280 



SOME MUNICIPAL ENGINEEEING PEOHLBMS IN THE TEOPICS 



Problems to be 

 considered 



difference between high and low Nile here is about 23 feet and the flood commences 

 annually about the month of June. 



The population of Khartoum is at present 22,680, and of Khartoum "North 38,700, 

 making a total of 61,380, by far the greater proportion of whom are Sudanese. 



The problems to be considered may be divided into the following sections : — 



(I) Town planning 



(II) Streets and open spaces 



(III) Buildings and 



(IV) Water-Supply and Sanitation. 



In each section the historical aspect will be treated in so far as it affects the present 

 arrangements or the further developments proposed by the Municipality. 



I. Town Pl.\nning 



Old 

 Khartoum 



It has been stated generally, that the requirements to be observed in the planning 

 of a town are proper sanitary conditions combined with convenience and the preservation 

 of amenity, all of which, it may be said, tend to promote the highest well-being of 

 the community. It is evident that the ideal town will vary with the character and needs 

 of the inhabitants, as well as with its geographical position and the climatic conditions 

 obtaining. 



In Khartoum, the climate, more especially in summer, renders it desirable that 

 Europeans should live in houses so arranged as to be exposed to the prevailing north 

 or south wind. "Whenever possible, therefore, they are placed fronting to the north or 

 south and surrounded by gardens or open spaces. The natives, however, can live 

 comfortably in much more crowded circumstances, so that, owing to this and to the 

 cost of land in the city, the houses in the native quarter are often built abutting and 

 with courtyards (hooshes) in the centre of them. Partly for these reasons the streets, 

 especially in the European quarter, have been made of considerable width. 



The result of compliance with the foregoing conditions is that, for the number of its 

 inhabitants, the city is spread out over a comparatively large area, thus involving a greater 

 expense in street making, conservancy, etc., than would be the case where the conditions 

 allowed of a more compact town. 



The old Khartoum of Gordon's time was very far from ideal so far as the requirements 

 of Europeans were concerned, and, but for the peculiar circumstances which permitted a 

 fresh start to be made, we might now be in the position of trying to remedy past errors 

 and to improve and develop the city at great trouble and expense. 



The following descriptions of old Khartoum and of the development of the new city are 

 extracted from a paper, by one of the authors, on "The Planning of Khartoum and 

 Omdurman." • 



"From the accounts of the travellers, Petherick and Melly, who visited the Sudan 

 in 1846 and 1850 respectively, it appears that Khartoum bad then become a place of 

 considerable importance. They recorded the irregular construction of the town and the 

 presence of narrow and winding streets which were quite impassable after rain. Here 

 and there were spaces resembling squares, and the architecture of the houses was 

 primitive. There were only a few European residents." 



■ "The Planning; of Khartoum and Omdurman," by W. H. McLean, at the R.I.B.A. Town Pl.anning 

 Conference, London, October, 1910. 



