In order to achieve better living standards for her citizens, every emerging country has to go through several phases. Unfortunately, the focus is mainly on quantity and not quality. People care only about today and not for the future.
For sustainable growth and better standards of living, it is a basic requirement to include quality and planning. Over the last few years, Kenya has been on a fast forward movement. Its economy, at first sight, seems to be booming. The average standards of living are getting better in theory, and people are investing their future in promising sectors like the real estate, but is it really exactly like that?
If we take as a case study of Nairobi, which is the heart of Kenya and the east Africa region, we will easily realize that the city has changed tremendously over the last 10 years. High-rise buildings, shopping malls, office blocks and apartment blocks have been built everywhere. Nairobi had about 4.4 million residents as per the Population and Housing census of 2019. Five years down the line, life has changed in the capital city of Kenya, but is it really better now than before?
There are different opinions, with some arguing that Nairobi is a great place to stay, comparing it with other regional cities. What about comparing it to a Western city, a European Capital, Asian, or one in the Middle East, even one from the ex Soviet Union countries?
The reality is that the city of Nairobi has been growing with an amazing impressive pace but with absolute lack of planning. That is represented today in the daily life of anyone who decides or has to live in Nairobi. Incredible traffic, lack of electricity, water, drainage, transportation, road network, traffic lights, sidewalks, security… On top of the insufficient planning and urban infrastructure coming from the public sector, we have to add the private sector’s greediness.
Developers have been building with only one aim, one target, and one plan; sacrifice everything in order to maximise profits. I have to admit that I believe in free market and I love making profits but I also believe that in order for a free market to operate properly, we must have rules and the means to control everyone in the market, make sure that rules are followed without exceptions.
For Kenya unfortunately this does not apply. Fortunes of the city, or rather, the country, would likely triple if authorities controlled growth, but it looks like, every passing day, Nairobi becomes harder to live in. It is no secret anymore that as the city grows, so are the problems.
Building a society while trying to create a better future requires a very good foundation and fundamentals. It is a must for the society to require quality and it is a must for the official government to be able to secure that. Buildings should be at least safe enough in order not to collapse without any reason, just because of bad quality construction.
In 2024, a capital city should not be under the threat of floods, and investors who flout city rules, for example. For the last few months, and, as recent as 2023, Nairobi city has been on the spotlight over construction of high-rise buildings, particularly Kilimani, Kileleshwa and Lavington.
In March Governor Johnson Sakaja said that landlords in Nairobi are now free to put up apartments upto 25 floors after floor limit imposed by the national government was removed. This is despite cries from a huge chunk of Nairobians that leafy suburbs would grow into concrete jungles of high-rise apartment blocks.
“I have heard people complaining that areas of Kileleshwa and Lavington, our homes were one-storey now apartments have come. Nairobi is 696 square kilometers in 2050 it will have a population of 10.5 million people. Will we expand Nairobi? No the only place we have to go is up” Sakaja said.
He added that President William Ruto gave him the blessings to construct high-rise apartments under the Affordable Housing Programme.
“Before there was a restriction of the heights of apartments especially close to the airport from the Eastleigh airbase coming down this way. I asked the president, while we were opening the houses at Kiambio and Bahati, that the reason there was an airbase built was to evacuate the president in case of an emergency,” Sakaja said.
In the past, Lavington, for instance, was categorized as Zone Five including Upper Spring Valley, Kyuna and Loresho areas. Today, residents in the mentioned areas are forced to make do with waste dumping, unreliable water supply, and even bursting of sewer pipes thanks to increasing number of residents brought about by upcoming high rise buildings. Most places, roads demand repairs, there are no play grounds for kids… The list is endless, and I could go on forever pointing out different examples of bad or absolute lack of quality but that is not the point…
Everyone should understand the advantages of a well-planned urban city, of basic standards of living provided to the citizens, the need for the average person to be able to enjoy a better life provided by correct planning.
Imagine a city where the road system was carefully planned and the road network easily supports the millions of cars. Picture this; if only on a busy weekday, driving anytime from South C to Westlands could take 10 minutes, if only you had alternative options for transportation. Nothing fancy, maybe public means like busses provided by the government and maybe bus lanes in order to avoid traffic and keep vehicles moving.
Imagine a city with traffic lights and people who respect them. Imagine if we had sidewalks and you could walk without jeopardizing your lives and without walking in the mud. Imagine if there was a water network around the city so that everyone would have access to clean water and would not risk to get typhoid, and what about having electricity. I know that some will think that I am asking too much, but is it really too much? That is what is considered to be basic requirements for any other non-African city around the world. Water, electricity, drainage, transportation, schools, safety are basic things provided by any modern city.
Some people might say it is too late, this city has already been built. I say yes, maybe, but what about now, tomorrow, the future. Developers keep building everywhere. The government cannot follow up with equal infrastructure projects. The economy cannot support this kind of needs. Maybe we should regulate and stop building inside Nairobi. Maybe we should reconsider what we expect from Nairobi.
What if Nairobi grows and becomes a huge monster, like the ones we see in the movies, big and ugly. No one is doing something about it. What will happen in a few years if Nairobi will have 6 million citizens? How are Nairobians expected to live in this city? How do we expect to attract foreign investors? How often will the city be without electricity? How long will it take to drive around the city?
Nairobians have to wake up at 5:30 am in order to be on time at work (around 8:30 usually). Soon we might be staying and sleeping at our working places, as spending five hours per day in transportation makes no sense.
Supposing we do not care about all that, assuming we enjoy living under these circumstances, did you ever wonder how all that is affecting the real estate market? Already, companies are moving outside the Nairobi Central Business District. Foreigners prefer to stay outside Nairobi and very few decide to invest in a city that has to face all these challenges. Those who invest need to spend a fortune day after day repairing the poor quality properties they bought. Bad quality properties lose value daily. The argument made here clearly points to the fact that this is not a sustainable market. This is not a city where people can live and enjoy.
Quality and planning must become priority for everyone. From the officials to ordinary Kenyans, we all have to embrace quality and planning before the city becomes the monster that will eat its kids. It takes more than building houses and office blocks to make a city beautiful. A city that people will refer and compare equally to any other city on the planet. The kind of a city that we all deserve.
