damara and Owambo locations, which together made up
the settlement of Orwetoveni.
A railway built between 1903 and 1906 from Swakopmund through Otjiwarongo to
Tsumeb helped the town become a prosperous regional and agricultural centre, and the
biggest business centre in Otjozondjupa. With a population of 28,249 (2011 census) it is
Namibia’s 8th largest urban centre. The town has continued to develop and expand rapidly.
The presence of the B2Gold Otjikoto mine (60 kilometres to the north) has had a positive
economic impact on the town, with most of the mine’s workers living in Otjiwarongo.
A similar positive economic impact is expected from the Cheetah Cement Factory that
will begin its operations in 2017.42 Good schools and health care facilities, and economic
development in Orwetoveni also attract people to Otjiwarongo.43
41 Despite several attempts, representatives of the Otjiwarongo Municipality were not
available to meet with the DWN research team. The information provided in this chapter
is therefore solely based on remote sensing, sources from the media and some information
from a town planning consultant. Less information is available than for the four other
towns and some data may have been misinterpreted. Nevertheless Otjiwarongo provides an
interesting example of how the growth of informal settlements has largely been organised
and planned.
42 200 Job Opportunities at Cheetah Cement Factory (The Namibian Sun, 17 July 2017)
https://www.namibiansun.com/news/230-job-opportunities-at-cheetah-cement
43 Otjiwarongo services over 2 000 erven (The Namibian Sun, 24 May 2017) https://www.
namibiansun.com/news/otjiwarongo-services-over-2-000-erven
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Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
5.5.1 Informal settlement growth
Otjiwarongo’s informal settlement growth is almost exclusively at the eastern periphery of
Orvetoweni. Many older informal areas mapped on the 2010 image show characteristics of
formal low income areas. They have houses built with bricks and have some level of service
provision. As is the case in Oshakati, Otjiwarongo’s informal settlements therefore include a
considerable percentage of houses built with permanent construction material.
On the 2010 image, the roof top mapping counted 3,761 housing structures in the town’s
informal areas. This number must be seen as indicative since many mapped structures are
backyard structures attached or next to bigger houses on the same erf. On the 2016 image
a total of 7,159 housing structures were mapped, most shacks being found in the more
recently occupied areas.
The growth of informal housing in Otjiwarongo has therefore been considerable, with
some 3,400 housing structures added from 2010 to 2016, at an average of about 560
informal housing structures per year. More than 87% (some 6,251 structures) of the informal
structures mapped however are located in planned and structured areas. Levels of services
vary among the dierent informal settlements.
Otjiwarongo
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000 Shacks
Bricks/blocks
201120011991
1991 2001 2011
Bricks/blocks 86% 78% 77%
Shacks 14% 22% 23%
Figure 23: Growth in the number of formal buildings (built of blocks or bricks) and informal
shack structures from 1991 to 2011.
86
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Formal housing
Formal, mainly housing
Non-residential formal
Informal houses in 2016
Informal houses in 2010
1 kilometre
Okahandja/Windhoek
Otavi/Ondangwa
Tsaraxa Aibes Informal
and Business Area
DRC Informal Area
Proposed DRC
Extension 3
Proposed DRC
Extension 4
Proposed DRC
Extension 2
Freedom
Park
Heroes
Park
Orwetoveni (Proper and Extensions 1-13)
Figure 24: Satellite image of Otjiwarongo taken in 2016 showing the location of informal
houses mapped in an earlier image from 2010 and then in 2016.
An aerial view of the DRC informal settlement in the east of Orvetoweni, showing the road
network and planned structure of the settlements in the proposed DRC Extensions 3 and 4.
87
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
5.5.2 Characteristics of informal settlements
As in many other towns, access to basic services is limited in the informal settlements.
According to census data, slightly more than one third of homes use wood as the main
source of cooking. About half of the town’s residents have access to private or shared ush
toilets, while the other half use pit or bucket latrines or the ‘bush’. The use of pit and bucket
latrines increased considerably from 2001 to 2011.
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
No toilet Pit or bucket Private ush Shared ush
1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011
1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011
Electricity Gas Paran Wood
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
Figure 25: Numbers of Otjiwarongo households using different kinds of toilets (top) and
cooking fuel (bottom) in 1991, 2001 and 2011.
88
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
Many of the formal Orvetoweni extensions are currently being serviced. According
to media reports,44 servicing of erven has been completed in Freedom Park, while the
servicing of land is nearly complete at Heroes Park. Both Heroes and Freedom Park homes
form part of the Mass Housing Project and are serviced with government aid. Both areas are
earmarked for subsidised low-cost houses and can be considered formal low and middle
income residential areas. Three other extensions that have existing housing developments
in Orvetoweni are also being serviced.
No information could be obtained on levels of servicing in the DRC informal settlement.
However, some of the DRC informal areas now seem not to have services, while other areas
have basic level of services.
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
No toilet Pit or bucket Private ush Shared ush
1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011 1991 2001 2011
An old, low income house in Orvetoweni
44 Otjiwarongo services over 2 000 erven (The Namibian Sun, 24 May 2017) https://www.
namibiansun.com/news/otjiwarongo-services-over-2-000-erven
89
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
In some areas of the DRC informal settlement residents have begun construction using
permanent building materials.
Most of the informal settlement expansion has been planned with a basic road network.
Housing developments in Heroes Park
90
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
5.5.3 Urban planning and development approaches of the Municipality
Otjiwarongo has kept considerable control over informal settlement expansion by
demarcating and allocating an adequate number of un-serviced or minimally serviced
erven to in-migrants. The existing road network is certain to facilitate the upgrading of
services over time. The layout plan was apparently provided by an external town planning
consultant while in-house sta of the municipality surveyed the erven. The municipality
apparently also experienced some challenges in controlling land use in these newly
planned areas of the DRC informal settlements, with many public spaces having been
invaded and occupied for residential purposes.
A communal water point in the DRC informal settlement
91
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
6 Conclusions and recommendations
The rapid growth of disorganized informal settlements has been identied as the biggest
challenge to confront Namibian towns. A major reason why informal settlements expand
so much – and in such a disorderly fashion – is that the formal land supply system and
market does not serve the needs of low income Namibians. As a result, they have no option
but to acquire land informally and to build informal homes. They are forced to become
participants in the informal market of informal settlements.
However, examples from the towns described in this book show how local authorities can
provide low cost solutions that indeed enable poorer Namibians to become land and home
owners. They also show that much can be done within the current legal and administrative
framework. Legal and administrative inadequacies are not excuses for inaction.
6.1 The dynamics of informal settlements
The research reported here has shown that a great diversity of social and economic
conditions exist in informal settlements. Some areas are decades old, others barely
one or two years of age. The presence, absence or condition of dierent services in the
settlements is highly variable. Most people are poor, many extremely poor, but there are
also many residents that are much wealthier than their humble surroundings suggest. The
more informal settlements are studied, the harder they are to typecast.
Consider these two scenarios, which exemplify and contrast many of the informal
situations described in previous chapters. The rst is a disorganized, unstructured and
dense aggregation of corrugated iron shacks. Converting this into a proclaimed township
where residents enjoy the benets to be had in formal urban areas is a massive challenge.
Families need to be relocated, houses demolished, new road alignments planned and
made, plots surveyed and demarcated, sewer and water pipes laid, electricity lines strung,
open spaces created for services and recreation, and so forth. All these activities are costly,
and often lead to volatile anger from people who resent being moved. And only once all
these steps have been completed can residents begin to build permanent homes, begin
to feel that they have secure tenure, and indeed have certication to prove that this is their
land, and their homes.
The conversion of dense, disorderly informal into formal, secure and serviced settlements
requires the involvement and payment of a variety of people: land surveyors, local
government sta, local authority councillors, labourers, suppliers of materials, engineers
of many kinds, town planners, members of NAMPAB, the Townships Board, MURD sta, et
cetera. The considerable costs need to be recovered, if not from public funds then from the
residents of the new formal township.
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Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
At best, developing such informal settlements happens slowly. At worst, nothing happens.
In between, steps to make improvements may be taken. Some are systematic, other steps
are piece-meal, but all are well-intentioned. However, further improvements towards
formality are blocked by legal or policy obstacles. Small erven are prohibited, permanent
homes may not be built, tenure is disallowed, roads cannot be provided, private water and
toilet connections cannot be installed, or street lighting is considered too expensive.
Here is the second scenario. The need to accommodate newcomers and allocate them land
on which they can build their lives incrementally is anticipated. An open area is identied,
and the layout of roads, plots and areas for services is planned, surveyed and pegged.
Newcomers are given plots, and the registration certicates provided by the local authority
serve as proof of ownership, at least in de facto terms. Residents are condent land holders,
they start to build permanent homes, and local authorities have the condence to begin
providing services as and when funds allow. Lease or service fees are paid by residents in
the knowledge that they have a future. The money paid will be to their eventual benet.
Sewer and water pipes will be laid along the original roads, and a school can be built on
land set aside for that purpose some time ago.
Eventual proclamation as a formal township may take many years. But residents and
local authorities can invest for their own and mutual benet, rather like a public-private-
partnership. The status of the area will be informal initially, but its character will be well
developed, secure and eventually fully serviced.
6.2 Gaining control over informal settlement expansion
Several principles emerge from the examples of towns controlling the development of
informal settlements in Chapter 5:
1. To provide housing for the poor, land is provided at prices the poor can aord;
2. The land is in properly planned and surveyed townships that can one day be readily
proclaimed;
3. Services can be kept to a minimum at the beginning, so that the cost of land is low,
but the land is upgradable over time;
4. Low income residents are allowed to build homes by and for themselves, at their own
pace.
If land is provided at aordable prices, low income residents can pay for it, and the need for
subsidies is minimised. This makes the approach nancially sustainable and expandable. A
properly planned, and surveyed erf with minimal services can be provided for N$10,000 or
less. A high percentage of informal settlement residents can aord these amounts.
If aordable land can be provided to the urban poor on a cost recovery basis, opportunities
arise for private sector engagement to nance the development of low cost land. This
could happen in the same way that private developers collaborate with local authorities
to provide costly serviced erven and housing for the middle and upper income market.
93
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Since prot margins for low cost land delivery would be small, private sector Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes could provide funding to specialist not-for-prot
organisations to provide technical and project management assistance to local authorities.
Investments of public funds made by government and local authority can then be kept to
a minimum, and better used to provide costly bulk infra-structure.
6.3 Importance of tenure security for social equity and economic
eciency
Urban centres epitomise Namibia’s extreme social and economic inequality. While middle
and upper income residents in Namibia’s towns have property rights and high standards
of services, the residents of informal settlements do not own their land, cannot invest in it,
and often have no services.
It is a simple fact that the absence of tenure security prohibits a large percentage of informal
settlement residents from building permanent homes. The direct result is that about
one fourth of Namibia’s population is obliged to live in shanty shacks under deplorable
conditions. Even if they have the money to build with permanent construction materials,
the law does not allow them to do so.
In dense, disorganised informal settlements, the prohibition on building permanent
structures can be understood as a measure to keep open options for upgrading. It is
indeed much easier to upgrade an informal settlement with shack structures (that can be
relocated) than one with brick houses. This however adds weight to the need for informal
settlements to be upgraded with the greatest urgency so that temporary shacks do not
become permanent homes.
It was surprising to nd that families in many areas that had been upgraded by local
authorities were still unable to have secure tenure. They had to continue living in shacks,
as a result. Tens of thousands of residents live in such upgraded, but un-proclaimed
settlements. Legal and administrative procedures force this segment of the population to
live in shacks, and without access to the economic benets of having investments secured
in land. While these policy prohibitions remain in place, the Flexible Land Tenure System
may provide a solution. In any case, the nature and scale of the problem calls for urgent
attention, given that the livelihoods of many could be improved rapidly by removing a
simple obstacle.
94
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
6.4 Recommendations
The challenges related to existing informal settlements and their continued rapid growth
in Namibia are enormous. However, compared to many other countries in southern
Africa, Namibia’s informal settlements are relatively small, and there is considerable local
institutional and technical capacity to manage the challenges eectively.
A general recommendation:
Returning to the two scenarios described at the start of this chapter, all possible proactive
steps should be taken to avoid establishing settlements that t the rst scenario:
disorganized, unstructured and dense shanties of corrugated iron shacks. Conversely, steps
taken towards creating the second scenario are to be encouraged: ordered settlements
where low income residents own their land, can build permanent homes and look forward
to the incremental provision of services. These steps require proactive planning of informal
settlements before people settle there.
Recommendation 1: Focus on the provision of land, not housing
To address the housing crisis of Namibia’s low income urban residents, the focus should shift
from the provision of housing towards the provision of aordable land. The construction
of houses should be left to the residents, allowing them to build at their own pace, with
a minimum of obstacles and a maximum of encouragement. Government and local
authorities should supply land with a minimum of cost and at maximum speed.
Recommendation 2: Gain control over informal settlement expansion
Gaining control over informal settlement growth should be a priority for any town in
Namibia. This requires a supply of properly planned and aordable low cost land.
Recommendation 3: Support innovative, proactive and pragmatic approaches of local
authorities
Local authorities are the key actors that manage urban development in their areas of
jurisdiction. They normally identify local challenges long before anyone else, and they
are often the rst to produce innovative and pragmatic solutions. These local initiatives
and answers should be supported by government, NGO’s and the private sector. Specic
support should also be provided to help local authorities:
Manage the complex, and often lengthy township proclamation process;
Manage projects to provide low cost land or upgrade existing informal settlements;45
Promote aspects of social inclusion, economic eciency and environmental
sustainability.
45 The management of planning consultants, land surveyors, EIAs, the selection and registry
of new erf owners, and maintaining control over newly developed areas often pushes the
capacities of local authorities to the limit.
95
Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
Recommendation 4: Accelerate the provision of tenure in structured or upgraded
informal settlements
Many informal settlements are ready to be proclaimed, having planned physical structures
and demarcated erven, for instance. Without any additional funds the settlements could be
proclaimed by removing administrative obstacles that stem from current policy. A national
inventory of settlements that are ready for proclamation should be assembled, and their
proclamation fast-tracked by MURD.
Recommendation 5: Attracting private sector investment
The provision of low cost urban land can be done on a cost recovery basis, therefore
facilitating private sector involvement, while safeguarding real benets for local authorities.
Land can be supplied with minimal use of public funds by government, as is the case with
the development of middle and upper income housing.
Recommendation 6: International donor funding and CSR support for upgrading
projects
Many dense and unstructured informal settlements cannot be upgraded without
signicant resources. Scarce public funds should be assigned to such areas, and used to
leverage additional funding from international donor organizations and CSR funds from
the Namibian private sector.
Recommendation 7: Turning rapid urbanisation and the creation of new townships
into an economic opportunity for Namibia
The development of Namibia’s rapidly growing towns should be guided by principles of
social inclusion, economic eciency and environmental sustainability. Planning provides
opportunities to create new townships that are conducive to the economic and social
needs of its residents, and the town and the nation. Migrants from impoverished rural areas
need homes that provide them with condence, services, security and long-term outlooks
to be economically productive. The integration of low income residents into the formal
land market will also raise public funds from rates and taxes for the betterment of all.
96
Exploring ways to make Namibian urban development more socially just and inclusive
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Informal settlements in Namibia: their nature and growth
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... Windhoek grew from 147,000 inhabitants in 1991 to 326,000 in 2011 (Namibia Statistics Agency n.d.: 39; Republic of Namibia 1994: appendix C) and has continued to grow rapidly since then. As jobs are scarce and generally low-paid, 3 many end up relying on odd jobs and small-scale entrepreneurship and cannot aff ord market prices of land, housing, and individual services (Remmert and Ndhlovu 2018: 28-29;Republic of Namibia 2009: 7;Weber and Mendelsohn 2017). In the absence of well-functioning social housing, increasing numbers of people stay with relatives or friends or settle in the informal areas. ...
... Th e visions of market access, self-help, and homeownership have proven to be a lasting legacy. Furthermore, not only has housing been persistently associated with homeownership but usually further confl ated with land ownership (Remmert and Ndhlovu 2018;Republic of Namibia 1990: 11, 2009Weber and Mendelsohn 2017; see also Metsola 2021). Commonly, land and housing are seen as not just fulfi lling basic needs but also as property and an asset. ...
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Despite the professed break from apartheid, a dual logic continues to re-produce the segregated city structure in Windhoek, Namibia’s capital. On the one hand, the formal regulation of access to urban land, housing, and basic services privileges property ownership and ratepaying. On the other hand, for the informal residents, access is provisional and incremental, and depends on cultivating relations with peers and authorities. However, the latter logic of access also contributes to a moral imagination that challenges entitlement based on market participation. Th e article argues that everyday urban governance and urban citizenship in Windhoek arise out of the coexistence, clashes, and collusions between these logics in policies and planning, the residents’ claims of entitlement, and the communication between residents and authorities. The article is based on fieldwork conducted in 2016 and 2019
... Around 40% of the city's population are migrants born in other parts of the country. The dramatic growth of Windhoek is highly visible in the urban landscape since most migrants live in sprawling informal settlements in the northern part of the city with rudimentary housing and services [34][35][36]. At the time of the last Census in 2011, one-third (or 27,000) of all residential units in Windhoek were tin shelters in informal settlements. ...
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Literature on participation in the informal food sector in cities of the Global South is conventionally characterized by a survivalist or opportunistic perspective. The main difference is that opportunists, in contrast to survivalists, are motivated by entrepreneurial choice rather than necessity and see opportunities for economic and social advancement in the sector. Recent studies in Brazil and India conclude that research on informal sector participation requires a “both/and” rather than “either/or” approach. The main problem this paper addresses is whether the “both/and” model is also applicable in the African context. This is the first study to investigate the issue in the informal food sector of an African city; in this case, the capital city of Namibia, Windhoek. The paper evaluates five potential ways of distinguishing between survivalist and opportunistic food vendors and concludes that entrepreneurial motivation (EM) provides the most useful set of metrics. Selected EM responses are then used to construct four regression models—two survivalist and two opportunistic—in order to determine which individual and business characteristics are most strongly and consistently associated with survivalism and opportunism. Few vendors are both survivalist and opportunistic in orientation. There is a possibility of survivalists becoming more opportunistic over time but the models do not confirm this hypothesis. Apart from differences in EM, there are many similarities between the two groups and both would therefore benefit from a more enabling policy environment. The primary distinguishing business characteristic is the enterprise type with street food vendors most likely to be opportunistic. Ironically, it is street vendors who are seen as unsightly, unhealthy, and uncontrollable, and face the most difficult operating environment.
... In this paper, the term is used synonymously with the term slum, which, according to UN-Habitat [12], settlement areas are determined to be if they meet any of the following criteria: The blockwise upgrading of informal settlement areas is an approach that has been known for a long time [13]. Thus, dividing an informal settlement area into individual upgrading areas/upgrading blocks is now common practice in upgrading projects [14]. A block thereby describes a collection of adjacent shacks. ...
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The upgrading of large informal settlement areas takes place in sections for technical, economic and social reasons. On one hand, planning is faced with the challenge of taking individual structural and social conditions into account when dividing up the districts. On the other hand, the routing of the mains of a pipe-based infrastructure (water supply) must be selected in the context of the entire area under consideration and integrated into a superordinate network layout. In this paper, a method that combines these contrasting approaches is presented. Potential district boundaries are identified based on existing infrastructure and development patterns, as well as considering the routing requirements of a piped drinking water supply. Thereby, social factors can be considered in the decision-making process. Subsequently, an area subdivision is performed by a recursive partitioning algorithm. The choice and combination of different compactness measures influence the shape of the districts and, thus, the spatial organization. The geodetic height is integrated into the algorithm via an admissibility condition, so that the subsequent development of a district can take place via one pressure zone. By means of variations in the input parameters of the zoning, different planning levels can be generated, which finally lead successively to the upgrading of an informal settlement area.
... Namibian citizens were therefore subject to apartheid laws between the 1950s and the 1990s. Since independence, the growth of informal settlements (or peri-urban areas or slums) and the rate of urbanisation has accelerated, as people from rural areas arrived in the city in search of employment and education opportunities (Weber & Mendelsohn, 2017). With predicted warming, drier conditions, and increased variability in the spring rainfall, internal rural-urban migration is likely to grow as people move away from subsistence farming and pastoral lifestyles (Niang et al., 2014). ...
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Significance Statement Cities in sub-Saharan countries are simultaneously facing climate change, rapid urbanisation, and social inequalities. Nature-based Solutions harness nature’s benefits to address these environmental, social, and economic challenges. In this study, we investigate how taking into account temporal dynamics and multiple values of nature helps to implement better Nature-based Solutions. Through satellite images and interviews with practitioners and residents, we look at how green spaces and dry riverbeds are distributed, managed, and perceived in the capital city of Namibia, south-western Africa. We find that apartheid spatial segregation legacies persist through the unequal distribution of urban green spaces, and that, although their current management limits their capacity to deliver benefits, riverbeds have the potential to support sustainable development and climate change adaptation.
... Hence, the findings of this study primarily apply to urban residents of Namibia's capital spanning roughly 27 neighbourhoods and locations from Katutura (informal and largely black Namibian settlement) to Klein Windhoek and Ludwigsdorf (primarily white neighbourhoods of higher socioeconomic status). For a broad overview, I classified respondents into those residing in informal, formal or semi-formal neighbourhoods using geographical data in the work of Weber and Mendelsohn (2017). Roughly the same number of respondents live in either formal or informal neighbourhoods, followed by those living in semiformal neighbourhoods. ...
Article
Community or interpersonal support is a critical source to sustain livelihoods in the Global South. At thesame time, these practices can exhibit unequal dynamics such as disincentives, hierarchies, or adverseinclusion of individuals. However, an understanding of such is primarily tied to the conceptual spaceof poverty or small communities. Less is known about how social support systems might respond tostructural inequalities within a society. This paper explores how support practices might be shaped byor respond to structurally inherited inequalities in the Namibian context. More precisely, I estimatethe probability of supporting others that are notably worse off by comparing support practices of blackand white Namibians across various age groups, gender, and socioeconomic standing. By drawing on pri-mary network data, I assess racial inequality as a social dynamic within the space of practising solidaritytowards others and further evaluate whether providing worse off others corresponds to consequences offormer discriminatory practices under the apartheid regime. My results suggest that racial inequalityshapes support practices and meaning. For black Namibians, this can entail that support among familymembers is a necessary act to redress economic imbalances stemming from former discriminatory poli-cies. For white Namibians, support to worse off others seems to be an act of choice that primarily involvessocially distanced contacts. I propose that racial inequality has normalized a sense of support as a neces-sity for black but not white Namibians. This can lead to sharing one’s merits with members of theextended family for black Namibians, rather than accumulating, saving, or re-investing its outcomes.More broadly, by recognizing differences in group practices, I evidence that exploring support practicesacross structural inequalities can enhance insights on the social replication of inter- and intragroup-based inequalities.
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"In this Policy Brief, we turn to the Southern African context - a sub-region of the exceptionally fast-urbanising African continent. More specifically, we focus on South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe when we ask how these countries, and two cities in each, have been going about the globalisation of urban governance and the so-called "local turn" in global action against the ecological crisis. In other words, how have local level governance instruments in these four countries been reformed and recreated to serve the purpose of helping to mitigate and adapt to the global ecological crisis as most visible through climate-related change."
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This paper examines different off-grid renewable energy-based electrification schemes for an informal settlement in Windhoek, Namibia. It presents a techno-economic comparison between the deployment of solar home systems to each residence and the supplying power from either a centralized roof-mounted or ground-mounted hybrid microgrid. The objective is to find a feasible energy system that satisfies technical and user constraints at a minimum levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and net present cost (NPC). Sensitivity analyses are performed on the ground-mounted microgrid to evaluate the impact of varying diesel fuel price, load demand, and solar photovoltaic module cost on system costs. HOMER Pro software is used for system sizing and optimization. The results show that a hybrid system comprising a solar photovoltaic, a diesel generator, and batteries offers the lowest NPC and LCOE for both electrification schemes. The LCOE for the smallest residential load of 1.7 kWh/day and the largest microgrid load of 5.5 MWh/day is USD 0.443/kWh and USD 0.380/kWh, respectively. Respective NPCs are USD 4738 and USD 90.8 million. A sensitivity analysis reveals that variation in the fuel price and load demand changes linearly with system costs and capacities. However, reducing the PV module price in an energy system that includes wind and diesel power sources does not offer significant benefits. Furthermore, deploying an energy system that relies on fossil fuels to each residence in an informal settlement is not environmentally responsible. Unintended negative environmental impacts may result from the mass and simultaneous use of diesel generators. Therefore, a microgrid is recommended for its ability to control the dispatch of diesel generation, and its scalability, reliability of supply, and property security. A roof-mounted microgrid can be considered for piloting due to its lower initial investment. The electricity tariff also needs to be subsidized to make it affordable to end-users. Equally, government and community involvement should be prioritized to achieve long-term economic sustainability of the microgrid.
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Unemployment is a serious issue in many areas of Global South. Over the last years, microwork platforms have started to emerge offering opportunities for earnings and promising improved livelihoods. Although the gig economy facilitated by these platforms has been criticized in the literature, we argue that in the context of informal economy, participation on these platforms does not always worsen the livelihood and thus should be examined. This paper investigates the requirements for using such platforms and assesses their applicability in an informal settlement in Namibia. The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach provides the conceptual framework for the research. We devised a simulation by using design science research methods, where the community members were able to complete digital micro‐tasks for monetary compensation. The experiment evoked excitement among participants. This paper argues that the digital micro‐tasks have promise for the individuals, and elaborates on human, financial, physical, and social capitals required to use these platforms. Finally, we propose a new way, trained peers called “tech mediators,” that can act as facilitators to make these platforms more available for the communities in Global South in the future.
Thesis
Higher levels of inequality have been associated with lower levels of well-being and welfare of a society. An individual cannot be unequal – inequality arises collectively and in comparison. The present research revisits inequality through the lens of interpersonal and in-group dynamics by exploring personal networks of economic support. It thereby asks: In which ways are socioeconomic inequalities entangled with practices of private redistribution? These dynamics were explored in Namibia, a country with inherited inequalities from former apartheid structures. It thus pays particular attention to ethnic identity groups. Using a mixed-method approach which comprises both qualitative statements and structural properties of 205 personal networks of support, I explore a mutual constitution between inequalities as systemic outcome and behavioural dynamic across ethnic identity groups. Building on previous insights which have stressed the continuance of stratifications due to apartheid, I show how inequality is reflected in personal meaning of support, i.e. responding to external challenges such as unemployment crafting responsibilities to provide support. I further demonstrate that providing more can be associated with higher socioeconomic positions and greater socioeconomic distance in support relationships. Such reflects higher vertical inequality in support relationships particularly for non-white ethnic identity groups. Lastly, I propose a novel approach to measuring overall distributive effects of private transfers on income inequality. I find evidence for similarities in terms of socioeconomic profiles within support relationships, yield different distributive effects on income inequality. In sum, my research demonstrates how applying a different perspective on economic support, most commonly termed informal support or informal safety nets in the Global South, can yield new insights. It thereby contests the notion of ‘informality’ where social practices constitute a vital part of social realities and further illustrates potentially conflicting priorities for individuals participating in economic and social systems where different degrees of individualism versus collectivism prevail.
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Informal settlements in rapidly-growing African cities are urban and peri-urban spaces with high rates of formal unemployment, poverty, poor health outcomes, limited service provision, and chronic food insecurity. Traditional concepts of food deserts developed to describe North American and European cities do not accurately capture the realities of food inaccessibility in Africa’s urban informal food deserts. This paper focuses on a case study of informal settlements in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, to shed further light on the relationship between informality and food deserts in African cities. The data for the paper was collected in a 2016 survey and uses a sub-sample of households living in shack housing in three informal settlements in the city. Using various standard measures, the paper reveals that the informal settlements are spaces of extremely high food insecurity. They are not, however, food deprived. The proximity of supermarkets and open markets, and a vibrant informal food sector, all make food available. The problem is one of accessibility. Households are unable to access food in sufficient quantity, quality, variety, and with sufficient regularity.
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The relationship between migration and food security in urban areas is an emerging area of research internationally. To date, with the exception of studies in India, Kenya, and Namibia, little attention has focused on food insecurity experienced by migrants in cities of the Global South. Building on earlier work in Namibia, this paper interrogates the relationship between migration and food security in the city of Windhoek. Windhoek has experienced significant rural–urban migration in recent years, especially since Namibia’s independence in 1990. Many migrants have settled in the northern and north-western areas of the city, primarily in the informal settlements. Most of the migrant households are poor and food insecure. In an effort to mitigate their insecure food situation, they make use of various strategies including receiving food transfers, obtaining food from informal markets, and other informal methods. This paper documents the dimensions and variations in food security amongst migrant households and examines the linkages between migration and food insecurity in a rapidly-growing African city.
Book
An increasing number of poor Southern Africans live in poverty-stricken urban slums or shantytowns. Focusing on four shantytowns in the northern Namibian town of Oshakati, this book analyses the coping strategies of the poorest sections of such populations. The study is based on fieldwork conducted intermittently during a period of ten years. It combines theories of political, economic and cultural structuration, and of the material and cultural basis for social relations of inclusion and exclusion as practise. The poorest shanty dwellers are marginalised or excluded from vital urban and rural relationships and forced into social relations of poverty amongst themselves. Having experienced long-term processes of impoverishment, the very poorest and most destitute in the shantytowns tend to give up improving their lives and act in ways that further undermine their position.
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Sub-Saharan Africa is urbanizing rapidly, but most countries lack appropriate tools to manage their urban growth. This creates both risks and opportunities for prospective land holders, resulting in a tangle of insecure land rights and claims under multiple tenure systems. Recently, innovative land tools have been proposed and implemented to formalize land tenure. It is envisaged that tenure security for land holders will increase and in turn contribute to poverty reduction. This study evaluates such tools in three peri-urban areas in Lusaka (Zambia), Oshakati (Namibia) and Gaborone (Botswana), with a focus on the perspective of the land holders. The author concludes that the tools are to some extent pro-poor, and makes recommendations for further improvements. These innovative land tools are also considered a necessary addition to conventional and administration tools. This study makes valuable reading for academics, policy makers and practitioners within the land administration domain and related disciplines.
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Land tenure in Namibia is regulated by a variety of Acts, some of which date back to as far as 1937, and some of which are yet to be approved by Cabinet. This variety of Acts makes it difficult to evaluate the performance of land administration as a whole, and the appropriateness of coercive instruments with regards to urban land tenure in particular. In this article we evaluate how urban land tenure regularization practices are conducted in Namibia, and to compare new formal procedures, designed to address problems of efficiency and efficacy, to older existing procedures, supposedly not efficient or effective. This evaluation uses a theoretical framework of Pritchett and Woolcock [Pritchett, L., Woolcock, M., 2004. Solutions when the solution is the problem: arraying the disarray in development. World Development 32 (2), 191–212], which deals with public service delivery and transaction-intensive services. Applying this framework for a comparative analysis of 5 different land subdivision practices – each relying on a different land-related act – we conclude that the degree of regulation and regularization is perhaps not so much a solution for urban land tenure problems but more of a problem in itself.
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This paper presents part results of case study research which investigated the relationship between property rights, real estate markets and poverty alleviation in Namibia's urban low income settlements. This paper addresses the study's two central questions: first, the question of whether real estate markets in the urban informal settlements of Namibia could be used to alleviate poverty or, to put it differently, create wealth, and second, to investigate whether types of property rights matter for engendering pro-poor outcomes in real estate markets. The study finds that real estate is indeed a major asset held by the respondents but that there was limited secondary market activity. The study finds that, by affecting perceptions of security and investment in housing, property rights matter for capital accumulation. The study concludes that there was limited potential to derive benefits from real estate markets in aid of capital accumulation in Namibia unless interventions are made to bring about increased trading activity.
Windhoek: City of Windhoek, Department of Planning, Urbanization and Environment, Division of Sustainable Development
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Genis, P. (2015) The proposed new Urban and Regional Planning Bill -Comments by Pieter Genis, Windhoek: Namibia University of Science and Technology, Department of Architecture and Spatial Planning (DASP).
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Indongo, N. et al (2013) Urbanisation in Namibia -Views from semi-formal and informal settlements. Windhoek: University of Namibia.