COVID-19 CHALLENGES URBAN NATURE

Planning Ug

April 09, 2020

lubadder@gmail.com

Covid-19 challenges Urban Nature: (Kampala)

CUSTODIAN. We are the custodians of Planning Ug Facebook page, City Planning Uganda Blog and Urban Planners by profession. Our major focus is to bring up Physical Planning and Environmental concerns to Urban Authorities and the public especially those that have been neglected by the concerned parties. 

Author: Pln. Lubadde Rahim

Physical Planning Trainee

 As the world continues to live in the “Covid-Phobia cycle”, can we credibly appreciate nature? I believe that most of us here do not consider the daily misappropriations that humans deliberately play in disguise of attaining better lives and cities. When it’s all over, the world will never be the same, the urban system of living will change. This is not for you to accept, but to reference when that time comes. All 1st and 3rd world countries will formulate new urban paradigms that will prepare them for any future pandemic with vigorous sustainable urbanism being considered as a key aspect in urban planning and design. 

I write to contribute to environmental management in Uganda and dedicate this piece to Planner Nyakwebara Charles of Praid consultants and Planner Lukyamuzi Matia of Makindye Ssabagabo M/C. It is not out of antagonism that nature musters back to jiggle and giggle at us but rather due to the smallest urban components relating to sustainable development that have not been given a heed by urban authorities yet for the first time in human life 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas. Cities set different strategies to ensure that unbuilt areas develop fundamentally and sustainably but it is also significant to understand that many people around these cities care about the quality of life in their own context. Urban planners and environmental focal personales have to work extra harder for sustainable urbanism to thrive and to consider the human element for a proper understanding of how it affects the livability and nature of Ugandan towns. There is also a need to embrace innovative research to track their output and impact towards sustainability and livability in urban landscapes.

   The challenges affecting urban life are both simple and complex to comprehend ranging from the influx of individuals and families who have continued to confront cities in a search for livelihood to the destruction of urban green fields to establish human settlements. This has resulted into the destruction of habitants and biodiversity.

The outbreak of the virus is an opportunity for us to change.

   From old Urban dimensions, cities across the globe have been left crime ridden, car infested, polluted, unhealthy and overcrowded centers of humanity which have today seen them deserted as people vanish away from different catastrophes--Today’s talk is Covid-19. However, am not sure if urbanist will concede this assertion that ‘City dwellers feel that the quality of the environment that they have lived and worked in cannot hold their lives any longer which is why they have left cities back to their original rural roots’. 

   “Nature knows best...”, we shall never know when to get ready for a challenge, but let today be the start of something new. Today nature is “laughing” at us for the failures – though we can’t wait to ‘miss the mark’ any longer. It’s been enough enjoying now, let’s begin achieving through concentrating on green towns, social justice, reduced emissions, non-motorized transport systems, green energy and other sustainable hypotheses. 

   Ever since the state declared National emergency and many public realms were shut, Kampala looks more like a ghost town than a bustling conurbation with empty streets and fewer people outside due to the outbreak of covid-19. Life has taken a new form with schools, movements, bars, entertainment centers, restaurants, shopping mall and gatherings banned. Seeing people move from Kampala to Masaka, Fortportal, Kisoro, Jinja etc. is a prehistorical trend that coexisted during the missionary epoch. Let’s not just look. 

           How have we been relating to nature in our city? is there chance for improvement before things get out of our control? 

   There has not been motives for biodiversity in Kampala where urban greenery has been put down for establishment of buildings leading to an increase in flash floods, high levels of pollution from old cars and unplanned factories. Today Kampala lives at the mercy of nature; it’s not known whether it will evolve with changing times or the pandemic will erode its life and success. The widespread social distancing measures have produced some jarring effects on land, air and water and the whole sense of belonging coupled with the usual hum of public life have all perished. 

   We could destroy the Earth, but ‘he who laughs last, laughs best” nature has its own way of dealing; we have all bowed down, no fumes from factories, no noise pollution, no cars on roads, no trains on the rails and no ship on water. The whole place sounds quiet and soft. The only voices coming out are echoes and/or sirens of either police vans, ambulances and health practitioners—All other professionals look insignificant in this era. It is not about how much you studied, the energy you have, your wealth and status; today nature decided genuinely a lock down. 

To see that the world has a total “unbearable--positive” decline in the amounts of emissions into air, land and water. It is, we say, a strange spectacle, and the strangest part of it is that all the while, humanity has been a basis for judgment and decision making irrespective of the worst and wildly neglect of all forces that fight for the wellness of our urban natural forms with limited funding, corruption and human resource.

    Much as civilians roll unwillingly and reluctantly to vacate workplaces, move long distances back to the countryside, look at the country’s economy downsizing and witnessing the urban poor die of hunger in their squashed houses, the sub-sequential goodness of it all is that the environment is winning. Whenever we experienced a flood wash, landslides, decline in the water table, global warming and other naturally compelling catastrophes; they were triggers to remind us rethink on the direction of urban life that we had taken. 

   We are here today to observe how nature has wholesomely taken jurisdiction of its course to redirect and recommend its fortune. We cannot contradict the underlying facts that the world economic sphere has crashed and the ‘unseen environment is chanting in flowers.’ And by the time it’s all over, a lot will have transformed. The quality of air we breathe, the number of people on the street, different tree species will naturally have grown in different places, some parts of the city will be abandoned for urban forestry and primates will emanate back to the city rolling up and down town.

You have been talking about a strong and sustainable economy, how crucial is that in strengthening our relationship with the environment? 

   Here is a binary chance drawing nearer, nonetheless if we uncertainly move back to the city with the usual wide-ranging personality that lacks a natural context inbound, we are guaranteed to face perpetual clashes with the natural environment than ever before. A fortune to embrace all environmental projects that we have dreamt of before and to recreate our image as the pearl of Africa. 

What are the priority areas to begin with?

Green Belts, Non-Motorized Transport (NMT), Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), Green energy plants etc. being the only traditions through which we can give back to the natural environment. A new mindset with insignificant human impacts on nature; sparing public open spaces, wetlands, forest reserves and reduction on machinery vibrations. 

To the urban authorities, here is the spot-on time for you to regulate who comes back to the city against who remains in the metropolitan. Debates on factories, land uses, pedestrians, taxis, matatus, boda-bodas, mini-buses, private vehicles, the location of their respective stages and their areas of operationalization should have begun ‘yesterday’. These have been drivers of urban sprawl with related larger distances between residences, jobs and other frequent daily trip destinations and greater intervention in a series of key environmental processes. We hope to see green urban transport and road pricing systems, minimum parking requirements in new developments as introduced smartly into the city. 

            What are some of the issues that can be worked on before we let people back to the city?

   As we prepare to flow in yet again, let there be remarkable long waves of urban reforms that will not only be positive to the natural environment but also promote aesthetics, mobility and health within the city. Let there be a gradual promotion in the daily urban challenges that urbanists have faced before; including proper waste management, drainage, noise and air pollution, reduction in vehicle and human traffic, and others. Let there be massive sensitization and call for participatory approaches towards the cause. Let it be a collective responsibility for all stakeholders to maintain a better city and finally let us use all our investments appropriately for a better Uganda since we have witnessed that no amounts of bullets, teargas, nuclear energy and machinery can overthrow nature if it decides. Let the depictions of this article be taken with more than a ‘grain of salt’ since natural features are laughing at man for believing that he owns the land. Nature laughs because it knows clearly that it owns us and therefore it knows best- we are only stewards of its creation.

Good-bye note:

   Nature is part of sustainable urbanism and without it as the base through which all sectors perform their mandate, we shall keep fighting with it – it will always win.

NB: According to the United Nations - 2030 agenda for sustainable development- Transforming our world: “we are reminded to be determined to protect the planet from degradation including through sustainable consumption and production  and sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent actions on climatic changes so that it can support the needs of the present and future generation.

NB: Despite the fact that nature is taking the precedent, Urban Planners, Engineers, Businessmen, Environmentalists, Surveyors and land managers are locked down in their posh houses that not even their cordial cars can move within the city. It has always cautioned us but it was so hard to comprehend. Nature in action.

“The writer is a Physical Planner” 

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Credit: Cheryl Dossey “The Earth Laughs in Flowers”

Email: lubadder@gmail.com

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THE PANDEMICS VERSES PHYSICAL PLANNING

By LUBADDE RAHIM

lubadder@gmail.com

April 2020

Be merciful to me, Oh God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. (Psalm 57:1-2)

A mistake in the lab costs the world life and money.

The ever-proliferating number of Covid-19 victims across the global lining has fancied me into writing an article on how Physical Planning profession stands out as a unique component in facilitating public health and reducing pandemics of different origins. The basic role of Physical Planning is to create convenient, equitable, efficient, health and attractive centers for a future. 

Today, the government of Uganda has most emphasized it verbally but putting less efforts in funding through limited human resource, no identifiable physical planning departments in local government and less corresponding enforcement. Where by the work of planners is placed under Engineering, Works, Environmental, Natural Resource sectors forgetting that all these are directed by Physical Planning. It should be noted that the epicenter of Urban/Physical Planning is a “Master Plan” which manifests its self in different phenomena for instance, community planning, comprehensive planning, action planning, disaster preparedness planning and overall city planning. This is always reinforced with utmost enforcement to ensure that all the plans are implemented as proposed. 

Physical planning is a blessed profession for its never a stunt; it cuts across our livelihood, that even other professions require it for their survival. It shares common objectives with Public Health since both aim at improving the wellbeing of our subjects. Tools of urban planning are significant in maintaining the health of our people/communities for example GIS. This was first introduced by John Snow who was tracking the outbreak of Cholera in London during the 1850’s. In that way, it’s very easy to track the origin and/or the spread cycle of Covid-19. To a greater depiction, urban planning has been used to create compatible cities, improve sanitation, aesthetics and creating organized neighborhoods. Its only on advantage of organized communities that they are able to fight against pandemics faster, ensure that supplies reach all places as required. Many of our communities are slummy, disorganized, congested and lack connectivity in-that during cases of emergency some of our areas are totally impenetrable. China has recorded less cases of Covid-19 in the recent week because the management and delivery of supplies was easier due to the planned nature of cities which might not be easier for Kampala due to the congestion issues that are vexing us up. Cases of Katwe, Ndeeba, Kabowa, Bwaise, Mulago and others can easily run into a complete state of susceptibility in a manner that makes it difficult for inhabitants to be helped during pandemics as compared to areas of order like Muyenga, Naguru, Lubowa and Munyonyo among others.

If there is any more other reason apart from self-centeredness that we as a third world country need to have healthy communities, then Physical Planning dimensions need not to be left out at all stages. Calamities and natural disasters are a form of contingency negative attributes that show gaps in our planning sector. Uganda needs to do better, from a pothole in the road to housing as an entire sub-sector. The recent Bududa landslides that left many homeless and others losing lives, the former Ebola outbreak in the East, the slummy conditions of our capital, the recent massacre of Moslem clerics, business men and great politicians are all upshots of a failed Physical Planning system.

Let this be another great reason for us to aim higher. To rethink and refurbish new ideologies. Let us act than ever before, let us reinforce our relationship with the environment, let us act as if we are leaving this earth. 

NB: We need to think of a collective solution; one for a future

The blame game should not be the master of our generation. This is a foreign virus that is being carried into the black continent by our colonial ‘gods’. Safety measures are supposed to be a daily perquisite for living. For example, the wide roads aimed at ensuring that all properties are easily accessed for emergencies like disease outbreak etc. Supplementary functionalities locating close to each other to reduce distances travelled to access basic needs. As urbanist, as physical planner, we must in all ways show our relevance in all situations concerning the wellbeing of people and always put in mind the following questions:

Can we easily transport covid-19 suspects and supplies including medicines and food to hospitals and people’s residences respectively? 

Are our health facilities distributed as per the demand and equity? 

Can business thrive in areas of the pandemic basically the informal sector and support businesses?

Is there a well-coordinated urban system that can easily be used to monitor suspects including cameras, street lighting etc.?

Are there facilities for passive leisure in terms of open parks where government can stage urgent camping sites for treatment of patients and assembly of hospital equipment in case of an increase in numbers?

Now that the pandemic is here for us, with us forever and we have nowhere to hide. The street is our home, its where most of us get food. We must position ourselves in a manner that gets us prepared to either withstand or walk out without or with less damage. Our subjects are counting on us(professionals), our leaders too are out of ideas; But much as we call ourselves urban planners, we need to be visionary thinkers to always come up with ideas on how to curb the trending disease. This is a lesson to Uganda, to streamline a system where all citizens, families and friends can be monitored. Imagine if government knows where everyone in the country lives; it could be easy for it to track all passengers who came back from Dubai and other infected countries. 

Here seated on my laptop fathoming about how government could close up some roads in case the pandemic attacks some areas and are put under quarantine? It difficult to close them because our towns have got so many unplanned inlets and outlets. 

Planned cities can help coupe with disease outbreak and cases of emergencies including fires, earthquakes, landslides etc., therefore our government needs a greater strategy through which it will get rid of the impending catastrophe. Covid-19 is not the last one of the kinds; we have to aim higher. The garden city approach of urban design and planning argues boulevards and city rail systems that identifies cities from each other. A city that is boarded by a physical component is in itself protected from intruders in case of emergencies. This is not the case of Kampala with an overwhelming rate of urbanization, it’s very uneasy to trace the boundary of Kampala without a ‘map’.  The pandemics have seen a negative shift in urbanization i.e. urban to rural where more people are going upcountry and leaving the city empty. Everyone is living in phobia that even as I press my laptop to put up this article, I have no self-confidence of surviving the Covid-19 pandemic.  

The general public is reminded to consider washing hands regularly, don’t touch your face before sanitizing; Stay safe in your homes; stock foodstuff and some medicines; keep the elderly away; avoid unnecessary movements; halt gatherings and trust no body because everyone is a victim. (as guided by the Ministry of Health) We shall finally overcome.

There is no assurance that government will easily provide supplies to all families across the country not because it lacks funds but because of lack of a system of coordinating our people. We need to stay vigilant, and report all those who are showing signs and symptoms. 

National housing needs to take on a role in providing housing to the people such that next time when we have issues of Quarantine, shelter is provided freely. The ministry of Lands Housing and Urban Development is the master of all building, land ownership and Physical Planning in the country. The task of providing housing to the people in Uganda should be placed ‘back’ in custody of the above ministry. 

The Master Plan

Consequently, the president of Uganda (Mr. Museveni) has also failed to stop public transport in the city to prevent the vicious spread of the pandemic and in his own words, “If the city had enough bicycles, I would have suspended public transport…” The presidential statement is a direct manifestation of a poor transport strategy that KCCA has utilized over the recent past. We need an environment where work proceeds with availability of the disease. Covid-19 is not the last infection, others will come and numerous will die but the question will always remain: what have we done as a country to get prepared of the natural disasters and pandemics. The need for Urban planners and Physical planners will always manifest in all challenges that we face as a country whether unemployment, security, development, political. 

(Non-motorized transport as an alternative to taxis and buses)

Finally, there is a need for government to pave way in municipalities, town councils, districts and cities across the country to employ more physical planners in that regard and as well to task them to perform as expected. It is also important to note that fighting for proper, organized, compatible, healthy and attractive cities is role of urban planners and designers.

The writer is a physical planner