De-Slumification Empowering slum dwellers through waste-bag construction
CONTENT INTRODUCTION4 1 URBAN AND INFRASTRUCTURAL ISSUES
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1A Challenges and Conditions 1B How mathare is Perceived 12 31 1C Life in mathare 1D Project Location and Access 40 46 1E Sanitation, Sewage and Waste Disposal Systems 1F Ecological impact on Marine Life 54 57 2 ARCHITECTURAL RESEARCH OF APPROPRIATE BUILDING TECHNOLOGIES 67 2A mathare Building Techniques 2B learn from slums 68 72 2C Building Materials Supply, Local Availability and Durability 77 2D Technoogy Principles 82 2E Alternative/Reusable Energy Systems and Installation 92 2F Water Supply, Storage and Treatment Systems
2G Waste Management and Sanitation 116 2H Ideal Standalone System 119 2I Other mathare Building Projects 123 2J Conclusions 125 3 SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL NEEDS 140 3A School Program, Schedule and Teachers 142 3B Community Programs, Social Patterns and Cultural Events 145 4 LAND AND WATER USE (REGULATIONS AND POLICIES) 152 4A mathare Land Legality, Ownership and Jurisdiction 153 4B Lagos Inland Waterways and Jurisdiction 154 4C Applicable Building Regulations, Permits/Waivers, Rights and Licenses 155
Today, 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. Projections show that urbanization, the gradual shift in residence of the human population from rural to urban areas, combined with the overall growth of the world’s population could add another 2.5 billion people to urban areas by 2050, with close to 90% of this increase taking place in Asia and Africa. As Sub-Saharan Africa continues to urbanize, slum populations are growing at 4.5 percent per year. Providing housing to slum dwellers, protecting them from natural disasters and diseases, and connecting them to jobs and services through improved infrastructure are urgent policy issues in many Sub-Saharan African cities.
Over 4 million people
currently live in Nairobi. This capital city has experienced rapid economic growth.
More than half of the population lives in informal settlements.
22 years is the average age of Nairobi residents who live in these informal settlements.
Nairobi,kenya
KENYA THE UNSEEN MAJORITY: NAIROBI’S TWO MILLION SLUM-DWELLERS
Life is precarious for the approximately 2 million people who live in Nairobi’s informal settlements and slums. They make up over half the capital’s population yet are crammed into only 5 per cent of the city’s residential area and just 1 per cent of all land in the city. They are forced to live in inadequate housing and have little access to clean water, sanitation , healthcare, schools and other essential public services. They also live under the constant threat of forced eviction from the makeshift structures they have made their homes. People have lived in slums in and around Nairobi since the city’s formation at the turn of the 20th century.3 Over the years, government responses have failed to ensure the state’s obligation to realize the human right to adequate housing.
Kenya is facing an increasing growth of informal settlements in her urban centers. As rapid urbanization takes its toll, so has the development and growth of slums. More than 34% of Kenya’s total population lives in urban areas and of this, more than 71% is confined in informal settlements (UN-Habitat, 2009). This number will continue to increase unless a serious and concerted action by all relevant stakeholders is undertaken. Kenya’s annual informal settlements growth rate (slumification) of 5%, is the highest in the world and it is likely to double in the next 30 years if positive intervention measures are not put in place (UNDP, 2007). According to UN-Habitat (2003), the experience in these slums shows a strong link that people living in poverty are trapped in their present (World Economic and Social Survey, 2008) situation because they are excluded from the rest of the society. Unfortunately , they are not empowered to allow them to make any significant contribution to community building ,pushing Nairobi city to the verge of sinking into abyss as the weight of mushrooming slums takes its toll.
Kenya, the largest economy in East Africa, has some of the starkest inequality in the region. Nowhere is that more apparent than in Nairobi, where the wealthy and middle class live and work next to slums housing some of the country’s poorest ..
Photography: johnny miller Thomson Reuters Foundation’s slumscapes project
Rehabilitated roads next to Kibera in Nairobi.
The neighbors ... A tale of two cities
A highway cuts through Kibera in Nairobi.
A golf course next to mathare slums in Nairobi.
Unused area next to crowded slums
An aerial view of the upscale suburb of Loresho in Nairobi, Kenya.
A highway next to Kibera.
Aerial photos of Nairobi show Kibera’s proximity to developed housing estates.
The slum is the hidden city, the part not visible to the official Nairobi. Like a lung on a body you don’t see it from the outside, but it’s necessary to make the body survive. So in this sense, the slum is important for Nairobi to have – a cheap working class ready to work in the Western factories in the surrounding areas or to serve as maids in the rich villas of the west side of the city.
Mathare
In Nairobi, Kenya, Mathare is an informal settlement that is home to nearly 200,000 people confronting a range of challenges. It is one of the largest slums in Nairobi; a city where over half the approximately 3.5 million residents live in over 180 different slums. Like many informal settlements, Mathare is characterized by unsafe and overcrowded housing, elevated exposure to environmental hazards, high prevalence of communicable diseases, and a lack of access to essential services, such as sanitation, water and electricity. Residents in Nairobi’s slums frequently suffer from tenure insecurity, while widespread poverty and violence further increase their vulnerabilities. Yet residents are also resilient and entrepreneurial, politically organized and have a range of skills that allow them to survive in one of the most difficult urban environments in East Africa.
MATHARE TODAY The Mathare Valley is located in the Eastlands It is a few kilometers from the centre of Nairobi. It’s the oldest and second largest urban slum in Kenya after Kibera. Mathare is over-populated. It is considered one of the oldest and second largest slums in Nairobi after Kibera; it comprises of 13 villages . it lies on 73.7hectares of land that is partly owned by the private owners and the Government; City Council, Police and Air Force. Like other Nairobi slums, Mathare grew as a result of massive rural to urban migration . It is estimated that Mathare holds between half a million to a million people The unplanned nature of the structures and lack of overall planning have created significant challenges for the community. The haphazard arrangement of structures, the lack of public infrastructure investment, and the lack of public services has resulted in many structures disconnected from power, water, and even roads. This lack of connectivity itself hinders truck access, waste removal, fire protection, police protection, and access to other essential services. While the high structure density could explain why infrastructure couldn’t be laid everywhere, density alone could not justify the lack of any infrastructure. Survival is a daily struggle for the fittest here. This slum is faced with lack of basic amenities, prostitution and criminal gangs that terrorize it's inhabitants. Housing is in pathetic condition as they are mainly made of rusted iron sheets. Access to food, water and healthcare is also a major challenges for the slum dwellers.
The Mathare slums area consists of roughly constructed mud, tin or wooden one-roomed huts with no electricity and no sewage system. Access to water is usually from a single shared tap, typically serving 300 dwellings. The average population per hut is eight persons. Although Kenya has implemented free primary education since 2003, many school-aged children remain out of school or drop out too early, especially in slum areas where fewer public primary schools are available. Cost of uniforms, textbooks, examinations and remedial class fees also keep primary education out of reach of many vulnerable children. Access to medical care is also a great challenge; most public health centres are overcrowded and apply ‘’informal fees’’; in addition drugs remain expensive and unaffordable to the poorest. The same applies to large public hospitals in Nairobi. There are only three official clinics serving the estimated 150,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Mathare; two are run by international organisations, one is run by the Kenyan government. Only two of these clinics can be accessed by non HIV positive people for general treatment. A feeding programme provides a daily meal and nutritional supplements to some of the eligible population. These services are free but do not cover more serious conditions or hospital admissions.
Why Mathare? Why do we focus our efforts on Mathare? 1. The Mathare community faces many challenges Mathare is the second largest slum in Nairobi. Although estimates vary widely, between 500,000 and 800,000 people live in this area of just 1km2. Mathare residents lack access to basic necessities such as water, electricity, roads, and waste disposal. Unemployment and precarious employment is common, with the result that most families struggle to meet their basic needs. Like most informal settlements, residents of Mathare do not own their homes or land, and as a result are often not recognized by or included in government programs. 2. Mathare’s youth need access to education Education is a key step in addressing the challenges faced by residents of Mathare. However, many families cannot afford to send their children to secondary school due to high tuition fees and the cost of uniforms, textbooks, school supplies, and transportation. Out-of-school youth in Mathare are at risk of being pulled into crime, child labour, or early marriage. There is an urgent need for more educational opportunities for the young people of Mathare, 3. We see the potential for positive change Mathare often gets overlooked by international organizations focused on Kibera, Nairobi’s largest slum. Despite these many challenges, there are many individuals and groups within Mathare working tirelessly to improve their community.
Recommendations In the light of the findings summarized above, we recommend that: i) The government should step up efforts to initiate innovative policies and to enforce the already existing laws that will lead to the complete disbandment of the militia organizations in the Nairobi slums. ii) The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission should investigate allegations concerning unethical practices by the police in their interactions with militia groups especially as concerns money illegally raised from matatu operators. iii) The police should closely monitor slum-based vigilantes currently operating in the slums as community-policing organizations. iv) Night police patrols should be intensified especially in the estates which are yet to realize full recovery from the post-election violence. v) The government should move in urgently to control the emerging culture of lawlessness and impunity among the youth of Nairobi slums. vi) Civil society organizations should spend more resources on community dialogue and interaction meetings especially between the landlords and tenants.
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ISSUES
1A CHALLENGES AND CONDITIONS
Challenges and conditions
MAJOR SOCIAL COMMUNITY CHALLENGES
HEALTH & SECURITY
EDUCATION
MAJOR URBAN COMMUNITY CHALLENGES
BUILDING TECHNOLOGY
SANITATION AND WASTE MANAGEMENT
ELECTRICITY
WATER SUPPLY AND MANAGEMENT
“we want to show people that, even in slums, we have talent.”
Infrastructure
Many residents also highlighted the difficulties they experience because of lack of proper access roads and, consequently, the long distances they have to walk to reach public transport. The roads within the informal settlements are often narrow and passable only with difficulty, especially when it rains. Most residents said this severely restricts government services, including drainage systems, security services, fire emergency services, and access to emergency health care
LACK OF CLINICS, SCHOOLS AND ROADS “It's not easy to get one’s children to school. You have to sacrifice things for some time. Perhaps what you get per day is too little. So you have to go without food, without basics. Sometimes you overlap breakfast and lunch, to get them to school” David, a resident
The government has established few schools and health care centres in settlements, so residents are forced to rely on private facilities, where they exist. The estimated 130,000 people who live in mathare have access to only one reliable private health facility – the NGO-run Africa Medical Research Foundation – which is a few kilometres from the slum. In theory, residents may access the government hospitals and health units in Nairobi that are close to the slums and settlements, including the nearby Kenyatta National Hospital, the country’s main public health institution. However, most residents indicated that the cost of care at these hospitals and institutions is often beyond their means Similarly, residents have no public primary schools. There are two private primary schools which charge Ksh 8001,200 (US$10-15) per child a year. Parents who cannot afford to pay are forced to send their children to distant public schools, and then only if they manage to enroll their children in the overcrowded public school system. Most children living in the settlements therefore do not have access to the government’s free primary education programme launched in 2003. Due to this situation ,Child labour is common
Food availability
(availability of food in the market for highly market-dependent populations): According to the KFSSG SRA 2009 report, the Nairobi slum residents are highly reliant on the market as they procure virtually all household food (90%) and non-food needs from the market. In Nairobi, there is minimal opportunity for food production; therefore access to food is highly dependent on cash exchange. household income is the most important determinant to access food and a considerable share of the income (42 to 50%) is spent on food. Given the increasing trend in the price of food commodities, slum dwellers particularly the poorest and female headed households, are highly vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition
Solid Waste Management
While poor management of solid waste is a general problem in Kenya, it is probably worst in Nairobi slums.
Over the years, mathare has been isolated by the Nairobi City Council. There are no garbage collection systems in the slums. Due to this neglect, solid wastes have grown into mountains of heaps over the years with most of it being washed into water channels during the rainy season further contaminating underground water. Estimates for the daily generation of solid waste in mathare range from 150 tonnes to 200 tonnes (Umande Trust, 2007). There are no solid waste dumping sites and no recycling plants. Uncollected solid waste is one of mathare's most visible environmental problems: The municipal services seem to fail most strikingly in garbage collection and disposal because it causes littering and untidiness which has an immediate adverse psychological impact. The lack of adequate garbage disposal in an area often results in negative attitudes that contribute to a general deterioration of community development and cohesion.
Garbage mountains block many open spaces
Garbage collection as an economic activity
SANITATION Our problems include poor hygiene leading to poor health yet there are no government health centres in the slum. The nearest health facility is about five kilometres away. We walk there if we are sick. If we are too ill to walk, we must take human ambulances, people to carry us, or carts… We would not be able to afford taxi costs for those seriously sick… •
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The majority of the inhabitants of Mathare slums are thought to be under 30 years old. HIV prevalence in adults is estimated at 30% (MSF 2008) 57% of the child population are believed to experience malnutrition at some point in their childhood (UNICEF 2012) Average life expectancy in the slum is only 37 years, owing in large part to the high incidence of HIV. Frequently, the patients go to local healers. Superstition plays a big role. Diseases like :diarrhea and malaria are common due to diseased water
Nairobi’s sewerage system is generally poor, and the waste and disposal system dysfunctional. But even this system is not available to residents of slums as they have limited or no access to the public sewer lines and waste disposal systems. Rudimentary hand-constructed earthen channels acting as open sewers are common in all the settlements.In these channels, the sewage often comes into contact with drinking water pipes and many times passes right in front of houses. The smell of human waste is always present in flat parts of settlements where the sewage pools and stagnates, domestic waste is mainly directed into the river. Toilets and latrines are limited. Most residents use the few available pit latrines, often shared by a number of households. There is no system for removing this waste, and people are often forced to pay for the waste to be taken away manually. Residents mostly resort to “flying toilets” (small plastic bags used to throw out toilet waste).
water UNDP noted in 2006 that in the informal settlements, “the average price is some seven times higher than that paid by people in high-income settlements served by the Nairobi Water and Sewage Company.”
Domestic chores performed every day in mathare involving water use include : ––Housecleaning ––Washing clothes ––Watering fruit gardens ––Sanitation Water ––Bathing
“Water is a limited resource and water kiosks charge money. Water is not always clean and we may be without it for a long time, forcing us to go long distances, which is a waste of time and energy. This water is sold at a price which is terribly expensive”
Most people (89%) said they used shallow wells as the major source of domestic water, whereas 2% said they used water from deep wells and the rest said they used tap water from the municipal council. The shallow wells often had no concrete slab and often the aperture was not covered at all or was poorly covered with a loose lid that was not lockable, whereas the deep wells had a piped system. Those who used deep wells were mainly the more affluent people in the community who often owned the plot in which the well was situated. Tap water was mainly from water kiosks where water was being sold to the slum residents. Respondents who did not use the tap water said that the water from water kiosks was expensive and unaffordable to be used for domestic purposes. Problems of unreliability were mentioned as hindering use of tap water from the kiosks as some respondents said that sometimes the kiosk near their house could remain closed for a whole day or more. Some of the respondents reported that the nearest water kiosk was too far from their homes.
1 Children are particularly vulnerable to the diseases of poverty that are so common in Kenya’s slums. Parents often face the burden of debt in order to pay for essential medical care.
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lack of essential services such as water and sanitation facilities making diseases like diarrhea and typhoid common.
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The sewage system is like in medieval europe - a creek in the middle of the road. “The waste water passes through open drains and snails through the compound and through the neighbouring houses and into the river …” Mama Esther, a resident
4 the sewage runs free and directly into the river below.
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The environment is very unclean and unhygienic as solid waste and raw sewage is disposed in the open drainage system
1 flying toilets and open defecation are very common and having a devastating effect on public health
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Often people without sanitation facility use pit latrines constructed nearby in an open space. These toilets are shared by all neighbours living around and are often in very bad conditions, not clean, without roofs and doors.
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Human waste disposal methods (field survey)
Unemployment "Unemployment means that these young people are idle and therefore they resort to drugs" studies said.
The majority of residents are either unemployed (Unemployment is estimated to be around 80%; even those in work have very poor job security)or selfemployed in the informal sector. A major income generating activity for many is selling fruits and vegetables in open air markets or dry cereals from kiosks, or selling cooked foods door to door. Some women do casual labor in nearby quarries or construction sites or are employed as domestic workers in the homes of middleincome wage earners in the nearby estates. Many women also engage in commercial sex Others brew and sell changa’a a local alcoholic drink. Many of those who don’t work in the slum walk to town, sometimes upwards of six kilometers to reach work in the offices, hotels, and stores of downtown Nairobi. Despite a huge number of people working both in and out of the slum, a large percentage of the population has either no regular income, or earns too little to afford the costs of food and rent. When considering both those who work and those without employment, the daily income for residents in Mathare averages US$1 per day
Why mathare attract more resident although the bad conditions of the slum?!
1 Many different communities live in Mathare ; Kenyans from all over Kenya, as well as Sudanese, Congolese, Rwandese, Ethiopians, Somali etc
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2 some housewives particularly in female headed families depend on animal keeping for their milk and meat
3 Some residents works on the production of shoes from old tires and other rubber recycled objects
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4 Residential status of mathare residents
1 Small self-employed industries
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Temporary small labour jobs
3 Waste recycling
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A typical small shop
CLIMATE
https://www.holiday-weather.com/nairobi/averages/
CLIMATE CHANGE “When Nairobi gets hot, its slums get even hotter” a new study published in PLOS ONE has found. In 2015 . They found that slums were 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the city's official weather station less than half a mile away
As climate change brings more heat extremes around the world, cities are facing particular problems – and slums are particularly strongly affected in many places, scientists say. “The slums are hotter because of lack of trees and vegetation,” said Anna Scott, a climate scientist from John Hopkins University and a lead author of the study. Poor construction materials and, in some cases. lower elevation and poor ventilation also contribute to the warming in the slums, she said.
ART
1 Slum Film Festival is the first ever film platform-featuring stories from slums, about slum realities and made by filmmakers from the slums in Africa – and beyond. It is a celebration of the creativity of filmmakers living and working in slums. It is also an opportunity to show a range of films within slum communities who have limited or no access to cinema.
2 many young men from mathare express their problems through hip-hop and rap
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3 Beyond Skills is a project that focuses on photography, life skills and sustainability for youth from the Mathare slums and Mathare Foundation.
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Slum TV produces audiovisual material ranging from documentary reports by local reporters to dramas and comedies made by young drama groups. The fundamental aim is to give the community in Kibera and Mathare a way of documenting and highlighting what happens in the district, for a local audience at first but then also internationally
CRIMES “The police are usually resistant to come here because they say there are no roads…”
The Mathare slums are notorious for criminal activity, particularly by gang members; it’s called the most dangerous community in Nairobi. Recently the area has been plagued by fires which have left hundreds homeless. Many residents fearing for their lives refuse to speak with reporters to avoid being identified by the groups responsible for havoc in the area
1 Open spaces between houses are spaces for drug dealers
2 Lack of electricity leads to unsafe dark nights
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3 When leaving his tin hut you should close well. Slums like Mathare are virtually lawless spaces in which the police are not on the move. If you want, you can probably break into the often wintry huts.
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1 Dark passages are not safe specially for women
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Sex crimes are on the rise including: rapes on adults and children, gang rape, domestic violence, sodomy, early marriage, sexual harassment, non desire pregnancy, & HIV Transmission and prostitution
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“It is safe to smoke while here than do it elsewhere because police officers never come here,� James a 21, year old says.
FLOODING Heavy rain seasons destroy many homes every year especially the parts next to the river leaving many residents homeless.
“The bulldozer started flattening our houses with all the belongings inside…” Jane Atieno, resident ,32
Security of tenure and forced evictions The land in the slum is owned by the government, but private landlords own and rent out individual houses. There is no rent control, which means that a landlord can charge whatever rent he/she chooses. Further, the landlord is under no obligation to provide any services or maintenance for these rental houses. No government in Kenya has consulted people living in informal settlements and slums to identify measures to give them a minimum degree of security of tenure, even though some settlements and slums have existed for nearly 100 years.
KENYAN LAW ON FORCED EVICTIONS Kenya’s Constitution does not prohibit forced evictions, nor have its provisions been interpreted by the courts to include such a protection. There are also no specific Kenyan laws prohibiting or preventing forced evictions. In individual cases.
Security of tenure Security of tenure is the right of all individuals and groups to effective protection by the state against arbitrary unlawful evictions Evidence of documentation that can be used as proof of secure tenure status, as indicated by: –Households with formal title deeds to both land and residence –Households with formal title deeds to either land or residence –Households with enforceable agreements or any document as proof of a tenure arrangement –De facto or perceived protection from forced evictions Why secure tenure matters Safe, adequate and decent housing is not only a basic human right, it is also the bedrock of human development especially for marginalized groups. Housing has a profound multiplier effect on people’s health, livelihoods, employment and education opportunities, and people’s quality of life.
POLITICS
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“ athare is just a vote-bank for the politicians, which they cash during elections” said residents. “then everything is forgotten and we are back to square one. there are no proper roads or proper drainage systems. Electricity was once a major issue: with every power cut, companies had to bear losses .ever since private power companies like reliance have taken over the sector in Nairobi, this issue has been solved to some extent-but this is a hub of skilled labour that the government does not recognize . If the government had taken care of this place properly , it would not have been any less than a treasure for the country”
Nine young men were shot dead overnight in post election violence in Mathare and have been brought to the city morgue
Anti riot policemen deploy to disperse demonstrators, supporting opposition leader Raila Odinga, in Mathare, in August 12, 2017.
FIRES Fires are common in mathare slums ,houses are not fireproof ,electric faults are the main cause.
“I was woken up by screams as people tried to salvage their goods. We then started the rescue mission as we tried to put it off, ” john ngano,22 “If we had water, we could have contained the fire but now since there was no water we had to sit back and watch our property burn,” Mercy Kyalo,resident,39
“I was called from my work in Kariobangito come home because my house was burning. When I came I could not believe my eyes when I found everything in the house is destroyed. Now I have nothing and I don’t know where to start,” NjokiNjoroge,resident,24
Angry Mathare residents blamed the government for sidelining them because they are poor. They also blamed the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company for lack of water supply.
Due to congestion and lack of roads through the informal settlement, county firefighters are unable to reach in time to extinguish fires
SPORT
The Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) is a community development organization that uses sports to engender broad socio-economic development, while also effecting positive social change. Founded in 1987 in the Mathare area of Nairobi, home to some of Africa’s largest and poorest slums, MYSA pioneered the linking of sports with social improvement and community development activities such as slum garbage cleanups, environmental improvement and HIV/AIDs prevention.
ELECTRICITY Mathare residents have to rely almost exclusively on firewood and charcoal. Mostly women and girls have to walk for distances to look for firewood. Charcoal is often prepared for commercial purposes. Entire trees are being carbonized and sold in sacks to the poor in urban areas. More than 70% of the slums lack electricity. Only 9% of residents have a formal, metered electricity connection, 68% tap into the electric grid informally and 22% have no electricity at all. • Household pay an average of Ksh 403 (US$5) per month for electricity. • Illegal electricity connections pose a constant risk of fires and electrocution (due to haphazard connections). • Charcoal & paraffin are the most frequently used cooking fuels. • Households pay an average of Ksh 1,368 (US$16) per month for cooking fuel.
public policy often treated mathare as if it did not exist. A stark illustration of this is the lack of electricity Although electricity distrubition boxes criss-cross the slum, delivering electricity to homes in wealthier areas, but most residents of the settlement donot have any official electricity
1B HOW MATHARE IS PERCEIVED
The government launched some initatives to upgrade some parts of the slum, other parts suffer from forced evictions .. most of the slum dwellers still live in inhumane way
HOW THE GOVERNMENT PERCEIVES MATHARE
Kenya election: Clashes in Nairobi slum Mathare Police and supporters of defeated opposition candidate Raila Odinga have clashed in Mathare, a slum in the capital Nairobi. At least one person, a young girl, is reported to have been killed by police gunfire in Mathare. There have also been clashes in other oppositionsupporting parts of the country. Kenya's main monitoring group has backed the official election result, which gave nearly 55% of the vote to the incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta. •12 Aug 2017 •bbc news Several families left in the cold following night fire in Mathare Several families were on Tuesday night left homeless following a fire in Mathare slums. The cause of the fire that affected tens of residents of Kosovo area is yet to be known. Area residents say that the fire started at 10:30pm at night.. County rescue team battled to contain the fire well beyond midnight. October 17th, 2018 Nairobi news https://nairobinews.nation.co.ke/news/families-nightfire-mathare
Consequently, irritated by abandonment and frustrated by enduring neglect, the people have continued to wallow in the slum. The government could build decent houses and relocate the inhabitants.
HOW NAIROBIANS PERCEIVE MATHARE
HOW MATHARE INHABITANTS PERCEIVE MATHARE
People living in slums often have a negative image. They are sometimes seen as criminals, for example. But is this negative image correct? According to the residents of mathare, it's a misconception. The people living there try to earn a living. There are a couple of successful entrepreneurs in the slum, for example a pharmacist, a hairdresser and someone who runs a public bath. It's amazing how they can come together through tough times and help improve their living conditions with what little they have. That's a true community.
" No work is shameful. Shame is sitting at home and living off someone else"
HOW FOREIGNERS PERCEIVE MAKOKO
Many foreign community based organizations and ngo s provides educational programs and mentorship for disadvantaged youth . Through hands-on training and technical workshops in photography, film production, performing arts (music and dance), sports, and stay in school programs, young boys and girls from Mathare can build confidence through learning new skills, discover opportunities for income generation, and envision and plot a course for future career opportunities in media and the arts. Some shacks were upgraded by ngo in 1998-2001
1C LIFE IN MATHARE
URBAN
COMMUNITY
STREET LIFE
WORK
SHOPPING
RELIGION
ENTERTAINMENT
SOCIAL LAUNDRY
EDUCATION
PHYSICAL
Interior Materials
Facade
Structure
Roofing
ARCHITECTURE Issues abound related to the slum’s physical infrastructure, directly impacting the health and safety of residents. The city government had not provided even the most basic of services. It had not provided basic infrastructure or services, and streetlights, sewerage, water reticulation, electricity, and garbage pickup were non-existent in Mathare. Without street lighting, it was unsafe to go outside after dark. Public utilities were also practically non-existent. Mathare had no toilets, and the river served as the slum’s sewerage system. Water was sold by vendors at comparably high prices, resulting in residents consuming less water than they should. Residents did their cleaning in the river, the same river into which they dumped sewage. With no system of solid waste collection, all waste was subsequently dumped into the same river. The lack of access to water, refuse, and medical facilities perpetuated health related issues including dysentery, malaria, AIDS. Most structures are houses, but retail stores and service providers exist in droves, located together on larger paths. Bars, food stands, clothing vendors, butchers, pool halls, and even dry cleaners exist to serve the local community. Few facilities, such as schools, clinics, and community centers existed as part of the community’s broader social network. A large number of the population work providing services to the local community.
1 shacks are not fire resistant-iron sheets are badly damages by fires
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2 lack of open spaces
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With little room within homes , many activities take place outside.
4 most shacks have mud ground floor which affect health badly
View from the roof tops - it's estimated over 400, 000 people live here. Houses made from mud, cardboard and rusty corrogated iron sheets - often more than 8 people in a small 8 foot by 10 foot room The people of Mathare use their scarce resources to build structures, relying heavily on the local supply industries. With the appropriate expertise, there is a strong opportunity for innovation for the future.
Cola Construction Shacks are often dotted with bottle-caps
1 very small lanes between shacks.
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although Nairobi is famous for its sunny days..mathare do not make use of it .
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sometimes solid waste block the pedestrian movement
Materials
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Rusted iron sheets mud wood weak roofs
INTERIOR DESIGN
Very few of the houses have electricity and most have no windows. So even in the midday african sun, the people live in darkness. People burn small paraffin lamps that are made from old aerosol cans.
Cardboard is used to protect residents from cold air (as iron sheets walls are not good heat insulator)
RETHINK AFRICAN VERNACUALR ARCHITECTURE
Traditional village-Ethiopia Use of the stairs
Ghadames-Libya Dense urban pattern High density +low rising= compact and sustainable community
Ghana Natural ventilation
Cameroon Traditional art on walls
Lesotho Natural light
Somalia Woven textures as wall covers
Benin Street life
Mali Multifunction Use of connected roofs
LEARN FROM SLUMS 1. Density Slums occupy little space and are very densely concentrated.�. Buildings are rarely more than one or two stories high, but they allow large households to live in limited spaces. They have a maximum density of 100,000 to 1 million inhabitants for 1 to 5 square kilometers in some districts of Mumbai or Nairobi (10 to 100 times the density of a city like Paris). It is observed that slums use up to 80% of the land as groundcoverage for their housing. This enables them to have much higher densities without going higher than ground plus one or half storey. 2. Functional mixing In small spaces, commercial premises are intermingled with production and residential spaces. Nowhere else can such extreme proximity and blending of functions be found. One hut or cabin serves as home, the next as stall or workshop. Another is used as housing by night and a store by day. In functional terms, it would be difficult to blend things any further. 3. Recycling Slums are resourcefulness labs. Everything is recycled and resold. What the rest of the city would see as waste is a resource. It can be used to build a new object that becomes (or goes back to being) goods.
Makoko-lagos-Nigeria
Ezbet el hagana-cairo-Egypt
Libertador Municipality, Venezuela
Kibera-Nairobi-kenya
Favelas-brazil
cuidad bolivar-bogota-colombia
4. Economic dynamism Slums show extraordinary economic vitality. From the small, informal and illegal shops (everywhere in the Calais jungle) to factories (Dharavi), high levels of production come alongside very low labor costs. Inventiveness, youth and necessity combine, to shape an extremely dense and productive economic fabric. This is useful to slum inhabitants for the businesses it enables. It is also useful to other areas of the city, providing cheap labor and products. It is useful to the world, because large slums, especially in Asia, are home to workshops that export globally. 5. Innovation Frugality breeds constant innovation. And innovation takes hold faster where institutions and regulations are weak. Slums are the forced sites of frugal innovation, so often highlighted today. 6. Participation Where inhabitants are left to their own devices, they suffer crime, but they also demonstrate selfprotection, self-construction, self-promotion and self-management skills. They participate in the organization of their daily lives, because when faced with an absence or lack of collective services, they are forced to invest themselves. 7. Low carbon footprint The ecological argument is tough to support, because sites are often degraded. Those who consume little (like most poor people) pollute little. Slums live with few resources and recycle as much as they can. In a sense, they are naturally better for the environment, all other things being equal.
Delhi-india
DHARAVI-MUMBAI-INDIA
Maharashtra-india
Parivartan Slum, Ahmadabad
Buenos Aires-Argentina
DARESSALAM-TANZANIA
8. Modularity There is nothing as modular as slums, taken as urban forms. Sheet metal, tents and precarious developments evolve constantly. Quickly arranged and quickly moved, these buildings transform and adapt permanently. In a way, slums exemplify what urban planners study and value today in terms of ephemeral urbanism: temporary projects on urban wasteland. 9. Pedestrian Where the road and the car are rare, the preferred means of travel is on foot – also known as “soft mobility.” Life is hard but mobility is easy. People move on foot, by bike, by rickshaw, or with collective taxis, usually colorful minibuses, which have become associated with these neighborhoods. 10. Digital The connection to mobile phones is immeasurably more secure than the connection to drinking water. Cell phones and smartphones are changing the lives of inhabitants, who can communicate, pay or insure. The digital revolution has a greater impact on the lives of slum dwellers than on other inhabitants of the city. 11-affordable Slum dwellings are people’s own solution for their housing needs. They are cheapest and most affordable minimal shelters made possible in a given area. The cost of land, basic services and the minimum shelter are not only minimal but can be paid in parts over a period. Whereas most of the public and private sector housing is beyond the capacity of slumdwellers and therefore, unaffordable.
Dharavi-Mumbai-india
Kojokorom- ghana
Fadama-accra- ghana
Manila-philipines
Agbogbloshie-accra-ghana
Dandora-kenya
12. Land reclamation Slums mushroom in parts of urbanizing area with minimum of administrative control, in other words, they grow in areas which provide them with maximum of freedom to build. In the process, the slum-dwellers transform most inhospitable and neglected urban land for housing and community building. These include land adjoining marshes, creeks, streams, drainage channels, steep slopes of hills, left over spaces near transportation network of road, railways and even airports! The slum-dwellers’ local actions to reclaim land for their shelters and community facilities, teaches us the need for micro-planning for positive use of natural resources including land, water and vegetation. 13-community spirit Slums are vibrant communities of people. They incorporate a whole range of social and community spaces and facilities. From the most minimal space for social interaction at the door step to the optimum community spaces for various social and cultural activities. They have an ever evolving network of social institutions. Central to their social well-being is the concept of sacred space. Every slum has a niche, small shrine or a temple, mosque or church depending on their faith. This provides them with much needed spiritual strength to survive and struggle. 14-Expandability The minimum shelters of slum dwellers are not static houses. They grow as the needs of the resident increase with growth of the family, limited only the ability and resources. This freedom to build and meet the social and economic requirements through incremental growth is crucial to the success of the slums. This is consistently reflected in the incremental growth of dwelling units, house-groups / rows and the slum community as a whole.
15-sustainable urbanism At the core of the slums is a concept of sustainable development. The slum dwellers and community make the conscious decisions for every individual, group or community action through a critical analysis for its necessity, viability and priority as a sustainable development action. This enables the slums to sustain its development and consolidate its existence in an urban area.
Bendra-pakistan
16-sustainable architecture The slum-dwellers use minimum building materials to create their living space. They use easily available local building materials. Often they use old and used tin sheets, timber rafters, joists and posts, country tiles, plastic sheets and other recycled materials. However, their limited technical expertise is put to the best creative use to meet their shelter needs. Gurgaon -india
AESTHETIC
stargazing
GRAFFITI
ADVERTISMENT-barbershop
VIBRANT -CLOURFUL
CHALLENGES
WATER SECURITY
HOUSING
SANITATION
DRUGS AND SECURITY
2
Nairobi’s informal settlements have a history as long as that of the city itself. Throughout much of the colonial period, most Africans were barred from the city’s designated residential areas as these were reserved for Europeans and Asians. Africans who came to the city in search of work therefore had to create informal residential settlements outside of the central business district and the planned residential areas. The colonial government largely ignored these informal settlements. This marked spatial segregation of colonial planning continues to define Nairobi’s informal settlements. The city’s first development plans did not include the early settlements, meaning that the local authorities did not provide essential services for the settlements and did not construct roads to link them to other areas of the city. As a result, Nairobi developed along segregated lines. The city’s 1948 Master Plan and other major urban development plans continued to neglect the informal settlements. Independence in 1963 did not lead to improved conditions in the informal settlements. The immediate post-independence government considered slums an “eyesore” and an indication of government failure. As a result, it first introduced control measures to reduce population movement into the city and then, under the pretext of “maintaining law and order”, adopted the more radical measure of slum clearance. The slum clearance policy did not, however, halt the proliferation of informal settlements . Instead, displaced residents moved to other areas in and around the city, creating new informal settlements and slums. Between 1971 and 1995, the estimated number of informal settlements grew from 50 to over 130, and their population rose tenfold, from some 100,000 to over 1 million people. In the 1970s and 1980s the government’s approach shifted away from clearances towards efforts aimed at improving living conditions in the settlements. Projects undertaken as part of bilateral or multilateral donor initiatives reflected this new approach, as did projects developed by NGOs, churches and slum-dweller alliances.
URBAN GROWTH OF NAIROBI
عقالشى لقخصفا
History of Settlement Patterns in The Mathare Valley
‘Mathare’ is a Kikuyu word for Dracena trees, and Mathare Valley has a long history of informal settlement. The first residents began arriving after 1920 and some of Pangani’s displaced villagers moved to Mathare in the 1930s. Villages spread from the 1930s-50s along Juja Road and in the eastern edge of the valley. Human settlement was limited by rock quarrying that was occurring in the river valley. Since Mathare villagers actively participated in the nationalist movement, the British razed housing and detained Mathare residents as part of the State of Emergency in 1952. Residents later returned and by 1963 Mathare’s villages were rapidly growing again. In the1960s, Mathare residents sought to improve their settlements by establishing their own schools, community organizations and advocating for services with the Nairobi City Council. However, in the first years after independence, the City Council regularly demolished structures and failed to provide water or refuse collection in Mathare. Residents formed their own leadership structures, land buying and house building companies, such as Village II’s Cooperative Credit Society which had 90 members by 1967. Although During the late 1960s,1970s, Mathare’s population grew rapidly , It was largely ignored. A new Master Plan for Nairobi was adopted in 1973, but failed to provide a comprehensive development strategy for the growing informal settlements. In 2019 , After almost 40 years, slum planning in Nairobi, if it exists at all, remains piecemeal, fragmented and focused on small boutique projects.
EXISTING PUBLIC SERVICES
SOURCE : Muungano Support Trust Team (MUST)
EXISTING CIRCULATION AND ROADS
SOURCE : Muungano Support Trust Team (MUST)
SOURCE : Muungano Support Trust Team (MUST)
2019
References •
. Mudege, N. N. and Zulu, E.M. 2011. Discourses of illegality and exclusion: When water access matters. Global Public Health, 6:3, 221-233.
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. Mudege, N. N. and Ezeh, A. 2009. Gender, ageing, poverty and health: survival strategies of older men and women in Nairobi slums. Journal of Ageing Studies Vol 23, No 4, December, pages 245-257.
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Muungano wa Wanavijiji and Pamoja Trust. 2009. Nairobi Inventory, available at http://www.citiesalliance.org/ca/sites/citiesalliance.org/files/CA_ Docs/resources/Nairobi%20Inventory/NairobiInventory_fullversio n.pdf.
•
. Salon, D. and Gulyani, S. 2010. Mobility, Poverty, and Gender: Travel ‘Choices’ of Slum Residents in Nairobi, Kenya”, Transport Reviews, 30: 5, 641 — 657.
•
. Somers, M. 2010. Urban Youth in Africa”, Environment and Urbanization Vol 22, No 2, October, pages 317-332. Trainers in ParticipatoryTechniques: New York” PROWESS/UNDP,1990. Agency PROWESS/UNDP.
•
. World Bank. 2006. Kenya: Inside Informality: Poverty, Jobs, Housing and Services in Nairobi’s Slums, Report No. 36347-KE, Washington: World Bank.
•
. World Bank. 2011. Project Appraisal Document for KISIP (Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Project) Report No: 58267KE, Washington, D.C.: World Bank
•
. Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA). 2011. Kenya County Fact Sheets. December. www.crakenya.org/publications/
•
. Government of Kenya. 2011. Kenya Vision 2030: First Medium Term Plan Update. Ministry of State for Planning, National Development, & Vision 2030 and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Finance.
• Infrastructure Access: A Comparison of Slums in Dakar, Johannesburg, and Nairobi. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank. • 8. Amnesty International. 2009. Kenya: The unseen majority: Nairobi’s two million slum-dwellers, London: Amnesty International. Available at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AFR32/005/200 9/en/3b6e7351-8e08-4b61-9d7b6e3b86eb0057/afr320052009eng.pdf • 9. Amnesty International. 2010. Insecurity and Indignity: Women’s Experiences in the Slums of Nairobi, Kenya”, London: Amnesty International. Available at http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AFR32/002/201 0/en/12a9d334-0b62-40e1-ae4ae5333752d68c/afr320022010en.pdf • 10. Crow, B. and E. Odaba. 2010. Access to water in a Nairobi slum: women’s work and institutional learning. Water International, 35: 6, 733 — 747. • 11. Pamoja Trust and Water Services Trust Fund. 2010. Formalising Water Supply Through Parnterships: The Mathare-Kosovo Water Model. • 12. Hendriks, B. 2010. City-wide governance networks in Nairobi: Towards contributions to political rights, influence and service delivery for poor and middle-class citizens?” Habitat International Vol 34: 59–77
Project proposal
No Waste disposal Potential for recycling
No healthcare system fires Short life expectancy
Lack of electricity
Lack of Education Lack of services Population growth Community sense Micro-industries Walk-ablility High density affordable
Fast un-planned urbanization Climate change
inadequate housing Insecure tenure
Bad sanitation No sewerage system
Clean Water shortage
Poverty Drugs Unemployment insecurity
200 tonnes of waste daily
New home daily Waste disposal
Adequate housing
What if mathare’s biggest problem turn into solution?