Urbanisation-in-Namibia

Urbanisation in NamibiaRoad infrastructure: Some urban centres like Oshakati, Windhoek and Ongwediva experienceuncontrolled increase in traffic resulting from urbanisation. The rise in the number of peopleand vehicles puts a huge strain on the existing roads infrastructure, which leads to trafficcongestion especially at peak hours, a phenomenon which was unknown to both towns tenyears ago. In this regard, municipalities are faced with challenges of maintaining the standardsof the existing roads as well as the construction of new roads as the demand rise.Pollution and environmental degradation: Pollution and degradation of the environment arealso prominent challenges facing municipal towns in Namibia. A number of these arise fromincreased emission from vehicles and industrial wastes. Although this is not a major concernfor Namibia for now, in many industrialized countries air pollution is reported to cause adverseeffects on the health and well-being of people. With regard to environmental degradation,the rate of vegetation clearance which may have a negative impact on tourism activities is aconcern for Karibib. Expansion of land for development has also resulted in the extinction ofsome plant species.Education: Rapid urbanisation has also resulted in challenges of provision of education servicesin both urban and rural areas. In rural areas for instance, movement of families to urban areashas led to decline in the number of children enrolling for lower grades. This resulted in theclosure of some schools and the transfer of teachers to other schools. In the urban areas thedemand for education is extremely high. A number of factors are related to this high demand:most people moving to urban areas are migrating with their families, thereby increasing thenumber of learners demanding for education service especially at primary school level. The2011 census also indicated that primary school enrollment rate for children aged 7 to 13 yearsis high in urban areas (90.3) than in rural (85.3). The majority of respondents in both semiformaland informal settlements are of the opinion that education services in urban areas aregood (Table 3). The demand for tertiary education is also one of the major factors contributingto urbanisation in Namibia as all tertiary institutions are located in the urban centres. Theeducation sector hence, has a challenge to expand the existing education facilities in urbanareas in order to meet the demand.Table 3: Percentage distribution of households by rating of education servicesRating Informal Semi-FormalNumber ofhouseholdsPercentNumber ofhouseholdsPercentVery poor 16 5.9 5 1.6Poor 54 20.1 45 14.0Average 76 28.3 77 23.9Good 106 39.4 145 45.0Very good 17 6.3 47 14.6Not stated - - 3 .9Total 269 100.0 322 100.016