Investigating the impact of Urban Physical Planning on transportation networks in Kampala.
Abstract
Traffic congestion is a problem mostly at roundabouts, road junctions, near shopping centers, warehouses as well as bus terminals. Traffic congestion used to be thought of as a rush hour problem and an issue for the central business district CBD, but now happens for multiple hours on weekdays and weekends and its effects spread to the city suburb (Mwanje, 2017).
The researcher focuses on the areas of Banda Parish in Nakawa Division along Kampala- Jinja Highway. This project is beneficial to different scholars and other parties in understanding how physical planning regulations influence the road networks and also help road users to have improved journey times as well as improved air quality from slow moving vehicles and having planned routes. The objectives of this study are to assess the relationship between urban physical planning and traffic congestion, establish the causes for traffic congestion in Kampala, to establish the impact of traffic congestion on the road users, to investigate the challenges of implementation of planning regulation and to investigate the possible remedies to the problem of traffic congestion in Kampala.
Data used in this research was both primary data and secondary data and a cross section research design was adopted.
A sample of 4 physical planners and 30 local council leaders was selected to be used by the researcher. The researcher used simple random sampling and purposive sampling in data collection with the help of questionnaires consisting of open and close ended questions with the help of a Likert scale.
Data collected was collected was coded, entered into the Microsoft excel software (2013) and then edited, sorted and analyzed. The results were interpreted with the help of statistical measures like mode and median to make conclusive judgments on the topic under study.
Findings of this study showed that there is a direct relationship urban physical planning and the transport networks in any given place.
The research affirmed that urban physical planning greatly affects the nature of transport networks in an area. However, other stated factors such as changing the legal framework, sensitizing leaders and the local communities about the advantages of planning and following planning regulations are some of the key areas which can be tackled to improve on the problem of traffic congestion.