Scaling participation in informal settlement upgrading : a documentation of community mobilisation and consultation processes in the Mukuru Special Planning Area, Nairobi, Kenya

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to debates on inclusive informal settlement upgrading through scaling participatory planning, with a focus on the Mukuru Special Planning Area (SPA) in Nairobi, Kenya. Our contribution is three-fold. First, we provide an overview of previous efforts at integrating participation into urban interventions that target informal settlements in Kenya, highlighting how such efforts largely ignored the views of low-income residents. Second, building on this discussion, we outline the Mukuru SPA – a planning and upgrading process taking place in one of Nairobi’s largest informal settlements which is situated on private land – and its potential to shift such trends. We offer a detailed documentation of the role of citizen participation in the different planning stages of the Mukuru SPA process. Third, reflecting on the Mukuru SPA experience, our conclusion offers wider lessons for scaling citizen participation in the context of informal settlement upgrading. In particular, we emphasise the importance of dedicating time and resources for community mobilisation and organisation to secure mass buy-in and ownership of the planning process by residents of informal settlements. We also highlight the importance of creating institutional and procedural mechanisms that integrate community participation into all stages of the planning process, allow for interdisciplinary and multi-sectoral collaboration, and integrate upgrading into city-wide strategic planning. Our study draws on qualitative data on the participatory process in Mukuru, including interviews and focus group discussions with planning stakeholders and community representatives, as well as observation notes from community meetings and planning events.