By XN Iraki

We have all focused our attention on Vision 2030, when Kenya will become a middle-income country.

But what about beyond 2030, what will happen to our grandchildren? Will we have achieved the status of a developed country by then? Will they be happier, healthier? What will they say about us?

Let us boldly stretch our imaginations.

First, why do we want to develop? And what does it take to develop? We all hope to one day emancipate ourselves from the jaws of labour, so that we can work only when necessary. To most people, development means having more leisure time to focus on what you like. But the economic reality is that unless you have invested or inherited enough, you will always need to work to take care of your basic needs.

Paradoxically, the more an economy grows, the less leisure time we have. We thought, for example that with cars and mobile phones, we would never be late for appointments, and rarely would we get tired. The reality is different.

Development encompasses several facets. Physically, we must be healthy. Healthy people are more productive, and have time to enjoy leisure.

Yet as we develop, unhealthy lifestyles seem to plague us, from obesity to disease of development, such as diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases.

It seems that nature is a great equaliser. The happiness we get from working less is neutralised by the spectre of diseases that we cannot develop a vaccine for; except by improving our lifestyles. We hope our grandchildren will learn from us, and from other countries we consider developed, that our health is our wealth.

But I fear they may not escape these diseases. Our developments do not take care of our physical wellbeing. Few new housing estates have any playgrounds; bars and other "joints" that encourage unhealthy lifestyles are the norm. When did you last see someone jogging in the city? Children play in school. But what of after graduation, where they spend most of their life?

Our physical environment is not life-friendly; the concrete jungles and "lifeless" residences do not provide good prospects for our grandchildren.

We need more leafy suburbs. Can zoning be enforced in both urban and rural areas? Can we use less concrete in buildings? What will happen when we get tired of all these concrete buildings? Development also involves your social life. We cannot live a good life alone. It is other people who enrich our lives.

That includes our families, neighbours, co-workers, and service providers, from the policemen to the garbage collectors. Advanced economies, contrary to conventional wisdom, have a great sense of community. People think of society first, and how they can enhance it.

Beyond 2030, we hope our grandchildren will live in harmony with each other, avoiding the rat race and zero sum game. By 2050, we hope our grandchildren will have finally realised no man is an island, and other people enrich our lives.

Truthfully, we have let individualism replace the community. Why else is grabbing of public open spaces so popular? Even the most hardnosed economists now accept that individualism has its limits.

Development involves culture from religion to belief. Shall our grandchildren have a solid culture that will be their anchor ?

Most of the countries that have done very well economically, also have very solid cultures. We can talk of the English, Chinese, Danish, American and other national cultures. Kenya’s culture is still fluid, torn between the old order and an influx of foreign subcultures. Solid cultures are ethical, emphasizing on fairness, reward for the hard workers and often a belief in higher powers.

Why is the Queen the Head of the Church of England? Why do seemingly very advanced economies such as Japan and Sweden still retain kings and emperors? Any society without a solid culture soon drifts into the meaningless, a pattern starting to emerge in Kenya, espoused by gangs, drug abuse and apathy.

That should not be the prospects for our grandchildren. It is my belief that a national culture can be forged deliberately without waiting for it to evolve.

Another facet of development is the intellectual. Economic growth is driven by new ideas, spawned by our creative genius, through innovations, which raise the economic output and expand the national cake, so that we have more to share without fighting.

Development is multi-faceted, and will remain so beyond 2030. The future arrives prematurely; it will not be long before our grandchildren are old enough. We have a chance to improve their economic prospects today.

Through Vision 2030, and our own ingenuity, we can ensure that our grandchildren will not see us as the generation that dimmed their prospects. It is time to be bold.