Slums, Land and Poverty: A Situational Analysis in the Five Largest Cities in Kenya

Abstract

At the international and national level, the commitment to improve the conditions of slums is well-intentioned and important, but the task is fraught with challenges. Firstly, there is little information and understanding of the scale and nature land and poverty issues in general, and the situation in slums in particular. Secondly, a whole generation of earlier efforts, to upgrade urban slums, starting in the 1970s has only been partially successful. Thirdly the scale of the slum problem is growing rapidly in most cities of the developing world increasingly complex-politically, institutionally, and, at times, technically-and therefore beyond the scope of simple and modest solutions. The 2010 Constitution of Kenya in Chapter Four (Bill of Rights) identifies access to adequate housing and to reasonable standards of sanitation as a basic right. (GOK, 2010). In the broad sense, decent housing connotes housing that is inclusive of basic services, such as clean and portable water, sanitation and waste management, energy as well as proximity to facilities such as markets, health facilities, schools and security posts. This paper draws lessons upon the second challenge, that is, unsuccessful implementation and replication of earlier slum upgrading efforts and the continuing complexity of these settlements. This is done as an attempt to fill gaps in our knowledge about slums in five major urban centres in Kenya, and to, hopefully, create a basis for similar studies in smaller urban centres.