Informal rental markets: The low-quality, high-price puzzle in nairobi's slums

Abstract

In The Challenge of Slums the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat, 2003) estimates that 870 million people in developing countries lived in urban slums in 2001. It also estimates that if present trends continue unchecked, the number of slum residents will grow to approximately 1.43 billion by 2020. The influential development targets known as the Millennium Development Goals, agreed to by world leaders at UN-sponsored summits in 2000 and 2002, include a commitment to significantly improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020 (UN-Habitat, 2003). In Kenya, similar to other developing countries, this commitment now appears in national development plans and is highlighted as a key task in the National Economic Recovery Strategy (Government of Kenya, 2003). © 2009 Springer Netherlands.