A Kigali City urban upgrading project is set to rehouse 716 residents of Kabuhunde, Kinyinya Sector, Gasabo District, in modern homes while keeping them close to their existing communities and sources of livelihood.
The project is part of Kigali’s efforts to transform informal settlements by improving housing and infrastructure without unnecessarily relocating residents far from their workplaces, schools, markets and social networks.
Kigali City spokesperson Emma Claudine Ntirenganya said the approach seeks to improve living conditions while minimising the social and economic disruption often associated with relocation.
As construction preparations advance, 85 households whose properties are required for the project have already received rental support to enable them to secure temporary accommodation until the new homes are completed.
Once construction is completed, residents affected by the project will be allocated housing in the new development as compensation, based on the assessed value of their affected properties and in accordance with Rwanda’s laws governing expropriation in the public interest.
Residents to remain close to their livelihoods
Kigali City says the programme goes beyond replacing informal housing with modern buildings. It is designed to preserve residents’ existing social and economic connections.
By keeping families within or close to their current neighbourhoods, residents can remain near their jobs and businesses, while children can continue attending familiar schools and families can maintain access to established markets and community networks.
The main transformation will be the quality and organisation of the living environment.
The new neighbourhoods will feature modern and safer housing, improved sanitation, roads, water networks and other essential infrastructure, as well as spaces for recreation.
The approach builds on progress made in other parts of Kigali, particularly Mpazi, where 793 houses have already been constructed.
More than 500 households have moved into the new homes in Mpazi, while another 44 houses are currently under construction.
The city ultimately plans to develop 4,106 homes in the wider Mpazi upgrading programme.
Similar upgrading projects are also underway in Nyabisindu and Nyagatovu, where about 2,029 homes are being developed.
Kigali City says the strategy will continue to focus on improving housing and neighbourhood infrastructure while limiting displacement from areas where residents have established livelihoods, schools and community ties.
Kabuhunde, Mpazi, Nyabisindu and Nyagatovu are among the areas currently benefiting from the programme, which is expected to expand to other parts of the capital.
The initiative forms part of Kigali’s broader drive to create safer, better-planned neighbourhoods while ensuring that urban redevelopment does not sever residents from the communities and economic opportunities on which they depend.
