| dc.description.abstract | Kenyans are faced with an enormous task of
hastening industrial development in support of the
dominant agricultural base in order to attain the
general development objective of improving their living
standards. Various industrialization strategies have
been formulated in order to attain such objectives to
a wider cross-section of the Kenyan population. Chief
among them is the decentralization strategy to
deconcentrate industries from the major congested urban
centres to other smaller ones and to the rural areas.
This study steers towards generating housing strategies
to support industrial development and the general urban
decentralization process; taking Athi River Town as the
case study area.
Central to this study is the fact that, there is a
nationwide problem of housing especially in the large
urban centres which have, over the last two decades and
a half or so, attracted tremendous rural-urban migrants
seeking improved living conditions and especially
employment in the industries and other related sectors.
The main focus of the study is therefore to formulate
better housing strategies for an industrial workforce
in a growing industrial urban centre, of course, bearing
the requirements of a general urban populat10n.
Athi River has a fairly diverse industrial sector
consisting of over 17 manufacturing industries most being
labour intensive employing over 100 workers. It is
Kenya's eighth leading industrial town in terms of
employment in manufacturing and seventh in terms of
earnings in manufacturing. In terms of employment, the
prominence of manufacturing (83.5%) over other types of
employment is unrivaled in Kenya, but takes a second
position after Thika in terms of proportion of earnings
from manufacturing (52.6%) to the total. This suggests
that, most of the labour force in the town consists of
an increasing number of unskilled and semi-skilled
labourers who have limited economic capability to occupy
or own good quality housing.
The study did appreciate the housing problem in the
town inspite of the various agencies that have responded
by providing more housing. The study established the
enormous role staff housing has and can play in providing
better housing more effectively for industrial workers
than any other methods. The flexibility of private
housing initiatives, albeit often with compromised
standards, irrespective of affordability, offers
substantial opportunity and a house for everyone. Public
housing is most commendable in providing good quality
and relatively cheap housing to a general urban population
(-at least compared to staff housing) particularly
within the affordable limits of more low income
households. As such, it is established that the roles
of the three methods are indispensable if the housing
problem is to be progressively surmounted principally
because of their sectorial but, fairly overlapping
contributions.
Given the dwindling commitment of public resources
on housing, consequent to shifting government policy
away from public housing, this study orientates, as
areas of emphasize, most of the recommended housing
strategies towards mobilizing more resources of the private
sector into housing both from the employer (the industry) to
the worker and the private (individual) housing developer.
This is either collectively, in partnerships or
individually facilitated partly by government policy and
housing associations. The economic realities, however,
dictate continued (at least in the short term) public
sector investment in rental housing developed with fairly
long loan repayment periods to house especially more low
income workers as well as provision of trunk services to
facilitate private and staff housing developments.
It was established that housing developments in
Athi River could serve both local demand and external
demand arising mainly from Nairobi. while primary
emphasize should be to meet local demands to reduce
relying on Nairobi for residences, surplus housing
could easily serve the Nairobi market and thus in effect
decongest Nairobi and promote
the suburbs
urban development in
The study therefore suggests a framework of
involving individual, industry, communal, local Authority
and government resources to reinforce industrial
development and the urban decentralization process.
This will help not only attaining reasonable housing
for the residents of Athi River Town but also go a long
way in promoting industrial development and contributing
in improving the general national economic performance. | en_US |
