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textabstractImproving urban liveability and prosperity is commonly set as a priority in
urban development plans and policy around the world. Several annual
reports produced by international consulting firms, media, and global
agencies rank the liveability of cities based on a set of indicators, to
represent the quality of life in these cities. The higher is the ranking, the
more liveable is the city. In this paper, we argue that such quantitative
approaches to framing and addressing urban liveability challenges leave
little room to reflect on people’s experiences of this liveability, which
cannot be expressed through numbers. To illustrate our argument, we
draw on empirical evidence of urban liveability challenges in access to
water and land in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, ranked recently
as the most liveable East African city by various global agencies and
media outlets. By showing that increasing the number of water
connections does not guarantee improved access to water and
sanitation in the long run, first, we demonstrate how urban liveability
challenges are tightly linked with land-title issues in the city. Second, we
highlight the political game-playing between the central government,
the opposition, the traditional leadership, and the slum dwellers in
governance processes of service delivery. Finally, by arguing that urban
liveability can be enhanced by broadening political participation in city
development planning, we discuss some of the strategies that can be
used by communities to make collective claims towards improving their
quality of life and the environment.
