Excitement As Construction Of Wiyuririe Smart Town Takes Off
Updated on: Jul 21, 2019
Nanyuki, Laikipia, 20th July, 2019..Until two weeks ago Wiyumiririe was a non-descript sleepy emerging urban centre not different from numerous others lying on the Nyeri-Nyahururu highway. Not so anymore. The urban centre is now in frenzy of activity with masses of building block strewn all over, men and women working like busy bees as they carry materials and other building staff.
The air of excitement has been hanging over the small town as construction of the first of 11 earmarked smart towns by the County Government of Laikipia began in earnest two weeks ago as part of the promises of Governor Ndiritu Muriithi during his campaigns for the seat. Others urban centres earmarked for this initiative are Ol Jabet, Naibor, Karuga, Sipili, Kinamba as well as Nyahururu and Nanyuki.
The interesting of the aspect of this concept is the involvement of the residents in the planning of their town and making decisions on how it should be, paving of the streets and pedestrian walkways, giving properties street address, creating public recreational parks.
Long before the actual construction, the residents of each of the earmarked towns convened several town hall meetings ostensibly to plan their town with urban planners offering mere guidance.
This exercise has seen residents of the areas take part in key roles as deciding on the names of their streets, sharing their opinion on where various public amenities should be at and also deciding the types of structures they want in their towns.
Ever visited a town and you felt lost in it, you could feel there is something not okay with the town but you could not pin down what it was?
Well these are some of the reasons that make it necessary for town planning. Town planning is the process of managing land resources. It involves regulating existing and new developments and also laying plans for the future management of the town. Planning guides economic stability and growth in the community. It also allows provision of public services to meet the general needs of the community, and to protect the environment.
This gets Laikipia in the books of Kenyan History for being the first county that is involving its residents in the major decision making process of defining and designing their towns.
Thursday 17th July H.E the Governor Ndiritu Muriithi, local leaders and the jovial residents inspected the progress of the ongoing works in the town as part of the smart town initiative.
This initiative is geared towards creating an enabling environment for the business community and also to draw more investors into our towns. Everybody appreciates well organized environments as it is in such environs that much is achieved.
What initially started as a distant idea materialized in to a reality a fortnight ago. The paving of the streets has taken off using the cobble-stones. Roads paved using this cheap technology lasts for more than 200 years. The community is providing labour. One hundred people providing unskilled labour 20 others being trained by experts.
This workers is paid a total about Kshs500,000 every week. This partly explains the aura of excitement hanging over Wiyumiririe. Perhaps, the resident may in future consider rebranding the town by changing its name!
The air of excitement has been hanging over the small town as construction of the first of 11 earmarked smart towns by the County Government of Laikipia began in earnest two weeks ago as part of the promises of Governor Ndiritu Muriithi during his campaigns for the seat. Others urban centres earmarked for this initiative are Ol Jabet, Naibor, Karuga, Sipili, Kinamba as well as Nyahururu and Nanyuki.
The interesting of the aspect of this concept is the involvement of the residents in the planning of their town and making decisions on how it should be, paving of the streets and pedestrian walkways, giving properties street address, creating public recreational parks.
Long before the actual construction, the residents of each of the earmarked towns convened several town hall meetings ostensibly to plan their town with urban planners offering mere guidance.
This exercise has seen residents of the areas take part in key roles as deciding on the names of their streets, sharing their opinion on where various public amenities should be at and also deciding the types of structures they want in their towns.
Ever visited a town and you felt lost in it, you could feel there is something not okay with the town but you could not pin down what it was?
Well these are some of the reasons that make it necessary for town planning. Town planning is the process of managing land resources. It involves regulating existing and new developments and also laying plans for the future management of the town. Planning guides economic stability and growth in the community. It also allows provision of public services to meet the general needs of the community, and to protect the environment.
This gets Laikipia in the books of Kenyan History for being the first county that is involving its residents in the major decision making process of defining and designing their towns.
Thursday 17th July H.E the Governor Ndiritu Muriithi, local leaders and the jovial residents inspected the progress of the ongoing works in the town as part of the smart town initiative.
This initiative is geared towards creating an enabling environment for the business community and also to draw more investors into our towns. Everybody appreciates well organized environments as it is in such environs that much is achieved.
What initially started as a distant idea materialized in to a reality a fortnight ago. The paving of the streets has taken off using the cobble-stones. Roads paved using this cheap technology lasts for more than 200 years. The community is providing labour. One hundred people providing unskilled labour 20 others being trained by experts.
This workers is paid a total about Kshs500,000 every week. This partly explains the aura of excitement hanging over Wiyumiririe. Perhaps, the resident may in future consider rebranding the town by changing its name!
