The National Land Authority as a National Mapping Agency in collaboration with City of Kigali, MININFRA and RTDA have acquired highly accurate topographic maps which will improve long term urban and infrastructure planning in general and urban mobility in particular.
The three-year (September 2021–January 2025) achievement is codenamed Project for Large-Scale Mapping and Urban Mobility Improvement to Support Infrastructure and Services in Kigali, supported by Japan Internation Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The project which used the geo spatial technology delivered high resolution maps that will allow city planners, engineers and any relevant authority to see essential details on every square meter of the capital Kigali coverage.
The 62 maps were produced minding all geographical detailed land cover features, where urban areas of Kigali were mapped with 1/2500, and rural areas at 1/10,000.
The project made an in even much detailed mapping on roads and their boundaries with utilities assets implemented along 100km long at a scale of 1/1,000.
“This mapping is the most accurate ever; the national topo maps that were produced in 1987 and in 2020 were at the scale of 1/50,000 but we have now worked with Rwandan development partners to reach this milestone of more accurate data and maps,” said Alexis Rutagengwa, Head of Land Use Management and Mapping at National Land Authority – NLA.
Rutagengwa indicated that the 62 large scale topographic maps consist of a comprehensive and accurate representation of Kigali City, useful for urban planning and infrastructure development studies.
This project has also developed local technical staff capacities, covering Geodetic Survey, Aerial Triangulation, Field Photo Identification (GNSS Feature Collection), Digital Photogrammetry (Plotting and Editing), Cartographic Symbolization and Structuration and Web Map Service Development.
“We first took aerial imagery of Kigali based on lidar technology then brought the imageries to the office for features/data creation. After this step, we returned to field for data verification and then topomaps production and standardization,” Rutagengwa said.
“The last step is itself important; check for example a photo of a house. When you are at office, every house in your data is just a house until you go to field and establish that in fact, one house is a warehouse, while the next is a church, etc.”
Meanwhile, with the large scale of 1/1000 on road network of 100km long, Kigali also got a tool that will inform and avoid damages on infrastructure like water pipes during road repair or upgrade, the Kigali Road Asset Management System (KRAMS). This is system at pilot phase, to be later scaled up by RTDA.
It creates a comprehensive digital inventory of Kigali’s road network, including roads, bridges, drainage systems, and other infrastructure; that will help planners, engineers, and policymakers access accurate and updated road condition information.
The system provides real-time data on road conditions, allowing for quicker response to issues such as potholes or structural damage.
K-RAMS is also a platform with accurate data on roads in Kigali which can inform navigation and streets’ addressing.
According to Rutagengwa, with this system, one can make an inventory of all assets on the ground and underground, which can be affected or can affect the road during maintenance or upgrade.
A pilot system of K-RAMS was implemented along a 100km road network.
The 3D City Model has also been produced, an innovative model based on lidar imageries and topographic maps and it offers a virtual representation of the city, facilitating better visualization and analysis for urban planning and development.
This project was accomplished through the cooperation of Government of Rwanda and Government of Japan through its International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Several stakeholders as far as the government of Rwanda is concerned include at the helm the National Land Authority (NLA), Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA), Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA) and City of Kigali (CoK).
The topographic maps are available on the National Spatial Data Infrastructure https://geodata.rw/, an online platform which provides easy access to the digital maps, land use master plans and other spatial data.
