Developing the Slum Main Street: An Urban Intervention in Kisenyi, Kampala

Slums are widely perceived as hubs of hopelessness and societal decay that require removal. As architects we can affirm the place of these settlements in the urban milieu. A solution to the disrepair of the city’s slums lies in a model that provides a more qualitative, habitable living and working place that can act as a framework to stimulate the existing economic activity.Kisenyi II is one such site, bustling with economic activity and potential. It is also one of Uganda’s largest informal settlements, and home to the country’s largest open-air market. Its inhabitants however live in constant fear as they have been repeatedly threatened with eviction. This thesis and design proposal will be focused on designing a framework upon which quality living and ordered economic activity can thrive and in so doing reclaim the informal dwellers’ right to the urban realm.