21st Century (2000–present)

Nairobi Integrated Urban Dev. Master Plan (NIUPLAN)

2014 · Kenya · Sub-Saharan Africa · Regional & polycentric planning · Planned by Nairobi City County
NIUPLAN proposed structure plan for Nairobi: bi-polar corridor development with urban core, sub-centres, new bypasses and rail corridors.
NIUPLAN proposed structure plan for Nairobi: bi-polar corridor development with urban core, sub-centres, new bypasses and rail corridors. · © Japan International Cooperation Agency / Nairobi City County — used with credit · Nairobi City County / JICA Study Team (Nippon Koei, IDCJ, EJEC), The Project on Integrated Urban Development Master Plan for the City of Nairobi (NIUPLAN) Final Report, 2014, p. ES-10

Core idea

Transport, utilities, land-use integration

Why it matters

Update to manage explosive growth

Description

The Nairobi Integrated Urban Development Master Plan (NIUPLAN), completed in 2014 by the Nairobi city government with technical assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, is a comprehensive master plan for the Kenyan capital with a horizon around 2030. It integrates land use, transport, water, sewerage and other utilities within a single spatial framework, proposing a hierarchy of subcentres, major road and rail corridor improvements and coordinated infrastructure investment to manage rapid population growth.

Significance

NIUPLAN was Nairobi's first full master plan update since the 1973 metropolitan growth strategy, and it exemplifies the donor-supported comprehensive planning that has shaped many African capitals confronting explosive informal growth. Its significance is debated: it provides an integrating reference for investment, yet critics question the capacity of formal master planning to steer a city where most development occurs outside regulatory channels.

What shaped it

Sources

Open it on the interactive timeline →
hub.toekom.st — History of Urbanism · an interactive timeline of 850 planned cities across 6,000 years.