Konza Technopolis - Kenya's $14 BN World-class Smart City Project.
A lack of modern infrastructure has restricted Africa's megacities. In recent years, some
African countries have decided to take matters into their own hands by undertaking large-scale
projects to sustain their rapidly growing populations. Some of the biggest construction
projects ever undertaken in Africa are currently under progress. Kenya has begun work on a
$14.5 billion technology metropolis in Machakos County in an effort to recruit technical expertise
and investors to drive the country's economic growth. Konza City, which is 64 kilometers
south of Nairobi and will eventually house 185,000 people, is modeled after Silicon Valley
in the United States, hence the nickname "African Silicon Savanna." The construction of a smartcity
konza technopolis is a key flagship project of Kenya's Vision 2030 economic development
blueprint. It will be a world-class smart city and an innovation hub, transforming Kenya's
economy into a knowledge-based economy. According to CEO Eng. John Tanui, Konza will be a world-class
city owing to a thriving information, communications, and technology (ict) sector, superior reliable
infrastructure, and business-friendly governance policy and regulatory frameworks. Konza technopolis
was portrayed as a metropolis that, once completed, will take advantage of ict's offers to improve
its citizens' efficiency and standards of living. Modern transportation is one of Kenya's
primary priorities for achieving the "smart city" aim.
On June 10, 2008, plans for Konza were revealed as part of Vision 2030, a government-led development
program with the declared goal of transforming Kenya into a “middle income country providing
a high quality life to all its citizens by the year 2030.” Konza is being built utilizing
smart city principles; each plot has a specific purpose (commercial, education, industrial,
wildlife conservation), and it is being built in stages to accommodate the growing population
of 200,000 people. Welcome to THINKRICH MEDIA the community which
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to our community you’re missing out! As Konza Technopolis develops, there are unique
opportunities within the ecosystem available to investors from different backgrounds in
a variety of sectors, including: Retail establishments, Hotels & Convention Centers, Entertainment
centers (e.g. Stadiums, Cinemas), Utilities (Energy, Water), business process outsourcing,
software development, data centers, disaster recovery centers, call centers, light manufacturing
industries, Enterprise Incubation, ICT (including Tier 3 and 4 Data Centers), infrastructure
and Logistics, as well as research institutions. Konza has attracted several affluent investors,
including a renowned Korean university, but the project's slow progress is generating
anxiety amongst key stakeholders. Development of the Phase 1 infrastructure is underway.
This phase will occupy approximately 400 acres with over 100 individual development parcels
representing all aspects of a fully functioning Technopolis, including:
1. Technology parcel These are parcels configured for Research
and Development Centres, Outsourcing campuses BPO/ITES,Innovation Parks,Technology business
Incubation and Accelarion Parks,Business Continuity Centre and other investor driven Science Technology
and Innovation facilities. KoDTA wants to attract Research, Education, and Commercial
partners in ITES, Life Sciences, and Engineering for its Technology Packages. Konza Technopolis
will foster an environment of innovation. New inventions increase as a result of innovation
and entrepreneurship, and so does the quality and quantity of relevant skilled workers available
to work in these critical industries. Konza will attract investors and build programs
aimed at commercializing the products of research. Konza Technopolis will provide a strong innovation
ecosystem to educate new and existing tech entrepreneurs. These parcels have pre-determined
uses, such as Data Centers, as well as the opportunity for Technology companies to establish
offices or branches. These technology-based companies have 34 parcels available.
2. Education The universities in Konza Technopolis are
part of this project, which is envisioned as a special place where innovative organizations
develop and implement current technology; as a place where higher education and industry
meet; and as a site of life-long learning. Universities can foster the convergence of
excellent teaching, research, scholarship, creative works, and service. Kenya draws lessons
from South Korea, a country with a track record in smart cities, as it constructs its first
smart city, konza. The Kenyan government got money for the Establishment of Kenya Advanced
Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Project from the Export-Import Bank of Korea
through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund. KAIST, modeled after the Korean Advanced
Institute of Science and Technology; Technology, will be a national strategic institution expected
to provide intellectual leadership to all educational partners in Konza. It will also
improve graduate education quality in Kenya. Technology and Science (S&T)
3.Residential housing parcel These comprise general and inexpensive housing
for Konza Technopolis employees and residents, as well as student housing. There are additional
opportunities for mixed-use commercial facilities such as office buildings and trading facilities.
The development of Konza Technopolis has begun on Phase 1 (estimated completion 2022), which
is projected to attract 30,000 residents upon completion. Overall, workers from a wide range
of salary levels will be included in Phase 1. These workers and their families will require
housing in Konza Technopolis, resulting in a 30,000-person community. These families
will require 12,960 residential units that can be rented or acquired at a reasonable
price. The majority of these will be aimed at professional middle-income families, with
a significant portion produced for both high and low-income families. Families in Konza
Technopolis will require a variety of supplementary services, including schools, retail accommodations,
and entertainment facilities. Residential real estate investment opportunities include
townhouses and apartments in predominantly residential neighborhoods, as well as apartments
above retail in a predominantly mixed-use district. Through the availability of Affordable
Residential Units, the proposed housing projects will appeal to both the high-end market and
the Bottom of the Pyramid communities. There are approximately 40 parcels available.
4) Commercial and retail parcel These commercial parcels will be used to build
retail, primary and secondary neighborhood centers, and civic parks. Neighborhood and
mixed-use retail, such as cafes, coffee shops, pharmacies, small grocery stores, flower shops,
and laundry shops, are encouraged to meet residents' daily convenience needs while also
providing opportunity for social interaction. 5. Office/Technology
By the end of Phase One, Konza Technopolis' commercial, life science, and university catalytic
activities aim to recruit 7,500 knowledge workers and 6,500 students, requiring 725,000
m2 of premium commercial and educational space. Some of the highest structures in Technopolis
may be found in the business zone. These distinctive tall buildings, which are closest to the A109
Mombasa Highway, serve as landmarks that signal the entrance of Konza Technopolis from the
highway. 6. University
Universities encourage the integration of excellent teaching, research, scholarship,
creative works, and community service. The institutions in Konza Technopolis are envisioned
as a special environment where innovative groups develop and use new technologies; as
a place where higher education and industry meet; and as a place where life-long learning
takes place. Konza Technopolis' goals and vision will be accomplished by creating various
university campuses inside the University Band. Construction of laboratory facilities,
classrooms, administration structures, faculty and student housing facilities are all possible
investments in the University Band. The Phase 1 University Band will have a minimum floor
area of 420,000 m2 when completed (including the Mixed-Use Main Street Zone and the university-related
uses within the Stadium parcel). Phase 1 will have a minimum of 6500 pupils, 520 staff,
and 260 faculty members. It is expected that around 75% of students, instructors, and staff
will live on campus. In Phase 1 of the Konza Technopolis, workers will also require schools,
as well as administrative and community support services.
7. Healthcare Healthcare at Konza Technopolis will contribute
to the Technopolis' overall objective of becoming a sustainable, world-class technology hub
and a significant economic driver for the country, with a vibrant mix of enterprises,
workers, residents, and urban amenities. The healthcare facility envisioned for Konza Technopolis
Phase 1 is a secondary and tertiary referral institution that will provide speciality treatments
to the East African region while also meeting the demands of the resident population. It
will contain a full-service acute care hospital with an emergency department, an outpatient
specialist services facility with high-tech diagnostics, and a hotel with a health spa
to facilitate medical tourism. This building will also serve as an incubation facility
for the region's potential future growth into a health sciences hub, which may include other
treatment specialty, biomedical research, and science and medicine education. Konza
Technopolis will have a solid scientific, information, and communications technology
basis to enable a telehealth program that will boost access to speciality knowledge
and expand the reach of healthcare in the region.
8. Light industrial Zone Warehouses, hi-tech manufacturing assembly
enterprises, incubators, workshops, and prototyping facilities will be installed in Konza Technopolis'
Phase 1 light industrial zone, which will be organized around thematic areas that meet
Konza Technopolis' sustainability framework and technology enhancement goals.
9. Hotels & Convention Centers In mixed-use districts, the hotel will provide
lodging, dining, and other services to visitors and tourists. Full-service hotels (high density,
large rooms, and more rooms than extended-stay hotels) and extended-stay hotels (low density,
large rooms, and fewer rooms than full-service hotels) are the two types of hotels (Lower
density, smaller and less rooms than full service).
10. Transportation & Logistics The chance to develop an extraordinarily high-quality
infrastructure system and interconnect the busway system with land use exists in Konza
Technopolis, a fully new build area. The physical development plan's core structure is to establish
public transportation (i.e. busway) corridors and high-density uses (retail, business, or
social development) along those corridors. The smart transportation in Konza Tehcnopolis
relies on a complete traffic management program that includes junction controls, lights, channelization,
and road marking, among other things. Among the possibilities are: Parking Structures
(Commercial/Petrol Complex), Fueling Station, Warehouse, Hybrid Buses, BRT, Regional Transit
Buses or Trains, Maintenance Storage Facility, Internal Transit System, Mixed-use Parking,
Transit Hub, and Regional Airport PPP frameworks, design-build-transfer, design-build-operate-transfer,
and other profitable investment methods can be used to pursue the potential.
11. Energy The installation of a solar power plant on
20 to 30 Hectares to be executed as a single project with a capacity of 10MW is one of
the renewable energy opportunities. Additional investment options are provided by commercial
solar arrays on individual buildings around the Technopolis. The project can be delivered
in a variety of ways, including Design-Build-Operate-Finance or public-private partnerships (PPP).
12. Entertainment To deliver an enhanced fan and community experience,
the smart sports and events complex will include smart seating, parking, ticketing, connection,
retail facilities, classrooms, automated building systems, venue controls, water conservation,
and energy efficiency. The potential lends itself to a variety of delivery methods, such
as Design Build-Operate with funding or PPP. Thank you for watching.if there are any tips
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