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3.2. Visioning exercise
3. DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT
The model for development in Kathwana is founded on the UEP principles set out in Section 1 and has been developed in collaboration with Kathwana’s stakeholders. It aims to strengthen the town’s economic position based on its competitive and comparative advantages while taking a citizen-centred approach to green growth and sustainable investment.
The UEP sets out an economic vision which gives direction to the economic and urban development of the Municipality. The Economic Development Plan consists of economic sector action plans which will support the Municipal Board and the Municipality to deliver a more cohesive, holistic and sustainable economic future for Kathwana and a number of potential value chain projects which act as anchor projects for economic growth in the town. The Development Framework consists of a spatial action plan with a focus on two key development areas and prioritises key climate resilient infrastructure projects that will be required to support economic growth.
Vision & Objectives
Economic Sector Action Plan & Value Chain Project Opportunities
Development Framework & Priority Infrastructure Projects
3.1 Alignment of the UEP with existing Development Plans
Next to the UEP, Kathwana’s most important planning documents at municipality scale are the Municipality Integrated Development Plan (ISUDP) and the Urban Development Policy Framework (UDPF) supported by the Kathwana Investment Attraction Plan. Within the ISUDP, a range of programmes and projects are identified with an implementation target between 2019-2024 (refer to section 3 of the Diagnostics Report). In its UDPF, Kathwana has outlined a comprehensive spatial plan for the Municipal and CBD area, and set detailed development control guidelines. With a vision to become “a vibrant city east of Mount Kenya, to drive sustainable regional growth and transform the county into a haven for value addition” in the next 100 years, the UDPF is set out to frame Kathwana’s urban growth in the long-term. For the short- and medium-term, the UEP development concept contributes to the ISUDP objectives by introducing more focused sequencing and integration of priority VCs and infrastructure projects and to the UDPF by focusing on the initial phases of development. It looks at how urban development can kick-start and be managed in the most resource efficient, sustainable, socially inclusive and resilient way. Since Kathwana was declared the new County headquarters for Tharaka Nithi in 2018, the move of County administrative activity to the town has sparked an initial phase of urban growth in the immediate surroundings of the government offices and the market, which will be the point of departure for the UEP’s development concept. Additionally, the investment proposals outlined in the Kathwana Investment Attraction Plan were considered with three of the proposals being incorporated and developed further in the UEP:
› The proposal for the Eco-Industrial
Park is taken forward as one of the focus areas of the UEP’s development framework and the VCs present options for kick-starting economic activity in the park; › The Renewable Energy project is taken forward as one of the infrastructure proposals supporting the Eco-Industrial
Park with the recommendation to focus on Solar Power and explore potentials for revenue generation; › The Affordable Housing proposal is developed in more detail forming part of the Development Core Area around the market centre with the aim to attract residents to Kathwana.
Tourism and hospitality, the additional key themes of the investment plan are discussed within the sector action plan in section 4.1.
