Decongesting the city of Nairobi: Data as a Critical Component in land use planning
Ian Kamau Mbote, Patricia Kameri-Mbote
Land use planning in urban areas in Kenya remains the Achilles heel of growth. The increasing mining of data from diverse sources and its use for varied purposes presents an opportunity in land use planning. Data can be used for integrating different uses of land as well ensuring that there is synergy between different uses and users of land. Kenya developed her first National Land Use Policy in 2017 following on the first ever National Land Policy concluded in 2009. This presents an opportunity for leveraging the use data to plan land use and to decongest cities in Kenya. Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city and a regional hub, is the most congested city in Kenya. Collation of data from diverse sources and interfacing it can contribute to better planning. Under the devolved government structure introduced by the Constitution of Kenya 2010, Nairobi County is required to develop an Integrated Urban Development Plan. This will be done against the backdrop of current patterns of inequality in urban land use, access and illegal land allocation in most parts of the city. This will in turn nuance the commitment by city authorities to rely on land use planning in development. The population of Nairobi is estimated to be 5 million. The transport and other infrastructure developed at the beginning of the century and minimally enhanced over the years is chocking as more pressure is brought to bear on it. Data from multiple sources is required including city land planners, transport providers and regulators. The draft National Information Communications Technology 2016 anticipates the use of big data for a variety of purposes and proposes to create an internet of things (IoT) industry in Kenya by connecting interrelated devices and systems and enabling them to transfer data over networks without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. This is a welcome development. Such a system will interconnect the various actors to ensure seamless interaction for enhanced mobility and efficiency.
Event: Land Governance in an Interconnected World_Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty_2018
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