Indicator 11.7.1 Average share of the built-up area of cities that is open space for public use for all, by sex, age and persons with disabilities

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable]

By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities]

Average share of the built-up area of cities that is open space for public use for all, by sex, age and persons with disabilities]

2024]

11.3.1: Ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate

11.2.1: Proportion of population that has convenient access to public transport, by sex, age and persons with disabilities]

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics]

Manager, Cartography/GIS]

Cartography/GIS Division]

Conducting the Population and Housing Census every ten years, and such other censuses and surveys as the Board may determine]

2911000/1,3317612/22/23/51]

P.O Box 30266-00100]

dpss@knbs.or.ke]

Definitions

Public space: The Global Public Space toolkit defines Public Space as all places that are publicly owned or of public use, accessible and enjoyable by all, for free and without a profit motive, categorized into streets, open spaces and public facilities. Public space in general is defined as the meeting or gathering places that exist outside the home and workplace that are generally accessible by members of the public, and which foster resident interaction and opportunities for contact and proximity.

Open public space: is any open piece of land that is undeveloped or land with no buildings (or other built structures) that is accessible to the public without charge, and provides recreational areas for residents and helps to enhance the beauty and environmental quality of neighborhoods.

City or urban area - The Degree of Urbanisation (DEGURBA) endorsed by the United Nations Statistical Commission, in its 51st Session (March 2020) is the workable method used to delineate cities, urban and rural areas for international statistical comparisons in this indicator. This definition combines population size and population density thresholds to classify the entire territory of a country along the urban-rural continuum, and captures the full extent of a city, including the dense neighborhoods beyond the boundary of the central municipality.

For the computation of this indicator (11.7.1), Kenya has adopted the DEGURBA to define the analysis area (city or urban area).]

Proportion (percentage)]

Spatial data on location of open public spaces.

Population data at enumeration area and 1km2 grid level – number of residents per EA or grid.

Demographic data for disaggregation by age, sex, and vulnerable populations]

Data on potential open public spaces are acquired from high resolution imagery and validated through ground truthing

Data collection is done at the local city/urban level, with national aggregates made from all cities in the country, or from a sample of representative cities (selected using the National Sample of Cities Approach developed by UN-Habitat).]

Annually]

Annually to cater for an anticipated increase in the number of cities/urban areas in the country]

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Department of urban Development (DUD)]

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics]

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS)

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) is established under the Statistics Act, 2006 as the principal agency of the Government for collecting, analyzing and disseminating statistical data in Kenya and as the custodian of official statistical information.]

The value of public spaces is often overlooked or underestimated by policy makers, leaders, citizens and urban developers. There are several reasons for this, such as the lack of resources, or understanding or capacity to use public space as a complete, multi-functional urban system. Often the lack of appropriate enabling frameworks, weak political will and the absence of the means of public engagement compound the situation. Nevertheless, fundamentally, the lack of a global measurement indicator has hindered the local and global appreciation of the value of the public spaces.

Cities that improve and sustain the use of public space, including streets, enhance community cohesion, civic identity, and quality of life. A well developed and properly designed network of streets not only increases connectivity, promotes walking and social interactions but also encourages development of other street activities that bring life to a city. Equally, a well distributed and hierarchical system of open public spaces that can be accessed by all regardless of income, gender, race or disability status and one that promotes multiple activities not only encourages their use, but also contributes to the urban character and quality of urban life.]

Variation in the types of open public spaces across cities in the world

Lack of a universal definition on public open spaces]

The method to estimate the area of public space has been globally piloted in over 600 cities and this follows a series of methodological developments dating back to the last several years. The finalized methodology is a three-step process:

1. Spatial analysis to delimit the city/urban area which will act as the geographical scope for the spatial analysis and indicator computation; done using the DEGURBA approach.
2. Spatial analysis to identify potential open public spaces, field work to validate data and assess the quality of spaces and calculation of the total area occupied by the verified open public spaces;
3. Estimation of the total area allocated to streets;
4. Estimation of share of population with access to open public spaces within 400 meters walking distance out of the total population in the city/ urban area and disaggregation of the population with access by sex, age and persons with disabilities]

Data compiled is checked against several criteria including the data sources used, the application of internationally agreed definitions, classification and methodologies to the data from that source, etc. Once reviewed, appropriate feedback is then provided to stakeholders for further discussion;

https://data.unhabitat.org/datasets/template-for-compilation-of-sdg-indicator-11-7-1).

The detailed tutorial on the indicator computation can be accessed here: https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2020/07/indicator_11.7.1_training_module_public_space.pdf.

The guidance on implementation of the National Sample of Cities Approach is available here: https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2020/06/national_sample_of_cities_english.pdf]

To ensure consistency in data production across countries, UN-Habitat has developed detailed step-by-step tutorials on the computation of indicator 11.7.1, which further explain the steps presented in this metadata. The detailed tutorials, which will be continuously updated are available at

https://unhabitat.org/knowledge/data-and-analytics, https://www.urbanagendaplatform.org/learning, and https://data.unhabitat.org/.

The Bureau adheres to Kenya Statistical Quality Assurance Framework (KeSQAF) that ensures statistics produced meets the need of the users].

In adherence to the ISO 9001:2015 requirements the Bureau carries out its own internal audits based on KeSQAF Guidelines that ensures high quality statistics are produced.]

Disaggregation:

Data is available at KNBS and other state agencies such as the Kenya Space Agency (KSA),Directorate of Resource Surveys and Remote Sensing and Urban Development Department(UDD)]

Disaggregation Not Available]

Significant variations between global and national figures are anticipated due to variations in the definitions of open public spaces in cities across the world]

https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2020/07/indicator_11.7.1_training_module_public_space.pdf

https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2020/06/national_sample_of_cities_english.pdf