From the riverbanks of Dawa River in Fikow Khalalio to Nairobi and Nakuru, Malindi to Migori and Moyale, Kenya’s urban spaces are expanding at unprecedented rates. These changes—some visible, others insidious—are shaped by land speculation, real estate booms, new infrastructure and policy shifts. Yet amid this whirlwind of transformation, one thing remains clear: urban development is outpacing urban planning.
As Kenya Institute of Planners prepares to host the 19th Annual Planners Regional East Africa Regional Convention transformative five-day convention themed “Transformative Planning for People, Land and Country: Strengthening Land Governance, Food Systems and Climate Resilience through Inclusive Development Planning,” the urgency of addressing the urban planning crisis has never been greater.
Co-hosted by the Kenya Institute of Planners, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Council of Governors, this forum comes at a critical time when urban planning policy makers and planning professionals are being called to the frontlines of sustainable development.
The unfolding urban crisis
Urban planning in Kenya has become largely reactive rather than proactive. Settlements arise, often informally, and only after people move in do calls emerge for roads, water, sanitation and schools. Instead of guiding development, many county governments are merely chasing it—an approach that breeds inequality, congestion and land conflicts.
Before the 2010 Constitution, local authorities actively zoned and managed land use. Today, these responsibilities rest with both national and county governments, but enforcement has grown weak. Illegal developments flourish, while approved plans gather dust on government shelves. It’s not a lack of vision – Kenya has no shortage of plans – but rather a chronic failure to implement them.
Planners: Guardians of order and sustainability
At the heart of this challenge lies an often-under-recognised group: Physical planners. Their role is to determine how land is used, what gets built, what gets preserved and how urban areas and cities can function efficiently and equitably.
These professionals are central to achieving national goals such as food security, climate resilience and economic transformation. Yet in many counties, planners are under-resourced, politically sidelined, or lack the legal backing to enforce their decisions. Without their full participation, Kenya’s urban future risks becoming not only unsustainable but unliveable.
Three pillars for transformation
The upcoming convention in Malindi, Kilifi county, is anchored around three pillars:
1.
People-centred
planning – Development must begin with people. Urban
plans must reflect the lived realities of residents, incorporating their voices
and needs from the outset.
3. Restoration, biodiversity and ecosystem governance – With climate change intensifying, planning must protect green spaces, water sources and biodiversity corridors.
Public participation: From tokenism to real engagement
Kenya’s Constitution enshrines public participation, but in practice, this principle is often reduced to a formality. Too many planning meetings happen behind closed doors, or with only a few elite voices heard.
If Kenya is to build cities that are
inclusive and resilient, citizens must be engaged not just as passive
recipients but as co-creators of urban space. From business owners to youth
groups, farmers to tenants, all stakeholders must be brought into the planning
conversation.
Planning as a national imperative
Kenya is at a crossroads. Will we allow urban sprawl, inequality, and land conflicts to deepen? Or will we chart a new path – anchored in proactive, participatory and professional planning?
To do so, we must:
- Ensure every urban area has a comprehensive, enforceable physical and land
use development plan.
- Empower and equip county planning departments to lead,
not follow, urban growth.
- Promote active citizenship and public participation in planning
decisions.
- Move from paper plans to real-world implementation.
Urban planning is not just a technical process – it is a nation-building exercise. It determines whether our cities are engines of opportunity or breeding grounds for conflict.
As the convention unfolds in Malindi this November, it is a clarion call: Kenya’s planners must be supported, elevated and unleashed to lead the transformation our cities so urgently need.
The time for planning is now.
Alio is the planning and urban development executive in Mandera county
