The Straight Streets: An insight into periurban road networks in Kenya
Lessons are drawn from my childhood neighbourhood: Star. In 2003, due to emptiness of streets and sparse development in this side of the town, cases of kidnapping and child molestation were rampant as most illegal dealings such as bhang trading were finalized in this deserted neighbourhood. Either way, our neighbourhood can be accessed from any part of the town and the very many road networks are a plus with one major road being a highway and the other a class B road. Travel to and from the neighbourhood was by foot and so strangers would easily pass off as passers by as they created no attention at all, the most common mode of transport was either walking or cycling, vehicles that would transverse this neighbourhood were school buses either picking or dropping children to and from school. Watch wardens would only take charge during the night and so everything evil would happen on late evenings. Most children had a curfew of 6:30 pm right before darkness.
As in previous blog posts, development in this side of the town has been gradual, at first, it was due to scarce population, then came the fault in the terrain, then its location. Crime was also an issue in the early 2000’s as most properties were not fenced, there was no electricity making most households early sleepers thus a breeding ground for the wayward. Good road networks (Feeder roads) were first constructed in 2015, an improvement of the same has never been, the roads have potholes. The first street lights were installed in 2021 after numerous complaints from the residents. However, the road network that leads to the public hospital (level 4) was tarmacked in 2021 giving the neighbourhood an upgrade in its outlook and being a centre of development.
The neighbourhood looks urban, with the exception of a few challenges but development moved closer with so many businesses finding safety and access in this area, most premises close at 10pm because of lighting and closeness of houses giving business people a feel of safety. Crime has also significantly reduced to an almost no incident reported. Final words? Street networks are key in defining a neighbourhood, people gravitate towards neighbourhoods that have different access streets that are safe and well maintained. While our neighbourhood cannot be classified as overcrowded, it falls under a densely populated neighbourhood. Also, within the town the only means of transport is ‘bodabodas’ (motorcycles), the town is not serviced by ‘matatus’ (Public service vehicles).
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