Lubumbashi (DRC)

Lubumbashi (DRC)

In Lubumbashi (Belgian colony, subsequently Katanga, and later DR Congo), the centre of the mining area in Katanga, a new city developed in 1910 making employment-tied housing urgently necessary to accommodate a rapidly increasing number of workers. Players of interest were: firstly, the Union Minière du Haute Katanga (UMHK) - the most important mining company in the country. The UMHK provided housing and required planners and architects to follow the general guidelines instituted by the colonial government. The second group of players were those living in the provided compounds, e.g. miners, headmen, but also health staff. What is more, the colonial housing provisions were accompanied by additional ‘civilising’ projects and instruments, e.g. the carte d’Immatriculation introduced in 1948 for Congolese considered to be évolué. They had to prove that they abstained from polygamy or witchcraft, that they were literate, plus that they ate with a knife and fork. As a result of the nationalisation of UMHK in 1968, the main assets of the UMHK were redistributed. Our chosen time frame allows to investigate the differing employment-tied housing policies and modes of implementation, negotiation processes with those actually living in the compounds, and forms of spatial procurement in a city heavily dependent on one industry (mining) during the diverse phases of UMHK as a company headed by (Colonial) Belgium, DR Congo and a private Belgian company.

• Daniela Waldburger is carrying out the Lubumbashi case study.