Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on Thursday, March 12 held a meeting with County Executive Committee members at his private Upper Hill office over the development of a city within Nairobi.
Nairobi Lands, Urban Planning, Renewal, Housing and Project Management CECM Charles Kerich appraised the executive committee on the need to declare a Special Planning Area for the Nairobi Central Railway Station and its surroundings.
The target area includes the Nairobi Railway Station and its surrounding bound by Haile Sellasie Avenue, Uhuru Highway, Bunyala Road, Commercial Street and Landhies Road measuring 172 hectares (425 Acres).
Kerich sought the concurrence to partner with stakeholders, including the National Government towards mobilising resources for the realisation of the project, planning for the area, formation of policy guidelines, regulations and development control standards for the declared area.
After extensive deliberation, the committee resolved that it ratifies the declaration of the Special Planning Area, and publication of the project in the Kenya Gazette.
The committee further approved the preparation of a budget to meet part of the cost of preparing the Local Development plan.
Lands CECM Kerich had put out a notice declaring the project target area as a special planning area, which read as follows;
The Nairobi County government in conjunction with the Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development hereby notifies property owners, potential developers and the public that the area of the Nairobi Railway Station and its surrounding bound by Haile Sellasie Avenue, Uhuru Highway, Bunyala Road, Commercial Street and Landhies Road measuring 172 hectares (425 Acres) has been declared a Special Planning Area with effects from the date of this Notice for a period of one year, with provision for extension.
The main objective of the declaration is to facilitate the preparation of a participatory planning process towards realisation of a sustainable Local Development Plan for the area.
The plan will complement the existing Central Business District (CBD) and transform the main Central railway Station and its immediate environs into a world-class railway city comprising mixed-use development, open spaces and multimodal transportation system through harmonized policy guidelines, regulations and standards for buildings and other forms of development into a single reference framework (one-stop-shop) for developers and regulatory agencies with regard to development control processes.
