 Nairobi City
Under this structure, the Nairobi Metropolis would overshadow municipal councils within a radius of 30 kilometres of the city.
It will run basic amenities and provide services in the metropolis, which is expected to be teeming with over 3.1 million residents and two million visitors and office workers who commute to the city everyday.
People familiar with the matter told the Business Daily that President Kibaki and his Cabinet have authorised a proposal by town planning experts that will see adjacent satellite towns included in the budgeting of Nairobi’s infrastructure and service needs.
The extended boundary will include Kiambu, Ngong, Kikuyu, Athi River and Ruiru under the management of the authority, unlike currently where it is the jurisdiction of individual local government councils.
A metropolitan authority board is to be constituted to spearhead the activities of the authority.
Under the arrangement, the board will draw budget for resources required to maintain and expand amenities such as roads, sewers, housing, garbage collection among others.
The authority will also oversee the collection and allocation of revenue from taxes levied on businesses and residents within the metropolitan area, effectively putting pressure on the viability of surrounding local bodies.
Nairobi City Council and other local government councils on the other hand will now operate under the board and will be
responsible for revenue collection and implementation of projects according to the boards recommendations.
The proposal is the first tacit admission that peri-urban areas can no longer be left out in the planning for Nairobi, on which millions depend for survival, a gap evident in daylong traffic jams and water shortages in other areas.
The Nairobi Metropolitan Growth Strategy (NMGS) was first drafted a year ago and with the Cabinet approval, is now set for review at the AG’s chambers before being Gazetted into law. It would then be incorporated into the vision 2030 plan.
 The city’s boundaries have remained unchanged for decades leading to an spill of population in adjoining towns. That has created a buffer of about 6,000 square kilometers whose residents entirely depend on the city for employment and social facilities.
“To handle the current urban growth we need new structures that will deliver results before our cities become a total mess,” director of urban planning Eng. John Maina recently said.
He added that broader planning was urgent in view of the city’s recent growth, the economic recovery and its strategic location as the hub of business in East Africa.
The development comes as a reprieve to city residents who have been hit by constant traffic jams, inadequate housing, water, electricity, poor sewerage infrastructure and lack of basic services provision despite payment of taxes to local authorities.
A recent estimate shows that Nairobi will come to a standstill due to traffic congestion in less than 15 years if the current rate of increase of cars is allowed to continue.
The concept of a metropolitan authority was floated by Local Government minister Musikari Kombo a month ago on advice from the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) after revelations that Nairobi and many other urban centres have continued to develop without master plans resulting in unplanned growth and mushrooming of unsafe structures.
AAK had earlier proposed the creation of a new city altogether, but the viability of the idea was put into doubt due to the enormous resource required.
According to statistics, eight out of ten of the over 300,000 structures in Nairobi have been constructed without the expertise of construction experts potentially putting 80 per cent of the five million Nairobi residents at risk.
Nairobi’s urban population has grown beyond the estimates of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics approximates for the national population growth which is 3.4 per cent per year compared to the city’s 4.8 per cent.
In 2005, Nairobi’s population was approximated at 3.1 million but recent revelations show that the figure could be much higher. Source: Business Daily Africa |
