Nairobi — The Nairobi City County will soon have precise location addresses for streets, residentials and other property, as its set to roll out an address system giving each location a physical identifier.
According to the developers of the system UREPI Limited, the physical addressing will involve naming of streets and numbering of the property along them. This will comprise of a numerical property identifier (property number), followed by the combined street identifier (the street name and or code that the property’s main access is located).
On Thursday UREPI Limited handed over the system to Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, paving the way for the implementation of the system which will make Nairobi the second city to have such after Kigali, Rwanda.
Governor Sakaja noted that the new address system will assist in the day to day decision making in the city.
“This system will help us in the planning of amenities in the city. We will launch a public participation and mass campaigns to educate residents how they will be able to identify their homes, businesses etc,” Governor Sakaja stated.
Globally, physical addressing has been recognized as an urban management tool and key driver of economic, social and political development.
Some of the benefits of physical addressing include improved delivery of goods and services and ease of navigation around the city through the aid of easily visible signage that identifies streets and building entrances.
It also aids in swifter response time and access to targeted areas in the event of security and emergency operations, creation of jobs and commercial opportunities and improved efficiency of public programs.
Having a fully established, equipped and secured in-house data center, the Nairobi County government will benefit from the inter-departmental data sharing at reduced levels of cost and complexity.
The system will also raise the profile of Nairobi as Kenya’s capital city in terms of competitiveness and liveability.