‘Industrial Area’ is a main displacement camp in Gulu. At the height of conflict in 2005, over 25,000 people lived in half a square kilometre. 2 A study of this camp reveals inadequate systems and networks — common issues of informal settlements. Few roads exist to link the camp to the city or to facilitate circulation. Family huts are clus- tered in congested patterns with sanitation issues and lit- tle privacy. Water is not available in the camp and people, typically women, spend a daily average of 1.3 hours col- lecting water from vendors elsewhere in town; time that could be spent doing other household tasks or income- generating activities. 3 To add to the disparity, vendor wa- ter costs as much as ten times the price of water from a piped connection. 4 Water is a key source of contention and disparity in urban camps. It has significant social and economic value which the displaced people cannot readily access. Water is, however, present in the form of wetlands. ‘Industrial Area’ camp, not unlike other camps in Gulu, sits on the ridge of a hill. Rainwater drains into adjacent wetlands, depositing sediment and contaminants from the camp. Displaced people cultivate and alter the wetlands illegally, endangering the balance of this key ecosystem. left : site research, from the top: a. road networks: few roads exist on the site to link the camp to the city or to facilitate access or hierarchical circulation. b. buildings: located in an industrial zone, most buildings are mud huts with 6-8 people per hut. c. water infrastructure: infrastructure passes by, but is not avail- able in the camp. d. wetlands: the camp is a catchment area for two wetlands, on the slopes of a low-rising hill. e. agriculture: the displaced people cultivate the wetland illegally as it is the only option for many. below: urban metabolism: cycle of wetland inputs and outputs - an overview of the many programs that use the wetland as a resource and link into the constructed water channel. These programs often have harmful by-products that contaminate the wetland ecology and are hazardous for other wetland users.
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