Omondi was expecting to take an underground train directly from downtown Moi Avenue to a rugby training session in Westlands. However, he heard on the radio that the line was not working. He confirmed this as he passed a bus stop, with a digital information display, on his way to the corner shop. When he consulted a Nairobi Metro real-time map on his cell phone, it suggested cycling to the University Way interchange and catching the underground there. The website then guided him through a Route Navigator, which showed him the most bicyclefriendly route at that rush- hour time.

To many, the above may well read like a futuristic fantasy from a slightly surreal metropolis, but great cities are built on dreams. Most of Dubai’s architecture, when viewed on paper, may seem like the product of impossible dreams but these visions have come to life. As technologyand its associated applications evolve, one wonders how these rapid advances will benefit a city’s physical infrastructure. City traffic is one of the greatstanding jokes of the modern age. There is hardly a city in the world where traffic has not choked people’s space and lungs.

How will the next technological leap affect our modes of transport? What’s the future of transportation in cities? Imagine Nairobi 30 years from now. Will it be motoring in a fresh gear or will we simply have dressed-up elements of the past? The answer depends on investment in integrated transport systems. A city with holistic mobility options is exciting, memorable and people-friendly.

Nairobi drives Kenya’s commerce and offers immense opportunities for progressive investors and venture capitalists, who are scouring the continent for profitable returns. City mobility helps attract, retain and influence global human capital’s choice of city settlements. Nairobi’s growing population and the ease of access to the vast market of the East African Community are key attractions for Asian and Western investors who visit Nairobi regularly. The hallmark of a modern city is dynamic mobility. Sound city mobility ensures people, products and services connect at nodes of need at reasonable speed and over reduced distances.

Creative and positive planning styles and good infrastructure can attract meaningful foreign direct investment. Attracting wealthy investors in rail, road, hospitality and recreation would help repair Nairobi’s image as a withering city, and revive tired tourism products.

For now, the traffic in Nairobi is a perfect Catch-22. Most motorists’ actions exacerbate, rather than ease, rush-hour chaos. Drivers’ bellicose spirits and selfishness only make things worse. Nobody measures journeys in kilometres anymore but in hours. It’s almost impossible to predict how long it will take to get where you are going. This costs money because time is money.

Personal mobility is a treasured freedom in the peculiarly individualistic age in which we live. But there are different levels. Car drivers enjoy certain liberties but others, like pedestrians and cyclists, are condemned to be bullied. Motorcyclists know this too well. Nairobi’s transport network is not designed for the pedestrian, mkokoteni (handcart) or boda boda operators (cyclist) or any form of non-motorised vehicle. But have you ever wondered why non-motorised means of transport are still prevalent and growing?

Small micro-enterprises form the bulk of the city’s businesses. The informal sector favours non-motorised transport because they are affordable, available and accessible. This is the reality. It would be more practical to introduce order to this informality rather than to challenge it. The further one drifts from the city centre, the more broken down the infrastructure becomes, hence the proliferation of non-motorised transport.

Whatever your preferred mode of transport, the biggest challenge for many people here is getting to work. Some corporations have ceased developing massive company headquarters but sadly others are still fixated on this planning mirage. These giant buildings are security risks,inefficient and concentrate chaos in one area. A drive through the Upper Hill area shows how city centre menace is creeping in fast. Organisations that fled the CBD and built corporate head offices here are findingthemselves caught up in the same traffic gridlock they thought they had fled. Technology can be used to assist planning and address these problems. The Kenya Revenue Authority got rid of the mammoth crowd that used to gather in its front yard after adopting an e-tax return system, and the same can be said of the adoption of e-money transfers for power Car drivers enjoy certain liberties but others, like pedestrians and cyclists, are condemned to be bullied.

Motorcyclists know this too well. and water payments. Extensive adoption of agent commercial banking, where banking services are devolved to smaller, authorized partners not necessarily operating in traditional bank halls, would render these huge halls obsolete, also easing pressure on the city’s roads.

Although Nairobi has become digitally decentralized (thanks to the fierce competition between mobile phone companies), a successful physical decentralization would enhance the city’s efficiency because it would mean shorter distances between frequent commuter destinations. Here’s an idea: widen roads like Peponi, Ring Road, Argwings Kodhek or James Gichuru. This would ease traffic pressure. Innovation flourishes in a city that gives its residents multiple means of getting around. Nairobi needs more transport options to spur creativity and innovation by eliminating impossibilities. Although much global business has moved to the virtual space, investors favour cities that help their residents make business connections.

Then there is the issue of insecurity, which has hammered city nightlife.Recently Nairobi City Council sought expressions of interest from surveillance companies. This is a step in the right direction. A network of CCTV cameras, observing streets and public areas, would boost security and encourage urban exploration. We need to bring the people back onto the streets because streets are safer if they are busy and overlooked by apartments or homes. Increased CCTV surveillance would guarantee city spirit for those who live, work, play and shop past regular office hours. A new night lifestyle would emerge. And why not, one day, a Nairobi Street Carnival?

Urban planning, investment and technology must converge to create a place where beauty and pleasure come together. Investment in good infrastructure remains attractive for purely financial reasons as well – if you invested in a good bus and coach service in Nairobi, you would reap healthy rewards. The flip side is that failure to invest in transport will harm Nairobi’s economic prospects.

Any improvements must take into account the big picture. Planners need to focus on inclusive design – Nairobi remains a collage of parts, some functional and others derelict. Tourists like places that feel solid and function as a whole. Nairobi scores low on inclusive design. We need more signs in foreign languages. We need more ramps for wheelchair users. Property owners should pave streets to make it easier for physically challenged residents to get around. Childfriendly toilets are needed in malls as are rest rooms for wheelchair users. These are all big changes for a city that is growing bigger every day. But a little optimism can go a long way towards turning dreams into reality