Kenya's Urban Development in the 21^st Century - The call for Innovative Initiatives from Local Authorities

The planning of our living environmmment affects every citizen. in municipal council in Kenya, urban environment dvelopment plans are drawn up but not followed. In  rural councils, environment development plans are are no made at all and there development happens without guidance. The evolution of local authorities in Kenya has shown continuity with a narrow role: permits, public sanitation, zoning. Informality is suppressed and tolerated at the same time. More recently, local authorities have started to implement small programmes of small-scale community projects. Access to information and the style of democratic interaction do not really allow meaningful citizen participation. Kenya's local authorities play their role with limited success. In high income countries, local authorities have a per capita budget that can be as much as two hundred times higher than those seen in Kenya. They se public-private partnerships to leverage their capacity to deliver. The constitution of Kenya (2010) call for devolution of government. Devolution will be a learning process with built-in legal, financial and human capital hurdles. Local governments has the opportunity to re-invent itself to lead in the development of living space for the country's citizens.

Download