THE CHALLENGES OF REGIONAL AND URBAN PLANNING IN LUANDA WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE NATIONAL URBANISM AND HOUSING PROGRAM - LESSONS FROM THE CENTRALITY OF KILAMBA

Abstract

City planning operates on a scale that does not depend solely on the initial approval of architects and urban planners, although their studies are a crucial stage. The final decision lies with political power, a point extensively addressed in my dissertation. Urban planners play a significant role in the spatial organization and management of territories. In Sub-Saharan Africa, new cities or housing areas, such as centralities, emerge in a decentralized manner through integrated territorial planning strategies. These areas are characterized by a rationalist concept of functional spatial organization, which guides the design of new centralities within urban grids. This article aims to highlight the urban and design-related decision-making processes adopted by the authors and decision-makers of the Kilamba Centrality plan. The urban design scale is considered the most immediate and effective for intervening in the urban layout of Kilamba Centrality, as well as in other centralities developed under the same national housing program.