Kenyans will forever be grateful to Prof Wangari Maathai for her campaign against land grabbing by well-connected individuals that saved places like Uhuru Park and Karura Forest.
But one would wish her environmental activism extended to other aspects of public spaces in our cities. I have in mind our streets and public infrastructure like boulevards, neighbourhood gardens, parks and libraries.
Some of them might not be at the risk of being grabbed, but suffer from poor planning and maintenance.
We need to start asking basic questions like how well-designed and maintained are our streets and public infrastructure? It has been proved around the world that well-designed and maintained streets and other related infrastructure help reduce crime and violence.
Well-maintained open spaces also contribute to the strengthening of mutual trust and community bonds through social, cultural and economic activities.
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So important is this dialogue that from this week till March 26, there is an online open global debate about open spaces in the run-up to the Habitat III Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development in October in Ecuador.
On the debate about public spaces, UN-Habitat says that investing in streets and public space infrastructure improve urban productivity and livelihoods, and allow for better access to markets, jobs, information and public services, especially in developing countries where half of the workforce is informal.
"Public spaces are also critical for environmental sustainability as urban resident become more efficient in sharing common spaces and the available resources," says the agency.
Let's have healthy cities by properly planning our streets, open spaces and related infrastructure.
