Quilamba

Quilamba (also called Kilamba) is a planned urban development located about 30 kilometres south of Luanda, Angola. It serves as the administrative center of Belas Municipality in Luanda Province. The city was built by the China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) as part of a government housing program and financed through a loan between the governments of Angola and China.

According to the Associated Press, Quilamba is considered the most successful new city development in Africa, with a population exceeding 130,000, and experts suggest it serves as a model for a dozen similar projects across the continent, from Zanzibar to Zambia.^[1]

The concept for Quilamba emerged in the aftermath of the Angolan Civil War (1975–2002), when the Angolan government sought to address housing shortages and expand access to urban infrastructure.^[2]

Construction began in 2008 under President José Eduardo dos Santos's housing initiative, which aimed to deliver one million new homes nationwide. The development was executed through a resources based framework in which Angola borrowed money from Chinese financial institutions with oil revenue used as collateral. As part of the financing arrangement CITIC, a Chinese state-owned enterprise, was responsible for design and construction.

The first phase covered about 30.5 square kilometres (11.8 sq mi) and was completed in 2011. It consisted of around 750 apartment buildings ranging from five to thirteen floors, as well as commercial areas, schools, and childcare facilities. Quilamba was designed as a self-contained community including residential, educational, and commercial facilities. The plan provided for over one hundred shops, more than a dozen schools, and other public amenities intended to support a projected population exceeding 200,000 residents. The design followed a high-density model with uniform apartment blocks and wide avenues laid out on a grid system. The total construction cost was about US$3.5 billion.

Initially, apartment prices were beyond the reach of most Angolans, averaging about US$125,000 per unit. As a result, occupancy remained low after completion in 2012, and international media described the site as a "ghost town."^[3]

En respuesta, el gobierno introdujo subsidios hipotecarios y programas de alquiler con opción a compra, y redujo los precios unitarios a alrededor de US$70,000. Posteriormente, muchos apartamentos fueron reclasificados como vivienda social y ofrecidos a través de mecanismos de financiación pública. ^{[ 4 ]} Estas medidas provocaron un fuerte aumento de la demanda y un crecimiento demográfico entre 2013 y 2016. ^{[ 5 ]}

En septiembre de 2013, se informó que la ciudad tenía alrededor de 40.000 residentes. ^{[ 6 ]} Dos años después, la cifra aumentó a unos 80.000, ^{[ 7 ]} y en 2019 las estimaciones de población alcanzaron aproximadamente 129.000. ^{[ 8 ]}

A mediados de la década de 2010, Quilamba se había convertido en una de las principales zonas residenciales para los profesionales asalariados y los empleados del sector público de Luanda. Los académicos la han descrito como representativa de la urbanización de Angola en la posguerra y de la participación china en el desarrollo de infraestructuras africanas. ^{[ 2 ]}