‘Planning goof left Kisumu’s back facing the lake’

Kisumu County Deputy Governor, Ruth Odinga, and the Kenya Institute of Planners Chair, Dr Isaac Mwangi, during the opening of the Kisumu planning cionference recently. [PHOTOS: JECKONIA OTIENO/STANDARD]

Planners and other urban experts say that chaos that have characterised Kenya’s urban development for decades could be exported to the counties if they don’t embrace planning in their formative stages, writes JECKONIA OTIENO

“Kisumu has developed with its back facing the lake instead of the lake being the face of the town,” said Ruth Odinga, the Deputy Governor of Kisumu County, while opening a conference by the Kenya Institute of Planners (KIP) in Kisumu recently. And while closing the same conference, Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti, underscored the need for planners to be involved in the development of counties.