Slums of Nairobi

The slums of Nairobi

Settlement

Roughly 60% of Nairobi's 2.9 million people live in slums. The distribution of these slums is not necessarily based on access to water but instead settlements tend to develop on undesirable land such as areas contaminated by industrial waste, hillsides, flood planes and areas down stream from polluters. This settlement pattern occurs because this land comes at a very cheap price. The other factor in the location of these settlements is that they are typically close to main transportation arteries which can lead to potential work.

-slums take up only 5% of the cities residential area (while population living in slums is 60% of total)

-2300 residents per hectare

-as many as 400 people to one toilet

-only 22% have access to water connections

Transportation

Public Transportation: The most common form of transportation in Nairobi are 14 passenger vans called “Nissans” or “Matatus”. These vehicles are run privately and typically operated by two people, the driver and the tout. The touts job is to collect fares and secure luggage.

Biking: Biking is a common form of transportation though rough roads and lack of tools, expertise and parts make up keep difficult.

Walking: This is the best and often only way to get around the slums as they are often very narrow and the terrain varied.

Water Management

Nairobi's water supply system is overloaded and distributed very unequally. Municipal taps provide water to only 3% of the slum population so most buy their water from private companies who charge a higher rate than the public taps. The upper income bracket of Nairobi consumes 30% of the domestic water while making up 10% of the population where as those in the low income bracket consume 35% of the water and yet make up 64% of the population.

citing:  23-Jan-2008, Lily Kim. "UWSpace: The Kijiji Kit: A Slum Upgrading Strategy for Nairobi, Kenya." Web. 10 Nov. 2010. <http://hdl.handle.net/10012/3549>.

Tristan Roberton 

November 9th 2010