Nairobi recreational parks to get free Wi-Fi, lighting

Entrance to the rehabilitated Michuki Memorial Park in Nairobi Metropolitan Services in September 2020. FILE PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NMG

By COLLINS OMULO
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Summary

• Green spaces and parks in Nairobi will soon have streetlights integrated with free Wi-Fi for use by residents who frequent them, Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) has said.
• NMS Director-General Mohamed Badi said that the new development is part of plans to modernise streetlights in Nairobi into smart light system.
• Some of the green spaces targeted include Michuki Park, City Park, Central and Uhuru parks, Jevanjee Gardens, Jamhuri Park and Ngong Road forest.

Green spaces and parks in Nairobi will soon have streetlights integrated with free Wi-Fi for use by residents who frequent them, Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) has said.

NMS Director-General Mohamed Badi said that the new development is part of plans to modernise streetlights in Nairobi into smart light system.

Some of the green spaces targeted include Michuki Park, City Park, Central and Uhuru parks, Jevanjee Gardens, Jamhuri Park and Ngong Road forest.

“We have been repairing and replacing streetlights within Nairobi, upgrading them to a smart light system,” said Maj Gen Badi.

The NMS boss said that since taking over the four transferred functions in mid-March, they have repaired 50,000 street lights.

The shift to smart light system will also see some of the street lights integrated with cameras for protection and security.

The streetlights have also been retrofitted with high-pressure sodium (HPS) lights to brighten up the city.

Smart street lighting control system consists of controllers and a cloud-based software for real-time management.

It uses open wireless mesh communication, enabling standalone street lighting infrastructures to become hubs for internet.

The smart communication controllers are GSM-based with a SIM card able to transmit data from street sensors to the cloud.

“We hope that with modern streetlights, we will be able to light up Nairobi city as it should be. This is by having intelligent lighting in the city which will eventually lead to Nairobi being a smart city, where the streetlights and public lights will do much more than just lighting the city,” he said.

NMS has reclaimed and beautified a number of parks and green spaces in Nairobi since March with Michuki Park rehabilitated to a botanical garden and recreational park within an urban set-up.

This has seen the famous recreational park have flood lights installed, walkways rehabilitated, a 500-sitter amphitheater, a new guard house, a café as well as an event’s ground set up .