Kismayo

Kismayo is a rapidly changing coastal city whose urban form is closely tied to migration, displacement and the demands placed on land and services. UN-Habitat’s urban profiles describe a settlement accommodating host communities, returnees and internally displaced people, with growth patterns that require coordinated decisions about expansion, infrastructure and access to basic services.

Planning has increasingly focused on how that growth can be structured rather than absorbed informally. The 2020 urban profile records road projects within the built-up area and examines settlement dynamics against the city’s wider policy framework. Together, these studies frame Kismayo as an urban system in which mobility, serviced land and the integration of displaced communities are central to long-term development.