Pedestrians’ perceptions of the role of the built environment towards pedestrian safety in Kampala city, Uganda: a phenomenological study

Background Pedestrians accounted for 39% of road traffic fatalities in Kampala city in 2021. This qualitative study therefore sought to understand people’s perceptions of the role of the built environment (BE) in relation to pedestrian injury in order to complement findings from quantitative approaches in a previous phase of the study on the relationship between the BE and pedestrian injury and death. Methods We employed a phenomenological approach using qualitative research methods to conduct 14 focus group discussions (FGDs) and 13 semistructured interviews (SSIs) with market vendors, commuter taxi drivers, commercial motorcyclists, university students, community leaders, commuter taxi and motorcycle operator leaders, and traffic officers. We ensured participant diversity in age and gender to enhance credibility and achieve saturation. We applied both deductive (guides that had themes from previous research) and inductive (allowed new themes to also emerge from the data itself) coding approaches. During thematic analysis, we grouped similar codes into subcategories and themes. Results Participants highlighted challenges pedestrians encountered in their interaction with the BE, including encroachment on pedestrian spaces, poor road use behaviour, infrastructural deficiencies, poorly planned traffic flow, high-risk land use patterns and lack of safety considerations at construction zones, as major contributors to pedestrian injuries. Conclusions and recommendations This study reveals how the built environment in Kampala puts pedestrians at daily risk through poor infrastructure, unsafe crossings and behavioural gaps. These lived experiences must not be overlooked. Urban planners and decision-makers must urgently integrate community perspectives into road and land-use design to make Kampala’s streets safer for all.