Land Use Patterns in Nairobi with different transport impacts
With the passage of an new constitution last year, Kenya in on the threshold of many new changes especially in terms of planning processes, particularly decentralization of responsibilities.
In line with this opportunity, the Centre for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD) and the Land Development Governance Institute (LDGI) hosted a "write-shop" in Nairobi on 28 June 2011 to bring together key practitioners—including UN-HABITAT, the Kenya Institute of Planners, the Centre for Sustainable Resource Development, University of Nairobi, Moi University and civil society—in a critical discussion of planning reform in Kenya.
The write-shop focused on exploring the potential for integrating land-use and transport planning under the new county system, an especially critical issue given the rapid growth and motorization of Kenya's cities—most acutely displayed in Nairobi's dense informal settlements, rapid property value-rises, and traffic jams. This focus is also relevant given renewed spatial planning in metropolitan Nairobi, as well as UN-HABITAT's efforts to support the design of public transport and pedestrian infrastructure in the city.
The focus of the write-shop went beyond discussion, with an objective of developing specific policy recommendations to share with the Government of Kenya. As CSUD and LDGI work to develop to develop this policy paper, UN-HABITAT remains committed to promoting the principles of equity, participation and integration in Kenya's new planning system.
