Zambian cities and towns will provide safe, efficient, and accessible walking and cycling networks to improve mobility for all residents, enhance access to opportunities, and promote equitable allocation of street space.
Background
Forty percent of Zambia’s population live in urban areas, making it one of the most urbanized countries in sub-Saharan Africa. By 2030, the population will have grown to 23.6 million[1]. This rapid growth has not only offered opportunities for usable research, but also posed important and urgent transport planning questions.
Transport and communications play a critical role in the growth and development of Zambia’s economy. With transport costs being among the highest in the sub-region, transport has been recognized by Zambia’s national government as the key to reducing poverty, facilitating trade both nationally and internationally, and as an avenue to increase access to social services such as health and education.
Challenges
Due to ineffective urban planning, investments in urban infrastructure have not matched the population growth resulting in inefficient transport services. Increased population tends to be associated with increasing traffic congestion, climate emissions, air pollution, and deaths from road crashes. Despite having many trips in Lusaka made by walking and public transport, with only around ten percent of trips made by private cars, Zambian cities are still experiencing increased traffic congestion and road fatality issues. Other challenges such as lack of proper footpaths and cycle lanes, inadequate street lighting that make the streets dark and insecure for pedestrians and cyclists, are also some of the challenges Zambian cities are still grappling with.
Successes
The Government of Zambia is actively developing appropriate strategies to overcome transport planning challenges. In Lusaka, where over 70 percent of the daily trips are done on foot or by public transport, recent projects and events indicate a shift in priorities - towards safe and affordable modes of transport, more so for vulnerable users. The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC) through the support of Share the Road Programme has developed a Non-Motorised Strategy to guide the implementation of high quality non-motorised transport systems in Zambia. Following the development of NMT Strategy, urgent steps are being taken to ensure more equitable allocation of road space by focusing on walking, cycling, and public transport in the planning, design, construction, and management of transport systems. Among the notable efforts made are in the city of Kitwe where there is improvement in the walking environment, with new high-quality footpaths developed as part of the ‘Pave Kitwe’ project. Implementation of the NMT Strategy will also involve construction of 40km of complete pedestrian facilities and 20km cycle tracks per year across ten cities and towns.
UNEP Share the Road Programmme has partnered with UNDP Zambia to enhance and strengthen the capacity of the government of Zambia at the national and city level to better design and implement policies and make investment decisions that prioritize the needs of pedestrians and cyclists (particularly vulnerable groups – including women, children, the elderly and people living with disabilities).
