Can the real Nairobi stand up?

GOING NOWHERE: A traffic jam on Nairobi’s Uhuru Highway. This is a daily occurrence on many city roads, robbing the economy of billions of shillings annually. [Photo: FILE/standard]

What is Nairobi’s character? For many a resident, the city’s character is embodied by traffic jams, the din of rowdy matatus and mounds of garbage that mesh into a heady mix of questionable toxicity. Throw in the resigned acceptance of those who live here and you have an ‘authentic’ Nairobi experience.

Not so for international researchers, however, who give the bustling capital glowing ratings report after report. The green foliage and the fact that Nairobi is the only city with a national park within its boundaries earned it the dual identity of “the green city in the sun” and “the safari capital of the world”.

Any safari tour to see Kenya’s world famous wildlife begins in Nairobi’s National Park. Now, the park is threatened by human settlement on its southern fringes and infrastructural development — the Standard Gauge Railway(SGR) is planned to pass through the park.

Various reports have ranked the city as one of the world’s fastest growing and a preferred investment decision, competing with, and often, beating established global cities.

The latest is the City Momentum Index(CMI), which ranked Nairobi at position 11 globally, but first in africa, in advancing technology and encouraging faster real estate development.This was out of 20 cities.

London, Silicon Valley and Dublin were the first three cities with Melbourne, Seoul and Auckland being the last three in the top 20.

Out of the three kind of cities of the future highlighted in the report-established, emerging and new world cities, Nairobi was classified among the emerging new world cities. These are cities on the fast track to maturity often driven by innovation as they are homes to some of the world’s fastest-growing tech companies.

Technology powerhouse

“Nairobi, for example, is pushing to become Africa’s technology centre with development projects like Konza Technology City, an innovation district that will include space for educational institutions and technology firms,” says the report.

Another report by Knight Frank, Global Cities: The 2016 Report, says Nairobi is fast becoming an East African shopping destination thanks to 1.8 million square feet of shopping malls coming into the market.

The report that was launched in October last year, also puts Nairobi on the list of five cities to watch. The others are Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Bangkok (Thailand) and Moscow (Russia).

Knight Frank also said Nairobi is also taking off as a hub location for global corporations looking to establish an office to cover East Africa, partly due to a growing realisation by many multinationals that sub-Saharan Africa is too big to be serviced just out of an office in South Africa.

Speaking during the launch of CMI, Nairobi Governor Dr Evans Kidero said: “The ‘Green City in the Sun’ has proved a magnet for international companies and organisations. From global banks to the United Nations, our city is chosen by the world for a reason – the culture, lifestyle and location is unmatched anywhere in East Africa.”

But the question any ask themselves is; what do these reports base their findings on? Stop a Nairobi resident and you are likely to be met with a litany of complaints and weary resignation. What is missing in all these reports is the other side of the city, the reality on the ground.

Nairobi produces about 2,400 tonnes of garbage per day, but the collection methods are wanting and as a result, 33 per cent of this garbage is not collected. Those are the mounds outside your gate.

The city plans to harness power from garbage. The project would see Nairobi become the second city in Africa after Durban in South Africa to launch a large-scale electricity generation project from garbage.

According to an Ipsos survey carried out from March 17 to March 19 2015, most residents said that the traffic situation has been a major cause of concern. The survey said 30 per cent of residents in Nairobi have either lost jobs or missed out opportunities of getting one due to the traffic menace.

Traffic congestion in the city costs the economy an estimated Sh37 billion annually according to the report prepared by the county’s Transport and Urban Decongestion committee in August 2014.

Not balanced

They attributed this to poor planning of the city that did not factor in steady increase in population and vehicles. By then, the report said Nairobi’s population had increased from 350,000 in 1963 to 3.3 million with an estimated 300,000 vehicles without a corresponding increase of the road network.

What puzzles many city dwellers is what these researchers see that the city residents do not see. According to Chairman Town Planner Association Kenya Mairura Omwenga, the indexes are not balanced, whichever dynamics they are using to come up with these reports.

“For instance, if a report says there is over supply of houses in Nairobi yet the houses are only in the upper income areas and there are no houses in the lower side of the city, the report will not be balanced,” says Omwenga.

He adds: “It is good to project a good image of a city but it’s not good to do that with exclusion of the reality that affects the majority of the people.”

Omwenga says the city started loosing the “Green City in Sun” tag in the 1980s when private sector took over the development and planning of the city, and that is why it is suffering from lack of proper planning.

“If we plan well an allocate resources to all people,there will be reduced cases of crimes like mugging, pick pocketing and robbery among others which are high in the city,” says Omwenga.

Inequality

World Bank overview on Kenya in 2015 says addressing development challenges of poverty, inequality, governance, low investment and low firm productivity to achieve rapid, sustained growth rates that will transform the lives of ordinary citizens, should be a major goal for the country.

Dr Lawrence Esho, an urban planner and senior lecturer and chair, Department of Spatial Planning and Design at the Technical University of Kenya, says the validity of these rankings of Nairobi depends on who is doing the ranking.

Planners query the extent to which the city’s spatial structures and infrastructure systems are formidable to guarantee sustainable operations for industry and commerce, and offer citizens the necessary basis for a dignified urban existence.

“It is therefore not surprising that all these groups would rank the city of Nairobi differently. Investors and citizens love and loathe Nairobi for the same reasons. The city pulsates and draws attention to itself, thanks to its unashamedly brutal form of capitalism that is equally the source of much suffering for more than 70 per cent of its population,” says Esho.

He blames the Government for being contented with the status quo. “Urban Planners continue to formulate master plans that the city fathers have little regard for or understanding thereof that would’ve led to allocation of resources necessary to return Nairobi’s lost lustre,” says Esho.

Ibrahim Mwathane, Land Development and Governance Institute chairman agrees with Esho on planning. “Unless there is quick high level intervention, poor planning and lack of regulation of development along with the continuing unequal growth, it will undermine Nairobi in years ahead,” says Mwathane.

Challenges that will hold Nairobi back he says include insecurity, heavy traffic jams, poor infrastructure(particularly roads, water and sewer services) in many parts to its East and South and the rapid unregulated development of Nairobi’s peri-urban zone.

Global status

“If let unaddressed, these challenges will in the very near future undermine Nairobi’s global status and undermine residential and commercial incomes in some of today’s prime addresses,” adds Mwathane.

Esho says positive rankings are good for all of us and generate the kind of momentum and resources needed to spur growth. He, however, says it should not be lost on city fathers and administrators that this is also an opportune moment to initiate processes leading to a radical transformation of the city’s structures and systems.

This, both as a means to meet the demands of blue-chip investors, but also to ensure the improvements of the situation and status of its citizens.