Nairobi City County Government plans to integrate Artificial Intelligence into its environmental management strategies, to provide accurate predictions and forecasts on air quality data.
Speaking during the launch of an Air Quality Framework Action Plan (2025–2029), Air Quality Data Management System and Public Portal, Nairobi’s CEC for Environment, Maureen Njeri reiterated that data from the systems will guide environmental decisions aimed at addressing pollution across the city.
“The data driven approach is part of Nairobi’s collaboration with Breathe Cities programme, supported by the Clean Air Fund, C40 Cities, and Bloomberg Philanthropies, which seeks to equip cities with modern tools to combat air pollution, said Njeri.
She mentioned that AI systems will enable the detection of pollution hotspots, predicting upcoming pollution levels while providing accurate air quality forecasts.
The approach is designed to support decision making across different sectors, including transport, urban planning, waste management and public health. She mentioned how AI-powered forecasts will help the county to issue timely health advisories to protect vulnerable populations, adjust traffic flow in high emission zones and identify illegal dumping and open burning practices.
The move follows a recent roll out of the county’s first city owned air quality monitoring network, which deployed 50 low-cost sensors across Nairobi’s commercial district and residential estates.
Njeri further noted that the county has developed an open access air quality information portal that will allow the public to track real time pollution levels in their neighbourhoods.The platform will also house predictive models that use algorithms to analyse sensor data alongside weather variables such as humidity and temperature.
She stated that the availability of public data through the new online portal also aims to increase transparency and empower citizens with information on the air they breathe. Njeri asserted that the county’s broader goal is to create a cleaner and healthier Nairobi.
