Kabul Urban Survey - Groupe URD

1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Initial part of the survey
The first phase in the Kabul urban survey was carried out by Groupe URD at the end of
2005 1 . The findings were presented at a conference organised by Groupe URD in the
Ministry of Agriculture 2 as part of a general presentation on rural and urban research. This
presentation gave a general overview of the urban situation in Kabul, four years after the
beginning of the reconstruction process, and the main points are summarised in a short
article entitled “From the spreading of the Pakistani architecture to the growing urban
expansion of Kabul into the surrounding hills, what will Kabul look like in the near future?”.
The positive aspects mainly concerned the dynamics of the private sector which has seen
the emergence of a large number of houses and buildings. Some of these houses are
located in informal settlements in the hills and therefore lie outside of the administrative
boundaries and other new buildings stray from the traditional Afghan architectural design.
Locally they are known as ‘Pakistani houses’. “Yet, it should also be pointed out that the
private sector is definitely responsible for speeding things up and invests the most in Kabul’s
reconstruction while the KM and the MUDH are unable to provide enough houses 3 ” for the
increasing population.
1.2 Problems in Kabul can be identified at different levels
Physical urban fabric. The article highlighted the lack of basic urban services and
infrastructure: “urgent issues such as housing for the poor, water and electricity supply,
drainage, roads, traffic congestion and general planning issues” and the lack of control over
expanding city boundaries with informal settlements and horizontal urban expansion.
On a governance level. It is difficult for urban authorities to make progress in the
reconstruction process because of weaknesses in Afghan urban skills and financial capacity,
lack of proper urban tools to deal with Kabul’s issues, outdated legal administrative and
technical framework and significant shortcomings among the main urban institutional actors,
including the Kabul Municipality (KM) and the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD). In
general, “it appears that the KM is in denial which is causing major problems for development
in Kabul”.
In terms of risks and opportunities. On the one hand, there is the risk that the widespread
building currently undertaken by the private sector and urban planning will continue without
the necessary controls, leading to the increasingly exclusion of the most vulnerable people.
On the other hand, following the recommendations for reconstruction priorities put forward on
the basis of WB analysis and financial support, there are opportunities for upgrading existing
areas under construction instead relocating so many people “…in favour of instigating an
upgrading scheme for the informal houses as the government does not have the financial
capacity to acquire land and resettle people”.
1.3 Overview of the situation in Kabul in 2006
This survey aims to present an overview of the urban situation in Kabul in 2006, mid-term in
the reconstruction process. Twelve months after the research began, there is hardly any new
1 Mariani C., “From the spreading of the Pakistani architecture to the growing urban expansion of
Kabul into the surrounding hills, what will Kabul look like in the near future?”, LRRD Programme, 2005
2 Groupe URD conference at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food, Kabul (13
December 2005)
3 Idem note 1
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