This study addresses urban planning problems in the post-independence zones or townships of Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire. It serves as a demonstration project aiming at showing how local resources, labor and funds could be mobilized to help local people solve the problems affecting their communities. It supports the view that with little government support and/or international contribution, self-help projects could be initiated in Kinshasa city before they may be extended to the rest of the country. This particular pilot project is intended for the improvement of the Southern Extension District (S.E.D.).It covers an area about 5 Kilometers long and 2.5 Kms. wide, which comprises the entire zone of Bumbu, the eastern side of Makala, and the Northern side of Selembao zones. This site was selected for the various resources needed for the Self-Help Project. The major problems of this post-independence district are erosion/flooding, substandard houses, and lack of playgrounds for children.It is proposed that an organizational framework becreated, which will coordinate an ongoing process of improvement through self-help effort. Actions that the residents and the government need to undertake in order to create such a framework are suggested. Creation of an independent entity named "Office of Special Project", whose personnel will come from the Department of Planning and Urban Management (B.E.A.U.), Housing Department and Public Works department is also suggested. This office will serve as a sponsoring agency whose mission is to create a multipurpose co-operative at each zone or township level and to supervise the improvement process. Its staff will meet on a regular basis with the representatives of these co-operatives to discuss the problems of the community with the local people and provide them with the expertise needed to complete the project successfully. / Department of Urban Planning

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, September 2016. / The purpose of this research was to investigate the concepts of social and environmental justice in the context of solid waste management in Kinshasa and the critical factors accounting for injustice in this context. The investigation followed an examination of the relevant theoretical framework(s) and mechanisms that would facilitate the attainment of social and environmental justice in the city of Kinshasa, DRC. It was argued that social justice and environmental justice are a global challenge, and that efforts to address these challenges are usually biased towards employing eurocentric frameworks that are unfit to deal with the reality of environmental problems in a developing country scenario. The use of eurocentric urban development and planning approaches, which in most cases are outdated, have significantly propagated issues of spatial inequality in the distribution of solid waste burdens and have contributed to worsening justice concerns in many cities in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. It has been illustrated in this study that social justice and environmental justice in the context of solid waste management must be seen as intrinsically connected, as both concepts emphasise the need for empirical understandings grounded in local contexts. Social and environmental justices play fundamental roles in the theoretical construction of principles that can contribute to a sustainable community, thereby ensuring that the rights and needs of individuals in a society are met. In the context of solid waste, the concepts of social justice and environmental justice are compelling because of their focus on ensuring equal service delivery in solid waste collection and disposal, while simultaneously redressing previous imbalances. Walker (2009) argues that the principles of environmental and social justice and sustainable development are more generally in their infancy in sub-Saharan Africa, and few implementing agencies and practitioners have a clear understanding of how to translate these global principles into practice. It is not surprising, therefore, that unresolved issues around sustainable development and environmental justice have emerged in a period during which implementation and the real implications of following a justice pathway have overwhelmed many urban managers in sub-Saharan African cities (Patel 2009). Using both qualitative and quantitative research methods together with system thinking and system dynamics modelling principles as integral frameworks in understanding the complexity in solid waste management, it has been demonstrated that solid waste management in Kinshasa, like in many Congolese cities, is a duty entrusted to publicly-funded municipal authorities. There is a clear divide and evidence in the manner by which solid waste is managed between the rich and poor neighborhoods of the city. The rich neighbourhoods seem to enjoy well-formulated systems of service delivery, in contrast with high-density areas, where almost 80% of the population in Kinshasa resides. This state of affairs is a result of inequalities that exist between the more powerful wealthy class and the disempowered poor people of the urban society in Kinshasa. Furthermore, cultural theory paradigms and conceptual System Dynamics (SD) modelling principles were employed to establish how the stakeholders in the form of four social solidarities (fatalist, hierarchist, individualist and egalitarian) influence solid waste management in the city and how they interact with each other dynamically. Based on this inter-linkage, interaction and causal feedback relations, a politico-cultural mechanism was evolved to enable changes to social and environmental injustices in solid waste management in Kinshasa, DRC. It was argued that a cultural theory inspired participative and collaborative mechanisms could result in the incorporation of a majority of the stakeholders in the decision making and implementation of solid waste management, adoption of technologies and innovative ways of managing solid waste, which could prompt social and environmental justice in solid waste management in Kinshasa, DRC. The findings of the study have both theoretical and practical implications. They provide a thorough discourse on environmental justice in solid waste management and how cultural theory paradigm can offer a new dimension to the theories behind stakeholder’s participation in local development and management matters, particularly with respect to social and environmental injustice in solid waste management in sub-Saharan African cities. They also explicitly show how the various social solidarities could work dynamically in an integrated manner, and enable development of policy intervention mechanisms to resolve the solid waste management challenges and attain social and environmental justice through their effective collaboration, and participation, although this may be through compromises and tradeoffs in place of consensus. This paradigm could assist government agencies like municipalities to develop appropriate policy interventions and implementation strategies to resolve solid waste management challenges in sub-Saharan African cities in general and in the Democratic Republic of Congo in particular. Keywords: Cultural theory, environmental justice, social justice, solid waste management, urban environmental problem, Kinshasa / LG2017

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Originally presented as the author's thesis, Louvain. / Includes bibliographical references.

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The relation between verbal affixes and their effect on the predicate argument structure of the verbs that host them has been the focus of many studies in linguistics, with special reference to Bantu languages in recent years. Given the colonial policy on indigenous languages in Angola, Kikongo, as is the case of other Bantu languages in that country, has not been sufficiently studied. This study explores the form and function of six verbal affixes, including the order in which they occur in the verb stem. The study maintains that the applicative and causative are valency-increasing verbal affixes and, as such, give rise to double object constructions in Kikongo. The passive, reciprocal, reflexive and stative are valency-decreasing and, as such, they reduce the valency of the verb by one object. This study also suggests that Kikongo is a symmetrical object language in which both objects appear to have equal status. / African languages / M.A.

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Ph.D. (Economics) / The main objective of this study is to assess the role of the informal sector in the economy of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by assessing its linkage with the formal sector. An attempt to assess the linkage between the formal and informal sectors was carried out by using quantitative techniques that range from the construction of a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) to the building of a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model to assess the impact of each of the sectors in the DRC economy. A new SAM that incorporates formal and informal sector is constructed whereby different techniques and methodologies are applied. The data sources and techniques used to build the SAM and CGE model are described. The DRC Formal Informal Sector Model (DRCFIM) is constructed based on ORANI model of the Australian economy. The generic edition of the model, ORANI-G, developed for CGE modellers was constructed by Horridge (1998). The model has a theoretical composition which is typical of a static Applied General Equilibrium (AGE) model. Nonetheless, one particularity of the DRCFIM is that it is a multi-sectoral CGE model that depicts the reflected structure of the DRC’s formal and informal sectors along with a diversity of linkages between various economic agents such as government, investors, traders and enterprises. DRCFIM is used to perform two policy simulations. The first policy simulation assessed the impact of land use on the DRC economy and the second is on trade liberalisation. In tracing the impact of the land use subsidy shock, output rises and domestic prices decline in most sectors, indicating considerable efficiency and lower costs per unit of output. Land use subsidy raises output in most sectors, stimulating the real GDP to rise by 0.34 and 0.26 percent in the short and long run respectively. Concerning the second policy simulation, we only allowed the import price to decrease by 5 percent in the model. As we would expect, gross domestic product, exports and employment rise when the import price on products is reduced by 5 percent in the short run.