Greening the real estate through sustainable housing development practices in Kigali City, Rwanda

Abstract

Rwanda has one of the highest densities of population in the world making sustainable housing an important aspect of national development. In its capital Kigali, challenges of scarce land resources and a growing population make sustainable housing one of the most important considerations for the 21st Century. The main objective of this study was to investigate existing practices promoting sustainable housing development in Kigali City. The specific objectives were to map the roles of key stakeholders involved in housing development sector in Kigali City, to determine activities being pursued by stakeholders to green the housing sector and to assess the gaps that need interventions to increase uptake of sustainable housing development. The study applied a survey (cross-sectional) research design to collect primary data from a systematic random sample of 92 households drawn from the three Districts of Kigali City. Actual data collection used a semi-structured questionnaire to capture data from household heads. Key informant interviews, focus group discussions and observation were applied to obtain first-hand data from selected respondents and to complement questionnaire data. Secondary data were collected from official government documents, international reports and scientific publications. Questionnaire data were analyzed with the aid of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software while data from interviews were analysed using stakeholder analysis and content analysis methods. The results show that key stakeholders in housing sector development in Kigali City were public sector agencies, private sector, civil society, academia and end users. Activities for promoting sustainable housing in Kigali City included green design of houses to maximise the use of natural lighting and ventilation, efficient use of energy, adoption of solar energy as an alternative, harvesting of rainwater to reduce usage of piped water and location of houses to lower the risk from natural hazards and promote safety of occupants. A Chisquare test revealed significant relationships between income and existing practices promoting sustainable housing development. A lack of mainstreaming of the concept of sustainability in the housing sector, limited financial resources, widespread inexperience in sustainable housing design and a weak regulatory framework on sustainable housing are the main barriers hindering sustainable housing development in Kigali City. The study concludes that stakeholders have adopted several activities for greening the housing development sector but recommends a removal of existing barriers in order to accelerate sustainable development in Kigali‟s housing sector.