Emerging urban forms in Eastleigh,city of Nairobi, Kenya.

Abstract

The study on emerging urban forms in Eastleigh was conceived in the context of the rapid unprecedented growth of cities especially in the developing world. Nairobi the capital of Kenya has undergone transformations. Some of these transformations can be observed in various fragments of the city. These fragments include Eastleigh, Westlands, Ngara, parklands, Pangani and Kilimani. This study focuses on Eastleigh. Eastleigh depicts certain challenges key among them being conflicts in functionality and use of space and lack of procedural evolution between what existed and what exists. This study focuses on the analysis of emerging urban forms in Eastleigh, identifies the forces at play in the transformation and the effects of the transformation in order to provide basic recommendations for Eastleigh’s future development. To guide this concept on emerging urban forms, several literature sources from the west and Africa were reviewed. The study also adopted qualitative methods of research. The study has shown that Eastleigh has dramatically transformed from a largely lowlying Asian type building fabric in the 1980s to an increasingly dense collection of multistorey buildings. The transformation is driven by uncoordinated individual decisions amid weak institutional structures. The study concludes that there is a need to plan and co-ordinate emerging forms with respect to public spaces and facilities. A balance needs to be struck between providing sufficient area for development while maintaining its commercial viability.