More than half of the world lives in cities. Estimates indicate that by 2050 about 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas. Cities are the centres of civilization, commerce, innovation and culture. They have diverse populations with different needs dependent upon various variables such as age, culture and economic levels. However, they […]
Nairobi’s Long Rains: A failure in Urban Resilience?
Nairobi’s Long Rains season traditionally brings several urban challenges. A year ago, during the same season, a school bus was trapped in flooded waters and pupils had to wait for over 10 hours to be rescued. Unconfirmed reports indicate that on the same day and along the same road, one motorist died while trapped in […]
Intern at The Global Grid
Since 2010, The Global Grid has offered localized and unique architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, urban planning and related news every weekday.The Global Grid uniquely publishes news specific to the town or city in which the author resides or is traveling. With a 150+ writer alumni, The Global Grid continues to grow as a destination for […]
Participation: Using Social Media in the Urban Planning process
The role played by communication and participation in urban planning cannot be underestimated. Without proper communication to various stakeholders, plans and projects can easily fall prey to misunderstandings or be swayed by opponents and selfish interest groups. This predicament has been witnessed worldwide in various transportation, housing development and even urban renewal projects. As a […]
Nairobi Public Spaces: Viable or open for Grabbing?
As a means of ensuring a good quality of life for residents, city planning guidelines require provision of publicspaces in all residential areas. These include space for playgrounds, public parks, gardens and general open spaces. Public purpose land use management also provides for market centres, shopping areas and public halls In Nairobi City, most residential […]
Kenyan Blog Awards: Blog Needs your Vote!
The annual Kenyan Blog Awards showcase the Best of Kenyan Blogs. AfricanCityplanner.com has been nominated in Environment/Agriculture Category (Category 6) in the 2016 Kenyan Blog Awards. Show your support by placing your vote here: http://blogawards.co.ke/vote/ Thanks for all the feedback as the blog continues to be a mechanism of sharing ideas on urban and regional planning […]
Nairobi: How can buses help decongest?
There has been lots of talk over the last few years about ‘decongesting’ the city of Nairobi. Unfortunately most of it has been done on paper with the few practical attempts towards ‘decongesting’ proving to be either short term or complete failures. Nearly all of these proposals have been dubbed as ‘Quick wins’ focusing on diverting […]
Public vs Private Urban Housing, what direction for Nairobi, Kenya?
The recent drive towards an open market economy has led to the private sector providing various services that were traditionally under the mandate of the state or municipality. Critics, however, view this development as an opportunity for well-connected individuals to control essential services and reap profitable returns. In Nairobi, Kenya, some of the key areas […]
Aerial Cable Transit: Urban Gondolas for African Cities?
Recent decades have experienced a revolution in urban transportation with the ensuing development of “alternative” means of modern urban transport. Harvard professor Clayton Christensen calls these alternatives “disruptive technology,” which uses simple innovations that differ from the traditional modes of urban mass transit like regular bus services, light rail trains and Metro Rail. South American countries […]
How Sustainable are the emerging Private Cities around Nairobi, Kenya?
Years back Ebenezer Howard proposed a ‘Garden City’ in his famous text “Garden Cities of Tomorrow. The world famous urbanist envisioned self-reliant and independent cities that are spacious and organized; have limited/controlled populace and unified land ownership. Le Corbusier later analyzed the challenges faced by increased urbanization in Europe and came up with his version […]
