S. Blankhart

Transport for the Urban Poor in Lusaka

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PART ONE: BACKGROUND - Urban Pattern

Lusaka the Capital of Zambia, founded in the first decade of this century now accommodates 538,469 inhabitants. (All population figures in this study are preliminary figures of the 1980 population census published by the Central Statistical Offices.) The spatial pattern of Lusaka can above all be characterized as highly dispersed. This can partly be attributed to the l933 Town Plan which accepted the concept of garden-city thinking and saw Lusaka as a spacious and greenery town with large building plots (D. Hywel Davies' 1969. p.8). The existing old town centre was then separated from the newly planned developments by the main north-south railway. The original town centre west of the railway developed as the Central Business District (CBD) although it is in fact eccentrically located with regard to the residential areas and the administrative centre east of the railways this created conditions for a institutional disintegrated city. Because of the eccentric location of the CBD In relation to later developments in Lusaka average journeys to work and shops are long in relation to the cities overall size (D. Hywel Davies, 1969,.P. 15).

The different types of land use within a city determine the movements within the city. Therefore the main types of land use in Lusaka are identified here (see Map 1):

Map 1: Land use

Central Business District: In general this is the area where functions which require mutual contacts concentrate. In Lusaka the commercial and business activities are concentrated between Cairo Road and Lumumba Road. Also considered as part of the CBD is the adjacent Second Class trading area near Kamwala Market

Administrative Area: This is the area known as Ridgeway, where most of the Government Offices and the University Teaching Hospital are located.

Industrial areas: Several distinct areas can be identified as industrial land use zones. The main area is the heavy industrial area located North-West of the CBD which has access to railway sidings and where the general industrial establishments are concentrated. Light industries are found adjacent the CBDC at the north and east along the railway. West of the CBD some special industries are found which require access to railway sidings. In these three areas employment in Lusaka is concentrated.

Residential areas: Before Independence the residential areas were mainly inhabited by Europeans who by means of private motor cars could afford exceptional mobility and therefore building densities in these areas were very low. The new housing areas built for low income groups and the squatter settlements which sprung up especially after Independence were forced to occupy areas at the fringe of the existing low-density residentia1 developments. The heritage of an urban pattern with low residential densities relatively close to the main activity centres hampered the development of an efficient transport system. The distance between residential areas and the CBD increased over time as the suitable centrally located areas were already occupied by mainly low-density high-income housing areas with a few exceptions such as the new Council housing estates south-west of the city-centre. (In 1973 45% of all households lived further than 5 kilometers from the three above mentioned employment areas(DPU, 1975a). This percentage is estimated to be even higher now.)

Other types of land use: The main types of land use in this category are institutional and recreational. Institutes of higher education and sporting grounds of private clubs occupy most of the remaining land. There are comparatively few public parks. In general they are small and scattered in the residential areas.

The distribution of the population in a city is an important factor given to determine transport movements within a city.

Within Lusaka population densities differ considerably. The highest population densities of over 16,000 persons per Km² were found in squatter settlements and older site and service schemes. The high cost housing areas adjacent to the CBD have higher population densities than the high cost housing areas further away from the CBD, but in general densities in these areas are well below 4000 persons per Km².

The population distribution can he given according to population densities but for the purpose of this study population distribution according to incomes is even more important. This can however he done only on an aggregated basis as data on spatial income distribution are not available. The residential areas in Lusaka can he subdivided in high-cost, medium-cost and low-cost housing areas, site and service schemes, (upgraded) squatter settlements and resettlement and overspill areas. (0verspill areas are areas where inhabitants of upgraded squatter settlements are resettled to obtain desired population densities in the upgraded areas. In resettlement areas inhabitants of e.g. flooded squatter settlements are resettled.) The Household Budget Survey 1974/75 indicated n mean household income in the Lusaka high-cost areas of K506 per month, in the low-cost housing areas including the site and service schemes of K118 and in the squatter settlements of K77 (CSO, 1980). The overspill and resettlement areas have mean incomes comparable to incomes in the squatter settlements.

In 1980 the population of Lusaka was distributed over the different housing areas as follows (CSO, 1981):

High-cost	17%
Medium and low-cost	22%
Site and service schemes	9%
(upgraded) squatter settlements including resettlement and overspill areas	48%
Peri-urban areas	4%

It can he estimated that one third of the population in high-cost areas belongs to the low income category because they are domestic servants who live in high-cost areas hut in conditions and with incomes comparable with low-cost housing areas (CSO, 1980, P.7). The population distribution according to income as given above should he interpreted with caution as the income distribution even within the different housing areas is extremely uneven.

It-was found that in 1973 a larger percentage of those living in low income communities lived more than five kilometres away from the three main activity centres than of the high-income area inhabitants (DPU' 1975a). The rapid growth of some outlying squatter areas and some new outlying site and service schemes accounted-for this. It was also observed that migrants located themselves in areas which had been provided with buses. This was one consideration of the set of economic and social considerations guiding their location in the city. Areas Which lacked transport services (e.g. Ngombe and Bauleni) therefor grew at a slower speed.

Map 2: Residential areas