KISUMU

ISUD-PLAN

PUBLIC PRESENTATION
April, 2014

FOREWORD

The initiation of the Kisumu Integrated Strategic Urban Development

Plan (ISUD) is in line with the County development priorities as articulated in the County Government Act, Urban Areas and Cities Act,
Physical Planning Act, the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth
and Employment Creation and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, among others. At the international level, it makes reference to
the global goals of sustainable human settlements in an urbanizing
world; and the Millennium Development Goals. This corresponds
with the mandatory requirement in the Constitution of Kenya in ensuring that all human settlements are appropriately planned to facilitate socioeconomic development of all the regions of the country.
The Plan focuses on spatial aspects of development, in the
context of socio-economic environment. The overall goal of
the ISUD-Plan is to provide a framework for Kisumus growth
and development and to endow those in charge with both the
knowledge and the tools to address the challenges of urban
growth and local development for a period of 15 to 20 years.

Kisumu ISUD-Plan / Public presentation

The planning approach used in preparing the ISUD-Plan is an opportunity to further improve the participatory planning methodology,
which it has embraced. The approach was all inclusive, providing
for direct involvement of the local people in identifying development
issues; and consultation with various stakeholders and formation
of partnerships with diverse local and international development
partners. In the context of this Plan, the vision of the City of Kisumu is to be A vibrant City , on the shores of the largest fresh water lake in Africa, able to accommodate & control growth while supporting the development of a multi-polar city through leveraging
its economic assets in Industrial Processing, Knowledge Production, Ultra Modern Transport System and Green Cultural Tourism.
Partnerships that were built with strategic partners, especially Agence
Franaise de Dveloppement - AFD, Maseno University and the
UN-Habitat among others, should be sustained for the benefit of all
involved. It is hoped that lessons learnt in the preparation of this Plan
will add to the pool of experiences in the County and Country at large.
The teamwork among the planners in the County and City Planning
Departments and their counterparts from the various line ministries,
academic institutions, regional bodies, Nodalis Conseil and other development agencies, demonstrated during the preparation of the plan
should be seen as a starting point towards implementation of the plan.

The approach used in preparing the Plan provided an opportunity to

open up dialogue among the various development partners. The real
challenge at hand is to develop a sustainable framework for implementing the Plan. The County Government of Kisumu is committed
to facilitating the process of preparing a sustainable implementation
framework. It is my hope that this plan will make a big and positive
difference in the lives of the people of the County of Kisumu and the
East Africa region at large.

H.E. JACK N. RANGUMA

GOVERNOR

Kisumu ISUD-Plan / Public presentation

THE PLAN TIMELINE

Four major public forums

Sept.
2012

Nov.
2012

Aug.
2013

Urban inventory and Survey

Focus Group Discussion

Oct.
2013

Nov.
2013

Jan.
2014

March
2014

Request for
public comments

Consultations process
Key technical meetings :
Acceptance of
Inception Report

Technical Meeting
on ISUD-Plan
Kisumu ISUD-Plan / Public presentation

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Integrated Strategic Urban Development Plan (ISUD-Plan) has

been developed at the instigation of the Kenyan Ministry of local governments (MoLG) and the Kisumu County Government, previously
as Kisumu Municipal Council (KMC) with the support of the Agence
Franaise de Dveloppement (AFD). Its purpose is to guide strategic
investments in the third city of Kenya, including an AFDs 40 million
Euro financing facility. This facility, the Kisumu Urban Project (KUP)
is managed separately but in line with the ISUD-Plan Capital Investment Strategy.
The purpose of the Integrated Strategic Urban Development Plan
(ISUD-Plan) is to provide a framework for Kisumus growth and development and to endow those in charge with both the knowledge
and the tools to address the challenges of urban growth and local
development.
The ISUD-Plan is led by a holistic approach encompassing all key
aspects of urban development taking into account : geography and
the specificity of Kisumus unique location on the shore of Lake Victoria ; history and how the modern city was created as a trading post
named Port Florence on a site which Luo name, Kisumo, means a
place to trade, economy with a city primarily organized as a landing
point for flying boats, terminus for the Uganda railway and freight
and passenger port serving the whole Lake region. This influential
city rapidly grew in size and population after independence in 1963
but its dynamism was severely affected by the collapse og the East
Africa Community in 1977. The organisation was reviced at the turn
of the 20th century and Kisumu has an important role to play as a

Kisumu ISUD-Plan / Public presentation

major urban centre at the heart of the region. The ISU-Plan aims at
contributing to Kisumus revival.
The ISUD-Plan is built in three parts, first, it brings together the knowledge needed to take informed decisions with the findings of an urban
inventory and analysis of the city dynamics exposed in part I of this
document and compiled into a GIS-based urban database; second,
it provides planning guidance with regard to land use, growth areas, mobility, informal settlements and housing, commercial activities
and, special planning areas ; third, it identifies needed investments,
stemming on the one hand from the gaps identified through the inventory, from planning guidance of the plan on the other hand. These
form the capital investment strategy.
Design of the ISUD-Plan presented in part II has been underpinned
by a few planning principles based on good practice and understanding of trends, pressures and the assets of Kisumu : growth control through adequate land release, infill development and re-zoning;
mobility through overhauling and extension of the transport grid; adequate and equitable repartition of services and amenities ; adequate housing supply; valorisation of key assets and potential, Lake
Victoria and location in the sub-region, in view of promoting a city
which is more inclusive, denser and conducive to business growth.

INTEGRATED PLANNING APPROACH

CONDITIONS
ANALYSIS
DEMOGRAPHIE

LEGAL
FRAMEWORK

Sectoral surveys

FRAMEWORKS
ANALYSIS
URBAN INVENTORY

Demography

ECONOMY
& BUSINESS

TRANSPORTATION
& MOBILITY

Land uses
Transportation

Institutional
framework

CAPITAL
INVESTMENT STRATEGY

Water sector

PARTICIPATION
GOVERNANCE

INTEGRATED
PLANNING

INFRASTRUCTURE
& SERVICES

GIS-BASED CITY MODEL

Power
Sanitation
Health

PUBLIC
REALM

HERITAGE

ENVIRONMENT

URBAN DEVELOPMENT
STRATEGY

Legal &
regulatory
tramework

On-going and
planned projects

Education
Markets
& trading

FINAL CAPITAL INVESTMENT

STRATEGY

HOUSING

KISUMU INTEGRATED STRATEGIC URBAN DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Taking into consideration all influencing factors

The planning and design process

Kisumu ISUD-Plan / Public presentation

HOW TO USE
THIS DOCUMENT

The ISUD-Plan has been prepared primarily for the use of the city
planning authority. It is a holistic and practical document including
essential baseline data; the Plan itself; a Capital Investment Strategy
and; implementation recommendations. It is organized in three parts:
Part 1, Understanding Kisumu, the Urban Inventory shows the results of the sectoral surveys carried out as part of the preparation of
the plan. It is the knowledge tool for the use of Kisumu leaders. This
part constitutes a hard copy version of the GIS-based city model. In
addition it includes, for each sector, a sector map, a description, an
analysis, recommendations, short term actions, and a capital investment plan. The GIS-based city model can be updated as the plan is
implemented or as other projects are delivered.
Part 2, Planning for Kisumu Future constitutes the ISUD-Plan. It is
the reference planning document for the city. The Plan will inform and
guide planning and investment initiatives by the Count and relevant
line ministries. It supersedes previous planning documents.

Part 3, Implementing the ISUD-Plan, including :

a Capital Investment Strategy (CIS), which lists short, medium and
long term investments. Investments have been identified and selected based, on the one hand, on findings from the Urban Inventory
and, on the second hand on requirements stemming from the Plan.
The CIS will be used primarily as a guide for the AFDs KUP. It is also
intended to steer public investment planning by key players identified
in the above diagram and
Implementation guidelines, which describes how to translate the Plan
into reality so that change becomes visible on the ground. This part
includes recommendations on which actions to embark upon first as
well as a brief description of studies to be undertaken with regard to
KUP-financed investments in view of the preparation of terms of reference to commissioned them.

Kisumu ISUD-Plan / Public presentation

VISION
FOR KISUMU
A vision consists into a holistic portrait of a desired city drawn with
aspirations of the largest array of stakeholders. It is a projection in
the future of what the city could become based on its present assets and potential as well as gaps and needs. From the Vision can
stem emerging strategies for urban development. These strategies can partly be implemented through urban planning.

THE CITY ON THE LAKE

A vibrant City,

VISION FORMING PROCESS

PERCEPTION
AND
DIAGNOSTIC

ASPIRATIONS
AND HOW TO
GET THERE

3
FORMULATION
OF THE VISION

on the shores of the largest fresh water lake in Africa, able to accommodate & control growth while supporting the development of
a multipolar city through leveraging its economic assets in Industrial Processing, Knowledge Production, Ultra-Modern Transport
System and Green Cultural Tourism.
ISUD-PLAN VISIONING
Workshop
22-23 November 2012

Kisumu ISUD-Plan / Public presentation

RATIONALE

Planning for Kisumus development must address a number of inter-related issues described at length in Understanding Kisumu and
recalled here:
The citys growth pattern has been mainly organic for the last 50 years
with only a few new parts of it and a few buildings produced through
planned development. This dynamic of growth has hardly been supported by public investments neither kept in check through timely land
release and appropriate zoning. Housing deficit has grown steadily
and has been bridged mainly by way of spontaneous responses either through small scale community development by private developers or, for the majority, through self-built substandard housing.
The enduring attractivity of Kisumu has not been on a par with livelihood and employment opportunities: major economic actors and activities have either disappeared or became dormant, such as transport and logistics with port and railway business at a standstill for two
decades, industry with cotton mill and brewery now closed, sugar
striving, rice and aquaculture on a slow take off and tourism hardly
developed despite the region high potential.

10 Kisumu ISUD-Plan / Public presentation

As much as the city could not reinvent itself, it remained ensconced in

a gridiron layout mostly intended at the time to serve port and railway
activities and to render in space the social divide of the colonial organization. In addition to a growing slum belt circling it almost entirely, Kisumu remained pushed away from the lake by the KRC holding
despite the area not being in use anymore.
City and county are at a turning point today. Kisumu is manageable
in size and in population; its environment is particularly conducive to
growth in sectors with high job generation potential: tourism, transport
and logistics and related services, agriculture and fishing and related
activities, higher education. The ISUD-Plan is intended to help free
Kisumus potential and to help its authorities and residents capitalize
it. A successful outcome however will require a strong mobilization of
all actors, public and private sector, civil society.

RATIONALE

Kisumu ISUD-Plan / Public presentation 11

DESIGN BRIEF

Kisumu is one of Kenya Vision 2030 flagship city; as such the city has
been assigned a specific role within the country national development policy and will benefit from important public investments. Vision
2030 acknowledges the pivotal role the city could play in the planned
overhauling of the larger region transport infrastructure a role Kisumu had for more than half of the last century and which capital investments in rail (Mombasa - Kisumu - Kampala railway), port (planned
PPP for Kisumu port development and operation, redevelopment of
lines to Jinja and Mwanza, new one to Kemondo Bay) and road (KTTCA-NC) infrastructure as well as the ISUD-Plan should revitalize.
The ISUD-Plan should help Kisumus development momentum through
the provision of a renewed spatial organization improving living conditions for all and conducive to business.
In this view the Plan proposals, developed according to an integrated
approach considering the variety of urban sectors and scales, intend
to:

Provide for a predicted population growth of around 300 000

people (45% increase) by 2030
Guide urban growth so as to contain the urban footprint extension, achieve an efficient density and an adequate repartition
of services and amenities
Reconnect the city and the lake to make Kisumu a true lakeside city
Provide better mobility and accessibility to and within the city
Re-integrate and restructure the slum belt
Prevent sprawl and slum formation through adapted housing
supply and zoning
Provide land for undersupplied land uses, in adapted size and
location
Protect and valorize Kisumus natural environment
Protect and valorize Kisumus heritage
Improve public realm

12 Kisumu ISUD-Plan / Public presentation

OUR CITY AND ITS REGION

SOUTH SUDAN

ETHIOPIA

Kampala

SOMALIA

Eldoret

Jinja

Kakamega forest
reserve

Kisumu

Port Bell

Kisumu
Lake Nakuru
National Park

Nairobi

Bukoba

Kigali

Eldoret

KENYA

UGANDA

Lamu

RWANDA

Kemondo
Bay

BURUNDI

Mt
Kenya

Mwanza

5199

Mwanza
Ruma Nat
Park

Karungu

Mombasa

Masai Mara

TANZANIA
Indian Ocean
Port Boma

Nairobi

Serengeti

Kisumu Regional
Transportation Context
Transport links (rail and waterways)
Pipeline project
Roads
Victoria lake
0 50 100

200

Kisumu ISUD-Plan / Public presentation 13

TOOLS

The ISUD-Plan calls upon a range of planning tools to contribute to Kisumu achieving its development objectives, as set by the city leaders
through a number of consultations and a sustained dialogue with a
variety of stakeholders. Each chapter in this part shows how they are
applied and how, together, they form the Kisumu Integrated Strategic
Urban Development Plan, the blueprint for Kisumus future.
Planning tools used for the ISUD-Plan include:
Management of the natural environment in order to protect it,
valorize it and protect people from natural hazards through
zoning regulations
Creation of 5 Special Planning Areas identified according
to their high strategic value and for which specific planning
guidelines will apply (Nyalenda and Manyatta A & B, KRC lake
front holding, CBD, coastal area)
Identification of 10 Densification Areas allowing infill development and retrofitting of under - used pieces of publicly owned
land, a land use schedule is proposed for each of them

14 Kisumu ISUD-Plan / Public presentation

Market strategy with refurbishment of selected markets, creation of a wholesale market, creation of souks and of a network
of kiosks, all intending to rekindle trade and better street and
handicraft vendors conditions
Provision of space for land uses currently under-supplied
through zoning and planning guidance, especially economic
activities and housing including affordable housing
Provision of space within designated areas to accommodate
predictable spatial needs based on demographic projection
Creation of new sub centers destined to attract and anchor urban extension. Sub centers are located where a high concentration of transit-linked activities is already emerging; a typical
land use schedule is proposed for each of them
The implementation of the Plan is expected to provide a robust growth
impetus as long as it is timely, coordinated between proposed initiatives and with other major investments.

TWO SCENARIOS FOR KISUMU

Land needeed in the

future if we do nothing

The size of our city today

Scenario 1 : if we do nothing

Land needeed in the

future with the Plan

The size of our city today

Scenario 2 : with the Plan

Kisumu ISUD-Plan / Public presentation 15

LAND NEEDS

Kisumu today

Kisumu growing around the lake

16 Kisumu ISUD-Plan / Public presentation

Kisumu according to the Plan

THE HAPA MAP

Here, where the slope is dangerous, we will have only a few

little houses, keep trees to hold
the ground.

Here we will have a

new commercial area

Here is where Kisumu will

grow with new homes,
schools, dispensaries,
playgrounds, shops and
roads.

Here, where there is

a lot of room, we will
build new homes.

Here is where
factories and
workshops will
be settled.

Here, more and new roads

will be built, with potable
water, public lighting, parks
and also better homes.

Here we will have a new

neighbourhood with
shops, offices and flats

Here will be the new

passenger and
freight train station

Here we will protect the

coast for everyone to use
it, for the health of the
lake and for tourism.

Here we will have

a family park along
the river.

Here, we take back the

lakefront with a big park
with cafs, restaurants,
family promenade, boating
and a whole new
neighbourhood. We relocate the freight port.

Here, we will remember

the history of our city by
keeping older buildings.

Here we will protect

the wetlands for future
generations and for
the lake health and for
fish.

c Nodalis Conseil

Kisumu ISUD-Plan / Public presentation 17

NODALIS Conseil
Adresse : 14, rue Cambacrs 75008 PARIS, France
Tel : +33 1 53 64 20 60
Fax : +33 1 53 64 20 68
Portable : +33 6 22 81 10 86
http://www.nodalis-conseil.com