East African (Kenya): Africa's major cities on the brink of decay, warn Unep, UN-Habitat

13 September 2010

Do you really think about buildings, roads and all other concrete projects that surround you? Do you ever try to judge them wondering why some are good and others are downright horrible?

Has it ever crossed your mind that all the monstrous structures mushrooming in our cities and all the shacks filling up open spaces, uglifying our surrounding and killing our cities with overcrowding has something to do with planning?

Though building and construction has in the recent past been one of the robust sectors driving the country’s economic recovery, planning and design of structures has left many questions than answers.

In fact poor planning has remained an achilles’ heel of many towns, killing the sustainable growth dream envisaged by the United Nations agency, Habitat.

The UN body along with its sister agency Unep, are warning of an impending urban decay in some of Africa’s major towns, if planning is not taken seriously, given the high urbanization growth rates.

According to Habitat, under two decades, more than half of the continent’s population will be living in urban centres, a trend that calls for proper planning.

“The major problem we have in many African cities like Nairobi and Mombasa is that planning has been taking place after development instead of the reverse,” says Steve Oundo, the Architectural Association of Kenya chairman.

Oundo says Africa can only be on the right path to sustainable development of cities, if planning was to come before development.

Building code

Take Kenya, for example, the building code, which regulates construction of buildings in cities, is almost a carbon copy of what United Kingdom used in the 1940s. The Kenya government adopted it after independence.

Nairobi, the capital city, is currently operating without a master plan, following its expiry in 2000, after 27 years in use.

Another example of the planning mess, was the demolition of two blocks of residential flats, worth Sh16 million each ($200,000), after it was discovered they were built on a road reserve. The new blocks, which were intended to house police officers in Nairobi, were hardly one year old.

In fact planning and strict regulation of the built environment, will even be more critical in future, as more people settle in cities and towns.

City residents and new migrants from rural areas, will all need better housing, schools, hospitals, water and sewerage systems electricity and roads. All will only be achieved with proper planning and adherence to regulations governing built environment.

In Kenya, the number of people living in urban areas has increased by 26 per cent from 9.9 million in 1999 to 12.5 million in 2009, a trend that has corresponded with increased demand for services, which has so far remained inadequate.

urbanization

According to Kwame Owino, of the Institute of Economic Affairs, high urbanization rates should not be viewed as a problem per se, if public facilities are well planned for and adequately provided.

“Public facilities are services that must be provided with or without population increase. It is only that when there is a high population growth it puts pressure on governments to provide them,” says Owino.

It is why planning is important as it can help governments handle the pressure.

In fact urbanization scholars believe proper planning and adherence to built environment regulations has the potential of addressing issues such as inadequate shelter, land tenure irregularities, urban poverty, delinquency, pollution and sanitation currently chocking the big cities in the continent.

A good built environment, be it public or private structures, residential or commercial buildings, is like a good suit made of quality materials, cut to size and well tailored. The result, always must the clients requirements and at its best, the requirements of the neighbourhood, the city and not forgetting the culture.

However, despite its importance, it is one fact many governments in Africa have failed to implement resulting in haphazard development that UN is concerned about.

“Majority of cities in Africa, are of poor standard because governments have failed to plan them properly,” says Mairura Omwenga secretary of the architectural association of Kenya.

Omwenga says unless African governments shape up sustainable development of cities will remain a pipe dream.

To rectify some of the problems, the Kenya government, for example, has crafted a Bill that will reign in on rogue contractors , partly to blame for the mess in cities. The National Construction Authority Bill will be tabled in parliament before the end of the year

According to the ministry’s works secretary, Dr Gideon Mulyungi, the

Bill is expected to inject professionalism in the sector by registering and regulating contractors.

“Rogue contractors have thrived because of loopholes in our laws and it is time we limited their operations and options,” says Mulyungi.

Shoddy contractors

Indeed shoddy contractors, with the help of poor government planning, have continued to make a kill, colluding with unscrupulous public officials to win tenders worth billions of shillings, which they incapable of handling.

Currently, Mulyungi says, a rogue or a briefcase contractor can win a tender in one of the ministries, for example, Public Works, do a shoddy job and move to another , like Roads or Energy, bid and win another lucrative one.

“This happens because various ministries have their own register of contractors and if one is blacklisted in one ministry he can still operate in another,” he adds.

The bill, however, if passed by parliament, will bring the registration of contractors under one authority and only those who qualify will be considered. Thus, if the authority blacklists one, he or she will be barred from bidding or taking up public tenders. Winning private tenders will also be hard as the list of genuine contractors will be made public.

The Bill, has already received support from professionals of the built environment, who have described it as long overdue.

“Currently, even one who has managed a butchery for 10 years can still go and register a construction company, call himself an engineer , bid and win a tender,” says Oundo.

The AAK chairman says the Bill, if enacted, will require qualified engineers to sit on the board of the registered companies. The companies will also be expected to have workman compensation insurance and also a cover for the works, in case of a disaster.

In the past, structures under construction have collapsed, killing and maiming labours without compensating the victims, this will change if the law is enacted.

Oundo also calls for the review of the building code, based on the recommendations made by a committee set up to review the law.

The recommendations propose radical changes in planning and construction, among them, knocking down illegal or dangerous buildings, whose plans have not been approved by the relevant authorities.

“It also proposes the establishment of a planning and building authority to regulate planning and construction of buildings. It will be a one stop shop to end the blame game when buildings collapse because of poor planning and design,” Oundo adds.

All these issues and many more will be discussed at the forthcoming International Society of Regional Planners (ISOCARP) meeting to be held in Nairobi between the 19th and 23rd of this month.

Professionals from more than 80 countries will share experiences and make recommendations to government on transforming Africa’s urban centres into sustainable cities in view of the rapid urbanization.