No Business Like Slum Business? The Political Economy of the Continued Existence of Slums: A Case Study of Nairobi.
WPS LSE Development Studies Institute (DESTIN)
35 Pages Posted: 20 Jun 2016
Date Written: 2009
Abstract
This paper examines the political economy of the continued existence of slums in Nairobi. Compared to the rest of the city’s population Nairobi’s slum dwellers are excluded from formal delivery systems in the land, housing and services sector. Research on inequality in Kenya identifies ethnic fragmentation as a key reason for unequal access to these resources on the national level. Using a political economy approach this paper challenges this notion. It argues that in the case of Nairobi’s slums class as opposed to ethnicity has relatively greater explanatory power. This argument is based on secondary empirical evidence on the nature of political patronage, rent-seeking and collective action problems in the land, housing and services sector in Nairobi’s slums.
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