2.1 General Background
Urbanization can provide great opportunity for the future development of Kenya as it holds social, environmental and economic opportunities. Research has shown that urban areas are more productive than their rural counterparts as they provide access to services, urban agglomerations, social networks and livelihood opportunities to pull large portions of the population out of poverty. Urbanization is not an answer to poverty reduction, but a necessary step towards achieving middle-income status.
It is evident that cities in Kenya are rapidly growing; albeit, this growth is occurring at unprecedented rates, without foresight or structured urban planning. There is a proliferation of badly managed and unorganized settlements. This is coupled with a proliferation of informal settlements with their characteristic congestion, where the quality of life is also low and where residents have little or no access to shelter, water, sanitation and other basic services. Furthermore, there is a clear lack of adequate citizen participation in the urban planning of Kenyan towns and cities. In order to encourage sustainable urban development, the planning by-laws need revisions to suit the dynamism associated with current city development trends. Overall, poor urban planning is contributing to the failure of Kenyan cities to adequately meet the needs of their citizens and in building sustainable and functioning cities for the future.
2.2 Establishment of the Joint Urban Development Programme
The following three programmes collectively form the Joint Urban Development Programme and provide the detailed intervention needed to help Kenyan cities achieve sustainable urban development that embraces citizen participation.
2.2.1 The Kenya Municipal Programme (KMP)
The programme development objective is to strengthen local governance and improve urban service delivery in selected urban Local Authorities (LAs) by reforming frameworks for urban governance, municipal restructuring, strengthening planning, finances and human capabilities, and investing in infrastructure and service delivery improvements. Ministry of Devolution and Planning is the lead agency for the program.
2.2.2 Kenya Informal Settlement Improvement Project (KISIP)
The overall project development objective is to improve living conditions in slums in selected cities/municipalities in Kenya, by improving security of land tenure and investing in infrastructure based on plans developed in consultation with communities will act as the lead agency.
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2.2.3 Nairobi Metropolitan Services Improvement Project (NaMSIP)
The project development objective is to strengthen urban services and infrastructure in the Nairobi metropolitan region. This will be achieved by investing in local infrastructure (roads, markets, street lighting, bicycle and pedestrian pathways, drainage, and the like). Supporting improvements in integrated solid waste management and in sewerage collection and disposal will also assist it. This is a multi-sector operation the Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development as the lead agency.
The implementation of national government policy has since April 2013 presented opportunities and challenges with implications for the urban sector; which are also likely to significantly affect the over US$ 1.2 Billion investment of the JUDP as well as affect the success of this Project. These changes include the on-going devolution process, weakened institutions and institutional framework for urbanization, increasing dysfunction of urban areas, and the apparent inability of urban areas to deal with the challenges of urbanization in terms of service delivery, poverty reduction, and the limited access to services and opportunities, etc. It is therefore more imminent that ensuring strong and robust local governance and service delivery especially for the poor, enhancing revenue mobilization for sustainable urbanization, and ensuring adequate capacity for urban planning and management of sustainable urbanization in all the forty-seven Counties need to be addressed if the expected results of the JUDP and this Project are to be realized.
2.3 Urban Donor Coordination Group (UDCG) (formerly Urban Local Governance and Decentralization Group - ULGDG)
The Urban Donor Coordination Group (UDCG) specifically: the World Bank, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Embassy of Sweden, established the aforementioned three programmes to address the core issues that are constraining the development potential in Kenya’s urban areas- efficiency, equity and competitiveness. The World Bank currently chairs UDCG and the Embassy of Sweden acts as a co-chair.
The Embassy of Sweden acknowledged the need for a strategic advisory component to increase collaboration and harmonization between urban actors and to support and enhance the work of the Joint Urban Development Programme. UN-Habitat, with its extensive experience in the field of sustainable urban development, relevance to the Joint Urban Development Programme and its proven track record working in Kenya over the last decade has been chosen as the organization most suited to house the strategic advisory component.
