Namibia Resilient Neighborhood Model

According to UN-Habitat, more than 87 million people live in slums and informal settlements in southern Africa. This creates insecure living conditions with low standards of sanitation, comfort, and security and limited access to potable water, sewage, and electricity. In Namibia, the amount of people living in such conditions is over 40% of the population according to a 2022 report by the CAHF. ISD Foundation is working with Development Workshop Namibia (DWN), a Namibia-based NPO, to develop a pilot project in Oniipa Town in Northern Namibia’s Oshikoto Region. The project addresses Namibia’s housing crisis as part of DWN’s successful Housing for All initiative, providing low-cost land for private ownership and housing.

The Oniipa project includes two sites with around 450 private plots. ISD, together with long-term design and planning partners, helps to improve DWN’s development scheme to create a livable and resilient neighborhood beyond the basic supply of standardized land plots and utilities. Following ISD’s Resilient Neighborhood Model, the project follows a holistic planning approach that integrates the sites in the socio-environmental context of Oniipa Town and the region. It strategically includes nature-based solutions, the innovative use of green technologies, and renewable energies, and addresses social inclusion, accessibility, public health, and socio-economic opportunities. In addition to a comprehensive urban planning and design strategy for the two project sites, the project proposes multiple housing typologies, a community center with integrated early childhood development facilities, and communal spaces for collective gardening, play, and recreation.