Räumliche Gerechtigkeit und Eigentumssicherheit. Erkenntnisse aus städtebaulichen Entwicklungen in Kigali, Ruanda

The research ascertains the potential of spatial justice to promote land tenure security and develops indicators measuring trends of spatial justice and land tenure security for the poor and low-income urban dwellers. Using the related indicators, these trends are investigated in Kigali City re-development processes. These trends are well portrayed in rules governing these processes, but deficient in their implementation and related outcomes. Policy and practical options for these processes to result in spatially just outcomes are suggested.Die Forschung beschäftigt sich mit den Potentialen der räumlichen Gerechtigkeit, um Eigentumssicherheit zu stärken, weshalb Indikatoren entwickelt wurden, um diese für Siedler in den unteren Einkommensschichten sichtbar zu machen. Diese Indikatoren werden anschließend auf städtebauliche Sanierungsmaßnehmen in Kigali Stadt angewendet. Obwohl der Prozess als solcher bereits gut in den Richtlinien dargestellt ist, mangelt es an Wissen über dessen Anwendung und deren Konsequenzen. Deshalb werden einige praktische Anwendungen vorgeschlagen, welche die räumliche Gerechtigkeit unterstützen sollen

Customary versus conventional land administration systems in Sub-Saharan Africa

Context and background:  The essential emerging reality from the statutory-versus-customary tenure debate is that both customary and statutory tenure systems have faults and good merits. With the unaffordability (in terms of technical, time and money cost) issues surrounding the statutory tenure for tenure security; and the population pressure, there is a need to reconsider the direct integration of relevant aspects of the customary tenure systems into the statutory land administration system (LAS) as part of the efforts towards a more realistic solution to the challenge of tenure insecurity in the continent.Goal and Objectives:This paper engages the debate on the potential of customary tenure (as a crucial aspect of customary land administration) system to spur the success of the statutory tenure (as a critical component of conventional land administration) system towards achieving realistic governance of land resources in Africa.Methodology:This article was presented at the Conference on Land Policy in Africa in 2021 (Kigali, Rwanda) to obtain stakeholder input. The applied methods include the use of an integrative literature review to identify aspects of customary land administration that have linkages to conventional land administration, an expert interview to verify aspects of customary land administration incorporable with conventional land administration and Mann-Whitney for statistical analysis to rate interviewees’ views on the relevance customary tenure to the four functions of conventional land administration.Results:The overall results hinged on identifying three critical aspects of customary land administration that directly add value to conventional land administration. These include (1) customary land administration contributions to land tenure and value functions of LAS through community land conflict management; (2) Customary land administration promotion of land tenure, value and use functions of LAS through collective titling; and (3), customary land administration promotion of land tenure and use of those functions through customary land allocation. Conclusions were drawn in support of the identified roles of those aspects to the development of effective LAS responsive to landowners’ and users’ needs

An Assessment of the Current State of Spatial Data Sharing in Rwanda

Geographic information is becoming more important everyday at all levels of society. It has a central role in supporting economies, improving business effectiveness in the private sector, enabling more efficient decision making and increasing citizens’ involvement in governance. The need to share becomes apparent when individuals and organisations cannot produce all datasets they need. Identifying current data sharing arrangements is pivotal to understanding the kind of sharing mechanism required. An assessment of data sharing in Rwanda was made by surveying organisations producing and/or using spatial datasets in their daily activities. Key areas covered include organisational approaches used and inhibitions to spatial data sharing. The main spatial data producers were identified as they exert enormous influence on the data sharing process. Results reveal that the main datasets shared are administrative boundaries, topographic maps and orthophotos. Most spatial data are exchanged as printed maps, implying that the data management system is predominantly paper based. Furthermore, findings show that majority of data users in Rwanda are decision makers. Data producers and users perceive the absence of a national policy on data access and sharing as the main impediment to sharing in Rwanda. Consequently, sharing modalities are very informal, with friendship, goodwill and organisation’s propensity to share identified as major considerations influencing decision to share data. Based on survey findings, different data sharing policy options were proposed. This assessment of the state of data sharing in Rwanda helps to identify current arrangements of spatial data exchange

Bottom-up assessment of household electricity consumption in dynamic cities of the Global South—Evidence from Kigali, Rwanda

Data on electricity consumption is crucial for assessing and modeling energy systems, making it a key element of sustainable urban planning. However, many countries in the Global South struggle with a shortage of statistically valid, geocoded, and disaggregated household-level data. This paper aims to develop a generic methodology for the generation of such a database in terms of electricity consumption. The methodology was tested in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, with a focus on all single-family residential building types of the inner city. Discrete data on buildings is obtained through combined information products derived from very high resolution (VHR) satellite imagery, field surveys, and computer assisted personal interviewing. In total, 509 valid geocoded survey datasets were used to evaluate and model household electricity consumption, as well as electrical appliance ownership. The study's findings reveal that the arithmetic mean of specific electricity consumption was 3.66 kWh per household per day and 345 kWh per capita per year in 2015. By subdividing the data into distinct building types as well as their spatial location, and weighting the specific values according to their proportion in the study area, a more accurate mean value of 1.88 kWh per household per day and 160 kWh per capita per year was obtained. Applying this weighted mean to extrapolate household electricity consumption for the study area, in conjunction with the sample's precision level, resulted in an estimate of 126–137 GWh for the year 2015. In contrast, using the arithmetic mean would have led to values twice as high, even exceeding the total electricity consumption of the entire city, including multi-family and non-residential buildings. The study highlights the significance of on-site data collection combined with geospatial mapping techniques in enhancing of understanding of residential energy systems. Using building types as indicators to distinguish between households with contrasting electricity consumption and electrical appliance load levels can address the challenges posed by rapid urban growth in the Global South. This proposed method can assist municipal administrations in establishing a database that can be updated resource-efficiently at regular intervals by acquiring new satellite images

Can In-Kind Compensation for Expropriated Real Property Promote Spatial Justice? A Case Study Analysis of Resettlement in Kigali City, Rwanda

Kigali city authorities have recently adopted an in-kind compensation option to mitigate some patterns of spatial injustices, reflected in the displacement of expropriated real property owners towards urban outskirts, where they can afford new properties using the in-cash compensation they receive. This study assesses whether this form of compensation promotes a spatially just and inclusive urban (re)development. It applies an evaluative framework comprising a series of indicators connected to three dimensions (rules, processes, and outcomes) of spatial justice and its four forms consisting of procedural, recognitional, redistributive, and intra-generational justice. It relies on data collected through field surveys and a review of literature on expropriation and urban (re)development processes in Kigali city. The findings reveal that the adopted in-kind compensation exhibits some aspects of spatial justice connected with the access to decent houses, basic urban amenities, and increased tenure security. However, these findings unveil deficiencies in procedural, recognitional, redistributive, and intra-generational justice, portrayed in the lack of negotiation on the compensation option, non-participation of expropriated property owners in their resettlement process, overcrowding conditions of the new houses, and loss of the main sources of incomes. Some options for a better implementation of the in-kind compensation are suggested. Two strands of procedural and recognitional justice, namely negotiation and community participation, are central to their successful implementation

Decoding Gender Justice in Land Conflicts Resolution in Rwanda

Rwanda has implemented a land tenure regularization program since 2008 that enabled the adjudication and registration of land rights for both men and women. However, Rwandan women are vulnerable to land conflicts because some men do not recognize or respect women’s rights in land. This study investigates the extent to which government institutions in Rwanda empower women in claiming and defending their land rights. Data sources include questionnaire survey, interviews, and the review of literature on land reform in Rwanda. Findings reveal that Rwandan women preferably lodge their land claims to local authorities or mediation committees because the process of land conflict resolution is fair, free of charge and faster. However, the most used land conflict resolution mechanisms cannot enforce its decisions when some men are against those decisions. There is a need to think of mechanisms to enforce those decisions

Indicators for Measuring Spatial Justice and Land Tenure Security for Poor and Low Income Urban Dwellers

There exist various indicators that measure land tenure security for urbanites. Most of those indicators measure the degree to which land titling promotes the security of tenure. Based on the reviewed literature, it is admitted that land titling is not a panacea to land tenure security. Measuring the degree of land tenure security should not rely only on the legalisation of landownership. This paper makes a meta-analysis and conceptual modelling to connect spatial justice and land tenure security. It discusses the potential of inclusive urban development grounded on the claim that spatial justice enhances land tenure security. A comprehensive framework of indicators which can measure the degree of land tenure security from a spatial justice lens is thereafter derived. The meta-analysis and conceptual modelling were coupled with research synthesis to perform an in-depth review and qualitative content analysis of the literature on concepts of spatial justice, land tenure security, and urban (re)development processes. This study proposes 60 indicators which measure the degree of spatial justice and land tenure security along a continuum of spatial justice and land tenure security. Those indicators provide a more holistic approach for measuring land tenure security from a spatial justice lens than the separated sets of existing indicators

Expropriation of Real Property in Kigali City: Scoping the Patterns of Spatial Justice

The key question in this article is the extent to which current real property expropriation practices in Kigali city promote spatial justice. Current studies focus on the ambiguous manner in which real property valuation had been regulated by the expropriation law of 2007, leading to unfair compensation and various conflicts between expropriating agencies and expropriated people. Following its amendment in 2015, the law currently provides clearer procedures for valuation and fair compensation, based on the market prices. Using indicators that measure spatial justice, this study evaluates if the current expropriation processes result in spatial justice, consisting of procedural, recognitional and redistributive justice. These indicators are described using three dimensions of spatial justice: rules, processes and outcomes. Data were collected through household surveys, focus group discussions, stakeholders’ interviews and observations in four urban neighbourhoods where expropriation has taken place in Kigali city. Interpretative and statistical analysis of the data reveals some patterns of procedural, recognitional and redistributive justice in the rules dimension. There is no indication of any pattern for other dimensions. This relates to limited budgets of expropriating agencies which insufficiently follow the law. The consequence is the decreased redistributive justice in the compensation and the increase in the displacement effect of expropriation. Although, counter-valuations result in fair compensation, there is limited evidence for good trends of spatial justice in the whole process of expropriation