Case study | Lusaka | 2023 to 2025

Turning walking and cycling evidence into a city plan

Lusaka City Council and ZRST used the Partnership for Healthy Cities Policy Accelerator to move from a recognised safety gap to a signed policy strategy and a practical non-motorised transport guide.

Lusaka Mayor Chilando Chitangala signing the Cycling and Pedestrian Safety Policy Strategy
Lusaka Mayor Chilando Chitangala signs the Cycling and Pedestrian Safety Policy Strategy at Lusaka City Council, 17 May 2024.
City owner Lusaka City Council
Local delivery Zambia Road Safety Trust
Support Partnership for Healthy Cities Policy Accelerator
Focus Walking, cycling and safer street design

The gap

People were walking and cycling on streets that did not protect them.

The city needed a policy route, local evidence and practical design standards. The later infrastructure audit confirmed that the problem was not a lack of demand. It was a lack of safe space.

22% of audited streets had no paved footpath
52% had footpaths that were too narrow
3% had footpaths of sufficient width
0 surveyed streets had a dedicated cycle track

The work

A policy process with a clear record

The work joined public health evidence, city authority, legal review, stakeholder input and street-level data.

Define the problem

The city team prepared an inventory, policy outline, policy brief, adoption plan and risk analysis. Legal and technical departments were involved from the start.

Record city commitment

Mayor Chilando Chitangala signed the Lusaka Cycling and Pedestrian Safety Policy Strategy. This was an institutional milestone, not proof of completed road works.

Prepare implementation

The Lusaka Non-Motorized Transport Guide set out street standards, priority corridors, intersection designs, phases, costs and financing options.

Verified outcomes

What the partnership produced

A signed city strategy

The 2024 to 2030 strategy gives Lusaka a stated direction for safer walking and cycling.

A documented policy route

The city completed the policy inventory, outline, brief, adoption plan and risk report required for the next legal steps.

A city-scale evidence base

Field audits, user interviews and crash-location review identified where protection is most needed.

An implementation package

The NMT guide provides design standards, a phased programme, cost estimates and possible sources of finance.

88 km 75 km of streets and a 13 km railway corridor assessed
1,006 pedestrians and cyclists interviewed
10 major city corridors covered by the study
25 intersections selected for phased redesign

Project record

Lusaka Mayor Chilando Chitangala with ZRST Chairman Daniel Mwamba
Mayor Chilando Chitangala and ZRST Chairman Daniel Mwamba present the Cycling and Pedestrian Safety Policy Strategy.
Lusaka Mayor Chilando Chitangala speaking during the policy strategy signing
Mayor Chilando Chitangala speaks during the policy strategy signing at Lusaka City Council.
Lusaka City Council senior management and technical staff at the policy strategy signing
Lusaka City Council senior management and technical staff during the policy strategy session.

Evidence boundary

What this case study does not claim

This was a systems-building programme. It created policy tools, city commitment and an investment plan. The available records do not yet support a claim that the programme reduced crashes or injuries.

  • The May 2024 signing was a policy strategy milestone. A September 2024 report still listed formal legal adoption among the next steps.
  • The NMT guide recommends infrastructure. It does not prove that the works have been funded or built.
  • Crash, speed and road-user data will be needed before and after implementation to measure safety outcomes.

Next steps

Move from plan to safer streets

Confirm the legal record Publish the final council decision and the status of the policy.
Secure a named budget Show the source, amount, year and approving authority.
Deliver phase one Start with the highest-risk corridors and intersections.
Measure change Track speeds, conflicts, crashes, walking, cycling and access.
Walking and cycling work Research and data Road-safety services

Source record: Lusaka City Council quarterly and Policy Accelerator reports, the Lusaka Cycling and Pedestrian Policy Strategy 2024 to 2030, the 17 May 2024 press release, and the Lusaka Non-Motorized Transport Guide, August 2025. The Partnership for Healthy Cities is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with WHO and Vital Strategies.