Kenya's fast-growing towns outpacing their infrastructure, built-environment experts warn
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Experts at the Architectural Association of Kenya's 2026 convention warn that Kenyan towns are growing faster than the systems serving them, as audit data shows only 43 per cent of 1,333 buildings reviewed were certified completely safe.
Kenya's rapidly expanding towns are putting pressure on infrastructure and raising questions over whether sustainability and resilience are keeping pace with urban growth, built-environment professionals have warned.
Speaking at the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) 2026 Convention in Diani, Acting Housing Secretary Cassius Kusienya, delivering a keynote on behalf of Principal Secretary Charles Hinga, said the country's urban systems are struggling to keep up with population and development pressures. "Our towns are growing faster than the systems that serve them," he said, adding that climate stress is already visible in failed drains, washed-out roads and informal settlements on floodplains.
The warning comes against the backdrop of an AAK Status of the Built Environment report showing that only 43 per cent of 1,333 buildings audited by the National Building Inspectorate during the 2023/24 financial year were certified completely safe for human use. A further 42 buildings, or three per cent, were deemed dangerous and requiring immediate testing or demolition, 246 buildings (18 per cent) were classified unsafe and 453 (34 per cent) were rated fair.
The Government also outlined progress under the Affordable Housing Programme at the convention, reporting more than 280,000 units under construction across about 40 counties and more than one million registrations on the Boma Yangu platform.
Zimbabwe Institute of Quantity Surveyors president Audily Chatora told the convention that resilience should be embedded in decisions across the built environment rather than treated as a separate product. "Resilience is a shared responsibility, and the cost of inaction is ultimately measured in lives lost and communities left vulnerable," he said.