The City of Kigali has launched activities to regenerate the capital’s car-free zone into a green and recreational zone with more attractive features. The works on the redevelopment of the car-free zone kicked-off on March 15. According to city authorities, the area will also be rebranded to ‘Imbuga City Walk’. Works are expected to be complete by May 2021, city authorities said. Imbuga City Walk will also have street benches and free WiFi, City lounge and arcade, pedestrian-friendly street lamps and public toilets. The zone will also have pedestrian and cycling lanes, green corridor landscaping, a food court, an exhibition zone, a kids’ playground among others. The car-free zone was introduced in 2015 to decongest the capitals Central Business District. In 2019, the City of Kigali announced it was open to cooperation with the private sector to run various initiatives in the zone. John Migambi, the Manager of Bronze Events that coordinates young entrepreneurs to exhibit locally made products in the zone welcomed the plans to regenerate the area. “We welcome the new development because the zone will now be able to attract many people who can also become our clients whenever we have exhibition events for locally produced goods by SMEs. Integrating an exhibition space in the design is laudable,” he said. City officials also said that they were finalising studies on other potential car-free zones within the city. Efforts to green the city and make it more attractive have continued to gain impetus. The City of Kigali is actively working on strategies to develop more parks and green public spaces. New public space projects have been planned in various locations in Kigali, Marie-Solange Muhirwa, the City of Kigali’s Chief of Urban Planning recently told The New Times. The City Hall public garden is now complete and open to the public with free internet. Other recreational spaces include gardens at roundabouts and many others are being constructed. Among other big green and recreational projects include Rwandex Park in Gikondo Sector, Nyandungu Urban Wetland Eco-Tourism Park, and Kigali Cultural Centre on Rebero Hill in Kicukiro Sector, Meraneza recreational space which is developed by Fazenda Sengha on mount Kigali, Juru Park, and others.
