In 2009, the Nairobi Inventory, a list of all slums or ‘informal settlements’ in Nairobi was published by Pamoja Trust, in association with Shack/Slum Dwellers International.
With a population of about three million, Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. It is estimated that half of these people live in slums. The Nairobi Inventory has not been put together by sociologists or geographers – instead it has been created by the people living in those settlements, using their own perceptions and definitions of their situation.
The story of the Inventory dates back to early 2004 when tens of thousands of families were threatened with being evicted from their homes: the government said it would reclaim land near rivers, rail tracks and electricity lines. With as little as a month’s notice these families faced losing their homes and their belongings.
In response to the situation, community organisations such as the Federation, Muungano wa Wanavijiji, started enumerations to find out how many people would be affected. Enumerations are surveys and mappings initiated by the poor themselves, in the absence of any official documentation. The aim of the enumerations was to obtain valuable data about people living in slums (only rough estimates are usually available), to plan new developments, and to be able to lobby the authorities when negotiating access to land and services. Data collected includes the population and its history, housing conditions, services available (e.g. water supply, toilets, electricity, street lighting, rubbish collection), and the local economy, etc.
The Inventory collates enumerations results from a number of informal settlements in Nairobi. Far from an insipid collection of charts and tables, it presents the inhabitants’ own perceptions and features many individual stories, quotes, anecdotes and pictures. The Inventory presents a “different truth”, that is the vision of those living in Nairobi’s slums. It reminds us of the diversity of the slums, the different histories of those living there, their varying living conditions and their underrated yet vibrant economies.
You can read the full Nairobi Inventory as a PDF by clicking the download link below (please be aware that this is a large file so may not be suitable for all connection types). Homeless International supports similar initiatives through its programmes called “Alternatives to forced evictions” in many African countries, which include enumerations and mappings of poor urban settlements – click on the links below to read more.
