As part of the AAPS effort to help establish a Master of Spatial Planning curriculum at the University of Zambia (UNZA) (click HERE to read more), the Association offered a bursary to Gilbert Siame, UNZA Staff Development Fellow, to undertake the two-year Masters in City and Regional Planning programme at the University of Cape Town (South Africa).
Gilbert has completed his first semester at UCT with great aplomb, and is currently undertaking an internship with the Zambian affiliate of Shack/Slum Dwellers International, known as People’s Process on Housing and Poverty in Zambia (PPHPZ). His activities have included monitoring housing demolitions associated with the (currently underway) Lusaka Ring Road Project.
Please click HERE to download a short report of Gilbert’s experiences during the internship (pdf format, 2MB).
Below is an extract from Gilbert’s report:
Slum/Shack Dwellers International through its affiliates in Zambia has offered me a rare opportunity to interact with the various stakeholders involved in Lusaka Urban Renewal Projects in Zambia. Various challenges, key among them, traffic congestion and pollution have heightened in the city of Lusaka so much that mobility in the city is at snail’s pace during peak times. The problems of traffic congestion, lack of designated paths and pavements for pedestrians coupled with widespread vending and increased dependence on the motor vehicle has created enormous pressure on the government to improve Lusaka urban environments that would attract investments and contribute to the vitality of the city. Accordingly, the government of Zambia in collaboration with its corporating partners like the Government of Japan and the World Bank have initiated the Lusaka Ring Road Project that seeks to develop ring roads to reduce traffic congestion.
