Investigating the spill over of small scale manufacture onto streets.
- Christine Matua
- Sep 28, 2021
- 3 min read
Case of timber workshops in Kubiiri, Kampala.
Abstract
This study examines the spill-over of carpentry workshops in Kampala, Uganda, where various aspects of production, such as offloading materials and furniture refinement, encroach on streets. The aim is to understand the factors causing this spill-over and develop strategies to control these factors using architectural design principles and local council authorities.
Problem statement
MSME carpentry workshops along many roads in Uganda like Nsambya Road, Bombo road at Bwaise and Kubiiri largely operate in an informal manner. This is manifest in the temporary nature of wooden planks with which they are constructed, and the opportunistic manner of space use in these workshops that operate along these streets.
It has been observed that many of the processes undertaken in a carpentry workshop especially display and loading of final products onto motorized transportation spill-over onto the adjacent roads. This becomes a huge inconvenience to road users when these carpenters utilize the street designated as a road reserve and walkways for such activities thereby disrupting the circulation on these roads. Furthermore, the way these products are handled, with the processes occurring in spaces that are unplanned for during carpentry manufacture compromises the quality of the product yet these products could be the main supplier for architects in Uganda because they are generally more affordable than imported furniture.
This phenomenon of the spill-over of workshops poses a question for architects as to whether or not architecture can be used to refine the manner in which these activities in the carpentry workshops occur such that they do not encroach on the parts of the streets designated for road use.
In addition, most of the literature pertaining to furniture and carpentry in Uganda is from a forestry and economics perspective. There are no clear guidelines on the design of carpentry workshops and other small-scale workshops in the National Planning Standards and Guidelines 2011, which is a gap in architecture and urban planning.
There is need for architects and planners to come up with guidelines and standards that control the way these workshops grow as this affects many carpenters, customers of the product and the road users.
Research questions
1. What processes are involved in the manufacture of carpentry products along Bombo road at Kubiiri?
2. How do the carpenters that operate along Bombo road at Kubiiri currently utilize their workshop spaces to carry out their activities?
3. How are the plots on which these workshops lie at Bombo road at Kubiiri utilized?
4. How can architecture be used to address the issues behind the spill-over of activities from the carpentry workshops onto adjacent roads for these MSMEs?
Hypothesis tested (ref to literature)
Carpentry workshops as street-markets and the phenomenon of activities spilling- over into roads in Uganda
Carpentry workshops in Uganda, like most small-scale industries have two significant functions: the work-station and the point of sale (Ichumar, 2000). Some of these workshops are situated individually or in clusters along streets while others operate as home-based enterprises where the proprietors may not be capable of affording rents for shops or factories (Fatusin, 2014).
The road along which the geographical scope of this research is limited i.e. Bombo road is a tertiary road (National Physical Planning Standards and Guidelines 2011).
According to Senkatuka (2009), roads serve a number of uses besides being a transport conduit, some of which include: functional purposes as pedestrian walkways in cases where there are no designated walkways at the sides of roads, accommodating other physical infrastructure like storm water drains, electricity power lines, street side parking, public transportation terminals, as well as a venue for day-to-day activities of low-income earners e.g. cooking food, washing dishes and doing laundry.
They also serve as a major point-of-sale for home-based enterprises (HBEs). These HBEs use shops, kiosks made of temporary materials like wooden planks, and recycled iron-sheets and in some cases, tables as the platform for carrying out trade. Senkatuka (2009) acknowledges that some of these HBEs furnish their store fronts with benches or chairs, so people can have a drink in these areas and/ or engage in conversation and so the area transforms into a social space for the community. Finally, many areas in Kampala practice poor waste disposal practices, so waste gathers up in heaps along the edges of the road. In some cases, local municipality authorities also place garbage chutes in road reserves.
Methodology
This research took a case study method, with the findings from it being analysed qualitatively. The qualitative approach bases on the opinions of people and analyses these opinions. The tools for this approach included:
Observations, Interviews with the carpenters, Sketches, photography, cadastral maps of the region, and other forms of graphic media necessary to carry out this analysis, A literature review of material related to this topic was made.
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Author Bio:
Christine Matua is a master’s student of architecture at Makerere university Kampala. She is a graduate architect and educator.
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