Tatu City held a 5-day urban workshop dubbed ‘The New Town Lab’ with urban planning experts from the International New Town Institute (INTI). The purpose of the lab, which was attended by the Tatu City team and Dutch experts, was to create a strategy that will facilitate the integration of a connective approach to its plan.
INTI is a global research, education, and knowledge exchange platform for new towns based in the Netherlands. The Institute aims to bring together “multidisciplinary expertise and experience in a wide range of activities in collaboration with public, private and academic partners.”
The New Town Lab
INTI guided the attendees through insightful sessions of brainstorming ideas, examining current plans, and developing implementable strategies during the lab. Moreover, the lab included KUWA, a Kenyan-based urban design and planning consulting company, to conduct a in-depth exploration of the local context.
The workshop came up with “The City in Between” strategy that will connect Tatu City’s projects to each other and to the neighbouring communities. The strategy will also see the developing company, Rendeavour activate more than 1,000 green spaces in Tatu City.
Simone Rots, Managing Director of INTI said: “It has been an inspiring week at an inspiring project, co-operating intensively to create a plan and strategy that is based on the vision of ‘the city in between’. In my opinion, this strategy will strengthen the connective approach that Tatu City is already undertaking. Tatu City is a global example for other private developers working on new towns worldwide.”
Rendeavour’s country head Nick Langford said at the conclusion of the workshop:
“We are keen to focus on building a cohesive city that embraces not just our residents’ use of public space, but also the use by communities living around Tatu City. Our partnership with INTI ensures we will adhere to the highest levels of planning to make that a reality,”
