Location:Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya
Organizers: Kibera residents; Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI)
Background: Adjacent to the commercial and economic capital of Kenya, Kibera is one of the largest informal settlements in Africa. Two-thirds the size of New York City’s Central Park, population has been estimated at 1 million, with densities up to 2,300 persons/hectare. Such high densities preclude large amounts of open space, and those that exist are often used for waste disposal. Average income is well below the international poverty line.
Project: Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) – a U.S.-based urban design non-profit that works with communities to establish productive public spaces – currently has three small projects in Kibera. Each appropriated polluted land and rehabilitated into it into productive public space. The project design process always identifies land by asking community groups. Public meetings gather ideas about what to design in the redeveloped spaces. All projects include equal parts recreational and economic space.
KDI has two completed projects in Kibera. The first revitalized a vacant lot that was prone to flooding and used as a dumping ground. Working with KDI, the community first cleared the site of garbage, then improved the nearby river embankments to control flooding. Seeking a mix of productive and recreational space, they constructed a multipurpose facility and community gardens. Community members such as churches are able to rent out the space, and the site hosts to several small businesses. To manage waste, community members established a microenterprise to conduct composting and recycling. The second project upgraded public toilets, installed a playground, and provided new kiosks so a bakery could operate.
Completed Community Center
Results: The community center serves as a venue for economic activity including small businesses, with facilities for hyacinth harvesting and a drying and weaving center. It also functions as a market for local crafts on weekends. The community plans to expand this system to a second site, which will feature leased space to a school, an Eco-San latrine, a liquid soap microenterprise, organic composting and a playground. KDI is currently completing a third productive space in Kibera.
Transferability: The I2UD referenced this project on public space as part of its advisory work to the municipality of Arusha, Tanzania, as they search for ways to upgrade informal and peri-urban settlements. In addition to its three projects in Kibera, KDI now provides public space advisory services in Haiti, Morocco, and the United States.
For More Information: http://www.kounkuey.org/Kibera_PPS1.html