The ecology of Kenyan municipal centers: a case study of Nairobi

Abstract

In any forum to debate sustainable human settlement development, ecology features as one of the prime environmental issues. Contemporary ecological statements on the delicate equilibrium between human and biophysical environments signify a great threat to the latter, which constitute a life support ecosystem for the former. Viewed globally, the problem is in the inadequate adaptation of human societies to their surroundings as they chart their course of development. The uniqueness of Kenyan urban ecological landscape is amongst others, as a result of the'dualism of abodes' phenomenon as well as the contradictions of an uncontrolled urbanization process. This paper evaluates how unsustainable the urban development programs of Nairobi are. Attempts are made to explain the apparent apathy of the indigenous population to the urban entity. Objective evaluation of the system of open spaces within the built environment, as they have been transformed through history, is made. Thus a progressive approach for a culturally compatible, ecological urbanism is suggested.