Integrated Land Management Institute (ILMI)
Land, Livelihoods and Housing Programme 2015-18

The Integrated Land Management Institute is a centre of the Faculty of Natural Resources
Spatial Sciences (FNRSS) at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) committed
to develop reputable and multidisciplinary research and public outreach activities in the field of
land, administration, property, architecture and spatial planning.

The Land, Livelihoods and Housing Programme aims at deepening and expanding the focus
on these three key issues in Namibia. The programme was developed to guide ILMIs activities by
organising it in four aspects: institutional, environmental, fiscal and spatial processes.

Planned layouts v. planning for slums:
the case of Rehoboth Ext. 5 & 6

Enquiries:
Mr Louis Esterhuizen

T:
F:
E:

Summary

+264 61 246761
+264 61 246953
louis@winplan.com.na

Document No. 3/2016
Date: October 2016

ESTERHUIZEN Rapid/alternative land delivery in Namibia: the case of Rehoboth Ext. 5 & 6

ILMI Document No. 3/2016 Page 1 of 5

Thestatementsinthetalkaredoneinthepersonalcapacityofthesepaker.

ThemainresponsiblefortheprojectinquestionwasMrvanderMerwe,whounfortunatelycouldntattendthe
talk. Although the speaker indeed participated in the project, the statements should be considered as a
secondaryaccount.

Another clarificationmadeby the speakerwas that theproject isnot generally seen in apositive lightby the
MinistryofUrbanandRuralDevelopment(MURD)inviewsthatinhabitantssettledintheareabeforeservices
wereputinplace.ThisisagainstadirectivefromtheMinistrythatwasrecentlycirculatedtoLocalAuthorities
(LAs)instructingthemtoavoidthepracticeofsettlinginhabitantsinunservicedland.

Inputsfromattendantsaremarkedinitalics.




Introductiontotheplanningpractice

It isa fact thata townorcitywhosepopulationgrows4%peryeardoubles its sizeevery20years.
Swakopmundisacaseinpoint,asithasagrowthrateofabout4.4%.Thepracticeoftownplanners
bears great responsibility as it shapes places that will be there for generations. Although town
plannersdotheirbesttoturnneedsintoarealityinthebuiltenvironment,therearemanyfactorsthat
needtobenegotiated.


Planningwithintheprocessoflanddelivery

Ageneralplanningprocesshasseveral steps:makingofbasemapsandconcept layout,approvalby
authorities, subdivision of townlands, statement of need and desirability by the Namibia Planning
AdvisoryBoard(NAMPAB),approvalbyTownshipsBoard,surveyingofthearea,approvalofgeneral
plans,legalreview,endorsementbyDeedsOffice,openingoftownshipregister,MURDdraftofconcept
note,referralofproclamationnoticetolegaladvisors,preparationofdocumentsforproclamationby
MURD, review by Permanent Secretary (PS), Ministers signature of documentation, preparation of
proclamationnotice,proclamation;andfinallyvaluation,marketing,andfinancing.

Plannersareinvolvedinthefirstfivesteps,whichcanordinarilytakeupto8months.However, it is
oftenthecase that thesubsequentstepsgetdelayed,whichchanges theconditionsunderwhichthe
planningwasdone;particularlywithregardstoinformalgrowth.

From this perspective, considering that a settlement can last formany generations, spending eight
monthsontheplanningprocessseemsrathernegligible.

A goodexample is the caseof Swakopmund,whereplansweredone for thedevelopmentof formal
areasaround theDRC informal settlement,but since it took time tomakeadecisionofwhether the
planswouldbeundertaken,thesettlementgrewandcoveredtheareasthatwereoriginallyplanned.

-Whataretheusualdelaysintheplanningprocess?

Thedelaysarenotinherentlyplanningissues,butratherissuespertainingincompleteforms,missing
documents(e.g.powerofattorney),etc.

ESTERHUIZEN Rapid/alternative land delivery in Namibia: the case of Rehoboth Ext. 5 & 6

ILMI Document No. 3/2016 Page 2 of 5

Anotherchallengeisthelackoffundsforservicing.ManyLAsdependoncentralfunding,thecurrent
setup is not made for local development to fund itself gradually. Some LAs simply dont have the
meanstopayforplanningservices.

AstudybyWINPLANon informalstructures inMondesademonstrated that therewereabout5,900
backyard structures in the area. In some cases therewere up to ten different householdswithin a
300m2plot.

Withoutproactiveplanning,itwillbethelandlordswhowillbenefitfromthesituation.

For thosewho have to live in overcrowded conditions, the priority is not necessarily to own. They
mightbebetteroffrentingfromtheLAsatalowerpriceratherthanbeingatthewillofalandlordwho
isabletochargeanyrenttheydeemsuitable.


OnRehobothExt.5&6

Themandate for theprojectwas toupgradean informal settlementas soonaspossible.Toachieve
this,thegeneralstrategywastoplantheareainsuchawaythatthoseinhabitingtheareawouldbe
able to have a more dignified place to live and for them to take the further process of formal
developmentbasedonastructure.

Plannersweredirectlyinvolvedwithinhabitants.Theywouldspeaktoinhabitantsthemselvesandin
some cases requested some to resettle personally. The experiencewas positive, as somewould be
askedtomovetheirstructureafewmetersawaytoplacearoad,andthestructurewouldbeindeed
elsewhere the next day. Those who had to relocate were helped by others to do so, there was a
solidaryenvironmentinthisrespect.

Theapproachwasalsoincremental.Onceinhabitantsweresettledunderthenewplan,itwasdecided
whichservicestoplacefirst.Whileonemightthinkthatwaterwouldbethefirstpriority,inhabitants
madecleartheypreferredtohaveelectricityfirstandrathercontinuetofetchwaterfromapublictap
locatedataconsiderabledistance.

Thesitewasnotparticularlychallengingfromtheplanningpointofview.Thisallowedforplanningto
bedoneonsite.Inoneoccasion,plannersthemselveshiredaroadgradertomarktheplacewherethe
roadswouldgothrough.Thishelpedinhabitantstoseeclearlytheareathatneededtobekeptclear.

Intheexperienceofthisproject,plansdonotrequiremuchcommunityconsultation.Thisisbecause
on theonehand, it ishard for inhabitants tounderstandplans;on theother, thecommunitysmost
pressing need is a place to settle with dignity, a place they can be proud of, therefore planning
considerations are often seen as secondary. The presence of churches is indeed a priority, but it is
sometimeshardtoconveytheneedforotherkindsofpublicinfrastructure.Thisisparticularlysoin
areas that are already populated, it is hard to convince the community for the need of twenty
households to be relocated to create public open space.However, this is an example of one of the
trade-offsthatneedtobedoneinorderforanorderlyandspeedylanddelivery,aswellasadignified
placetobeprocuredintheshortterm.

Inthetwentyyearsofexperienceoftheplanner,itisacurioussituationwheninformalsettlersstart
the process and are contentwith a small plot; however, once the settlement becomes upgraded or
formalisedandmade tocomplywith the300m2that is thenorm inNamibia, there isa tendency to
thendesirelargerplots.TherewasalsothecaseofaCabinetdirectivetoincreasetheminimumplot
sizefrom300to400m2,butitsunclearwhattheoutcomeofthishasbeen.Thisphenomenonwould
beaninterestingsubjectofstudyatNUST.

ESTERHUIZEN Rapid/alternative land delivery in Namibia: the case of Rehoboth Ext. 5 & 6

ILMI Document No. 3/2016 Page 3 of 5

Theresultingplanlooksratherunusual.Thestreetsarenotstraight,partlytoleavesomeofthelarger
acaciatreesuntouched.Somestreetsarerathernarrowandinothercasesitwasneededtoresortto
pan-handleplots.Thereisalsonoprovisiontolargeopenpublicspaces,butasmentioned,itwouldve
beenhardtoconveythatseveralhouseholdswouldneedtoberesettledforthispurpose.

Conclusion

The main objective of this intervention was to minimise the time between the layout design, the
surveyingandtheimplementation.

Local authorities could re-think the way they budget for new land developments: the payment of
planners couldbedoneonapro-bonobasis, themoneyavailable could thengo to the surveyors so
thattheareagetsdefinedassoonaspossible;atthisstageinhabitantswouldbeabletosettledown,
and rent agreements could be drafted between them and LAs.With this rent, the servicing and the
settlementofthebillswithotherprofessionalscouldbegraduallydone.Inthisway,thedependencyof
LAsontheavailabilityof funds inCentralGovernmentwouldbereduced,andLAswouldthenenjoy
muchmoreindependence.

Workscanstartassoonastheplanningschemegetsapproved;gradingcouldbedone,andthenurban
developmentcouldcontinuebasedonanorderlylayout.

There is a need to discuss the pros and cons of proclamation/ownership vs. the need for urban
services. Ifonewaitsuptothewholeprocessreachesthepointofproclamation,thentheprocessof
landdeliverywillcontinuetobelengthyandinformalsettlementswillcontinuetoemerge.However,if

ESTERHUIZEN Rapid/alternative land delivery in Namibia: the case of Rehoboth Ext. 5 & 6

ILMI Document No. 3/2016 Page 4 of 5

oneprioritises urban services and a planned layout, then the process of land delivery could have a
muchbetterstartingpoint.

This is not to say that titling is undesirable. This can come at a later stage. The experience is that
inhabitantsdontcaresomuchaboutatitledeedasmuchastheycareabouturbanservices.

In some cases, processes can be delayed for up to two years. Large Municipalities like the City of
Windhoek have several departments that need to go through the applications; other LAs have less
departments and theprocess cangoquicker.However, it is the sequence in theprocess thatwould
needtobereconsidered.


Discussion

FortheMassUrbanLandServicingProgramme(MULSP),AffirmativeRepositioning(AR)hassuggesteda
process called pre-allocation. It consists on granting a plot of planned but un-serviced land to a
householdthatisabletoaffordacertainamount.Thishouseholdwouldthenbeabletoaccessfundsto
continue the servicing of the landwith their ownmeans and/orwith credit granted from commercial
banks.ItwouldthenbefundamentalforMURDtoendorsethis,sothatthispre-allocationhascurrency
withbanks,asatitledeedtothelandwouldcomeonlylaterintheprocess.Perhapsthisalignsinsome
waytothepointsmentionedinthetalk.

Itisdesirabletocomeupwithproposalsleadingtoaplannedformofurbandevelopment,otherwise
wewillcontinuetoplanforareasthathavebecomealreadysquattercamps.

Urbandevelopmentinvolvessometrade-offs,andifthereissomethingthatcanwaitinthisprocess,it
is property. Perhaps other modalities like permission to occupy (PTO) can be considered in this
regard.

Anotherimportantpointistoconsideristhatthisdiscussionfocusedontheissueofurbangrowth,butthe
issueofdensificationneedstobealsoconsidered.Ifthedriveisonlytoservicenewlandextensions,then
theoutcomewillbetheextensionofurbanareashorizontally.Thiswillhaveotherimplications,suchas
transport,infrastructure,andsegregation.

The experience of densification is indeed important. Swakopmund has recently decided to increase
densification,butthereareotherinterestgroupsthatwouldcounterthisonthegroundsofheritage.










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ILMI is a research centre at the Faculty of Natural Resources and Spatial Sciences (FNRSS) at the
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Views expressed by the authors are not to be attributed to any of these institutions.

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