Kipruto Thomas
29 June 2011
opinion
Nairobi — Reading a feature article titled “The culprits behind the death of physical planning and beauty” (DN2, June 23, 2011), I could not help but get troubled by its bias.
The views of both the writer and a big percentage of those interviewed were skewed. Physical planning, contrary to what was advanced as the truth, is not anywhere near death.
The director of physical planning is responsible for, among other issues, preparing regional physical development and local development plans in the country. He may delegate some of these duties to appointed officers.
After the plans have been prepared and approved by the minister of Lands, local authorities take over to oversee their implementation. This is where the problem comes in.
The Local Government Act (Cap 265) provides for the establishment, by the minister, of local authorities, including the City Council of Nairobi, municipal, urban, county council, and town councils.
Every local authority has the power to implement the prepared local physical development plans, approve/disapprove urban development plans, and oversee sustainable urban growth by formulating by-laws that regulate zoning in respect of use and density of development.
Nairobi uses a masterplan developed in 1948. We should not complain that it has not changed things in the city. At the time it was drafted, it was meant for 100,000 colonial residents.
The same masterplan has been used to guide the development of cities in other parts of the world that are now light years ahead of us in terms of development.
It is our collective lack of will to implement ideas and the usual blame game that have kept us where we are.
The 1973 Nairobi Urban Study Group suggested improvements on the 1948 masterplan for transportation in Nairobi.
Some of the “fruits” are the by-passes (the Eastern, Northern, and Southern by-passes) meant to ease congestion in Nairobi’s CBD.
The claim that Nairobi’s planners lack professionalism may be true for other types of planners (for example, economic and social), but not the physical planners, who are guided by The Physical Planners Registration Act, 1996.
The report said these planners are regulated by the Kenya Institute of Planners (KIP). This is not true. For starters, KIP is a professional association whose membership is optional.
The Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) was formed in 1934 and it is a fallacy to say that the AAK town planning chapter controls physical planners in Kenya.
It is the Physical Planners Registration Board that administers professional examinations (after two years of post-graduate experience in physical planning) so that one can be registered as a practising professional.
The board can be likened, in the manner of operation, to the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board.
In the same way that there are rogue persons calling themselves doctors, drivers, nurses, or engineers, there will be those who will call themselves physical planners, yet they are not.
The board can only regulate the people in the register, who can be charged for professional misconduct. The punishment is meted out according to The Physical Planners (Professional Misconduct) (Procedure) Rules, 1998.
Sadly, it is difficult to bring crooks before the board since it does not have powers to investigate. The crooks, if caught, are liable for the criminal act of unprofessional conduct.
Crooks are giving professionally trained individuals a bad reputation. For a safe building to come up, certain professionals are crucial — architects, engineers, planners, quantity surveyors, land surveyors, and contractors.
A physical planner should not be asked why a sewer burst, neither should an architect be told to carry out sub-divisions. Each professional plays a specific role, but all geared towards a common goal.
Planners, if they were the only professionals in the management of cities, could be blamed for being “fixed” by politicians.
The system we have adopted for our country dictates that politicians are the ministers, who owe their allegiance to certain political parties and beliefs.
Kipruto Thomas, a freelance writer, has just completed an urban and regional planning undergraduate degree course at the University of Nairobi.
AllAfrica – All the Time
Visit link:
Fake Planners Ruining the Game