Uganda, Feb. 11 -- Like I have told you before, I live in a savanna grassland. Behind our house the grass stretches out for quite a few kilometres, with a swamp somewhere in between. And then just a stone's throw away, breaking up the noise of the birds busy building their homes and raising their children in the acacia trees we have enormous, towering, concrete apartment blocks.

Yup, for every bird call there is the blare of construction cranes and machines whipping up concrete as fast as they can. I have nothing against apartments, actually, but there's something about their uniformity that makes me sad. Why do they all have to be box-shaped?

Why do we have to walk sideways into the loo? (I speak from personal experience).

Why do they...