The challenges of livelihoods reconstruction in the context of informal settlement upgrading

Bibliographic Data

ID4139048
AuthorsPauline C Cherunya (0000-0002-7067-5922, Department of Environmental Social Sciences, Eawag, Switzerland; Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, the Netherlands, corresponding author), Bernhard Truffer (0000-0002-8635-0911, Department of Environmental Social Sciences, Eawag, Switzerland; Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, the Netherlands), Edinah Moraa Samuel (Kenyatta University), Christoph Lüthi (0000-0002-4174-5522, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology)
Year2021
Volume53
Issue1
Pages168-190
Publication date2021-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning A Economy and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0308-518X • E-ISSN: 1472-3409
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0308518x20926514
OpenAlexW3033443027
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited34

Community involvement is recognized as a core condition for success in informal settlements upgrading. However, the wider ramifications of this requirement are not well understood. Mostly, community involvement has been equated with a narrow interpretation of participation, largely focusing on the elicitation of dwellers' preferences at the planning stages. We argue that this approach overlooks the actual needs for livelihoods reconstruction in the course of upgrading. To better conceptualize these requirements, we propose to analyse the time-space configuration of practices, which we frame as constituting Oscillating Domestic Spaces. The concept illustrates the contingent nature of daily activities to meet livelihoods needs and how people navigate these conditions. Challenges associated with reconstructing new domestic spaces are illustrated using the Kenyan Slum Upgrading (Kensup) initiative in Nairobi, Kenya. The findings suggest that an inadequate understanding and consideration of livelihoods reconstruction reduced legitimacy of the initiative, resulted in rapid deterioration of physical amenities and relegated most of the alleged 'beneficiaries' deeper into poverty. We suggest that, for successful settlements upgrading, livelihoods reconstruction should be a core process in the planning, implementation and post-implementation stages

Agriculture · Business · Economic growth · Economics · Environmental planning · Geography · Human settlement · Informal settlements · Kenya · Legitimacy · Livelihood · Political science · Poverty · Slum · Sociology · Hydropower, Displacement, Environmental Impact · Urban and Rural Development Challenges · Urban Planning and Governance