To get cities back on track to avoid building towards a climate crisis, actions must start today. Donovan Storey and Etta Madete Mukuba on sustainable design principles, alternative building materials, and technologies.
Access to affordable and clean water cannot be taken for granted in Nairobi's neighbourhood of Mathare. Gacheke Gachihi outlines the structural changes needed to guarantee affordable water for all.
Playing is learning – and a way to teach young children the principles of sustainable urban development. The Toy Library Association of Kenya wants every child and every educational facility to have access to tools for playful education for sustainable development. By Lilian A. Oloo
The global debate on agriculture under urbanisation has often focused a priori on the replacement of agricultural uses by built-up space. It thereby often overlooks new opportunities for agriculture at the urban periphery.
Country-wide sustainable solutions can be assured only if regional connectivity and urban-rural linkages that support livelihoods in rural communities, towns, and smaller cities are considered alongside urban and regional growth strategies. Vassiliki Kravva and Ben Smith present an example from the UK-funded Sustainable Urban Economic Programme (SUED) in Kenya.
An intelligent solar-powered device that lights up our streets, educates residents about recycling and gives you free Wi-Fi? What sounds like a far-fetched dream is now a reality! Meet the T-Bin for circular waste management. By Founder Eddy Gitonga
Sam Drabble, Sara Márquez Martín, and Jane Weru explore how water and sanitation can and should be better integrated with wider slum upgrading initiatives.
Nairobi is recognised to be among the rapidly urbanising and growing economies in East and Central Africa. Eunice Jimmy reviews the city's spatial, economic, and social structure, uncovering its dual nature of formal/informal, planned/unplanned, and connected/disconnected fragments, hence Nairobi's spatial fragmentation.
Public spaces are more important than ever – and cities need to find ways to co-create spaces that are accessible for everyone. Public Space Network meets this challenge by spearheading community-based transformation in Nairobi. By Ivy Njambi Maina
Green buildings are a crucial part of fighting climate change. Elizabeth Wangeci Chege from the Kenya Green Building Society explores which measures help to achieve sustainable building and construction in Kenya.
To successfully battle climate change, urban governance needs to empower vulnerable communities – and make sure to include their ideas and knowledge into urban planning mechanisms.
Safe, affordable housing is not an end in itself but should be interwoven with other interventions to improve access to related services and benefits. As the pandemic exacerbates shortcomings in housing programmes around the world, Vidhee Garg on the need to re-think housing and to look beyond its purely quantitative aspects.
A well-functioning system for water and sanitation must address the needs of under-served urban residents. Eden Mati-Mwangi shows how a systems-change approach can have a lasting impact on Kenya’s sanitations sector.
The waste produced by cities does not need to be dumped – but instead can become the starting point of a new production cycle, argues Nick Jeffries from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
High density and poor building materials make informal settlements extremely prone to fire hazards. The Nairobi-based enterprise Kwangu Kwako has developed a housing model that, while being truly affordable, increases fire resilience and thus positively affects many aspects of residents' lives.
