Nairobi plans public park along Parklands' Kibagare River in Ksh50bn regeneration drive
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The Nairobi Rivers Commission is re-demarcating the Kibagare River through Parklands to create a public park inside a 30- to 60-metre riverbank buffer, part of Ksh50 billion Nairobi River regeneration frameworks.
Nairobi is moving to turn a stretch of the Kibagare River in Parklands into a public park, under a multi-agency initiative led by the Nairobi Rivers Commission that combines enforcement against illegal riparian structures with re-demarcation of the waterway. The alignment in the Westlands Park Scheme Design aerial plan starts west of Ring Road Westlands, near the Sarit Centre and the Waiyaki Way interchange approaches.
The proposed green corridor follows the river southeast past Muthithi Road, Mpaka Road and Parklands Road near The Oval, running alongside the Aga Khan Sports Club grounds towards First Parklands Avenue. The scheme incorporates an open-air naturalised blue water channel flanked by a continuous landscaped buffer zone, with native tree planting and pedestrian walkways.
The park will occupy a designated 30-metre to 60-metre control buffer measured from the riverbanks, although exact plot-by-plot acreage remains subject to ongoing field surveys. Delivering it requires extensive de-canalisation to open up channels currently piped or built over through commercial and residential estates, including the Oshwal Religious Centre complex.
The Oshwal Religious Centre Committee, led by chairman Samir Chandaria, met the multi-agency team on Friday, 16 October, and committed to supporting the river restoration and park proposal. Similar consultations have taken place with residents of Parklands Court, Brookside Drive, Grevillea Grove and Ndovu Lane, where notices have been issued to clear structures built directly over the waterway.
Authorities and estate representatives have launched a joint re-demarcation exercise to re-establish the river's natural alignment and to resolve chronic culvert bottlenecks along First Parklands Avenue. The Parklands Residents Association has instructed affected landholders within the corridor to submit official property documents to the Nairobi Rivers Commission at Ardhi House for technical review. The park forms part of broader Ksh50 billion Nairobi River regeneration frameworks that combine non-motorised transport trails, public recreational space and pollution control.