Street kiosks, shops or stalls, whatever the name, are everywhere. You can’t miss them in Kenya’s cities and other urban centres. You’ll find them along streets, in residential estates, satellite centres and even in the central business districts.
They come in all shapes, style and colour. Some are decent, some aren’t. Since most are regarded temporary, not much effort is made to observe construction standards, or a colour code.
Polythene papers, cartons, sackcloth or iron sheets are some of the materials used in their construction. Others are made from timber.
In most cases, the net result is poor urban aesthetics. In some cases, they have posed unfair competition and obstruction to established shops and businesses, and undermined security.
However, the presence of street and informal traders countrywide attests to a supply and service demand. We should appreciate their contributions to urban economies and lifestyles.
Much as we aren’t able to quantify their contribution to urban GDPs, sheer anecdotal evidence shows that large sections of our urban areas primarily depend on such traders for food supply, and other basic commodities. Furthermore, these traders support a wide network of food and vegetable suppliers, and also transporters.
They are a source of informal jobs to many urban dwellers too. Therefore, they cannot be wished away.
So then how do we handle them to ensure integration with neighbourhoods, order and security? The answer may lie in standardisation and inclusive regulation. If urban managers set out to innovatively improve and integrate informal traders, perhaps a lot could change.
We have examples of what radical and innovative measures could achieve, particularly where there is consistency. One may recall the helplessness with which the matatu industry held Nairobi city managers captive? Matatus used any route and stopped anywhere to pick and drop passengers.
But they’ve since been whipped into saccos and regulated parking zones. Some even have standard colours, and operator uniforms. We also recall the resistance to getting school buses and vans to spot a uniform colour. With firm and consistent leadership, conformity was attained.
Nowadays we are able to easily identify the yellow-coloured school vehicles, and provide them necessary support, or hold management accountable.
Why then can’t we come up with some standard design and colour code for our kiosks? A modest and affordable design with pleasant optics! We could use GIS technology to optimise their locations, and ensure that they respect established shops and businesses.
In Nairobi, for instance, we could get started by identifying some few streets and estates then undertake some pilot initiative for a year.
This would call for the establishment of a team consisting of professionals with the right technical competences and administrative and enforcement skills. The representation of street traders and local security organs would be necessary.
To ensure public awareness and critical political goodwill, the team would need to be backstopped by political leadership at the local level. Though tough, it’s a challenge we should dare.
The writer is a consultant on land governance. Email: [email protected]
