Compliance with the Planning Standards in Regulating Building Lines. The Case of Kisii Town, Kenya

Planning standards provide a basis for controlling land use to attain orderly spatial development. This study examined the extent to which developments in Kenya have been complying with the planning standard on building lines, having Kisii town as a case study. It also investigated the factors contributing to the observed non-compliance. The analysis was based on the public interest theory of regulation. A sample size of 364 residential developments was randomly and proportionately drawn from the seven neighbourhoods. Remote sensing and questionnaires were used to collect data and thereafter analyzed using GIS, descriptive and inferential statistics. Research findings disclosed that most residential developments did not comply with the recommended building lines. The results of hypothesis similarly confirmed low compliance that was statistically significant. Non-compliance was found to be caused by the failure of the County Government of Kisii to ensure that developers obtained the obligatory development permissions in addition to meeting other requirements namely using registered professionals and ensuring regular inspection of buildings during construction. Also, the interpretation of the applicable planning standards of building lines by the County Government when approving building plans was misleading and eventually contributed to non-compliance. These problems ensue due to insufficient development control, therefore contributing to unsustainable spatial development. This study addresses a critical issue in spatial planning practice and aims to contribute to the specialist literature by demonstrating how compliance with the planning standards that regulate building lines may be statistically and spatially evaluated.