Nairobi plans new business hubs to decongest city centre

What you need to know:

Nairobi will create more commercial districts to serve as business hubs and reduce human traffic to the central business district
County government officials are drafting a master plan that will see creation of commercial zones in busy estates such Ruai, Karen, Hurlingham and along Kiambu Road

Nairobi is moving to create more commercial districts to serve as business hubs and reduce human traffic to the central business district (CBD).

County officials are drafting a master plan and that will see the creation of commercial zones in busy estates such Ruai, Karen, Hurlingham and those along Kiambu Road to decongest the town.

It is expected to be implemented in the first quarter of next year. These estates, the officials said, are strategic with high interconnectivity of roads and are either hosting or are frequented by many people.

The county also plans to create a commercial hub in Nairobi’s Eastlands to create employment in the area which has a number of sprawling slums.

“We are planning to create multiple centres to reduce traffic to the CBD,” Tom Odongo, the county authority’s executive committee member for Lands, Housing and Physical Planning said on Monday, adding that the policy was still at consultation level.

He was speaking after the signing of a partnership between Housing Finance and Nairobi County to support students in technical and vocational training centres to alleviate a shortage of semi-skilled personnel in the economy.

Mr Odongo said they were looking to establish office blocks, residential units and other amenities on the 2,000 parcels of land owned by the county.

Big relief

“We shall adopt public-private partnership in which investors will put up buildings on our land to serve as equity. We want to make these areas self-reliant,” he said, adding that about 80, 000 more housing units would be built in Eastlands to accommodate up to 650, 000 people.

Construction of decent accommodation will come as big relief to poor families living in congested shanties, he said.

The National Housing Corporation estimates that Kenya’s housing deficit stands at 150,000 units per year.

Unlike other business hubs which will strictly be for commercial purposes including high end residential units, part of the projects planned for Eastlands would be for social welfare and to cater for needs of the poor.