Editor,

RE: "Housing in Kigali; what determines where we stay” (The New Times, November 21).

I believe that city planning should take up a big role in guiding where and how people should live.

If there are business centres spread across the city without concentrating most businesses in a singular location we may refer to as downtown, it will help spread the city out well so that people may not have to live too far removed from their jobs and the schools their children attend.

We have been building the same way for the last 100 years. There is no way to solve a problem by using the same old solution.

There are newer ways of constructing houses that make them cheaper, stronger and more beautiful. These are tried and tested technologies.

There are also new ways for people who earn a steady income to be able to own a home before they go on retirement so that they don’t waste all their life struggling to get a place to lay their heads.

Shelter, one of Maslow’s theories of needs, should be taken seriously. A decent accommodation provides a level playing field for children to grow and learn and develop the mindset of wanting to do more for their society.

This is my humble opinion.

Kofi Kyeremateng