The Role Of Informal Housing In Alleviation Of Housing Problems In Kenya: A Case Study Of Kwa Ronda Settlement, Nakuru Town

Abstract

During the period 1990-2030, the global population will grow by about 3.7 billion Ninety percent of this increase will be in developing countries, Kenya included, where ninety percent of the population growth will take place in urban areas. In these urban areas, already at present a large part of the population lives in informal settlements, which are usually illegal and therefore largely excluded from basic urban infrastructure and services. Many governments now accept the fact that these areas provide shelter to an urban population which they cannot reach with formal housing alternatives, and that legalizing and upgrading these areas offers the best solution to improve living conditions of such a large part of the population. One of the constraints faced by governments in initiating this process is the lack of the information that is at the very basis of legalization and improvement. The state of human settlement development in Africa and their development have aroused increasing concerns in the course of the last decade. The spread of urbanization has not been marched by adequate housing, driving people to occupy whatever land is in informal settlements. The environmental problems arising therefrom impinge heavily on the vulnerable groups (the poor, women and children) who must pay with chronic ill-health, lower productivity and poor quality of life. This trend needs to be reversed and in order to do so there is need to understand the development and management of their informal settlements. It is on the basis of the above that this study was designed to examine the urban housing problems , particularly those of the informal settlements. It looks at the effects of National Housing policy among others on these problems and examines alternative modes of action for planners to achieve solutions like the possibilities of incorporating informal housing into the official urban housing stock. The study draws on a review of the relevant literature, planning documents , a pilot survey of the study area encompasses housing situations, socio-economic characteristics, interviews with planners , builders, local residents and other interested groups in Nakuru town Taking Kwa Ronda settlement as a case study data are presented to show that informal housing are characterized by low level of education with most of the inhabitants employed in informal sector activities mainly located near to or in the residential area itself. The majority of the residents going by the case study can only pay maximum rents not exceeding Ksh. 500 per month. It is also evidenced by this study that informal housing dwellers consider their housing adequate and are content with living as such dwellings built of non-conventional materials. The basic problem faced here is therefore are of poor health and sanitation (manifested in poor toilet facilities, stagnant dirty water, uncollected garbage, among others) and lack of proper access roads. The study found that this location is preferred by persons who have their mainstay in the rural areas and whose major purpose is to earn extra money for the rural home. The main interest of this group is to have cheap accommodation in order to maximize remittances to the rural home. It is recognized that this group is not very interested in investing in more permanent and better shelter. However they are interested in better conditions, if this does not affect their budgets. Such upgrading of facilities and services should therefore aim at minimum standards to avoid incurring a lot of costs to the tenants through appreciated rents. This way informal housing can help increase the urban housing stock much faster. It was also found out that the southern part of Kwa-Ronda is still mainly agricultural and could be better planned for future development as opposed to the already congested northern part lacking all the basic facilities