Kenya: Kenya continues to grapple with rapid urbanisation, with more people residing in urban areas categorised as poor, earning less than Sh85 per day.
Urban populations have swelled from 8.3 per cent in 1962 and are expected to hit 44.5 per cent in 2015, with an estimated 16.5 million people living in major urban areas of the counties.
It is projected that by 2030, more than half of Kenyans at 54 per cent (23.6 million), will live in urban areas. The average urban growth was 3.9 per cent between 2000 and 2010, while between 2011 and 2030 it is expected to grow at an average of 4.2 per cent.
Currently, experts term Kenya's urban growth rates as distorted.
Prof Alfred Omenya, a researcher in built environments, says only five towns account for over 70 per cent of urban population. They are Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret.
READ MORE
Kenya's most hated birds pose big threat to Coast ecosystem
How invasive species became Kenya's million-bird menace
Transition crisis as over 200,000 learners fail to reach Form Four
50 days to Grade 9 rollout: Are schools ready for CBC transition?
There are only five counties with more than 50 per cent of their areas under urban classification. They include Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret.
"Only 30 per cent of urban areas in Kenya are planned. The rest are mushrooming without the input of planning professionals and lack basic amenities and aesthetics," Omenya notes.
Nairobi City County has earmarked 13 urban areas in the metro whose infrastructure is being improved under the Nairobi Metropolitan Services Improvement project.
The rebased national statistics show that four in every 10 Kenyans live below the poverty line. In Nairobi alone, 30 per cent of residents live in slums, while in Kisumu 60 per cent live in slums.
"We ask counties to look at urban economic opportunities to create wealth for the residents. About 47.5 per cent of Kenya's GDP is generated in Nairobi and 70 per cent in urban areas," Omenya says.
