Johannesburg Ranked the Least Walkable City in the World: Why It Matters and How We Fix It.
Loading player...
GUEST – Themba Mangane, Traffic & Transport Engineer at Atana
Johannesburg has just earned a title no city wants ranked last out of 90 global cities for walkability in 2025, scoring just 18 out of 100. Only 8% of residents live near a car-free space, and just 13% can walk to basic services like clinics or schools. Behind these numbers is a simple truth: Joburg is a city where walking is difficult, dangerous, and, for many, unavoidable.
Transport engineer Themba Mangane breaks down why Joburg’s streets have become so hostile to people on foot and what it will take to turn the city around. From unsafe intersections and broken pavements to poorly lit routes and car-first road design, Johannesburg’s walkability crisis is costing lives, limiting economic opportunity and deepening inequality.
Johannesburg has just earned a title no city wants ranked last out of 90 global cities for walkability in 2025, scoring just 18 out of 100. Only 8% of residents live near a car-free space, and just 13% can walk to basic services like clinics or schools. Behind these numbers is a simple truth: Joburg is a city where walking is difficult, dangerous, and, for many, unavoidable.
Transport engineer Themba Mangane breaks down why Joburg’s streets have become so hostile to people on foot and what it will take to turn the city around. From unsafe intersections and broken pavements to poorly lit routes and car-first road design, Johannesburg’s walkability crisis is costing lives, limiting economic opportunity and deepening inequality.
