Smart world: Sterling Urbanism

Presently and globally, the whetting appetite for smart sustainable planning for the sub Saharan cities has seen many ‘new creations’. One is the potential of the Kenyan County government updating their physical plan into what is now called integrated Urban Plans. Key cities in Kenya namely: Mombasa, Kisumu and Nairobi City Counties have made this constructive steps. The noblest of the wonders are envisioned in Mombasa and Nairobi is what we call smart cities.

The smart cities have key aspects in their planning that will ensure all benefits of sustainable urban planning:- smart people,, smart energy, smart transport and smart technology

There is however a need for inclusive and participatory process in the policy formulation which will ensure implementation and enforcement of the ongoing reviews in planning legislation and land laws. Moreover, key aspects of international aspirations and standards need to be considered to ensure the best in leadership, management and administration. These touch on the pillars of sustainability: society, environment, economy and governance.

There are equally more ambitious techno-plans that has seen the conception of Tatu City, Konza City and multi-tenanted establishments such as the Two Rivers in The Sub Saharan Kenya. These creations are informed by the great innovations and global trends that have been successfully replicated or implemented coincidentally and simultaneously for the benefit of the economies. The stable sky crappers in the US, Europe and Asia are too ambitious and real to believe they exist. One does not cease to wonder if the African world will ever match the developed economies.

There is a global sided acclaim that the 3rd world economies (like Kenya) have better chances to be actually third in their multifaceted revolutions: discoveries, inventions, innovations and unprecedented systems in government, ‘self-realization and awakening ordained and predestined to them by God’.

The African professionals and other stakeholders will be sober enough and implement the good paper guidelines and tools they made for themselves to realize most of these. Then artifacts and tangible realities like those in Tokyo, Copenhagen, Berlin, Vienna, and London will be a common place in our African spheres

Recently, I have had a good discussion with my brother who is studying Geography in the University of Nairobi. We have had various discussions on what is really the urban and urbanization problem and what urbanism means to planners (and geographers). There are various debates, arguments and propositions from various professionals on what really needs (not) to be done for Kenyan urbanizing cities, and the phenomenal sprawl we realize. One feature about the rapid urbanization of Kenyan urban centres and cities include: the subsistent need for spatial space for expansion, persistent vibrant land deals, magnificent building and construction designs, competition between service providers and obvious dreams for the lowering of a financiers’ interest rates in mortgage financing. Then there is this particular hurdle to surmount to secure realty development: drawing a successful physical plan, getting approvals and clearance form the relevant authorities (National Environment Management Authority, National Construction Authority, the County Government and Ministry of Lands) for architectural and structural plans.

The Kenyan Land Economists and Surveyors amongst other professionals have a real bucket list of responsibilities to ensure rationalized, prudent, financially feasible, legally accepted, physically possible and environmentally sound optical land use for various categories: industrial, residential, commercial, hotel, catering and accommodation, heritage conservation sites, public special properties and open spaces including leisure and entertainment parks. This comes with the effective demand of the consistent advancement of technologies, innovations and inventions that characterize the need to organize spatial land use that foster equity and progress. This has been furthered through various ambitious policy and legislative processes that may actualize sterling ideas that would: maximize space, facilitate mass transit of people, commodities, access of information, communication and swift ways of doing business.

The begging question is; where are we? The professional land sector body has registered cartography and GIS specialists who are qualified to work in association with planners, land economists and economists amongst other social scientists and engineers to make modern cities for modern humanity. The land policy on planning identifies special technologies including GPS/GIS applications in preparation of deliverables that will aid interactive and integrated land information and registration systems, land based infrastructure monitoring and maintenance, resettlement action plans for energy and infrastructure development, land administration and management, land acquisitions, land deals, planning and flexibility in conversions and change in land users and building designs.

The following are my prescriptions:-

We need to enact and amend the relevant land use planning and land acts to align them with the Land Use Policy and the Constitution.

The statutory procedures in land surveys, registration of titles and plans and acquisition procedures should neither be jumped nor ignored.

We need to frog jump past irrelevant legacies and benchmark with advanced economies to adopt relevant appropriate technologies, innovations and best practices that have yielded practical and empirical successes in the very recent past.

The professionals in the urban development and land sector generally should continue thinking ‘green urbanism, sustainable urban development and professional flexible realignments that adopt reviews and recommendations made by willing partners including international financiers, researchers, the academia and innovators.