# Lusaka Chosen as New Capital (1931)

URL: https://allhistories.com/zambia/timeline/1931-lusaka-chosen-as-new-capital
Location: Lusaka, Zambia
Themes: main-event

Livingstone, on the Zambezi near Victoria Falls, had served as capital since 1907, but it lay at the far southern edge of the territory and had a hot, unhealthy climate. In March 1929 the Colonial Office recommended moving the capital for reasons of communications and health, and Governor James Maxwell began the search for a central site. The British town planner Stanley Adshead, professor of town planning at London, examined several possible locations and in late 1930 recommended Lusaka, a small railway siding on a high, healthy plateau named after a local headman, Lusaaka. After a water engineer confirmed sufficient groundwater, the Legislative Council approved the plan in July 1931. Adshead's design, influenced by the garden-city movement and by New Delhi, laid out a government quarter on a ridge with a grand Government House, wide tree-lined avenues and low-density European suburbs, while African housing was relegated to separate compounds. The Great Depression slowed construction, and Governor Ronald Storrs struggled with limited funds, but building went ahead from 1932. The plan's racial zoning and its neglect of African housing created the pattern of unplanned settlements that has marked Lusaka's growth ever since. At this point in the timeline (July 1931), the King of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India was George V (6 May 1910 – 20 January 1936); the Governor of Northern Rhodesia was James Maxwell (31 August 1927 – 1 December 1932).

## Why it matters
The choice and planning of Lusaka created the city that became Zambia's capital and largest city.

Ruler at the Time: [George V](https://allhistories.com/zambia/rulers/george-v)

Governor of Northern Rhodesia: James Maxwell

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Lusaka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusaka)
- [Wikipedia — Stanley Adshead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Adshead)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Lusaka](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Lusaka)
- [Wikipedia — Protectorate And Copperbelt (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Rhodesia)