Evolution of public spaces in informal settlements: Questioning their degree of publicness

Abstract

In a formal setting, most of African cities planning ideas and standards are derived from the global north thus dictating and governing the design and allocation of public spaces. There is an interesting case about the existence of public spaces in informal settlements, which are not guided by the strict formal regulations and guidelines of the planning system. It was observed that different studies explaining the process of land subdivision and evolution of public spaces within that process are focused in the formal planning and that there is scant knowledge to explain the dynamics of evolution of public spaces in the areas that have no institutional planning frameworks. Nevertheless, the nature of public spaces and their degree of publicness is highly questionable due to the dynamics of land subdivision in the informal setting. This study was set to investigate the evolution process of public spaces and their degree of publicness in the informal settlements to acquire a better understanding to inform future public space formation. A case study method was conducted where four informal settlements; Hanna Nassif, Keko Machungwa, Kunduchi Pwani, and Makongo were strategically selected. Several public spaces were discovered whose nature was different from the formal Eurocentric public spaces studied by various scholars. In fact, most of them would have not been qualified to be called public spaces if the formal standards of public spaces were considered. The study discovered mainly three various ways by which the public spaces in the informal settlements evolve; governmental, community, and individual interventions. All these interventions have been observed to come from an afterthought; pre-meditated to serve a certain cause. The nature of the public spaces evolved from such interventions were mostly temporal in nature. Initially, there was a need to identify the public spaces by examining all types of urban spaces in each of the informal settlements. Using the star model of analysis to assess the degree of publicness of the existing urban spaces and from the in-depth interviews with the locals to investigate the dynamics of ownership, vii control and maintenance, the study found out that some places that are informally identified as public spaces, aren’t entirely public, and don’t qualify to be called public spaces. However, due to the availability and engagement of users the activities found in those particular vibrant spaces, those spaces are known and treated as public spaces up until the present. The last objective of the study was to formulate strategies and ways to elevate and maintain the public spaces in the informal settlements. With regards to the Meta dimensions of publicness, the study found it necessary to improve each one of them to raise the degree of publicness of the public spaces in the informal settlements. The government is required to recognize all public places and develop ways to sustain them and formulate policies to protect their existence