Green, Sustainable Urbanisation in Rwanda

The global built world is facing a shared challenge in terms of sustainability objectives, but the scale and type of those barriers differs enormously. Established economies in the West for example, contend with outdated infrastructure and ageing populations. Many African economies, like Rwanda, have an opportunity to urbanise sustainably from the off.

Rwanda has become a household name in recent years. Despite recent attempts by the previous UK Government to deport illegal immigrants to the country, and the lingering memory of the 1994 genocide, Rwanda is a beacon in Africa for sustainability, progress and climate action.

Last month, Rwanda’s plans for its built environment were showcased at the General Assembly of the Commonwealth Association of Architects. The international event opened with a keynote speech from Rwanda’s Director General for Urbanisation, revealing a modern and ambitious Rwanda focused on developing green and sustainable urbanisation.

Rwanda is a small and beautiful country about the size of Wales and is one of Africa’s most densely populated. It has a young fast-growing population, around 40% of whom are under 15. Kigali, its capital, has a population of 1,745,555, but one which is growing quickly.

Rwanda’s GDP is modest compared to Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa, yet it has experienced a healthy growth rate of 7-8% over the past decade. Investments into infrastructure, tourism and services have been helped by an effective, stable government, and President Kagame’s vision for the country to become the “Singapore of Africa.”

It has four official languages including French, English and Swahili which makes it easy for much of the world to do business there. It is one of Africa’s most crime-free countries. It is generally safe for women to walk alone, even at night. Its streets are also some of the cleanest and greenest, thanks to a total ban on plastic bags, to ‘Umuganda’, a community clean up on the last Sunday of every month, and to the many trees that line the roadsides. Rwandans take great pride in their safe, clean, green streets.

Kigali is a low density city of low rise buildings, including growing areas of informal settlements that are the result of rapid urbanisation. To prevent additional urban sprawl, the new Kigali Masterplan seeks to densify and provide affordable housing through creative finance models.

This growth reveals some challenges. Rapid urbanisation places strain on infrastructure, has the potential to exacerbate environmental degradation and increase traffic congestion and reduce air quality. But, Rwanda has taken steps to mitigate these embedded costs of urban expansion.

As with many global economies, construction of buildings, and the buildings themselves, are main contributors to pollution and carbon emissions. To affect change Rwanda practises a creative and integrated approach to green planning. In support, the government has formed the Rwanda Green Fund (FONERWA), a ground-breaking climate change and environment investment fund that invests in transformative public and private projects to help build a strong green economy.

Green and clean new districts are being planned and built in Kigali, and sustainability is on everyone’s lips. Projects like the ‘Green City Kigali’, master planned by British architect FCB Studios. The project builds on innovation in future-oriented technologies as well as a reliance on home grown solutions and local construction materials.

Another is a sustainable low-cost housing scheme developed by Swiss firm, Skat Consulting Ltd. Skat’s project uses brick manufactured locally to create modest three storey terraced apartment blocks. It replaces substandard, unplanned, climate vulnerable, single-storey dwellings with modern, resilient multi-storey, environmentally friendly residences in landscaped urban courtyards, and presents a new face for Kigali.

And its approach is not limited to investing in bricks and mortar. The recent restoration of the Nyandungu wetland in Kigali saw the planting of 17,000 trees made up of 55 indigenous species and has created an educational and recreational eco-tourism park for locals and visitors.

Rwanda's vision for 2050 is to be a carbon-neutral and climate-resilient economy. Its emissions per capita are already a small fraction of those in the West and its challenge is to achieve low carbon economic growth. The challenge in more established, Western economies remains how to decarbonise while maintaining current levels of prosperity. Different challenges, same objectives. The shared challenge for the global built environment remains. To act rapidly, in an inclusive and equitable manner. Rwanda is clearly among those countries leading the way to a greener, more sustainable urban environment.