Ratio Blog: Malili Technopolis Sci-Fi

Wednesday, 03 February 2010

A bit too much Dubai and copying from Rem Koolhaas’ CCTV Headquarters in Beijing – and not enough realism: Why the Malili ‘technopolis’ will not be built anytime soon. Andrea’s weekly column for the (Nairobi) Star. I have a lovely book titled ‘Dictators’ Homes’ by Peter York. Sadly   because the continent used to rock a colourful line of dictators –, there are only a few African contributions: Mobutu, of course, Idi Amin, perhaps surprisingly, and Jean Bedel Bokassa. But when I came across the drawings of the Malili Ranch ‘technopolis’, I was a bit torn: There’s a good dose of unadulterated Dubai style in it, I think, and the artist clearly has taken quite a bit (and quite literal) inspiration from Rem Koolhaas’ CCTV Headquarters building in Beijing. But York’s description of one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces also rang true: “It’ll have every piece of new technology going: air con, plasma screens, CCTV, space-age kitchenology and every ‘Boy’s Toy’ possible. … Every surface shines with marble so epically figured it looks fake.” Whatever the exact combination of these influences, I didn’t spend any more time thinking about the drawings because they seemed a flight of fancy. But it appears that the PS in the Ministry for Information and Communications, Dr Bitange Ndemo, actually means business: The concept for the ‘technopolis’, to be built about 50m from Nairobi near Machakos, includes this ambitious list of facilities: A BPO park, a science park, a convention centre, a mega mall, hotels, international schools, world class hospital, financial district, high speed mass transport system, integrated infrastructure of roads, sewers, cabling and CCTV. Recently I had an interesting discussion on disentangling government from Nairobi and relocating it to a new administrative capital, a little like Abuja. There is some merit in that idea, not just because the honorables and especially the ministers are a major traffic obstacle. It would lower the pressure on Nairobi, and bring an economic stimulus to another region. But of course even with that idea, the scale of it creates the dual challenge of planning and management capacity to execute it, and the massive amount of financing it would require. In his introduction to ‘Dictators’ Homes’, York says: “But consider this: as a full-on dictator, it’s all there for you – the entire resources of your country, the money, the manpower, the artists and craftsmen.” This seems to be the underlying assumption in the Malili drawings. Except that Kenya is not really a proper dictatorship, of course, and so randomly commanding resources isn’t that easy. Tellingly, in Ndemo’s presentation, information on how the ‘technopolis’ will be financed is a bit thin, with only a brief mention of ‘private sector participation’. I looked up the costs of Koolhaas’ CCTV building and found estimates of USD600m – the structural engineering alone must have been a nightmare. That is, let’s get this clear, for one building only. The Malili drawings are a bit blurry around the edges, so I’m not sure about the exact number of buildings, but there are a great many. In the meantime, several banks have invested in new headquarters in Upper Hill, retail real estate is being developed at a brisk rate, so is office space, and a friend who runs an ICT firm is distinctly unimpressed with office parks and the like since he’s perfectly happy with where his firm is located. The private sector is incrementally working through a number of the points on Ndemo’s shopping list – at least through those that it can work through. Because at the same time, there is no hope in hell for a ‘high-speed mass transport system’, and power still goes off, and there’ll be water rationing again. This seeming inability to sort out the basics in Nairobi and beyond makes me take the Malili ‘technopolis’ plans just as seriously as the Nairobi Metropolitan Ministry’s drawings (progress so far mostly evidenced in Dr Mutua’s pretty little roadside pebbles) and the extensive Lamu development project, encompassing a port, railway, refinery, holiday resort etc. – and perhaps a pirate theme park in the background? I’m not holding my breath. The complexity of such mega projects requires serious management capacity, and you’ve seen how rapidly for example the Northern Corridor toll road progresses. While watching this succession of mega project plans, I’m waiting for some smaller, but actually feasible projects to happen. The Sameer Business Park, for example, is a lot more realistic in its scope, and thankfully Ndemo’s ministry will include this in initiatives to support the tech sector. Also, I trust there’s nothing to worry about just yet: So far, the land purchase of the original Malili Ranch appears to be reassuringly and predictably embroiled in the usual overpricing by way of a ‘brokering’ consultancy between government and the vendors of the land, with the mark up going to political and politically connected figures. Now when you’re done staring at those shiny drawings, can someone please rock up and sort out the bypass around Nairobi? We’re tired of the trucks. Republished with kind permission from the (Nairobi) Star. Share this article with others: