Drive away forever from the center of Kigali, the capital of Rwanda

    Until August, the Central Business District was a choked area with high levels of smog, noise, chaos and confusion. Now the heart of Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, has turned into a pedestrian's paradise. The area has been off-limits to cars forever

    He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him





    Until August the Central Business District it was a traffic-choked area, with high levels of smog, noise, chaos and confusion. Now the heart of Kigali, capital of Rwanda, it has turned into a pedestrian paradise. The area was forbidden to cars forever.

    Similar initiatives already exist. Cities such as Helsinki, Singapore, Hamburg, London, Milan and Stockholm have instituted traffic charges for cars entering the city center. Other metropolises around the world are experimenting with car-free days. But Kigali went further.

    A day is not enough, not even a "car free" week is enough. For this reason, the capital of Rwanda has made its Central Business District an area permanently closed to vehicular traffic.

    What was once a stretch busy e Noisy today it is a quiet neighborhood, finally lived by pedestrians.

    Businesses and shops in the area complain of a drop in sales but according to the city authorities it is only a moment of adjustment.

    Alphonse Nkurunziza, an engineer who lives in the city explained that the streets, free from cars, will host many Events. Many people are still reluctant to walk in the middle of the street and prefer to use the pavements. Still others look left and right before crossing the street.

    "It will be a matter of time, soon everyone will discover that introducing a pedestrian zone in the central business district was a move to make Kigali one of the best cities on the continent," he said Nkurunziza which is encouraging entrepreneurs to adapt to the new pedestrian zone by embracing modern forms of sales, such as online ordering and home delivery.



    For their part, the painters began to enjoy the freedom provided by such a rare and car-free green space.

    "For a painter like me, the closure to car traffic was long overdue; we never have a place to dedicate ourselves to painting on the street, ”says an artist.

    Drive away forever from the center of Kigali, the capital of Rwanda

    But it's not over yet. The city plans to expand the pedestrian zone, once the new infrastructures are completed, including public toilets and street furniture. The plans also include the creation of runway cycle paths e parking lots for safe bicycles. In this way, the population would be encouraged to use two-wheeled pedals for urban journeys.



    A little big revolution.

    Francesca Mancuso

    Gallery

    READ also:

    HELSINKI: GOODBYE TO CARS BY 2025 THANKS TO ON DEMAND PUBLIC TRANSPORT

    HAMBURG: GOODBYE TO CARS WITHIN 20 YEARS. IT WILL BE THE FIRST CAR-FREE CITY IN EUROPE

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