Comunidades Urbanas Fase II | Bengo

The Urban Communities Project was contracted in 2011 by the Israeli developer Kora Angola under the Angolan National Urban Planning and Housing Programme (PNHU) to conceptualize and propose 13 Masterplans in different provinces in Angola, adding up to the provision of 40. 000 housing units, drawing up six architectural typologies, preliminary Institutional Equipment projects, inserting institutional equipment, as well as defining urban infrastructure and green areas, such as parks and squares, with a total area of 10,200,000 m² (1,020 ha). In January 2021, Phase 2 of the project was contracted, containing three Masterplans that add up to the provision of a further 5,000 homes, with a total area of 893,511 m².

Within the Masterplan for each of the 16 contracted locations, the following were drawn up: (i) macro-drainage studies; (ii) road system proposals; (iii) housing locations; (iv) urban sewage and water services locations; (v) locations for institutional health, education and security facilities; (vi) proposals for leisure areas such as parks and squares; (vii) urban design and general landscaping; (viii) studies detailing furniture, toponymy and housing colors.

Bengo province, in the north of the country, has an area of 31,371 km² and an estimated population of around 396,746 inhabitants. The provincial capital is Caxito, located 60 km from Luanda and bordered by the Dande River.

The region's climate is identified as tropical dry, semi-arid and arid, with high average temperatures (oscillating between 24° and 28° during the year) and abundant rainfall between December and April, leaving areas near rivers submerged.

The site will have 1,000 housing units, institutional and leisure areas, as well as shops and services.

The project considered the physical space derived from the construction of the housing, imbuing it with a sense of neighborhood and community, placing the housing together with the streets, commercial activities and institutional services, leisure areas and landscapes, which together make up the sense of living in the city. The formation of this "urban community" worked on the dimension of sustainability on two levels.

By concentrating an orderly complex, it made it possible to optimize networks (sanitation, communication, energy) and ensured the density necessary for economic efficiency; and by promoting a diversified complex - "community modules" - it made it possible to consume less vital energy when carrying out the routine activities of its residents, both of which, in accordance with environmental constraints, resulted in different designs for occupying the territory. It brought the functions of housing, work and leisure closer together, ensuring shorter commutes - saving time - and easy access to the demands of every city dweller.