Rwanda’s Booming Capital Searches for a Housing Fix
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Kigali is Rwanda’s largest city, with about 1.7 million residents.
Photographer: Luke Dray/Getty Images EuropeAs Rwanda’s rural residents make their way to the fast-growing capital of Kigali in search for economic opportunities, the city’s population is expected to double over the next 25 years. The influx poses a challenge for developers, who are scrambling to keep up with soaring demand for affordable housing in a tiny, densely populated country that has experienced remarkable economic growth.
Currently, 79% of Kigali residents live in informal settlements with limited access to basic public services. The Rwandan government is in the midst of developing a new housing strategy to lower building costs for developers and use the nation’s limited land more efficiently, but it faces a uphill battle, Ondiro Oganga reports. Today on CityLab: A Housing Crisis Brews in Rwanda’s Capital City