Planning for pedestrians in the C.B.D. of Nairobi

Abstract

In many Central Business Districts (C. B.D.) conditions of pedestrians have been getting worse, and show no prospects of improvement. People tend to get pushed under or over roads or squeezed on the edges. These problems of pedestrians in the C. B. Ds are contributed by several factors, among them is the rapid urbanization of most cities, the high growth rate of car and human population, and lack of commensurate infrastructural facilities. The resultant urban environment lack a sense of security, community and belonging which are pertinent to psychic development of man. The C. B. D. of Nairobi was planned to cater in full-

ness of time for a population of 250,000. Only a small percentage of this population were envisaged to visit the C. B. D. With the same infrastructural facilities meant for 250,000 people, the population has grown to 1,400,000 with less restriction to visit the C.B.D. On the other hand, the number of vehicles planned for the C.B.D. was 30,000. This has lncreased by tenfold to 300,000 without increasing the roads to the same traffic intensity .. The aftermath of this changes is the carnage of pedestrians and material damage arising from traffic accidents. The number and severity of traffic accidents in the C. B. D. has been increasing rather rapidly since independence in the C. B. D.

This thesis attempts to examine the problems of pedestrians in the C. B. D. of Nairobi. It borrows a lot from the field of environmental psychology, sociology, architecture and other related subjects. Its contention is based on the premise that planning pedestrian traffic involves a better understanding of pedestrian behaviour and their perception of the urban environment. Within the study, efforts have been made to establish the actual pedestrian flow in the pavements, the relationship between building structures and pedestrian circulation and the causes of the prevalent pedestrian-vehicular conflicts. The study has however established that pedes tr lans do infact walk considerable distances and spend a lot of time in the C.B.D. It has unearthed that there are many activities other than movement that takes place on the walkways to warrant conduicive street environment in order to cater appropriately for the pedestrian convenience. The study has established that the pedestrian-vehicular conflicts in the C. B. D. are contributed by the street design and rapid urbanization of Nairobi but not the drivers or pedestrians negligence. Finally an attempt is made to rationalize the relationship between the growth of pedestrian traffic, vehicular traffic and the structural changes in the building structures in the C. B. D. by setting out policy for pedestrian movements in the C. B. D. of Nairobi