Rural and Urban Settlement in Rwanda

Lessons

Senior 4 · Geography

Rural and Urban Settlement in Rwanda

5 lessons

Lesson 4 of 5

Urbanisation: Causes, Problems and Solutions

25 min

Four times as many town-dwellers in 30 years

NISR's projections assume that Rwanda reaches its aim of about 70% of the population living in towns by 2050. Figure 5 shows what that means.

Figure 5. Urban and rural population in 2022 and projected for 2052. Drawn by Ganzaa from NISR (2023).

The urban population would multiply by more than four while the rural population shrinks by a quarter. What will drive this change, and what problems must towns solve to absorb 13 million more people?

Worked example 1: how fast must towns grow?

r_{\text{urban}} = \frac{1}{30}\ln\frac{16.5}{3.7} = \frac{\ln 4.46}{30} = \frac{1.495}{30} = 5.0\%\ \text{a year}

\text{urban share in } 2052 = \frac{16.5}{23.6} \times 100 = 69.9\% \qquad \text{rural change} = \frac{7.1 - 9.5}{9.5} \times 100 = -25\%

Interpretation. Urban areas must grow by about 5% a year for 30 years, more than twice the national growth rate (about 1.9% a year in the same projection). Every year, homes, jobs, water, schools and transport must be provided for hundreds of thousands of new urban residents.

Definition

Urbanisation: an increase in the share of the population living in towns. Urban growth: an increase in the number of urban residents or in the built-up area. Urban sprawl: the spread of low-density building over surrounding land. Counter-urbanisation: movement out of cities to smaller towns and the countryside.

Factors favouring urbanisation in Rwanda

Rural–urban migration: Kigali received 354,970 recent migrants from other provinces in 2017–2022 (NISR, 2023), pushed by small farms and pulled by jobs and services.
Natural increase of the young urban population.
Reclassification: growing villages and trading centres are redefined as urban.
Government policy: the 70% target, the development of six secondary cities, grouped settlement and investment in towns.
Jobs in services and industry: trade, construction, finance, tourism, manufacturing, special economic zones.
Infrastructure and services: roads, electricity, water, schools, universities and hospitals concentrated in towns.
Peace and security, and the investment they attract.

Urban problems and solutions

Problem	Rwandan evidence	Solutions
Housing shortage and informal settlements	40.1% of Kigali's households lived in spontaneous or squatter housing in 2022 (NISR)	Affordable and green housing; upgrading of unplanned settlements; master plans (lesson 5)
Traffic congestion	Evening jams on Kigali's main roads; more vehicles than road space	Better public transport (buses), new roads and junctions, walking and cycling routes
Solid waste	Kigali's waste rose from 180 tonnes a day (2012) to over 600 (2019); only 49% of waste in Rwanda is collected (REMA, 2021)	Collection services, sorting, composting (74% of Kigali's waste is organic), recycling
Wastewater and sanitation	No centralised sewage system in 2021; septic tanks and discharge into wetlands (REMA, 2021)	Central sewer networks and treatment plants (planned by WASAC)
Floods	Heavy rain floods valley roads and homes; building in wetlands blocks drainage	Storm-water drains and master plans; wetland rehabilitation (Gikondo, Nyabugogo) under RUDP-II (LODA)
Air pollution	PM2.5 in Kigali: 43.3 μg/m³ in February 2020, 36 during the COVID-19 lockdown, 49.8 in June 2020 (REMA, 2021)	Vehicle emission standards, electric motorcycles and buses, cleaner cooking fuels
Unemployment	Many young job-seekers arrive faster than jobs are created	Skills training, small business support, industrial zones
Pressure on services	Schools, clinics and water supply must grow with the population	Plan services ahead of growth; develop secondary cities to share the load (roads and drains under RUDP, MININFRA)

Worked example 2: checking Kigali's waste figures

Data (REMA, 2021). Kigali produced about 180 tonnes of solid waste a day in 2012 and over 600 in 2019. REMA estimates urban waste at 0.56–0.7 kg per person per day.

r = \frac{1}{7}\ln\frac{600}{180} = \frac{1.204}{7} = 17.2\%\ \text{a year}

\frac{600\,000\ \text{kg}}{1\,745\,555\ \text{people}} = 0.34\ \text{kg per person per day}

Evaluation. Waste rose far faster (17% a year) than the population, as incomes and consumption grew. But 600 tonnes a day is only about 0.34 kg per person, half REMA's per-person estimate: the 600 tonnes is probably the waste collected, and much of the rest is never collected. This fits REMA's figure that only 49% of waste is collected.

Warning

Urbanisation is not only a problem. Towns are where most new jobs, services and incomes are created; that is why the government aims for 70% urban. An exam answer on urbanisation should weigh benefits (jobs, services, efficiency) against problems, and propose solutions that are planned in advance.

BBC News Africa: "The impact of urbanisation in Africa, explained". Why African cities are growing so fast and the challenges of housing, jobs and services. Compare each challenge with the Rwandan evidence in the table.

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Practice

Distinguish urbanisation from urban growth.
Explain four factors that favour urbanisation in Rwanda.
Identify five urban problems in Rwanda and propose a solution to each.
If Kigali's waste reaches the projected 1,300 tonnes a day by 2030, by what percentage will it have increased from 600 tonnes in 2019?
Explain how developing secondary cities can reduce Kigali's problems.
Why can building houses in wetlands make urban flooding worse?
"The benefits of urbanisation in Rwanda outweigh its problems." Discuss.

Show answersHide answers

Urbanisation is a rise in the share of people in towns; urban growth is a rise in the number of urban residents or in the built-up area.
Any four: rural–urban migration (push and pull); natural increase; reclassification of places as urban; government policy (70% target, secondary cities); jobs in services and industry; infrastructure and services; peace and security.
Any five with solutions: informal housing (affordable housing, upgrading); congestion (public transport, roads); waste (collection, composting, recycling); sanitation (sewers, treatment); floods (drains, wetland protection); air pollution (standards, e-mobility, clean cooking); unemployment (training, industry).
$\frac{1\,300 - 600}{600} \times 100 = 117\%$ .
They give migrants jobs and services closer to home, so fewer move to Kigali, easing housing, traffic and service pressure, while spreading investment across regions.
Wetlands store and slow storm water; buildings and paving replace them with hard surfaces, so water runs off faster and has nowhere to spread, flooding roads and homes.
Benefits: jobs, higher incomes, efficient services, innovation, a market for farmers. Problems: informal settlements, congestion, waste, floods, pollution, unemployment. Planned urbanisation, as Rwanda attempts, can make benefits outweigh problems; unplanned growth does the opposite.

Quick check

By 2052, NISR projects about 16.5 million urban and 7.1 million rural residents. What share would be urban?

Key points

Projection: urban 3.7 million (2022) → 16.5 million (2052), about 5% a year; rural 9.5 → 7.1 million; about 70% urban.
Factors: rural–urban migration, natural increase, reclassification, policy (secondary cities, 70% aim), jobs, services, security.
Problems: informal housing (40.1% of Kigali households), congestion, waste (over 600 t a day), sanitation, floods, air pollution, unemployment.
Solutions: master planning, affordable housing and upgrading, public transport, waste and sewage systems, drains and wetland care, secondary cities.

Sources and credits

Sources: Fifth Rwanda Population and Housing Census, 2022: Main Indicators Report, NISR, 2023 (projections, migration, habitat); Rwanda State of Environment and Outlook Report 2021, REMA (solid waste, wastewater, air quality); Rwanda Urban Development Project (RUDP), Local Administrative Entities Development Agency (LODA) (wetland rehabilitation, upgrading, storm-water plan); New roads are improving Rwanda's secondary cities, MININFRA, 2021.

Figure 5 and the worked examples were drawn and written by Ganzaa.

Photos: Building Under Construction - Musanze-Ruhengeri - Northern Rwanda, Adam Jones, CC BY-SA 3.0; Evening Traffic Jam in Kigali, Mrbobax, CC BY-SA 4.0; via Wikimedia Commons.

Video: "The impact of urbanisation in Africa, explained - BBC Africa", BBC News Africa, embedded from YouTube. The rest of the lesson and the exercises were written by Ganzaa.

This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1Four times as many town-dwellers in 30 years

2Factors favouring urbanisation in Rwanda

3Urban problems and solutions

Four times as many town-dwellers in 30 years

Factors favouring urbanisation in Rwanda

Urban problems and solutions