The majority of the ongoing extensive urbanization of East Africa is informal and occurs beyond the limits of state control and regulatory systems. This development is characterized by lack of urban planning, infrastructure provision, and formal rights to the land. Lack of land rights constitute a major issue within urban development in East Africa, as it leads to forced evictions as well as exclusion from public services and citizenship, compromising sustainable development for millions of urban dwellers across the region.
This exhibition focused on current efforts to address issues related to lack of land rights, along with research on the underlying structures conditioning the informal urban growth in East Africa. This included land rights projects in Uganda and Mozambique by the NGO, Architects without Borders – Denmark. Additionally, the exhibition featured material from the KADK based research project, Understanding Urban Form of Informal Settlements in East Africa. The project analyzes informal urban development in the region, in order to improve the basis for developing effective urban planning interventions and policies. Informal Horizons thus sought to synthesize these efforts to improve our understanding of the current comprehensive urbanization processes in East Africa and display efforts to transform informal settlements into sustainable neighborhoods.
The project was exhibited at The KADK Library of Architecture, Design, Conservation & Performing Arts (02.09.19-11.10.19) and at Institute for (X) (10.01.20-24.01.20).
The project was carried out in collaboration with KADK – The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation and Architects without Borders – Denmark.
