Climate Change: Implications for Urban Planning in Kenya in the 21 st Century

Abstract

Climate change has been singled out as a major challenge currently facing the world and a major threat to sustainable urban development. Achieving sustainable cities and contributing to climate protection requires planned change to the way in which cities are spatially configured and serviced. Both adaptation and mitigation measures to respond to the effects of climate change require that cities are planned differently. Major towns in Kenya are highly vulnerable to the impacts of cl imate change as evidenced by many disasters that have afflicted them over the recent past. It is expected that urban planning and land - use management should successfully address and ensure risk reduction. Unfortunately this is lacking. Drawing upon the ava ilable literature, this paper synthesizes the factors responsible for the vulnerability of Kenya’s major urban centres to climate change, the impacts of climate change vis - a vis failure of current urban planning practices in the country and implications fo r urban planning in the 21 st Century in Kenya.