Urban Icons in Focus: Kisumu’s Historic Clock Tower
An Urban icon is a prominent building, monument, or natural feature within a city that serves as a recognizable visual symbol, representing the city's identity and often used in city branding strategies; essentially, it's a landmark that is so well-known it becomes a visual representation of the urban landscape itself. According to Castillo-Villar (2016), urban icons can be classified into three types namely: 1) Natural icons (mountains, rivers, lakes), 2) Preglobal icons (man-made and built before 1960) and 3) Contemporary urban icons (man-made and built after 1960) Today’s Focus: Kisumu City The Clock Tower – Kisumu CBD The Clock Tower is an important landmark in Kisumu City’s Central Business District (CBD) on Oginga Odinga Street. The tower was unveiled on August 19, 1938 in memory of Kassim Lakha an Indian trader who contributed to the development of Kisumu in the colonial days from 1902 to 1910. Lakha lived in East Africa, including in Kisumu from 1871 unti...