Family houses–building an intergenerational space in post-apartheid Namibia

Abstract

This qualitative study presents how intergenerational relationships have spatially shaped the former apartheid township Kuisebmond in Walvis Bay, Namibia. The apartheid housing, which was designed for nuclear families, now accommodates multiple generations. People in different age cohorts are distributed differently in space. People in late later life lived in the former township housing units, whilst people in early later life lived in backyard shacks or other rentals. Certain patterns of cohabitation with younger relatives were discernible. It is highly likely that the extended family will be an important facet of Namibian urban life in the foreseeable future, since traditional family patterns have been interpreted in an urbanised form. It is of great importance that housing can accommodate various versions of the extended family, necessary for family existence and intergenerational obligations of resource pooling.