In Situ Slum Upgrading and Vernacular Architecture: Lessons for Kibera
Slum proliferation has become a development conundrum in the rapidly growing cities across Africa. Interventions to combat persistent informality take many shapes, from in situ upgrading to complete eviction. Some urban planners have called for a rethinking of slum demolition programs to be replaced by those that value their mixed use livability. Spontaneous vernacular architecture, built from need and without formal design, reflects an urban lifestyle that could inform replication. In Kibera, the largest of the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, the Kenya Slum Upgrading Program, a United Nations and Government of Kenya upgrading program, has been riddled with controversy because it has failed to acknowledge that informal housing has important social benefits. Residents complain the upgrading is destructive in both a real physical sense, but also in the disintegration of specific networks and social interdependability. This paper, based on over seven years of participant observation in Kibera, will explore the controversy and suggests that inquiries into the social meanings embedded in vernacular architecture might better inform in situ design.