Walking into the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) has been said to be one exercise that requires a lot of tact and a hawk eyed carefulness amidst the human, vehicular and concrete jungle. Whether you are driving a personal car, boarding a public vehicle or even moving on foot, you are likely to experience congestion one way or another.

Suffice to say the city in the sun which is seldom the green city anymore has metamorphosized into either an ever growing yard for public service vehicles, a mushrooming of sales exhibitions on every corner, or a space for commuters queueing for services or products where the space allows – not forgetting the hawkers selling anything from groundnuts to samosas.

You are likely to encounter a motorcycle on the pavement or on the wrong side of the road – literally coming out of nowhere! And have you been in the Central Business District during mass protests? These could be just some of the many reasons why businesses are rapidly moving out of the CBD and into the surburbs.

The surburbs have over time changed thus enabling areas within residential spaces to incorporate mixed land use and high commercial and residential buildings. It is not uncommon for leading corporates and embassies to be found on the outskirts of the city. About 2015 and earlier, finance companies, banks, foreign embassies and professional firms took pride in being located in the central business district but with time residential areas gradually transformed into high end business enclaves among upmarket residential properties.

Such spaces are now home to multi storey sky scrapers . Associations such as the Upper Hill District Association is engaging their vision of creating the ‘leading financial district’ in East and Central Africa. Leading hotels continue to establish themselves in the same zone and not the CBD which was the case in the past.

Cathrine Khasoa, Corporate Affairs Manager at Optiven Limited while addressing the report on housing this September noted that, “as the population grows it is expected that more people are expected in the cities by the year 2050. The major challenges facing city planning in Kenya are not unique as they have been experienced in other third world country cities and growing economies.

Challenges such as overcrowding, resource consumption and access, traffic growth, alongside opportunities to inculcate sustainable cities are all part of the ecosystem”. According to Khasoa, physical infrastructure, availability of public transportation, last mile connectivity plus a focus on energy and environmental issues must then be addressed if particularly Kenya is to move it’s masses from SDG 1 to SDG 11.

While noting that more companies continue to make the move, including Optiven, she concludes, “with all these factors remaining constant, and not forgetting the cost of business premises rising in the CBD, it is inevitable that more and more businesses will move to the surburbs”.

https://www.optiven.co.ke/newsblogs/optiven-shifts-to-global-office/

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