- Planning Challenge of Karen and Ongata Rongai Peripheral Locations   76 kb by    Kazungu, Raphael & Gitau, Judy & Gichuru, P. | ktandaza@yahoo.com    Short Outline For development at common borders to attain sustainability, frameworks to ensure harmonization of cross-border development plans need to be instituted. Abstract PLANNING CHALLENGE OF KAREN AND ONGATA RONGAI PERIPHERAL LOCATIONS Contemporary urban development characterized by rapid urbanization and cities extending their influence beyond their boundaries- dictates that urban areas cannot be considered alone, but have to be analyzed in an integral manner together with their neighboring areas. To attain sustainable development cities must deal with and balance elements of sustainability namely competitiveness, livability of places and environmental implications of development. Then again, regions need infrastructure to realize territorial balancing and higher quality of life, further to enabling their development into globally competitive and investment attracting destinations. The location of peripheral areas along borders brings about typical problems associated with marginalization disadvantages connected to their geographical location such as; poor infrastructure, low levels of productivity, limited influence on city decision-making, challenges in responding to influences of globalization and climate change, and incapability of seizing spatial-economic opportunities. Peripheral locations pose serious planning challenges and are disadvantaged by the way in which governments approach their planning and provision of infrastructure and services. First, most states have either prioritized the centre over the periphery in their national spatial plans or ignored these towns. However, these spatial plans do neglect the lower level of local development plans. Noteworthy, is the fact that the complexity of spatial planning is increased by a border’s existence. Focusing on Land use and infrastructure at the Karen/Ongata Rongai Border point of Nairobi and Olekejuado Counties, this paper examines how Kenyan contemporary planning paradigms make border towns suffer disadvantages that constrain sustainable development. It further questions whether development plans are able to guide planning on developments located directly on the border. Keywords peripheral locations,sustainability, harmonisation of development plans Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2011: LIVEABLE CITIES: URBANISING WORLD, Meeting the Challenge   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper