The government has announced plans to establish five new metropolitan areas across the country.
Speaking Monday, the Housing Ministry said the metropolitan areas will be created by merging key towns and cities into zones with a view to improving urban services and planning.
Principal Secretary State Department for Housing and Urban Development Charles Hinga said the govt has started looking for a consultant to develop the national metropolitan development strategy.
“The government has obtained a credit from the International Development Association (IDA) towards the cost of Kenya Urban Support Program (KUSP) and it intends to apply part of the proceeds toward payments under the contracts for consultancy assignment for the development of National Metropolitan Development Strategy for five designated metropolitan growth areas in Kenya,’ Hinga said in a notice.
The strategy will include the metropolitan development strategies for each of the five designated metropolitan regions.
The targeted regions are: Mombasa, Kisumu-Kakamega, Eldoret-Nakuru, Wajir-Garissa-Mandera, and Kitui-Mwingi-Meru.
The Metropolitan areas are expected to boost infrastructural investments in the above-mentioned areas, reducing mass migration to cities that have hindered them from developing.
