The Sustainable Cities Programme in Zambia (1994-2007)

In Zambia the Sustainable Cities Programme was implemented in Lusaka from 1994-2001 to address high levels of poverty and inequality experienced in the city resulting from a shrinking economy as the country’s copper-dominated export sector started to dwindle and government’s capacity to adequately deliver public services was impaired. The city suffered major environmental challenges particularly air and water pollution; insufficient water resources; ineffective solid waste management; inadequate sanitation systems; traffic congestion; limited urban planning capacities and open quarrying.

In 2002, the programme was extended to Kitwe city, to help address environment-development problems of inadequate and inefficient urban services particularly in low income areas, growth and expansion of informal settlements; congestion in the town centre; air pollution and a declining economic base. This was coupled with weak institutional capacities that were unable to facilitate city-wide service delivery on a sustainable basis. In both cities the programme, founded on a broad-based stakeholder participatory approach, was targeted at building capacities in environmental planning and management (EPM) in urban local authorities and their partners; it also supported measures for poverty alleviation, particularly in unplanned settlements and promoted environmentally sustainable socio-economic development and growth.

This report documents the activities of the Sustainable Lusaka Programme and Sustainable Kitwe Programme in Zambia in the period 1994-2007.