Empowering the Urban Poor to Realize the Right to Housing: Community-Led Slum Upgrading in Huruma—Nairobi

Abstract

This article seeks to examine community-led upgrading initiatives, with particular emphasis on lessons learnt from the collaboration between Pamoja Trust, Muungano wa Wanavijiji (MWW) and the City Council of Nairobi (CCN) in Huruma, Nairobi. The article shall highlight processes that have facilitated relative success of participatory approaches in Huruma’s six villages, including the crucial role played by multi-sector partnerships and the role of citizens in realizing the right to housing. It shall give measures aiming at keeping the overall project costs significantly low as well as presentingpotential areas for scaling up such initiatives in other settlements.