He who doesn’t travel thinks it is only his mum who can cook best, is a Kikuyu adage intended to encourage folks to expand their world view.
It is a fitting rejoinder in the ongoing debate about the stalled smart towns programme in Laikipia, for it has become clear that the concept is widely misunderstood.
Most see it as the tarmacking of town roads. Others are seeking examples and wonder, rightfully so, how many jobs the concept can create. So here is an explainer.
First, there is no definitive guide on what smart cities, towns or villages are.
One thing is clear though. There are thousands of initiatives globally that go by the moniker. They vary in size and scope because every town has its own character, challenges and opportunities.
The European Commission has attempted a definition, proposing that a smart city is a place where traditional networks and services are made more efficient by use of digital solutions for the benefit of its inhabitants and businesses.
A smart town goes beyond the use of digital technologies for better resource use. It means upgraded water supply and waste disposal facilities and more efficient ways to light streets and buildings. It also means more interactive and responsive town management, safer public spaces and meeting the needs of the population.
The common aims of smart towns are to improve citizens’ quality of life, increase the competitiveness of the towns and their industries. Smart towns are a major undertaking involving governments, industries, SMEs, investors, banks, and researchers.
The Laikipia Smart Towns Program, was responding to the low level of economic opportunities, and sought to create the basis of increased business activity. Our programme included improvements in core infrastructure, upgrading of health facilities, providing water and sewer, using the national optic fibre backbone, and investment promotion.
Borrowing a leaf from Laikipia, Muranga county government allocated Sh175 million for the Smart Cities programme in the 2023-2024 financial year.
Towns such as Murang'a, Maragua, Kiriaini and Kangema have had several streets upgraded, to the delight of citizens, as they are no longer walking and doing business on muddy streets. Street lights have boosted security and lengthened business hours. Citizens say the program is injecting life into previously sleepy towns and spurring business activities.
Timau sits on the border of Meru and Laikipia. Their version of smart towns involves upgrading roads, two modern markets, water supply, building a sewer and waste management.
Italy is bringing its rustic villages back to life, in their version of smart towns. As described by ITS ITALY and ITS Lending on social media, the programme is reshaping the property sector in 60 municipalities, attracting remote workers such as digital nomads and experiential travelers.
India has $5.76 billion Smart Cities Mission, to provide core infrastructure, a clean and sustainable environment, and a high quality of life through the application of 'smart solutions'.
To drive economic growth and enhance the overall quality of life, the mission focuses on comprehensive development across social, economic, physical, and institutional aspects of urban areas.
Resources by the central government are supplemented by equal contributions from the State/Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and additional resources from various sources including though Public Private Partnerships (PPP).
The United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD) launched a Smart City Project in 2021 to provide technical assistance and support to urban policy makers, planners, and city officials for building their cities and making communities safer, smart, efficient, resilient, inclusive, livable and sustainable through smart city solutions.
Celebrated in Muranga and Meru, but moth balled in Laikipia, the smart towns concept is a central theme in Kenya’s urbanisation strategy.
The Kenya Urban Support Program (KUSP) invested $300 million in 700 projects across 59 municipalities as a conditional grant to improve infrastructure in all county headquarters. The successor KUSP II is investing $150 million.
Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Project (KISIP) and KISIP II invested $155 and $165 million respectively from 2011 to improve the living conditions in informal settlements in 85 urban centers in Kenya and provide security of tenure to residents of those settlements.
All four programmes use resources borrowed by the Government of Kenya from the World Bank. Sophisticated county governments have embraced and enhanced these programs.
Laggards and those muddling through have been less supportive, unable or unwilling to grasp the central role or urbanisation in human development.
The writer is the Chairman of Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). Email: [email protected]
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