Urbanisation-in-Namibia

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Urbanisation in NamibiaVillages are the smallest settlements and are not declared as urban areas unless as a deliberatemove by government.To date, new urban centres have been proclaimed especially in the northern and north-easternpart of Namibia. Although there has been an overall increase in urban population in Namibia,Windhoek City has by far been the major focus of urbanisation. Its population increased from13.7% in 2001 to 16.2% in 2011 and constitutes 36% of the total urban population. Othertowns such as Oshakati and Ongwediva have also seen an increasing trend in urban populationespecially after independence (Figure 2). For instance, Ongwediva urban population doubledbetween 2001 and 2011.Figure 2: Urban population in city and towns by yearPoverty in most urban areas of Namibia was discreetly hidden, partly because of the apartheidsystem which promoted contract labour migration system, which only allowed peoplewho were employed to reside in urban areas. 3 Similarly, government did not immediatelyacknowledge the scale of urban poverty after independence after the abolishment of passlaws which prohibited free movement of people, but concentrated more, among others, onaddressing socio-economic imbalances in rural areas. Despite the efforts, urban poverty andurban population have been growing. 43Moorsom R. 1977.Underdevelopment, contract labour and worker consciousness in Namibia. Journal of Southern African Studies. 4(1):52-87;.4Pendleton W., and Frayne B. 2000. Migration as a Population dynamic in Namibia. In Fuller B and Prommer I. (eds.). Population-Development-Environment in Namibia. Background Readings: Laxenburg, Austria. IISA.; Niikondo A. 2010. Migrants to towns and cities in Namibia. Whattheir interests are? Polytechnic of Namibia. Windhoek.4
Urbanisation in NamibiaIn the urban areas, the municipalities are confronted with a multitude of key problems, likehigh urban densities, transport, traffic congestion, energy inadequacy amongst others. Otherrelated problems are unplanned development (illegal construction; informal markets; informalsettlements); lack of basic services; poor natural hazards management in overpopulated areas;crime; environmental degradation; and poor governance arrangements (Ichimura, 2003;Satterthwaite, 2008).Tibaijula (2008) refers to some of these challenges as lack of either permanent or temporaryaccess to land and adequate shelter; and economic inability, among others which are broughtabout as a result of structural social inequalities. In addition, natural hazards and emergencymanagement are also reported to be major issues in most cities (Satterthwaite, 2008). Theepisodes of floods experienced in Oshakati and Ongwediva, and the subsequent droughts haveundermined the capacity of municipalities to adequately plan, prepare, respond and recoverfrom disasters. 5In the context detailed above, this report presents findings on the causes of urbanisation andits consequences. The findings generate lessons for other rapidly growing urban centers andinform policy accordingly. The study aimed to address the following research questions:i. What are the causes of urbanisation in Namibia?ii.How does urbanisation affect the provision of services in Namibian urban centres?iii. What effect (s) does urbanisation has in rural areas?iv. What are the socio-economic, physical, environmental and demographic consequencesof urbanisation in Namibia?v. Are there differentials in the causes and consequences of urbanisation across differenttowns in Namibia?vi. What measures need to be taken in preparation of high level of urbanisation?vii. What are the programme and policy implications of the research findings?5GRN/NRCS/UN. 2009. Post-Disaster Needs Assessment Namibia: Floods 2009. Government of the Republic of Namibia, Windhoek.5
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Page 32: Contact DetailsTel.: 061 206 3004Pr

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