Streets as Drivers of Green Growth and Urban Prosperity in Africa

Project Summary:

In many cities in developing countries, people living
take 40-60% of all trips by walking to public transport. Pedestrian space is often not separate from the road, and walkers compete with street vendors, shops, parked cars, motorcycles, and bicycles. Government statistics rarely measure the pedestrian environment, which causes leaders to neglect it in plans and policies. Pedestrian unfriendly cities tend to affect most negatively the economically and socially excluded, the people least likely to have access to efficient motorized transport. To promote sustainable urban prosperity and green growth, the program aims to increase safety, reduce travel time, and improve access to socio-economic services. The program assesses and improves pedestrian access and connectivity in the three selected African cities: in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Kampala, Uganda; and Abidjan, Ivory Coast.  

List of Activities:

• Assessing and improving pedestrian access and connectivity for sustainable urban prosperity and green growth in four different cities in Africa
• Contributing technical guidance on key areas relevant for estimating and addressing user mobility in urban transport while highlighting inefficiencies in the provision of accessible urban transport infrastructure for pedestrian
• Supporting the mainstreaming of pedestrian planning in existing and emerging transport networks, with examples on how to evaluate and measure connectivity through the review of specific city contexts while proposing tailored recommendations for each city

Outcomes:

Output 1:

• Criteria for assessing efficiency of pedestrian environments and measures of connectivity developed

Output 2:

• Plan for improving each city pedestrian environment is developed (Abidjan)

Output 3:

• Recommendations for improvements and maintenance are piloted (Dar es Salaam)

Output 4:

• Plan for pedestrian and street usage is developed (Kampala)

Output 5:

• Final report summarizing activity and lessons learned is produced

Outcomes:

The outcomes of this project include three main outputs: (i) an analytical background review; (ii) an assessment tool developed in the context of the four different African city environments (Kampala, Abidjan, Dar es Salaam, Gaborone); and (iii) a final guidance report summarizing good practice and lessons learned, specifically highlighting recommendations proposed for each African city. Overall, the project is intended to assess and improve pedestrian access and connectivity for sustainable urban prosperity and green growth in the four different cities in Africa.

Collaboration with K-Partners and Others:

The project sought expertise developed by Korean partners such as KOTI, Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG), the Seoul Institute (SI), Korea Cadastral Survey Corporation (LX) and other partners where relevant in the context of city and urban development. For example, experience gained from the city of Suwon, South Korea, and the Haenggung-dong neighborhood will be reviewed to highlight good practice in the development of pedestrian-oriented development through sidewalks, cycle lanes and bike rental stations and ssamzie parks (pocket parks). The ITS experience of Korea for assessing appropriate signage; pedestrian crossings; and lighting will also be reviewed.