Urban infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa – harnessing land values, housing and transport: Nairobi Case Study
Abstract
This report is an overview of planning, property development and urban infrastructure finance in the City of Nairobi, Kenya, undertaken as part of the ‘Urban infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa – Harnessing land values’ project for DFID. It is intended as a case study to demonstrate the extent to which land-based financing is taking place in the City and understand the factors which influence successes and failures. The demand for property in Nairobi is shown to be extraordinarily high, driven by with rapid economic growth, urban growth, and land speculation. There is, therefore, considerable potential for land-based financing. To some extent this is taking place, as described above. However, arrangements are ad hoc and unstructured and there are concerns that the infrastructure which is provided through ‘in kind’ contributions by developers is often patchy and inefficient. The fact that there are relatively active property developers in the City and that they manage to access finance in one way or another provides a starting point for improved land-based financing. However, for this to become effective, political interference in the property development process needs to be addressed; there needs to be a much improved City administration to negotiate arrangements with developers and manage funds raised; and the national government must actively support this financing mechanism.
Citation
African Centre for Cities. Urban infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa – harnessing land values, housing and transport: Nairobi Case Study. African Centre for Cities, (2015) 56 pp.
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