dc.contributor.author | Makunda, C. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2021-06-17T08:49:05Z | |
dc.date.available | 2021-06-17T08:49:05Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2020-02-20 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Makunda, C. (2019). The Unsustainability of Urban Habitat Transformation. AFRICA HABITAT REVIEW, 13(1), 1547-1560. | en_US |
dc.identifier.uri | http://uonjournals.uonbi.ac.ke/ojs/index.php/ahr/article/view/319 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/155022 | |
dc.description.abstract | This paper interrogates the issue of sustainability of the market-driven urban residential transformation of
Nairobi through a case study of Kileleshwa, a residential neighbourhood located in the western suburbs
of the city. The paper examines the impact of the ongoing transformation from low-density housing to
higher density high-rise apartment housing on the sustainability of the urban habitat. This is predicated
on an understanding of sustainability in which its components are hierarchically organized to privilege
the environmental component over the social and economic ones. The investigation was undertaken
qualitatively using the case study of high-rise apartment blocks. This entailed qualitative interviews with
key actors implicated in the process of transformation including property developers, the local authority,
and residents. Research methods also included visual documentation of the apartment blocks being
developed as well as document review of public sector and private sector reports on the real estate
sector. The results indicate that the current production of housing in Kileleshwa is unsustainable. This is
demonstrated by the inadequacy of the neighbourhood´s infrastructure in supporting the current trajectory
of the habitat´s densification. The infrastructural challenges are discussed in detail highlighting the
extent to which they are leading to unsustainable transformation. A reframing of the approach to urban
development that requires a paradigm shift in prioritizing the environmental component of sustainability
and deliberate planning for densification in place of the current ad hoc approach to urban development is
also discussed. The paper concludes that sustainable urban development requires both a foregrounding
of environmental concerns and the adoption of a holistic approach in the satisfaction of urban needs
such as housing with their commensurate physical and social infrastructure. The paper recommends the
upgrading of the existing physical infrastructure to support densification, and the redirection of the ongoing
urban development towards the more sustainable compact city structure | en_US |
dc.language.iso | en_US | en_US |
dc.publisher | Africa Habitat Review | en_US |
dc.subject | Apartment housing, climate change, densification, Kileleshwa, Nairobi, sustainability, unsustainability, urban transformation. | en_US |
dc.title | The Unsustainability of Urban Habitat Transformation : A Case Study of Kileleshwa in Nairobi, Kenya | en_US |
dc.type | Article | en_US |