EAC to develop integrated urbanisation, population growth plan

Plans are underway to establish an East African regional spatial plan to address population growth, urbanisation and economic growth.

Planners from EAC member states are meeting in Malindi to deliberate on planning for the next decade to address urbanisation and increased population.

Top on the agenda is a spatial framework for the EAC, which will guide and integrate how the regional economies will grow spatially.

The five-day convention has brought together planners, policymakers and counties to develop a 10-year strategy to address population growth and urbanisation challenges.

Labour CS Simon Chelugui said Kenya's planning has changed since it gained independence in 1963.

Chelugui said Kenya has risen from a poor and third world country to a low middle-income economy, adding that the status offers great aspiration for the nation.

"Labour, being a factor of production, means we cannot manage all the three other resources capital, machinery, without manpower," he said.

The CS said physical planning plays a key role in translating social economy and other policies into spatial and physical forms.

He said Kenya's growth rate is 2.3 per cent as of last year, while Tanzania is at 2.9 per cent and Uganda at is 3.3 per cent, adding that at least 83 million people come to the three countries each year.

The CS said urban plans must no longer be "beautiful drawings on paper gathering dust in drawers", as haphazard structures are constructed.

Uganda's Minister of Urbanisation Obiga Kama said there is a lot of evidence of poor planning or no planning at all in the region.

Obiga said EAC countries have an experience of bad planning such as floods, traffic jams, land conflicts and insecurity in the urban areas, which are results of population increase.

He said between 2007-09, their towns from town boards, councils and municipalities and Kampala city were all planned.

The minister added that 70 towns are planned, while 30 towns have running plans, which has ensured order in the urban areas.

"The plan presents the need for land use planning, geographical details up to the rural areas," he said.

He said the rate of rural-urban migration is higher than that of birth.

"The young people with high expectations are the ones who are going to the urban areas and if you don't satisfy their ambitions, it's dangerous,' he said.

Kenya Institute of Planners president  Joakim Nyarangi said the planning convention is meant to strategise for the next phase of the governance structure in Kenya.

Nyarangi said the meeting will enable them to know the lessons learnt and the changes to be done.

"The theme for this year is "Influencing planning and development in the next 10 years by influencing policy and legislation plans".

He said their plan is to push for the EAC integration, adding that there has already been an effort towards that on the economic and political front.

Nyarangi said they also target to enhance spatial planning, which can best be achieved by looking at the East African point of view.

"We have key decision-makers in the counties and we want to emphasise to our communities that failing to plan is planning to fail," he said.

The official said there is a need to develop plans on how to provide for rural production.

Further, he said there are ecological sites such as in the Coastal areas where there is land and sea space that need to be conserved together with terrestrial areas such as rivers and lakes.

He said they will on Friday come up with resolutions that will be taken to the policymakers for action.

Urbanisation and planning PS Charles Hinga said there is a need for governments to implement plans set up by experts.

Hinga said planners have a very difficult job as they need to convince others why planning is important.

"We need to bring back the issue of financing the planning docket but even in your counties, you need to make sure that you have got more planners. Hire them there are so many of them qualified," he said.