upepo
Elder Lister
A satellite photograph of Membley Estate in the fast-urbanizing Kiambu County.
Since the onset of urbanization in the country, meeting the housing needs of the urban population has always presented a challenge to the central government and local authorities. After independence, much effort went into developing housing projects for middle-class Africans in urban areas. This push was necessary as most Africans had no access to decent housing. As a result, many estates came up, with houses modeled to serve the urban nuclear family. The set-up was beautiful, with units made up of two or three bedrooms, enough parking for one car, and public amenities such as schools and shopping centers. This set-up became the symbol of good life for most citizens, and most aspired to replicate the same when the time comes to put up a family home. The mental poster was one of two or three cute kids playing about in a huge sitting room with nice, comfy seats facing a television set. Not forgetting the father’s car in the small parking space just outside the main door.
However, with time, this picture did not endure. The kids grew-up, went to high school, then college, and, in a few cases, employment and independent living followed. For the unlucky majority, they would remain stuck at home either because they could not secure jobs or the jobs they landed could not afford them the accommodation they were used to. Now this is where the whole set-up would turn ugly as the budding semi-adults tried to fit in a house that was designed to accommodate a few carefree kids, their controlling mother, and a roving father. Inevitably, the home would turn into a stress center for everyone, including the father, though none could afford to avoid it. In some unfortunate situations, the young adults would become frustrated and take onto bad habits that would further exacerbate the situation at home. When the situation allowed, it is at this point that the parents would shift to their rural home, leaving their kids in the city house.
This scenario is likely to repeat time and again into the future, especially with the new trend in urbanizing areas, where homes sit on 40 by 80 plots, with virtually no free space left. Old wisdom had it that a 12 year-old male child would be granted semi-independence with a cuboid-looking residence somewhere at the remote corner of the homestead. The cube would be purposely made to look as basic as is humanely possible, to ensure the resident does not grow too comfortable to a point of forgetting that he is supposed to aspire to better housing. That is how the boy child was gently eased out of the cosy nest and onto the cold world. I do not see that happening in the 40 by 80 plots, hence my concerns that the urban problem of suspended young adults will only grow bigger with time.
