Urbanisation-in-Namibia

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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
Urbanisation in NamibiaHealth: Rapid urbanisation results in people concentrating in certain areas especially in theinformal settlements. This overcrowding of people leads to poor hygienic conditions. Someresidents in Karibib were of the opinion that outbreak of diseases are more widespreadfor people living in informal settlements due to overcrowding. In sub-Saharan Africa, rapidurbanisation has been linked to poverty and a growing burden of communicable diseases,including diabetes and heart disease. Namibia is no exemption to this.The majority of respondents in the informal settlements rated the health facilities as poor(62.4%). This could be mainly due to the lack or limited health facilities in the informalsettlements. Long waiting hours at hospitals and clinics could be associated with poor ratingof health services in informal settlements. Due to rapid urbanisation the challenge for thehealth sector is primarily with regard to the pressure exerted on the existing facilities in orderto provide quality health services and reduce health inequalities. Nevertheless, the majority insemi-formal settlements are of the opinion that health services are good in urban areas. Thiscould be attributed to the fact that a number of them have medical aids and health insurancethat allow them to use the best facility available.Table 4: Percentage distribution of households by rating of health servicesRating Informal Semi-FormalNumber ofhouseholdsPercentNumber ofhouseholdsPercentVery poor 81 30.1 14 4.3Poor 87 32.3 66 20.5Average 34 12.6 80 24.8Good 56 20.8 117 36.3Very good 10 3.7 44 13.7Not stated 1 .4 1 .3Total 269 100.0 322 100.0Crime: The results from the survey show that among some of the biggest challenges andconsequences alluded to urbanisation is the increase in the crime rate. Gumus, 2004 alsoargued that as urban areas becomes larger, the rate of crime in these areas also tend toincrease. Using a scale measurement of 1 to 5 with 1 indicate a strongly disagreement and 5indicating a strongly agreement, an average rating of 4.52 was obtained for a statement thaturbanisation causes an increase in crime. This is an indication that most households in urbanareas are of the opinion that the crime rate is much higher in urban cities as compared to ruralareas. The rise in the number of crimes could be associated with the need to earn wealth andmore so due to high levels of unemployment as the cost of living in urban areas is quite highcompelling many people to live in poverty.17
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Page 27 and 28: Urbanisation in Namibia5. Reference
Page 29 and 30: Urbanisation in NamibiaUNDP (2010).
Page 32: Contact DetailsTel.: 061 206 3004Pr

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