Abstract

Attempts by the colonial government of Kenya to strengthen its rule and exploit natural resources to establish an export economy accelerated the establishment of trading centres. After independence, the trading centres have grown into urban areas with many urbanisation problems. Since the colonial era, various governments have attempted to institute urban development policies to address the problems. Policies such as growth centre strategies, rural trade and production centres, district focus for rural development and devolution have spread investment and employment opportunities to aid in the distribution of population from primary to secondary towns, known to have closer linkages to rural agricultural resource base. However, the high rate of rural-urban migration, over-concentration of infrastructure in large urban centres and inadequate legal and institutional framework for urban planning have hindered the success of these strategies. This necessitates the need to re-appraise the performance, legitimacy and relevance of these policies to the realisation of sustainable urbanisation in Kenya. This paper relies on the critical review of secondary information on urban policies operational in Kenya from pre-colonial to post-colonial era. This is significant in concluding the effectiveness of the policies in achieving sustainable urbanisation.

Key words: Kenya, urbanisation, urban centres, urban development, urban policy.