Flavia Zabali: A World-Class GIS & Urban Planning Leader Shaping Kampala’s Future

Flavia Zabali is the Supervisor of Physical Planning – Information Management Systems (GIS) at Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), where her geospatial expertise drives smarter, data-powered urban planning across Uganda’s capital.

Geographic Intelligence That Transforms Cities
Flavia has over 16 years of experience in GIS, spatial planning, and urban systems, most recently advancing KCCA’s capacity to manage citywide spatial data. She develops and oversees data systems critical for land use audits, infrastructure mapping, and planning analytics—making Kampala more efficient, responsive, and future-ready

Global Perspective from JICA City Planning Fellowship
In late 2019, Flavia was selected for the prestigious JICA Comprehensive City Planning Training in Tokyo, a multi-week program that exposed her to advanced Japanese city design—including transit-oriented and mixed-use planning models.

“Japan’s city planning models exposed me to the best practices in understanding the synchronized implementation of land use and transport planning processes…and I will forever be grateful to JICA for this golden opportunity.” She reflected

Influencing Governance, Innovation & Data Culture

Beyond her GIS leadership, Flavia is active on several platforms:
She’s a Board Member of the Nvuma Clan and part of the KCCA Netball Club Board, showing her engagement in both urban heritage and staff wellness.

As a judge in forums like the Uganda Space Challenge and TotalEnergies Hackathon, she champions innovation in mapping, planning, and youth technology.

Actively sharing knowledge, she contributes to discussions like “How can you use community needs assessment to improve public health outcomes?”, reinforcing the link between spatial planning and #wellbeing

Bridging Research & Practice for Greater Impact
Flavia co-authored an academic study titled “Socio-Economic Vulnerability to COVID‑19…” which analyzed pandemic impacts across Kampala—applying her GIS analysis skills to public health planning
Her efforts exemplify how spatial insights can inform crisis response and urban resilience.

Why Flavia Moves Nations

GIS Leadership & Ops: Manages systems that underpin planning, services, and compliance
Global & Urban Learning: Applies advanced spatial methods from global training to Kampala
Innovation & Mentoring: Judges hackathons and challenges—cultivating the next generation
Research & Public Good: Combines GIS with socio-economic analysis for crisis-informed planning

Flavia Zabali embodies Postdator’s #WomenWhoMoveNations: a strategic thinker whose fusion of global insights, spatial technology, and community-oriented planning is transforming Kampala. Her leadership is building smarter, equitable, and more resilient cities for generations to come.

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