Nakuru's sponge city approach: using nature to build climate resilience
Rapid urbanisation and climate change are putting increasing pressure on cities across Africa. In Nakuru in Kenya, where flash floods, water scarcity and declining water quality are becoming more frequent, a new approach is helping the city rethink its relationship with water. Rather than treating rainfall as a problem to be drained away, the Nakuru Sponge City Project views water as an opportunity to create a healthier, more resilient urban environment.
The project is part of the Water as Leverage (WaL) programme and is supported by the Government of the Netherlands through the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Kenya. It combines Dutch expertise in integrated water management and local knowledge, involving close collaboration between Nakuru City, Nakuru County, communities, the private sector and financial institutions.
Water as a catalyst for urban development
Water as Leverage Nakuru reimagines water not as a threat, but as a catalyst for improving the environment, strengthening the local economy, enhancing public health and creating better living conditions. The initiative addresses interconnected challenges such as flooding, water scarcity, declining water sources and pollution through nature-based solutions that work with natural processes rather than against them.
Beyond improving conditions in Nakuru, the project also aims to demonstrate a scalable approach that can be replicated in other rapidly growing cities facing similar climate challenges.
Nature-based solutions at the heart of the project
Over the past 18 months, a multidisciplinary consortium commissioned by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency has worked closely with local stakeholders to develop nature-based solutions for seven priority 'hotspot' areas across the city. The consortium is led by Felixx Landscape Architects & Planners, a Dutch landscape architecture firm, and brings together Witteveen+Bos, CSC Strategy & Finance and TU (the Technical University of Delft), working alongside Kenyan partners including Planning Development Consulting Ltd., Egerton University and Bantu Studio Design & Research. The project is further supported by Vitens Evides International (VEI) through the WaterWorX programme and by UN-Habitat. It demonstrates the value of combining Dutch water expertise with local knowledge and international collaboration.
Through a collaborative design process involving communities, national and county governments, businesses and financial institutions, three priority locations were selected for further development: Menengai, Nakuru CBD and Njoro. Preliminary designs and cost-benefit analyses have now been completed for these locations.
The proposed interventions focus on four complementary components: ecosystem restoration, nature-based drainage, ecological buffer zones, and supporting measures that strengthen the city's overall resilience. Instead of relying solely on conventional drainage infrastructure, the sponge city concept uses green infrastructure to absorb, store, filter and gradually release rainwater. Measures include urban wetlands, rain gardens, permeable pavements, restored rivers, green streets and water-sensitive public spaces. Together, these interventions reduce flood risks, improve water quality, recharge groundwater, enhance biodiversity, and create more attractive public spaces.
Dutch expertise supports local solutions
The Nakuru Sponge City Project illustrates the Dutch water sector's integrated approach to climate adaptation. Rather than exporting technical solutions, Dutch partners work alongside local authorities, communities and knowledge institutes to co-create solutions that are technically feasible, socially inclusive and financially viable. By combining expertise in landscape architecture, engineering, water management, governance and investment planning, the consortium is helping Nakuru develop projects that are both climate resilient and investment-ready.
This collaborative process has transformed climate adaptation from a series of isolated infrastructure projects into a broader urban development strategy that delivers environmental, social and economic benefits. The project also highlights the growing role of nature-based solutions as a cost-effective complement to conventional engineering, with international studies showing that these types of approaches can significantly reduce infrastructure costs while delivering additional benefits for biodiversity, public health and liveability.
About Water as Leverage
Water as Leverage is an international programme that promotes sustainable social, economic and climate resilience by using water as a driver for urban development. Through a research-by-design approach, it connects climate adaptation and mitigation with social development, employment, biodiversity recovery and sustainable economic growth. A key objective is to bridge the gap between long-term urban planning and implementable, investment-ready projects.
The programme brings together governments, knowledge institutes, designers, communities, businesses and financiers from the earliest stages of project development. By combining technical expertise with inclusive partnerships, Water as Leverage creates bankable infrastructure projects that improve urban resilience while building local ownership and institutional capacity. Following successful initiatives in Asia and Latin America, Nakuru is part of the programme's growing global portfolio, and demonstrates how integrated, nature-based solutions and Dutch expertise can help cities adapt to a changing climate while creating healthier, more liveable urban environments.
Read more about Water as Leverage (WaL): https://english.rvo.nl/subsidies-financing/water-leverage
