Population growth and urban infrastructural development in Mukono District

Abstract

The research study was conducted in Mukono Central Division (formerly Mukono Town council), an area with the highest urban population growth of 17.6 percent per annum (UBOS, 2005). The research topic was “Population growth and urban infrastructural development in Mukono District”. The general objective of the study was to investigate the extent of urban population growth and how it impacts on infrastructure development in Mukono Central Division. The researcher was guided by four specific objectives that included studying the population changes in Mukono Central Division between 1990 –2002, investigating the level of infrastructure and how it has been changing over the years between 1990 –2002, finding out implications arising from inadequate provision of infrastructure services to the people and thereafter suggest specific proposals and recommend appropriate guidelines for improvement in infrastructure provision in relation to the changing population patterns. In order to achieve the objectives, the study was based on the hypothesis that there is no relationship between rapid urban population growth and inadequate provision of services from the physical infrastructure. The researcher based the study on cross-sectional survey design, employing both qualitative and quantitative research techniques and inferential statistics method to make generalizations to the entire target population. The researcher used purposive and random sampling in high and low population areas of the Central Division. The research findings indicated that both the low and high population areas had inadequate service provision from the existing infrastructure and that the infrastructure has not changed much over the years as the population increases. The respondents in the low population areas of the Central Division were more satisfied with service provision compared to the high population areas.