Are Pedestrians Visible in the Planning Process? The Situation in Kampala City

This paper describes how sustainability and urban renewal are at the forefront of the planning debate. Pedestrians have begun to take on a new significance in the planning agenda. Cities are places for people; and concerns about the quality of the urban environment foster a renewed interest in investigations focusing on the use of street space by pedestrians. Each successive stage in the transport evolution of cities through walking, transit and automobile forms has seen the role of nonmotorized modes and especially pedestrian movements diminishing. Transportation and land use decisions have increased the distances of travel, made walking less feasible, less convenient and more dangerous. Road systems have become progressively more hostile to people on foot and cycles. More effort has always been put on motorized traffic and parking and the needs of pedestrians have been neglected for a long time. This paper identifies planning gaps for pedestrians in the city of Kampala. The results of this paper arise from a broader study carried out in July-August 2001 and subsequent observations and interviews as well as document reviews done in the last two years. The goal of this paper is to review critically the state of the pedestrian environment in the city of Kampala. The results of the study found out that 33.1% of all daily trips in Kampala are made by nonmotorised means of transport including walking and biking (bicycles and motorcycles). Walking is the most common form of travel in Kampala City with 40.8% of the sampled population walking several times a day. Since, all trips start and end with a substantial walk, then the modal share by walking may be higher that what is actually stated. From the sampled population, all walking trips were shorter than 17km, 95% shorter than 16km, 83% shorter than 13 km, 66% shorter than 10km, 41% shorter than 7km, 19% shorter than 4km and 17% shorter than 1km. This paper argues that pedestrian traffic is a transportation and safety issue. Pedestrian safety has not been central to transportation and land use planning decisions in the city. Pedestrian accidents of varying magnitude have increased 51% between 1998 and 2001 and to create a sustainable and livable city of Kampala the urban environment should be made more pedestrian friendly.