A comparative assessment of the usage of public spaces on non-motorised and motorised streets in Kampala City.

Abstract

This research is about a comparative assessment of the usage of public spaces on non-motorized and motorized streets in Kampala city; a case study of Kampala city, Namirembe NMT Street, and William MT Street. It was stimulated and inspired by a tremendous instance of misuse of public spaces on streets. The main objective of this study was to determine the comparative assessment of the usage of public spaces on motorized and non-motorized streets, and the specific objectives were to find out the usage of public spaces on motorized streets, to find out the usage of public spaces on non-motorized streets, to make a comparative assessment of the usage of public spaces on the non-motorized and motorized streets, and to propose planning alternatives to address challenges identified. Method: A cross-sectional study involving 50 road users; 25 respondents on each street purposively selected on both Namirembe and William Streets. The study was based on both qualitative and quantitative methods of research approach. The qualitative approach enabled the researcher to gain a deeper insight and an understanding of experiences, underlying reasons, opinions, challenges, and motivations that provides views into the problem of the usage of public spaces within Kampala city. The quantitative approach on the other hand was used to quantify the public space usage problems by way of generating numerical data and data that would be transformed into usable statistics. The data collection methods used for the research included observation and photography, interviews, questionnaires, Arc GIS, literature review, satellite images, and field surveys Results: The results indicated that public spaces on non-motorized streets are preferred during usage, and the misuse of public spaces is more on motorized streets than non-motorized streets, but there was still misuse of public spaces on both streets causing a lot of negative impacts on traffic flow, for example, it causes traffic congestion, accidents, misuse of pedestrian facilities, mental stress within the users, limited accessibility to businesses, to mention but a few. Some of the mitigation measures suggested include making the vending business formal, implementing more NMT streets, imposing fines for any misuse of public spaces, and turning Namirembe road into a completely NMT street. pricing policy, limitations on allowing boda bodas into the city CBD, and formulating of a department responsible for public spaces in the city.