In July 2020, new cities were created to improve physical planning, implementation of activities and administration. It was also a prerequisite for the country to achieve upper-middle-income status under Vision 2040.
The municipalities of Arua, Gulu, Mbale, Jinja, Masaka, Mbarara, and Fort Portal were uplifted to city status, while the others including Hoima, Entebbe, Lira, Moroto, Nakasongola, Soroti, Kabale and Wakiso will become operational in the coming years. The new cities are referred to as ‘secondary cities’ to mean the second level in the hierarchy of cities after the capital Kampala in terms of population size, administrative area, political, economic or historical significance.
The formation of cities will see more people moving from rural and urban areas to live and work in the central zones. According to the 2015/16 Uganda National Household Survey, 16 percent of migration was from rural to urban areas, while 23 percent of migration was from urban to urban areas.
Overall, 40 percent of migrants moved for employment or self-employment reasons, while 26 percent moved to follow or join their family. It is also evident that about 38 percent of the population growth in Kampala is as a result of migration from other parts of the country, yet the population growth in secondary cities is slower, due to out-migration.
Migration can be a means of survival especially for the rural populace to acquire jobs which provide opportunities for accumulation of income. While urban wages may not necessarily be better than rural wages, urban centres can offer better chances for transition to diverse non-farm jobs such as street vendors, bicycle riders, house maids, and porters where barriers of entry are lower.
Much as these jobs are informal and likely to provide lesser monetary benefits compared to the formal sector, they still offer economic flexibility, direct bargaining power, greater protection and control over people’s livelihoods. Also, migrant workers can be able to remit money for the sustenance of family members left behind and local communities, for example the recipients are able to purchase essential goods and services, home appliances, medical and education services.
Research shows however, that the continual movement of the rural and urban population puts pressure on cities and secondary cities and local governments by overstraining infrastructure such as electricity, health facilities, educational, recreational facilities, roads and water among others.
In Kampala, for example, the infrastructure has become overstretched, there is extreme congestion and bedeviled by inadequate decent housing. Slums make up almost a quarter of the total city area, housing approximately 60% of the total city population which also creates other challenges such as poor sanitation, and environmental degradation.
Addressing these challenges and pressures therefore necessitates rigorous planning, building the capacity of cities, and local governments to leverage opportunities that come with migration. This can be done through increasing central government financial transfers to local governments to implement development investments and activities to provide for increased demand of social services. Some of the new cities can hardly collect enough revenues to sustain themselves.
In addition, creating public-private partnerships (PPPs) is important to improve infrastructure such as healthcare facilities in the cities and outskirts, and increase the number schools in the city centre to address skills gaps.
Low cost housing, piped water, public toilets, and hand washing stations, drainages and electricity especially in the city slums can also be achieved through PPPs.