ACAL Consulting’s Spatial Planning Unit is a market leader in conducting urban and regional areas research, facilitating public participation in planning processes and preparing various types of spatial plans within Kenya.

ACAL Consulting SPU is composed of a team of registered urban and regional planners with vast experiences in planning for developing nations. The team works with an experienced multi-disciplinary team of sociologists, economists, engineers, and environmentalists with the firm to provide integrated spatial development solutions.

ACAL Consulting’s Spatial Planning Unit has worked extensively with the World bank-funded Nairobi Metropolitan Services Improvement Project (NaMSIP) to provide spatial development strategies for a section of the Nairobi Metro region (Murang’a and Kiambu Counties). NaMSIP was formed to address urban challenges within the capital city of Kenya, Nairobi, and its surrounding counties.

The Nairobi Metro region, extending some 32,000 square kilometers, is a national, regional and international strategic Centre for education, commerce, transport, regional, cooperation and economic development. It connects eastern central and southern African countries and plays a significant role in the global, regional and local economy. It is a center of international diplomacy, finance, banking and commerce. The Consultancy involved studies of the interaction of the Nairobi City core with surrounding counties of Murang’a and Kiambu and identifying opportunities for enhanced spatial development through twelve lower level plans.

County Spatial Planning

ACAL Consulting’s Spatial Planning Unit prepared the Murang’a County Spatial Plan. This plan that covered over 2500 km2 in area documented the entire scope of spatial resources within the County such as forests, wildlife, minerals, soils, rivers and ground water resources. The Plan documented the spatial distribution of population and compared it with infrastructural provision thus identifying spatial zones of deficiency in service provision. The resultant County Spatial Plan highlighted areas with untapped potential for investment, priority areas for improved infrastructure and service provision, as well as the proposed framework for management of land to allow for its optimal and most sustainable use.

Urban Area/ Town Planning

ACAL Consulting’s Spatial Planning Unit has been involved in the development of spatial plans for 10 towns in Kenya namely: Kiambu, Wangige, Githunguri, Gatundu, Kamwangi, Kimende, Murang’a, Maragua, Kandara and Kangari towns. The Plans were prepared to allow for the promotion of social and economic development through the provision of proximate, easily accessible services such as upgraded road, water, sewer, health and education infrastructure. The Plans shall bind, guide and inform all planning development and decisions in the respective urban centers and ensure comprehensive inclusion of all urban functions.

The Plans prepared have had a major impact on the specific planning areas. The Plans can now be used by the Counties for:

• Development Control and Land Management- The Plans zoned the planning areas, defining the broad land uses that are allowable in each area. This will allow for order, safety and public health within a clean environment as enshrined in the Kenya Constitution.
• Attraction of Donor Funding- The Plans can serve as tools for the two Counties as well as their respective Municipalities to attract donor funding, that is often dependent on the availability of an approved plan.
• Investment Attraction- The Plans prepared have documented resources available and their spatial locations. In addition, they have highlighted specialized economic functions that can be conducted in specific areas and thus can be used by sub-government authorities to attract private investors.
• Socio-Economic Development- The Consultant ensured that Plan proposals contributed to the protection and promotion of the fundamental rights and freedoms contained in the Constitution of Kenya and the progressive realization of the socio-economic rights.

Transportation Corridor Planning

ACAL Consulting’s Spatial Planning Unit prepared an Integrated Strategic Development Plan for the A2 Transportation Corridor. The A2 is an international highway connecting Kenya to Ethiopia (through Moyale). The Plan focused on the section of the transportation corridor connecting Kabati, Kenol Town and Gakungu Center. The Plan focused on analysis of the interaction between transportation and land uses within this zone. The Plan provided proposals that would structure land use development over a ten-year period while maintaining the integrity of the highway.

In preparing a separate plan, the Wangige Town Plan, ACAL Consulting’s Spatial Planning Unit in collaboration with Kiambu County and NaMSIP, contributed greatly to the revision of road designs by the Kenya Highways Authority (KENHA) at the Wangige Town junction.

Urban Resilience Research and Advocacy

ACAL Consulting’s Spatial Planning Unit is part of the ACAL COVID-19 Think-Tank. The Think-Tank is an arm within the wider organization intended to carry out action-oriented research on COVID-19, to provide policy solutions responding to Kenya’s unique context. The members of the Think-Tank are established experts in various fields including health, economics, and other development planning sectors fostering interdisciplinary research.

The practical solutions developed by the Think-Tank are aimed at policy makers at national and sub-government level as well as to other development partners at all scales, in the form of short, medium, and long-term solutions to the pandemic. The research undertaken by the Think-Tank is shared within the public domain on a continuous basis in the form of newspaper and web articles, on social media platforms and through participation on television and web discussions. The Spatial Planning Unit is an integral part of the Think-Tank, focusing mainly on providing solutions for enhancing community resilience within a spatial framework.