Namibia is urbanizing at a rapid rate. The 2011 Census indicates that
over 800,000 people (or 42% of the national population) now live in
urban areas (up from 33% in 2001).1
The capital city of Windhoek is
the major focus of urbanization, although all of the country’s urban centres
are increasing in size. Windhoek’s urban and peri-urban population
increased from 235,500 in 2001 to 318,700 in 2011 (an annual growth rate
of 5%). The city has 16.2% of the national population (up from 13.7%
in 2001) and 36% of the total urban population. The next four towns in
the urban hierarchy are considerably smaller in size: Oshakati (46,900),
Swakopmund (44,700), Walvis Bay (35,500) and Rundu (20,700). In
fact, Windhoek is about the same size as the cumulative population of the
next 10 largest urban centres in the country and continues to increase in
primacy. The population of Windhoek will reach half a million people by
2020 if the current growth rate is maintained.2
Large-scale rural-urban migration, especially from northern Namibia,
is driving contemporary urbanization.3
Prior to the 1990s, there were
considerable obstacles to internal migration. During the decades of South
African rule before 1990, stringent controls were placed on the urbanization
of the black population. In 1968, the total population of Windhoek
was only 57,000 and whites out-numbered blacks. Apartheid controls were
eased in the 1980s and rural-urban migration began to increase (Figure
1). In 1981, Windhoek had a population of 96,000 which had increased to
147,000 by the time of independence.4
A 1991 survey estimated the population
of the poorer north and north-west areas of Windhoek to be about
91,000.5
By 1996, the number had grown to about 110,000. In 2011, the
population in these areas had reached nearly 250,000.