Pedestrian and Public Transport Facilities in Housing Developments in Nairobi, Kenya; a Case Study of Nyayo Highrise Estate

Abstract

Owing to the general increase in human and vehicular population in Nairobi, the capacity of public transport utilities has greatly been exceeded. In order to accommodate the rising population, the public and private sector have invested heavily in residential developments, and it has been noted that inadequate provisions are made for pedestrian facilities. It is common to observe pedestrians fighting for space with vehicles on residential access roads. With the Government of Kenya’s affordable housing plan gaining momentum, there is a risk that the trend will continue, and so this study is intended to provide a quick approach to estimation of pedestrian traffic generation from the developments. Nyayo Highrise Estate was selected as a case study as it has similar features as the affordable housing program. Nyayo Highrise Estate was constructed as a low-cost slum upgrading program planned to house the low-income category of the society. However, it has transformed to house the lower middle-income category who have demand for higher quality pedestrian facilities. This study’s main objective was to come up with a pedestrian traffic generation model for Nyayo Highrise Estate. To achieve this, the research established pedestrian traffic volumes on the main access to the estate and additionally, household characteristics for a sample of the estate’s population. Pedestrian traffic volumes were collected by undertaking pedestrian volume counts for three days between 6.00am and 9.00pm. Household characteristics were collected using questionnaires administered to at least 300 households and 250 responses used for the analysis. It was established that the estate has two distinct peak pedestrian volumes occurring in the morning and in the evening. In Chapter 4 of the study, the research established relationships between various household characteristics and pedestrian traffic volumes using the multiple regression technique and arrived at two models whose independent variables accounted for 93.4% prediction of pedestrian trips in Highrise Estate. The models were not verified in this study as the researcher did not have enough time and resources, and this offers opportunity for further research. It was further established that pedestrians were largely not considered during construction of the estate and where pedestrians’ right of way existed, they were heavily encroached by vendors, exhibitors and parked vehicles. The research therefore recommended that the management of Nyayo Highrise considers development of walkways that meet acceptable pedestrian service levels. Further, the two models proposed in the analysis are recommended for adoption by designers when approximating pedestrian volumes in similar residential estates as they plan for pedestrian facilities.