Abstract
Cities worldwide are growing fast, in 2018 4.1 billion people of the world population of the 7.6 billion live in cities and urban agglomerations. Of these population, one billion the population live in coastal cities and towns. The city’s population are projected to increase to 6.9 billion people out of the 9.9 billion global population by 2050, Coastal cities and towns are projected to increase as well. The coastal cities and towns have over the years experienced an influx in population due to maritime commercial services that these cities and towns provide in sectors such as maritime transportation and logistics, tourism, fisheries, energy and manufacturing. With the increase in urbanization, the human influence has increasingly wedged negatively on the marine resources and ecosystem. Some of these impacts are pollution, uncontrolled exploitation of marine resources and encroachment into marine protected areas and fragile ecosystems. These negative impacts have necessitated a comprehensive coastal land use allocation plan which is set to offer a sustainable framework to guide the location of development and exploitation of marine resources. The Kenyan coastal region commonly known as the Pwani region encompasses of six counties i.e. Kwale, Mombasa, Kilifi, Tana River, Lamu and Taita Taveta The region covers approximately 79,686 Km2 with a total population of 4 million people, this is 10% of the country’s population (Kenya National Bureau of Statistics).The region contributes 9% of the national gross domestic product (GDP) with the main contributors being the port and tourism activities. The region is endowed with natural resources, blue economy, manufacturing and special economic zones, productive communities, rich history and heritage, pristine ecosystem and biodiversity, unique mix of coastal cultures and immense potential for investments and development. The region however experiences challenges such as; over exploitation of marine resources, unsustainable urbanisation and pollution since the region lacks a comprehensive land use allocation plan and as a result the region fails to achieve its maximum potential. The coastal region county governments, recognizing the need for unity to accelerate the socio-economic development of the region and to regulate the detrimental effects of uncontrolled urbanization on the marine ecosystem, recently came together to form a regional cooperation bloc called Jumuiya ya kaunti za pwani (JKP) in 2019. Jumuiya ya kaunti za Pwani (JKP) serves as a lead agency in coordinating and controlling urbanization’s effects on the marine ecosystem through policy advocacy. However, these efforts have not been fruitful since a comprehensive coastal land-use plan to guide development has yet to be formulated. The comprehensive coastal land use plan is aimed at achieving; coordinated, intergrated, sustainable land sea planning; a robust and elaborate land sea development framework; a land-sea disaster risk reduction and coordinate ongoing initiatives that also aim to achieve similar goals.
