Experts: Nairobi floods expose the high cost of poor urban planning

Kenya is once again grappling with the devastating effects of seasonal rains, and this time the capital city, Nairobi, is bearing the brunt. The month of March witnessed a series of unprecedented deluges, which caught the city’s nearly five million residents off guard and swept through homes, businesses, and informal settlements. At least 112 people lost their lives, and the floods left a trail of destruction, reigniting urgent questions about urban planning.

On the evening of March 7, a few Nairobi residents anticipated the scale of the disaster. Streets turned into rivers, vehicles were engulfed, and families watched helplessly as their lives were upended.

“Everything was swept away. The water rose so quickly and people had no time to react. Crossing bridges became dangerous; we were lucky not to be carried off. But homes were destroyed, and sadly, one woman lost her life,” said Onesmus Kahi, a resident of Kibera, the country’s largest informal settlement.

Kahi pointed to a systemic problem: the city is overwhelmed by neglect. “When you look at this river and its drainage channels, you'll notice a buildup of solid waste, largely due to poor garbage collection. People continue dumping waste here, and during heavy rains, it ends up blocking the entire drainage system,” he explained.

Meteorological data underscored the severity of the storm. The Kenya Meteorological Department recorded between 112 and 160 millimeters of rainfall in just 24 hours—more than Nairobi typically receives in an entire month. Yet experts emphasize that rainfall alone does not cause disasters.

Urban planner Patrick Adolwa noted that Nairobi’s vulnerability is rooted in long-standing planning failures. “The more people in Nairobi, the more likely they are to be affected whenever there are floods. Economic activities are disrupted, transport breaks down, and the city suffers. This fragile ecosystem, combined with an ever-growing population, has made such disasters inevitable.”

Adolwa insisted that the floods were not a surprise but the result of decades of inaction. “It is general knowledge in the Kenyan capital that the city's drainage system is a mess. If not corrected in time, the situation will only worsen further,” he said.

Experts argue that preventing future disasters will require more than emergency response measures. Solutions include protecting urban ecosystems, upgrading drainage infrastructure, halting construction on floodplains, and planning for a population that is growing faster than the city’s foundations can support.

“If we had a system that distributed our population across the country in a balanced way, Nairobi would not face this level of pressure,” Adolwa explained. “The planning of Nairobi has always been complicated. Every day, thousands of people move in and out, making it difficult to know how many people to plan for.”

(Edited by CGTN Africa Reporter, Halligan Agade)