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{
    "id": 769126,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/769126/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 232,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Ongeri",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 124,
        "legal_name": "Samson Kegeo Ongeri",
        "slug": "samson-ongeri"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I stand to contribute to this Motion. I have a great attachment to this Motion because I am the most immediate former Ambassador for United Nations (UN) Habitat and the Permanent Representative. I took part in the negotiation of the New Urban Agenda which we were able to develop in Quito, Ecuador, on 20th October, 2016. Subsequently, before I quit to join politics, we were able to have it passed in the General Assembly on 23rd December, 2016. I think there is a lot that has been misunderstood when we talk of the New Urban Agenda or the planning for the cities and the original planning of both the cities and other places. I would like to draw the attention of this august House to the fundamental issues that have been raised in this Policy Paper, particularly as it relates to urban governance, urban finance and urban economy. These are very basic elements that we need to apply ourselves to. What is the meaning of planning? It is now visualised that by the year 2050 the world population will have more than doubled. In the 21stCentury, one of the most interesting trends will be in the area of New Urban Agenda – the new urban planning. Left to go the way it is now, in a haphazard manner, we are only creating mountains of slums. There will be no beneficial effects whatsoever to any of the populations that will be staying in those urban centres. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Policy is a little bit out of date because it was meant to spur the debate and discussions as an input towards the New Urban Agenda that we concluded in Quito and in the General Assembly. However, screening through these elements, some of them have been fairly captured. The major interest in any nation or opportunity is that we must capture the whole nation and not just one city – Nairobi. I remember during the negotiations we had to insist--- Of course, at that time I had in mind that Kenya has 47 counties and, therefore, potentially, these are 47 cities that we are talking about. There are also peri-urban centres – centres that are not within the urban centre itself – that will also require equal attention in planning in order to achieve these objectives. In our negotiations, it was clearly agreed upon by the entire world that these will include national governments, county governments and sub-national county governments. The sub-national county governments will be the constituency level in our case. We may have some of the urban centres in our respective constituencies. That is tacitly there. The greatest investment is going to come out of the urban economy. If we plan well and do it right, that is where the rest of the investment from the so-called developed nations is going to come from to bolster the economies of various countries. If you have a haphazardly planned city, nobody will want to invest in it. Normally, there is a scramble for the first line on the street. If the buildings behind the first line are haphazard and are totally unplanned, they will attract no investor whatsoever. Row one, two, three, four should be equally attractive to any investor to put their money there because the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of any nation is generated from these investments. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}