[kictanet] Konza Technology City - Devils Advocate

[robert yawe]

Hi,

I have looked at the concept for the Konza Technology City and it looks 
brilliant, but I have a few issues to propose on the design. 

Now that we have a big picture we need to go into the devilish details to make 
sure that we can make this a truly world class project from ground breaking to 
operation.

1.  There is too much road which will result in traffic, one regret that the 
developers of Silicon Valley have kept airing is that they should have thought 
more of reducing motorised movement and creating more green areas, foot paths 
and cycling paths.  The concept for Konza has over 61 kilometers of major roads 
that is equivalent to the road from Nairobi to Konza.  

We need to incorporate tramcars, under ground train & bus stations and perimeter 
parking silos that will allow for the reduction of vehicular traffic on the 
streets and make the environment more pedestrian friendly. 

For those who have seen the master plan each segment measures about 62 acres 
which is roughly the area bound by Uhuru Highway, City Hall Way, Kenyatta Avenue 
and Moi Avenue, not a very big area, so what is the difference in layout between 
Konza City and Nairobi?  We need to look at the issues affecting Nairobi due to 
its design flaws and then correct them in Konza.

2.  The density of the City makes it no different from Nairobi CBD merged with 
Githurai/Zimaman, the green area is at 5.6% which should be sufficient grounds 
for Prof. Wangari Mathai to get concerned.  In my calculations I included the 
river basin that a crosses through the City and also the stadium.  Let avoid the 
creation of another concrete jungle, which bring back to mind a statement by 
President Moi that the building of a 60 story building at Uhuru Park would be of 
scenic value.

4.  Unlike Nairobi, Konza is a much hotter area therefore we need to look at 
having as many water masses as possible scattered around the city to humidify 
the area and also help in maintaining any green areas.  This water could be 
reclaimed from the buildings and also by incorporating rain water harvesting.

5.  Charity begins at home, I strongly believe the launch plus the initial 
invitations for the master builder should have been floated locally before we 
removed our hand pans to go overseas, "utamusindikisha namna gani yule ambae 
hajatoa chochote chake".

6. Where is the Virtual City Building, Seven Seas Knowledge Hub, Equity Finance 
Campus and Mutuku's Supermarket in the proposal or is the entire development 
targeted to foreign entities.

7.  The area allocated for a University campus is only 62 acres, this is too 
small as it can only accommodate a single university campus if it is to have 
recreation facilities and open grounds which is the ideal situation as it would 
be counter productive to replicate what is happening with the campuses in 
Nairobi CBD.



I reiterate that the effort is commendable but lets use it more as a starting 
point than an end in itself otherwise we shall just be developing another 
concrete jungle.  Lets look at best practices and the lessons learnt from others 
as they carried our such projects.

A final word or more a request, how do I book the space allocated for 
a Cathedral so I can begin to mobilise my Catholic brethren to begin raising  
funds.
 Robert Yawe
KAY System Technologies Ltd
Phoenix House, 6th Floor
P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200
Kenya


Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696
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