Browsing by Author "Nawangwe, Barnabas"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Architectural Transformation of Makerere University Neighbourhoods during the Period 1990-2010
    (2011) Nawangwe, Barnabas
    This paper is based on a field study of the neighbourhoods of Makerere University Main Campus since the liberalization of the higher education sector in Uganda (1990-2010). The background to the study was the apparent urban transformation that has occurred in the environs of Makerere University campus in areas that were formally informal settlements characterized by shanty-town conditions. The problem under study was the apparent ‘re-informalisation’ (moving from informal to some kind of formalization and yet returning to an informality situation) of the neighbourhoods of Makerere University main campus. The main objective of the study was to explore the link between the liberalization of the higher education sector in Uganda, a policy which allowed private sponsorship of students at public universities, and the rapid transformation of these environs, as well as the urban and architectural character of that transformation. The study was conducted through physical field observations and study of archival documents, including photographic records and maps. Key person interviews were also conducted with technocrats in Kampala City Council, architects and planners. The study revealed a direct connection between the policy of liberalization of the higher education sector in Uganda and the rapid transformation of Makerere’s neighbourhoods. The urban and architectural transformation of these neighbourhoods was found to be eclectic in nature and devoid of any consideration of the urban typologies that characterise the City of Kampala.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Informal response to housing shortage in post-independent Uganda – any lessons for architects?
    (2005) Nawangwe, Barnabas; Musana, Assumpta Nnaggenda
    Uganda’s urbanization process has followed more or less the same pattern as urbanization in the other countries of sub-Saharan Africa. However, some peculiarities exist in the way the common people who have emigrated from the rural countryside in search for job opportunities in the cities have responded to the lack of housing for them, most likely because of Uganda’s unique land tenure system. Unlike most other sub-Saharan countries, most urban land is privately owned. The government does not own much land onto which rural immigrants could ‘freely’ settle as is the case in the other countries. This paper looks at the house types found in informal settlements in Kampala, potential for construction of storeyed buildings using locally available and affordable materials and space use and quality, as well as an experiment carried out in slum up-grading.. Recommendations are made as to the potential for densification using modernist principles.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Reflections on University Education in Uganda and the COVID-19 Pandemic Shock: Responses and Lessons Learned
    (Alliance for African Partnership Perspectives, 2021) Nawangwe, Barnabas; Muwagga, Anthony Mugagga; Buyinza, Mukadasi; Masagazi, Fred Masaazi
    The reflections in this article are drawn from a study “Investing in Data and Evidence to Inform Education Policy in Response to The New Normal Caused by Covid 19 Pandemic in Uganda.” The study investigated how the various education stakeholders fitted into “the new normal” in accordance to the tripartite university roles namely: Teaching and learning, research and Community engagements / networking. A multiple case study approach informed this largely qualitative inquiry. Online interviews, and documentary reviews were used to generate the study narratives. Data analysis followed a more descriptive approach of coding of key words, and phrases in order to pinpoint common responses. Using a reflective approach, the article answers the following questions: How did the various university stakeholders respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic lock down? Are African (Uganda Universities) in particular prepared to positively encounter or take advantage unforeseen shocks? What strategies can we suggest to mitigate the plethora of pedagogical challenges created by the COVID-19 Pandemic shock? What will be the future of University Education after the COVID-19 Pandemic lock down? The implication of the study finding is that there is need to re-evaluate education /university funding as well as the need to integrate blended pedagogy at levels of education in Uganda more especially at university level.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Repositioning Africa in global knowledge production
    (The Lancet, 2018) Fonn, Sharon; Cotton, Philip; Habib, Adam; Mbithi, Peter Mulwa Felix; Mtenje, Alfred; Nawangwe, Barnabas; Ogunbodede, Eyitope O; Olayinka, Idowu; Golooba-Mutebi, Frederick; Ezeh, Alex
    Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 13·5% of the global population but less than 1% of global research output. In 2008, Africa produced 27 000 published papers—the same number as The Netherlands. Informed by a nuanced understanding of the causes of the current scenario, we propose action that should be taken by African universities, governments, and development partners to foster the development of research-active universities on the continent.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    User Participation in the Eyes of an Architect and Gendered Spaces
    (2014) Musana, Assumpta Nnaggenda; Elwidaa, Eiman Ahmed; Nawangwe, Barnabas
    In Kampala City, the high rate of urbanisation has led to sprawling informal settlements which are characterised by substandard housing conditions. Urban sprawl wastes valuable land and makes services and infrastructure delivery expensive. Several housing projects were undertaken by government to provide affordable, adaptable and convenient housing solutions to low-income households. Most of these projects adopted a “top-down” approach in design, which seems not to have considered how the low-incomes households actually used. The paper shows that considerations for space use would lead to the development of more appropriate housing designs. It also shows that outdoor space use, which has been insufficiently addressed in government housing projects, is both functional and a resource to the low-income households. The paper utilises a combination of methods such as literature and document searches and reviews, in-depth interviews and systematic sketching. It illustrates that involving housing users in the preliminary stages of architectural design, as well as studying the way they use both indoor and outdoor space can be a solution towards attaining more suitable housing designs for low-income households. The paper argues that to low-income households, the house as external and internal space is not only a home but a space for subsistence and sustenance. It further argues that the provision of houses with considerations for how gender is enacted spatially could lead to the development of houses that can be user friendly to low-income households. The paper ends by suggesting that developing house designs that adapt to the way low-income households use space while preventing urban sprawl in the informal settlements is an important step towards the development of more effective housing designs.