Project description by jury

Kampala, the principal and capital city of Uganda, suffers from territorial, social and economic fragmentation. The Muyenga-Namuwongo neighborhood, where high- and low-income communities face each other without any interaction, is a striking example of this condition. The goal of the project is to bridge these gaps through the creation of a system defined by a network of punctual and transversal interventions, allowing for people in the different parts of the neighborhood to connect. This system consists of “points”, which refer to social and public areas strategically and equally distributed across the neighborhood, connected by “links” including improved pedestrian and transport infrastructure. Colorful bridges, jogging trails, food markets, train stops, urban gardens, and cultural and recreational facilities are all design elements deployed to transform the neighborhood from a grey/cold space into a green/social district with an improved sense of place. Undeveloped land is converted into open public spaces that accommodate informal economic activities, stimulating the generation of synergies across sectors in different parts of the city and encouraging the creation of a circular economy. Local people are involved throughout the project implementation as co-creators and “curators” – together with the city authorities –of this resilient and sustainable improved community.

Jury appraisal

The LafargeHolcim Awards jury Middle East Africa enthusiastically applauded this project: first, because of the young author’s maturity in understanding and analyzing the physical, environmental and social challenges of the context; secondly, for the convincing methodology and ultimate solution proposed to tackle them. The project is well articulated and suggests an interesting inter-scale approach to redefine the identity of the neighborhood, introducing concepts that are easily transferable to other parts of the city or other geographical contexts. The proposal provides a fresh, optimistic vision of an empowered community through the improvement of the spatial dynamics of Kampala and consequent strengthening of the social and economic connections.