Nairobi city: From inconsequential marshland to brash metropolis

Kenyatta International Convention Centre. The KICC complex was hosting a big bash that night, with the grounds packed with happy revellers. PHOTO | DOUGLAS KIEREINI

What you need to know:

  • High-end shopping has moved to the malls in the suburbs, as have the hip movie theatres and the expensive restaurants.
  • The High Court and Parliament Buildings are at the core of a colonial-era civic grid carefully laid out by the British.

On New Year’s eve night, I joined a group of friends in taking a vantage point in the heart of Nairobi to feel the pulse of the city centre.

It was a different sight from the everyday city we see in daytime.

The newish UAP tower in Upper Hill was looking exceptionally beautiful, bathed in dazzling lights forming the colours of the Kenyan flag.

The tower is presently the tallest occupied building in the city.

From its site on the Hill, it looms high over the older downtown highrises of Times Tower and the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.

The KICC complex was hosting a big bash that night, with the grounds packed with happy revellers.

Exactly at the stroke of midnight, fireworks lit up the entire Centre in a gorgeous way.

It sort of reminded a viewer of the identical New Year festivities at New York’s famous Times Square.

The city skyline has been changing dramatically in recent years with Upper Hill becoming the location of choice for top-end businesses.

The Britam tower will soon be completed to rival the UAP building in height.

The old downtown area is slowly being abandoned to bars and low-end shopping stalls.

High-end shopping has moved to the malls in the suburbs, as have the hip movie theatres and the expensive restaurants.

Long ago, Nairobi used to be dismissed in travel brochures as a go-go city without a soul.

PERMANENT HOME

Rising from a swamp just over a hundred years ago, it is a toddler compared to towns like Mombasa and Malindi which boast many centuries of age and culture.

However, the bit about our capital being soul-less no longer holds.

Over time the metropolis has developed a character all its own – brash, irreverent, inventive.

Mark you, this is where the mongrel street vernacular called Sheng was manufactured.

The city keeps mutating, borrowing and giving back to each of the ethnicities it hosts.

It helps that for the first time Nairobi’s top official – the Governor – was born and grew up in the city, appropriately in the Eastlands suburbs that still retain their uniquely pulsating charm.

The old reputation of the town as lacking a defining personality was because most of the African inhabitants were rural transplants who considered the city merely to be a temporary home.

These days residents are more inclined to regard the city as their permanent home where they invest their money and future.

A cousin of mine who is an art scholar is the author of a stimulating picture-book titled “Nairobi in Pictures: Political Icons” which highlights Nairobi’s architectural transformation over time.

The High Court and Parliament Buildings are at the core of a colonial-era civic grid carefully laid out by the British.

In the big space in between – City Square – the iconic KICC and its adjoining amphitheatre (designed to resemble an African hut) were later erected.

All tell a compelling story about the city and its history.

The High Court Building, City Hall and the much older Railways building are of neo-classical design, an architectural style much favoured by colonial municipal authorities.

In fact the Railways and High Court buildings were built by the same architect who put up the imposing Union Building in Pretoria.

ENCROACHMENT

They are all strikingly similar, the same case as the other smaller neo-classical Nairobi landmark called McMillan Library.

Like with many other African cities, Nairobi’s growth is largely unplanned and shambolic.

The genteel neighbourhoods adjoin ramshackle dwellings virtually neck-and-neck: think of Muthaiga and Mathare, or Lavington and Kawangware.

Each exists because of the other, yet outwardly apart.

Still, it is easy to get overly-dramatic about the many overcrowded slums.

The Economist once did a survey of Kibra showing a hidden but vibrant economy surpassing that of many big county towns.

Unlike in Kampala, Nairobi’s Central Business District has yet to be completely despoiled by boda bodas.

Uber taxis entered city life well before they were ever seen in upstart places like Accra.

For the trendy, clubbing in town is no longer about joints with piped music and big TV screens for football buffs. Wi-fi is a must.

Then there is the diminished Nairobi National Park.

So-called conservationists love to pose with misty eyes over this place.

Nonetheless I think the park’s time is up.

A drive inside confirms there are very few big animals left.

Relentless encroachment by property developers on all its flanks has doomed the park.

Time has come for the marketers to design new brochures for the City of Nairobi.