| dc.description.abstract | The Physical Development of peri-urban areas has
raised considerable concern in planning policy for the
urban areas in Kenya. These peri-urban areas have
shown considerable inconsistency with the orderly
planned development of the towns in which they are
found.
A case has been made that the peri-urban problems
in Kakamega intensified following the Municipal boundary
extension of 1971 that included these areas. Although
it has been argued that one way of controlling fringe
areas is by extending the town boundary to include
these areas, we have found that mere boundary
extension does not automatically eliminate the problems
of uncontrolled developments in the fringe areas.
We found that the boundary extensions without proper
policing machinery creates a fertile environment for
Land speculation. Urgent measures have therefore been
called for to deal with these areas.
We set out to examine the nature and extent of
the current peri-urban problems in Shirere, the ultimate
aim was to propose policy measures that would help
promote orderly physical development in these fringe
areas at minimum social and economic costs.
Although the current rate of rural-urban migration
may be said to be the driving force of peri-urban problems,
this has not been serious in Kakamega, where in-migration
rate is rather low, the cornerstone of the current
problems in Shirere has been the land tenure system
in the area and the current housing shortage in the
town area, that has led to intensification of substandard
housing in the fringe areas of the town,
there is notable absence of policing the areas and
hence the freedom of the land owners to carry out urban
type of developments without official guidance.
It was felt that Shirere area would serve as
a basis for making appropriate land use policies
since most of the fringe problems have surfaced in
the area. Shirere sub-location is situated to the
south and south-west of Kakamega town and covers a
total area· of 19 sq.km., about 50% of the total
municipal area.
An analysis of the current problems in the area
has been split into, physical, social, economic and
legal aspects, these broad categories have been used
to examine the current problems, their nature, extent
and implications to the development of tile area under
study and the town as a whole.
Many and varied problems have surfaced in Shirere,
there are problems related to land tenure system,
speculation, lack of co-ordination in the provision of
services, inefficient control measures and acute
deficiencies in,the provision of in services and desired
community facilities. One of the serious problems that
has emerged is lack of appropriate measures to control
the ongoing developments, this has led to mixed land
and
uses Ian undesirable rate of uncontrolled developments.
These shortcomings have been attributed to lack of
resources to deploy the needed manpower for policing
these areas.
It has been found that there are certain factors
that have contributed to an influx of people into Shirere
as opposed to other fringe areas, these factors are for
example, the nearness of the area to the town, water
availability, availability of cheaper housing and the
fertility of the soil.
It has therefore been considered that appropriate
land use policies must be designed to create a better
environment in fringe areas where people are happy to work
and live in. Stringent legal measures have been suggested
which will help to strengthen the current weakness in the
administration and management of the fringe areas.
Policies for the improvement of fringe areas have
been given, though it has been noted that some of the
envisaged policies can best be approached from the National
level. Policies have been suggested which call for
additional facilities in Shirere, an agri-residential
suburb has been suggested, some policies that aim at
curbing speculation have also been given. Legal enactments
with greater powers of control to the local authorities
have been given.
Having recognized that there is need to realign land
use planning policies to deal with the immediate needs
in Kakamega as well as its peri-urban areas, the study
has concluded by recommending comprehensive planning not
only for all the areas within the municipal boundary but
also for the areas that fall immediately on the town
borders, This will eliminate any disorders in development
in the event of a boundary extension and will have the effect
of minimizing the problems compared to what has hitherto................................................. | en_US |
