Urban Livelihoods Institutions And Inclusive Governance In Nairobi

This study formulates conditions for sustainable impacts of inclusive and responsive governance through 'invited spaces' offered by the government and 'claimed spaces' created by the poor. The study questions how increased contributions to poverty reduction and improvement of quality of life for Nairobi citizens can be realised in an equitable and responsible way, while contributing to development of the city and country. To adequately address this two-sided objective of economic growth and poverty reduction in the contemporary context, the study analyses both processes and impacts; moreover it examines impacts in terms of quality of life as well as influence and political rights. The study explores the individually claimed spaces of households in Nairobi's slums, the collectively claimed spaces of hybrid mechanisms for access to peri-urban land and tenure, and the invited spaces of city-wide governance networks.

Theory and practice of high-capacity infrastructure projects are the major focus in the development of countries in the Global South. Aiming at a more fine-grained understanding of such projects, Renard Teipelke studies the Thika Highway Improvement Project (THIP) and its outcomes in the peri-urban Northern Nairobi Metropolitan Region. The THIP is a large transportation infrastructure project that expanded the dual carriageway Thika Road into an eight-lane highway from 2008 until 2012. Based on a strategic mix of methodological approaches, such as interviews with experts in Kenya, literature research and field visits, the ‘black box’ THIP is opened up. In the empirical analysis, the project’s idea, its design, and its implementation are studied. It is concluded that the project’s outcomes are ambivalent – partly living up to the expectations of THIP proponents but not resulting in shared benefits for all concerned stakeholders due to flaws in managing the development in this peri-urban transport corridor area, thereby fitting into the Kenyan context of politics and planning.

Sub-Saharan Africa is urbanizing rapidly, but most countries lack appropriate tools to manage their urban growth. This creates both risks and opportunities for prospective land holders, resulting in a tangle of insecure land rights and claims under multiple tenure systems. Recently, innovative land tools have been proposed and implemented to formalize land tenure. It is envisaged that tenure security for land holders will increase and in turn contribute to poverty reduction. This study evaluates such tools in three peri-urban areas in Lusaka (Zambia), Oshakati (Namibia) and Gaborone (Botswana), with a focus on the perspective of the land holders. The author concludes that the tools are to some extent pro-poor, and makes recommendations for further improvements. These innovative land tools are also considered a necessary addition to conventional and administration tools. This study makes valuable reading for academics, policy makers and practitioners within the land administration domain and related disciplines.

This informative resource is a fascinating compilation of the history, politics, and culture of every capital city from around the world, making this the only singular reference on the subject of its kind. Every country, even the world's youngest nations, has a capital city—a centralized location which houses the seat of government and acts as the hub of culture and history. But, what role do capital cities play in the global arena? Which factors have influenced the selection of a municipal center for each nation? This interesting encyclopedia explores the topic in great depth, providing an overview of each country's capital—its history and early inhabitants, ascension to prominence, infrastructure within the government, and influence on the world around them. The author considers the culture and society of the area, discussing the ethnic and religious groups among those who live there, the major issues the residents face, and other interesting cultural facts. Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture features the capital cities of 200 countries across the globe. Organized in alphabetical order by country, each profile combines social studies, geography, anthropology, world history, and political science to offer a fascinating survey of each location.

Energy efficiency is finally a common sense term. Nowadays almost everyone knows that using energy more efficiently saves money, reduces the emissions of greenhouse gasses and lowers dependence on imported fossil fuels. We are living in a fossil age at the peak of its strength. Competition for securing resources for fuelling economic development is increasing, price of fuels will increase while availability of would gradually decline. Small nations will be first to suffer if caught unprepared in the midst of the struggle for resources among the large players. Here it is where energy efficiency has a potential to lead toward the natural next step - transition away from imported fossil fuels! Someone said that the only thing more harmful then fossil fuel is fossilized thinking. It is our sincere hope that some of chapters in this book will influence you to take a fresh look at the transition to low carbon economy and the role that energy efficiency can play in that process.

Information and Communication Technologies hold great potential in facilitating public services; however, one of the main problems in applying ICT systems successfully lies in users’ behavior. Before ICT can be fully assimilated into the public domain, it will first be necessary to successfully conciliate users to their adoption. ICT Adoption and Application in the Malaysian Public Sector aims to resolve the difficulties in applying practical ICT systems within the public sphere, thoroughly addressing disparities in ICT theory, user attitudes, and the underlying factors that hinder the full adoption of ICT systems. This publication is a valuable resource for policymakers, software developers, policy analysts, academic researchers, and students interested in the field of ICT.

This tool kit presents an integrated approach to inclusive urban development and was prepared for ADB staff and their partners to engage in inclusive urban development programming and implementation as an integral component of ADB’s lending programs. It presents methods to gather required information on a particular context and location for inclusive urban development; to decide priorities; and to plan, design, and implement inclusive urban projects. The operational focus is provided by practical guidelines and criteria for inclusive urban development projects and is designed to stimulate innovation in the solution and approaches that define inclusive urban development projects.

For much of the twentieth century improvement in the situation of disadvantaged communities was a focus for urban planning and policy. Yet over the past three decades the ideological triumph of neoliberalism has caused the allocation of spatial, political, economic, and financial resources to favor economic growth at the expense of wider social benefits. Susan Fainstein's concept of the "just city" encourages planners and policymakers to embrace a different approach to urban development. Her objective is to combine progressive city planners' earlier focus on equity and material well-being with considerations of diversity and participation so as to foster a better quality of urban life within the context of a global capitalist political economy. Fainstein applies theoretical concepts about justice developed by contemporary philosophers to the concrete problems faced by urban planners and policymakers and argues that, despite structural obstacles, meaningful reform can be achieved at the local level. In the first half of The Just City, Fainstein draws on the work of John Rawls, Martha Nussbaum, Iris Marion Young, Nancy Fraser, and others to develop an approach to justice relevant to twenty-first-century cities, one that incorporates three central concepts: diversity, democracy, and equity. In the book's second half, Fainstein tests her ideas through case studies of New York, London, and Amsterdam by evaluating their postwar programs for housing and development in relation to the three norms. She concludes by identifying a set of specific criteria for urban planners and policymakers to consider when developing programs to assure greater justice in both the process of their formulation and their effects.