Rwanda rural model villages or ‘imidugudu’ have been a central part of the government’s Integrated Development Programme (IDP) and the Economic Development Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) policy targets. Since 2010 over 60 IDP model villages have been built in the four provinces and Kigali, her capital city, following 11 strategic pillars ranging from land productivity, infrastructure development, and social protection among others.

The roll out of the programme is normally led by the local governments who resettle vulnerable households in multifamily and collective housing typologies to maximise the use of land and improve hygiene, sanitation, widening access to health and educational services. However, lack of sufficient financial resources, absence of public transit and resident’s weak sense of ownership have led to poor maintenance of the housing stock, malfunctioning of the urban infrastructure and shortage of job opportunities.

Kigali remains 70% rural and this motivated in 2019 the relocation of 240 households from high-risk zones to the Karama IDP model village which offers a unique opportunity to explore some of the contradictions between rural and urban development. Taking Karama as case study and based on post-occupancy appraisal through direct participant observation, interviews with residents, and documents review, the findings expose the tension between the overarching national policy objectives and their local application. The paper concludes discussing the extent to which the model villages can support a sustainable rural transformation considering the recent UN Sustainable Development Goals and Rwanda’s VISION 2050 strategy towards sustainable, inclusive, and equitable rural development.