Skyscraper buildings will be constructed in Nairobi City if a proposed zoning framework is adopted by the Nairobi County Assembly.
The plan entails allowing tall buildings to be erected in locations like Eastleigh, Kileleshwa, and Lavington, with Governor Johnson Sakaja hinting at the possibility of even taller structures in other parts of the city.
The Governor argued that the County Government will invest heavily in sewer and water infrastructure to support the new city plan. “Traffic, health and educational facilities as well as provision for green spaces will be mandatory in this framework,” he added.
In response to the controversy surrounding the development of high-rise buildings in Kileleshwa and Lavington, the Governor emphasized that Nairobi is on a path of inevitable expansion, necessitating the need for additional space to accommodate its growing population of Kenyans.
Kileleshwa had been initially categorized as Zone Four by the Nairobi City Council, where no permits were granted for buildings going beyond the fourth-floor.
“I have heard people complaining that areas of Kileleshwa and Lavington, our homes were one-storey now apartments have come. Nairobi is 696 square kilometers in 2050 it will have a population of 10.5 million people. Will we expand Nairobi? No the only place we have to go is up” he said, insisting on the need to fix sewerage and water infrastructure to accommodate new city plan.
The governor further stated that President William Ruto gave him the green light to construct high-rise apartments in the city after scrapping an existing restriction that remained in force for eons.
