Experiences of a Changing City – A Qualitative Field Study of Social Sustainability in Urban Development in Kigali, Rwanda

Abstract: Ever since urbanization to Kigali set off at full speed, it has been without any urban planning, which has led to several problems for the city. In order to meet these challenges the city of Kigali has launched and began to implement an urban planning scheme for sustainable development, Kigali Conceptual Master Plan (KCMP). The purpose of this thesis is to study how the outcomes of the urban development are perceived by some people living in Kigali and relate this to the social pillar of sustainability. The study aims to examine the inhabitant’s experiences, feelings and relations to their city, a city that is changing - both by urban planning and the lack of it. The field study was carried out using qualitative interview methods, since this was considered the most fitting method for the purpose. To put the empirical material in context, concepts such as sense of place and social sustainability are used in the analysis. The findings of this thesis show that most of the respondents have a genuinely positive attitude towards the city and its change, even though they also highlight negative aspects. We concluded that some of the factors for social sustainability are improving, such as economic revitalisation, employment opportunities and a built out infrastructure. Nevertheless, there are “softer” values of social sustainability that does not seem to have been met in Kigali, even though they are highlighted in the KCMP. Examples of these are democracy, participation and sense of community. The result of this study seems to differ from some of the earlier research in the field, in the way that the respondents are more positive than in other case studies. There might be several reasons behind this: few other studies have been done in a developing country context and in our case the respondents are experiencing very tangible improvements in their everyday life. Another explanation might be that Rwanda is a post-conflict country and many Rwandans feel a great need to distance themselves from the past and to move forward making them willing to overlook the potential negative effects. A bigger, perhaps longitudinal, maybe comparative, research study would be interesting in the case of Kigali and the social aspects of its urban development.