Assessment of Urban Neighborhood Sustainability: a Case Study of Ngara Estate, Nairobi
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Date
2020Author
Kiprotich, Maiyo E
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
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The study is an assessment of urban neighbourhood sustainability. The study argues that
unmanaged urban growth has led to urban issues such as environmental problems, poor
infrastructure and congestion, among others, thus affecting urban neighbourhood
sustainability. Urbanization/urban growth has also led to increased demand of land for urban
uses such as residential and commercial. The specific objectives of the study were: (a) Identify
the types of land uses in Ngara estate (b) Examine the indicators of a sustainable urban
neighbourhood in the area (c) Propose measures to improve the quality of the neighbourhood
and review some of the best-case studies. The data was sourced through the administration of
household questionnaires, interviews and observation. The qualitative data was analyzed using
content analysis techniques, whereas quantitative data analysis was employed to summarize
information and data through percentages. The findings of the study revealed that 53.3% of
emerging developments were mainly high-rise residential apartments, 26.7% were in the form
of high-rise residential apartments cum commercial, 13.3% purely commercial in the form of
offices, retail and hotels and 6.7% were student hostels. Challenges associated with solid waste
management include delay in the collection of waste (44%), the high fee charged (29%) for
waste collection and lack of citizen responsibility and/or bad attitude (27%) towards the
management of solid waste. About 39% of the respondents reported that they do not have
access to NMT facilities such as the cycling paths and walkways. The major cause of water
pollution in the neighbourhood are discharge of raw sewer (38%), oil spillage (34%) and solid
waste (28%). Approximately 45% of the respondents also reported that the burning of waste is
a major concern as it pollutes the air. 33% felt that burning of fossil fuel contributes to air
pollution as well. Dusty roads also contribute to air pollution as reported by 22% of the
respondents. Causes of land degradation include cutting down of trees (18%), disposal of nonbiodegradable
waste (67%) and light industrial waste (15%). Other issues are poor drainage
(5%), poor hygiene (33%), inadequate facilities such as storage areas (5%) and theft (5%). A
good number (82.7%) reported that the health facilities were adequate. Economic activities:
Small-scale business accounts for 73% of economic activities whereas 27% were of medium
scale. The study concludes that the existing and emerging land uses are of mixed-use in nature
comprising uses such as residential and commercial uses. The key recommendations are
preparation of land use plan or ‘action plan’ to guide developments in Ngara. Furthermore,
Publisher
University of Nairobi
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- Faculty of Arts [657]
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