What is it about?
Theory and practice of high-capacity infrastructure projects are the major focus in the development of countries in the Global South. Aiming at a more fine-grained understanding of such projects, this publication studies the Thika Highway Improvement Project (THIP) and its outcomes in the peri-urban Northern Nairobi Metropolitan Region. The THIP is a large transportation infrastructure project that expanded the dual carriageway Thika Road into an eight-lane highway from 2008 until 2012. Based on a strategic mix of methodological approaches, such as interviews with experts in Kenya, literature research and field visits, the ‘black box’ THIP is opened up. In the empirical analysis, the project’s idea, its design, and its implementation are studied. It is concluded that the project’s outcomes are ambivalent – partly living up to the expectations of THIP proponents but not resulting in shared benefits for all concerned stakeholders due to flaws in managing the development in this peri-urban transport corridor area, thereby fitting into the Kenyan context of politics and planning.
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Why is it important?
Peri-urban growth is one of the biggest challenges in urbanization across the globe. It is a deeply political matter, entails many social and economic challenges and opportunities, is characterized by distinct features not extensively studied in planning research, and is closely interlinked with concerns about environmental sustainability and the use of natural resources, such as land and water. In combination with the topic of a large-scale infrastructure project, this makes for a highly relevant and exciting research topic.
Perspectives
This publication is my master thesis, in which I offer a multi-disciplinary perspective onto large infrastructure projects in peri-urban areas, reflecting on road infrastructure economics, transport mobility and urban form, peri-urbanization and land and housing markets, urban studies in the context of the global south, and the role of planning. I conclude the analysis with policy recommendations regarding planning in Kenya, project design and implementation, land development in peri-urban areas, and the broader institutional setting.
Mr Renard Teipelke
Asian Development Bank
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Thika Highway Improvement Project, January 2014, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-04539-5.
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Resources
Urban Livelihoods, Institutions and Inclusive Governance in Nairobi
This study formulates conditions for sustainable impacts of inclusive and responsive governance through ‘invited spaces’offered by the government and ‘claimed spaces’ created by the poor.
Towards a Political Economy of Transportation Policy and Practice in Nairobi
The network of key decision-making actors in the transportation sector is small and exclusive and works in an environment where the institutions for inclusive, transparent and integrated metropolitan land use and transport planning do not exist, and the problems involved are highly complex.
Infrastructure And Economic Development In Sub-Saharan Africa
This paper offers an empirical assessment of the impact of infrastructure development on growth and inequality, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper uses a comparative cross-regional perspective to place Africa's experience in the international context.
The urban challenge in Africa: Growth and management of its large cities
Part I Globalization and Africa: The challenge of urban growth; Part II The "mega-cities" of Africa; Part III The dynamics of city development; Part IV Rising to the challenge
Urbanisation Imperatives for Africa: Transcending Policy Inertia
This publication by the African Centre for Cities seeks to offer a resource to policy activists in African governments, development agencies, social movements, universities and business sectors who are committed to addressing the current policy lacuna. We have prepared the publication as a resource for a broad network of people located in various institutions who understand that the status quo must shift but may not always the a clear agenda for doing so.
Urban land management in Africa
Contains papers from the "Regional Conference on Urban Land Management Practice Eastern African Context" held in Nairobi in February, 2000, and from the "International Conference on the Interaction between Formal and Informal Urban Land Management in Africa" held in Dar es Salaam in November, 1999.
Contributors
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