Sustainable community design amidst social challenges: Insights from Nairobi, Kenya

Large-scale urban migration and poverty have spatial implications for city formation, including the creation of segregated communities with overwhelmed education systems, high unemployment and underemployment, and inadequate infrastructure. Drawing on Nairobi, Kenya as a case study, this chapter explores historical barriers that prevent the formation of a more equitable, spatially just, and sustainable city. Nairobi's urban poor primarily live in informal settlements or non-conforming communities that lack quality housing, access to sanitation, and food security. These settlements, which are characterized by a high influx of immigration, including rural to urban migrants and large populations of refugees, youth, and children, are often contested spaces. The residents of informal settlements are seldom included (beyond tokenism) in the city's official planning processes, yet they are critical contributors to the cities' vitality and urban space formation. By acknowledging the role of urban poor as co-producers of urban space and utilizing public/private partnerships to diversify public participation processes, city leaders and planners can facilitate the transition of more sustainable communities that are responsive to the needs of growing migrant populations in addition to being more just, sustainable, and resilient.