Kisumu Outlaws Skyscrapers in New City Blueprint

Kisumu has outlawed construction of buildings exceeding 18 floors as part of its four-zoned blueprint to shape the lakeside city over the next two decades.  

While announcing the decision, Governor Anyang Nyong’o cautioned against skyscrapers, stating that they pose challenges in evacuating people during emergencies.

“We have received so many requests from the private sector, real estate developers to allow them to put up such high rise buildings in the city, but we are saying no,” Prof Nyong’o said during a media briefing in Kisumu.

The governor emphasised that disallowing high rises would maintain structural integrity in Kisumu and its surrounding areas as the city expands outwards.

“When disaster strikes such as fire or storm strike, it becomes difficult to evacuate people from the high rise buildings, leading to casualties,” he added.

To meet rising space demands, the governor announced a Geographical Information System (GIS) for land use and development in Kisumu’s new Urban Renewal Programme, which will be in place until 2040.  

“We have come up with the GIS special plan to redesign the city by clustering it into four concentric zones–the urban core, urban renewal, Eastern and Northern extension,” Prof Nyong’o said.  

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The blueprint, which will be launched next week, features designated shopping, commercial centres, industrial and residential estates, hotels and clubs.

The plan will allow the city to create more walkways for pedestrians, motorcycles, and motorists. This is intended to ease traffic congestion in the city centre.

76 floors

However, Kisumu’s decision contrasts Nairobi’s proposal, which suggests allowing buildings of up to 76 floors in the city center and over 25 floors in estates.

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja revealed this decision last month while defending his government’s approval of high-rises in Kileleshwa and Lavington.

Residents of the suburbs have been criticizing Mr Sakaja for failing to enforce the existing zoning laws in the areas. However, the governor argues that high-rises are necessary to accommodate Nairobi’s fast-growing population.

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Previously, residential flats were capped at four floors, but the limits have since been gradually revised to allow up to 12 floors in certain areas.

In 2012, the City Council of Nairobi reviewed its building by-laws to allow developers to build office blocks in high-end estates located to the west of the city.

The changes, which were done under a new land use policy, sought to encourage people to work closer to their homes to ease congestion in the city centre.

Breach of privacy

The rezoning of the city has, however, angered residents of the high-end suburbs who endlessly complain that high-rises have seriously overwhelmed and breached the privacy of low-rise home dwellers – which is ‘totally unacceptable’.

According to a Kileleshwa homeowner only identified as Florah, the estate is now a pale shadow of its former self. This, she claims, is due to the rising number of flats towering above the beautiful homes that have dotted the estate for years.

“Houses in Kileleshwa were cool, and the place was not crowded. But now, even people living in these flats can hardly be trusted to be upright residents,” she says.

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