Planning of informal settlements for sustainable urban housing: a case of Langas estate in Eldoret town, Kenya

Abstract

Planning is inevitable if provision of sustainable housing is to be achieved. However, the Eldoret town housing development as guided by the Physical Planning Act Cap 286 and other planning initiatives like the National Urban Development Programme have neither mitigated nor forestalled proliferation of informal housing in the town‘s settlement areas. Like other cities in Kenya Eldoret town is experiencing urbanization problems including proliferation of informal housing and inadequate provision of public utilities such as water and sanitation services. This study sought to determine nature of, and factors influencing the nature of housing; and, constraints to successful planning for sustainable housing in Langas Estate- Eldoret, Kenya. The study used non-linear causal-result self-organization hybrid model combining concepts of Persistent Informality, Occupancy and Complexity Theories. A cross-sectional survey design employing both qualitative and quantitative research approaches was used. Stratified Simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used to sample 104 and 10 respondents for questionnaires administration and interviews. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise data and presented through means and percentages. Cross tabulation was used to determine the relationship between nature of housing and the tenure status of land and level of household income. Data analysis was done using inferential statistics ANOVA for hypotheses testing, viz; ‗there is no significant relationship between land tenure status and the nature of housing‘; and, ‗there is no significant relationship between household income levels and nature of housing. Qualitative data obtained from interviews and observation checklist was summarised into themes as they emerged from responses and presented in a narrative form. Study findings show housing characterised by problems of planning guidelines and standards on recommended spacing, construction materials, size, and access to essential services like water, sanitation and roads; and influenced by various factors, among them, land tenure status with significant relationship (sig.-value=0.859) and income levels of households (sig.-value=0.062). Lower levels of connectivity to the essential service were revealed in areas outside the original Langas Farm. The study recommends public-private partnership in housing provision, retrofitting or incremental improvement of services, regularization of housing initially outside municipal boundary and incorporation of pro-poor planning regime in areas such as building codes for housing.