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The proposed "Nairobi Railway City" is part of the Nairobi Integrated Urban Development Plan, and is a redevelopment of the existing Nairobi Central Railway Station and its surrounding areas into what has been described as a multi-modal, transit oriented, urban development. 

The proposed development will be located on a 425 acre piece of land in Nairobi, stretching from Haile Selassie Avenue, Uhuru Highway, Bunyala Road, Commercial Street and Landhies Road. 

The scope of the development includes:

1. Central Station: Floor-Area-Ratio (400%), 15 floors, multimodal transit centre and hub incorporating mixed use commercial.
2. International tourist destination with a Meetings Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) Core: 44ha, Floor-Area-Ratio (600%), 45 floors, hotels, convention, casino, theme park and high-end commercial.
3. Railway City Housing: 51ha, Floor-Area-Ratio (250%), 5 to 12 floors, 3,522 housing units.
4. Government Office precinct: 6.3ha, Floor-Area-Ratio (400%), with Government as an anchor tenant.
5. R&D Zone: 4ha, Floor-Area-Ratio (400%), 15 floors, knowledge industry and synergy with TUK thereby tapping the entrepreneurial and youthful as a destination.
6. Street Commercial: 2.4km shopping promenade, 62ha, Floor-Area-Ratio (300%), 10 floors mixed-use commercial, housing, office.
7. International office precinct: 36ha, Floor-Area-Ratio (600%), 25 floors, top-tier office and working zone.
8. EAST Core (New Wakulima): 12ha, Floor-Area-Ratio (250%), 8 floors, new commercial, community center.
9. High tech industry with SME cluster with grand park: 20ha, Floor-Area-Ratio (400%), 10 floors.
10. Mixed use centre core offering commercial offices, high end housing and grand park and station.

Government will provide infrastructure to the site. The cost of providing infrastructure is estimated to be KSh28 billion (US$258 million), which includes landscaping, roads & pavements, railway infrastructure, water supply, sewerage systems, telecommunications, and power.

In May this year, the Railway City Development Authority (RCDA) was established as a special purpose vehicle for implementing the proposed development. The RCDA was setup following a directive by President Uhuru Kenyatta in March for Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) to work closely with relevant institutions to establish the Authority and identify anchor projects and investors for the project. A gazette notice establishing the Railway City Development Authority was published on 13th May 2020 as Legal Notice No. 88 of 2020, according to a statement by Major General Badi - the NMS Director-General.

On 20 July this year, the Kenya government through the Department of Housing and Urban Development called for Expressions of Interest for the development of a Master Plan for the proposed city and for developers of individual projects within the city. 

The project is planned to be implemented in three phases over a period of 20 years.

Photo: Nairobi Skyline (africaknows.com)