Transformative Urbanity: Inciting Gisenyi to Socio-Economic Development Through Cultural Landmarks

Abstract

Gisenyi is the 5th largest city in Rwanda and suffers from a genocidal trauma that has rendered it incapable of urbanizing and developing. Despite its unique ecological advantages, the lack of social and cultural activities has created a dull sense of place and caused a rapid population decline. By analyzing the Rwandan culture and the national goals highlighted in the Integrated Development Program, this thesis provides cultural and urban tools rooted in nature, technology, and identity to develop a Utopian model that promotes socio-economic development. The model uses symbolically expressive landmarks with biophilic and technophilic attributes to encourage social activities, intellectual growth, and transcendental experiences that transform the self and the collective. This thesis proposes a University Campus in the guise of a regional landmark that includes a Public Market, a Genocide Memorial, and a Tech Centre individually expressing a unique cultural reflection of the Rwandan past, present, and future.