KIBERA PUBLIC SPACE PROJECT CIVIL SOCIETY PROJECT
2
PARTNERS : PROJECT TEAM: FUNDERS : LOCAL PROJECT CHALLENGE 2020 is project is a partnership between the Center for Sustainable Urban Development, The Earth Institute, Columbia University, and the Faculty of Architecture, Federal University, Rio de Janeiro. STATUS: PROJECT: SDGs CONSIDERED: LOCAL CHALLENGE PROJECT 2020 1 - 6 - 9 - 11 IN PROCESS CIVIL SOCIETY KIBERA PUBLIC SPACE PROJECT NAIROBI, KENYA 1/2 PERKINS EASTMAN Anna Rubbo, Silvia Vercher, Filiberto Agarri, Monica Alicea, Pepe Perez, Filiberto Agarri, Monica Alicea. Anna Rubbo, Silvia Vercher, Filiberto Agarri, Monica Alicea, Pepe Perez, Filiberto Agarri, Monica Alicea. PERKINS EASTMAN “We were all involved with the design of the school – everything KDI did involved us, and whatever we wanted and needed. The matabi and wood design is to represent Kibera. It’s our home! Now, we feel we have the best school – the best structure, the best design, with the best materials.” - Ann, Principal and Founder of Anwa Junior Academy at KPSP08 At KPSP01, the Kiki Women Weavers use water hyacinth, a dangerous weed that clogs Kibera’s waterways, to create baskets and bags that they sell for profit. “I can be right there, pulling out the water hyacinth and using them for weaving. And we can continue to educate the community members so they don’t throw trash in the river,” says Chairwoman Jackie. The KPSP02 site is home to a water tank, sanitation block, playground, and kiosk (shown above), where local community members can buy a range of basic goods. The income generated by the site enabled the community group to add a second water tank, as well as taking home a profit. The site is affectionately known by locals as “bricks” due to the soil-stabilized bricks - fabricated by residents themselves - that it was built with. PROJECT IMPACTS Recognized by UN Habitat, Swiss Re Foundation, The Atlantic, Curry Stone Foundation, MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Rockefeller Foundation, and others, the KPSP has created profound impact from the local to the global scale. As well as serving tens of thousands of Kibera residents each year with safe and clean sanitation, recreation facilities, gathering spaces and more, the network has provided hundreds of residents, the vast majority of them women, with new opportunities to generate and save income while building their leadership and business expertise. As the network grows and connections are formed, KPSP leaders exchange their skills and labor, helping each other carry out site repairs and clean- ups, prepare for severe weather, and take other steps to build long-term resilience. Several groups have pooled their financial resources for increased marketing and political power, such as the women’s craft cooperatives at KPSP01, 02 and 03 who cross-trained each other and created one large cooperative; others have shared knowledge, such as the KPSP02 community group, who taught residents at KPSP04, 05 and 06 how to operate their sanitation facilities for profit. Elements of the KPSP sites, such as local flood protection and flood hazard warning systems, have even been replicated by non KPSP- affiliated community groups, showing how the KPSP network is stimulating settlement-wide learning. PROJECT TAKEAWAYS • Community participation in design and development processes is key to ensuring feasible, effective, equitable, and sustainable solutions, as well as combating historic imbalances of power • Integrating economic, social, and environmental strategies is critical to the longevity of a development project and to ensuring its effectiveness against complex challenges such as climate risk • Public spaces provide important opportunities and resources for civic action, network building, community-led development, and city-community collaboration to bridge the gap between formality and informality PARTNERS COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS • Andolo Bridge Community Group - KPSP10 • Anwa Junior Academy - KPSP08 • Gifted Hands - KPSP09 • Kibera Action Group Organisation (KAGO) - KPSP05 • Kibera Christian Initiative - KPSP03 • Kibera United for Our Needs (KUFON) - KPSP07 INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS • Stockholm University • Technical University of Kenya • KTH University • Lund University • King’s College London Members of Vijana Usafi na Maendeleo (VUMA) present their ideas during a recent community workshop to design KPSP11. The group has been particularly hands-on during the co-design process, facilitating and leading several of the sessions themselves and examining knotty issues such as safety and sanitation for women, and gender biases on the construction site. The KPSP04 site sits along a stretch of river that was originally a crime hotspot that many residents were afraid to pass. Now it is an active site run by three community organizations: Slumcare, who operate the sanitation facilities; Ndovu Women’s Group, who run a childcare program from the site; and Usalama Youth Group, who work to improve opportunities for youth in the settlement. PROJECT PROCESS + COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT While residents of Kibera and other slums are often portrayed as passive recipients of aid, the reality could not be more different. Kibera is bustling with small businesses, skilled laborers and craftspeople, and community groups actively working to improve infrastructure and services. Residents have strong social networks – some cannot walk down a street without greeting every other passerby. Most importantly, they have a unique understanding of what needs to change in their neighborhood and how to make it happen. Each KPSP site makes the most of this existing know- how through a community-engaged design process that is completely collaborative and transparent from start to finish. This process begins with a “Request for Proposals” that is advertised to community-based organizations across Kibera. The winning group commits to providing a small percentage of the construction cost through cash and labor, and along with traditional leaders and local government, formalizes their partnership with KDI through a Memorandum of Understanding. We then move into the collaborative design process. KDI’s architects, engineers, and community facilitators – who are almost all from Kibera, and often engaged in previous KPSP projects – work with residents through a series of workshops in which they envision a community identity, identify challenges and needs, propose and prioritize solutions, and develop a site master plan integrating infrastructure, services, small businesses, and programs. KDI uses a range of engagement techniques to appeal to residents of all ages, abilities, and interests, and conducts workshops in Swahili - with age or gender-specific groups when appropriate - to ensure all residents can share their ideas freely. In the final stages of design, residents engage in surveying, costing, business planning, and budgeting exercises, retaining control over major design and financial decisions. KDI helps the community group set up the site-based enterprises and programs and work with municipal agencies to establish formal water and sewerage connections where possible. During construction, unskilled labor is usually provided by the community group and nearby residents, while skilled labor is sourced from the wider Kibera community. This process results in active community ownership over the completed space, with residents assuming responsibility for maintenance and operations, and often continuing to develop the space and programs after KDI has stepped back. For example, the community group at KPSP01 created its own composting business and the group at KPSP02 saved enough money to buy a second water tank for their sanitation block. Moreover, the process builds trust and collaboration between residents and formal decision makers, as seen when the community group at KPSP05 successfully negotiated a sewer line connection with the City. “The water and toilet have helped so many community members – at 6am there’s always people waiting to use them.” - Richard, Slumcare member and toilet block operator at KPSP04 “We have become role models to the community. The group has created jobs. We have also gained skills – the people operating the greenhouse, making compost, they have gained new knowledge.” - Ann, member of NNDC at KPSP01 • New Nairobi Dam Community - KPSP01 • Riverside Usafi Group (RUG) - KPSP02 • The S.U.N. Centre - KPSP04 • Vijana Usafi na Maendeleo (VUMA) - KPSP11 TECHNICAL PARTNERS • Arup • Buro Happold • Engineers Without Borders UK GOVERNMENT • Nairobi City County FUNDERS • Jeffrey Cook Trust • Swedish Research Council • Swedbio • Swiss Re Foundation • IDEO.org • Welthungerhilfe PROJECT OUTCOMES The KPSP has reclaimed around 4,000m² of polluted land and riverbank in Kibera and transformed it into a lively network of active, attractive community hubs that benefit human and natural ecologies through both physical and programmatic solutions. Physical Each site incorporates an array of green infrastructure elements such as bioswales, constructed wetlands, bamboo and tree planting, composting toilets, pervious paving, planted infiltration pits, revetments, and rain gardens, alongside traditional “grey” infrastructure such as paved drainage and gabions, to reduce flood risk and combat pollution. Where available, the sites connect to municipal water and sewerage services. Dozens of unsanitary and environmentally hazardous latrines have been replaced with proper toilets that serve around 150,000 users annually. Other public amenities and affordable services benefitting local residents include showers, kiosks, community halls, water taps, and laundry areas. Four of the sites provide safe, stimulating playgrounds for around 4,000 kids per week who would otherwise be playing in polluted, unsafe spaces. All of the sites feature new or improved walkways and footbridges - two of which have been formally adopted by Nairobi City County - facilitating over a million safe journeys annually and drastically improving access and commuting times. Programmatic To bring the sites to life and generate income to help maintain them, residents manage a number of programs, including savings and loans groups, craft collectives, compost sales, and urban agriculture. An average of 16 jobs and 4 small businesses are created at each site. 80% of the members of these groups are women, who typically invest any take-home profit into their families (especially education) and communities. Together with sanitation facilities, laundry areas, community halls, and kiosks built into the sites, these programs enable the managing community organizations to generate around $50,000 annually across the network for site maintenance, environmental clean-ups, and profit. Public art and events such as dance and music performances make each site a hub for collective expression and celebration of culture. The KPSP project is also connecting residents from the informal settlement with formal processes and actors that have historically marginalized them. The footbridges at KPSP05 and KPSP07 were adopted by Nairobi City County - a recognition that provides a sense of stability and legitimacy to a vulnerable informal neighborhood - while the KPSP05 group successfully negotiated a municipal sewer line connection to their sanitation block, independently of KDI. As a result, local government actors have a greater understanding of the needs of informal settlements, and residents are equipped to participate more actively in planning and designing “slum upgrades”. The KPSP project has also served as a case study in groundbreaking research on community-led approaches to climate adaptation, with a particular focus on flooding and green infrastructure. With partners such as KTH University, Stockholm University, Lund University, Resurgence, King’s College London, the Technical University of Kenya, International Alert, and others, the network has been the focus of 5 international research projects and 5 published academic papers, furthering global institutional knowledge and practice around community-led sustainable development. PROJECT OVERVIEW Kibera occupies a space two-thirds the size of New York City’s Central Park and is home to around 250,000 residents. Everyday life means grappling with overcrowding, a lack of basic services, high unemployment and crime, and an increasingly unpredictable climate. Most residents are “illegal” squatters, work in “informal” economies, and struggle to participate in civic life, trapping them in a cycle of poverty and risk. Since 2006, Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) has partnered with community members to transform 11 (and counting) hotspots of crime and pollution in Kibera into a vibrant network of public spaces. Known collectively as the Kibera Public Space Project (KPSP), they demonstrate how community know-how, integrated design, and working at multiple scales can transform neighborhoods for the better. Participation: Designing with, not for KDI partners with local residents - rather than working for them - to design each space in the KPSP network through an intensely collaborative process. Residents’ knowledge and skills are married with design and engineering expertise to create spaces that serve their needs and fulfill their vision for sustainable development. Integration: From waste spaces to multifunctional places The KPSP transforms Kibera’s “waste” spaces - sites that are unused, polluted, and dangerous - into flexible, functional systems that address complex challenges. Physical components like sanitation centers, bridges, community halls, flood protection, and playgrounds are layered with resident-managed economic programs to provide basic services and promote sustainability and resilience. Networked change: A growing ecosystem Top-down development can take away a community’s voice, while bottom-up efforts can struggle to achieve sustained impact. The KPSP sites anchor a network of community leaders who share knowledge and skills, while creating connections between the informal settlement and formal processes and actors. Community and city are able to collaborate more effectively to create sustainable change in Kibera and beyond. “It benefits the community because when they want to share ideas they can come here. It’s open, green, it has trees, and it has shade.” - Edward, Chairman of NNDC at KPSP01 KPSP10 is part of the Community-Responsive Adaptation to Flooding project, which will evaluate a series of climate-focused public space interventions that combine “hard” protection measures with “soft” resilience-building strategies such as gathering spaces, communications and warning systems, and public art and storytelling. The recently completed site features shaded seating, landscaping, drainage, a water tank, and a playground. KPSP08 was designed and built in parternship with Anwa Junior Academy, a local school. Featuring wattle-and-daub walls and matabi (steel) sheeting, the building references local architecture to instil community pride. The classrooms are fitted with desks and bamboo shutters to control light and heat, sustainably produced by 10 members of the KDI-KEFRI Carpentry Academy (pictured above), who have graduated with increased skills and earning prospects. The first KPSP site lies at the edge of the Nairobi Dam in Silanga Village, Kibera. The site was swampy, filled with trash, and a notoriously dangerous area with high levels of crime. When KDI asked residents what they thought needed to change, and how as designers KDI could help, they were surprised to hear that instead of improved housing, residents wanted a clean environment, safe places for their kids to play, and more opportunities to earn income. Completed in 2010, the site is a multifunctional public space system that responds to all of these needs. KPSP01 features a community hall - which serves as a school, place of worship, meeting place, events venue and more - as well as an office, garden, and flood protections. The site is managed by New Nairobi Dam Community Group, who rent the hall and run a savings and loans group. Kiki Women’s Weavers are also based there. In 2014, a compost toilet block, greenhouse, and bamboo planting were added. “With the network, if Site 1 has a problem, we as Site 5 might have the same problem. We go there as brothers and sisters, see what’s the problem. And we can help them, teach them to fix it. That’s the benefit of networking. And then that one can help another site, and so on.” Nicholas, Chairman of KAGO at KPSP05
Transcript of KIBERA PUBLIC SPACE PROJECT CIVIL SOCIETY PROJECT
PARTNERS :PROJECT TEAM:
FUNDERS :
LOCAL PROJECT CHALLENGE 2020 is project is a partnership between the Center for Sustainable Urban Development, The Earth Institute, Columbia University, and the Faculty of Architecture, Federal University, Rio de Janeiro.
STATUS:
PROJECT: SDGs CONSIDERED:
LOCAL CHALLENGE PROJECT 2020
1 - 6 - 9 - 11IN PROCESS
CIVIL SOCIETYKIBERA PUBLIC SPACE PROJECTNAIROBI, KENYA
1/2
PERKINS EASTMAN
Anna Rubbo, Silvia Vercher, Filiberto Agarri, Monica Alicea, Pepe Perez, Filiberto Agarri, Monica Alicea. Anna Rubbo, Silvia Vercher, Filiberto Agarri, Monica Alicea, Pepe Perez, Filiberto Agarri, Monica Alicea.
PERKINS EASTMAN
“We were all involved with the design of the school – everything KDI did involved us, and whatever we wanted and needed. The matabi and wood design is to represent Kibera. It’s our home! Now, we feel we have the best school – the best structure, the best design, with the best materials.” - Ann, Principal and Founder of Anwa Junior Academy at KPSP08
At KPSP01, the Kiki Women Weavers use water hyacinth, a dangerous weed that clogs Kibera’s waterways, to create baskets and bags that they sell for profit. “I can be right there, pulling out the water hyacinth and using them for weaving. And we can continue to educate the community members so they don’t throw trash in the river,” says Chairwoman Jackie.
The KPSP02 site is home to a water tank, sanitation block, playground, and kiosk (shown above), where local community members can buy a range of basic goods. The income generated by the site enabled the community group to add a second water tank, as well as taking home a profit. The site is affectionately known by locals as “bricks” due to the soil-stabilized bricks - fabricated by residents themselves - that it was built with.
PROJECT IMPACTS
Recognized by UN Habitat, Swiss Re Foundation, The Atlantic, Curry Stone Foundation, MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Rockefeller Foundation, and others, the KPSP has created profound impact from the local to the global scale.
As well as serving tens of thousands of Kibera residents each year with safe and clean sanitation, recreation facilities, gathering spaces and more, the network has provided hundreds of residents, the vast majority of them women, with new opportunities to generate and save income while building their leadership and business expertise. As the network grows and connections are formed, KPSP leaders exchange their skills and labor, helping each other carry out site repairs and clean-ups, prepare for severe weather, and take other steps to build long-term resilience. Several groups have pooled their financial resources for increased marketing and political power, such as the women’s craft cooperatives at KPSP01, 02 and 03 who cross-trained each other and created one large cooperative; others have shared knowledge, such as the KPSP02 community group, who taught residents at KPSP04, 05 and 06 how to operate their sanitation facilities for profit. Elements of the KPSP sites, such as local flood protection and flood hazard warning systems, have even been replicated by non KPSP-affiliated community groups, showing how the KPSP network is stimulating settlement-wide learning.
PROJECT TAKEAWAYS
• Community participation in design and development processes is key to ensuring feasible, effective, equitable, and sustainable solutions, as well as combating historic imbalances of power
• Integrating economic, social, and environmental strategies is critical to the longevity of a development project and to ensuring its effectiveness against complex challenges such as climate risk
• Public spaces provide important opportunities and resources for civic action, network building, community-led development, and city-community collaboration to bridge the gap between formality and informality
PARTNERS
COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS• Andolo Bridge Community Group - KPSP10• Anwa Junior Academy - KPSP08• Gifted Hands - KPSP09• Kibera Action Group Organisation (KAGO) - KPSP05• Kibera Christian Initiative - KPSP03• Kibera United for Our Needs (KUFON) - KPSP07
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS• Stockholm University• Technical University of Kenya• KTH University• Lund University• King’s College London
Members of Vijana Usafi na Maendeleo (VUMA) present their ideas during a recent community workshop to design KPSP11. The group has been particularly hands-on during the co-design process, facilitating and leading several of the sessions themselves and examining knotty issues such as safety and sanitation for women, and gender biases on the construction site.
The KPSP04 site sits along a stretch of river that was originally a crime hotspot that many residents were afraid to pass. Now it is an active site run by three community organizations: Slumcare, who operate the sanitation facilities; Ndovu Women’s Group, who run a childcare program from the site; and Usalama Youth Group, who work to improve opportunities for youth in the settlement.
PROJECT PROCESS + COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
While residents of Kibera and other slums are often portrayed as passive recipients of aid, the reality could not be more different. Kibera is bustling with small businesses, skilled laborers and craftspeople, and community groups actively working to improve infrastructure and services. Residents have strong social networks – some cannot walk down a street without greeting every other passerby. Most importantly, they have a unique understanding of what needs to change in their neighborhood and how to make it happen.
Each KPSP site makes the most of this existing know-how through a community-engaged design process that is completely collaborative and transparent from start to finish. This process begins with a “Request for Proposals” that is advertised to community-based organizations across Kibera. The winning group commits to providing a small percentage of the construction cost through cash and labor, and along with traditional leaders and local government, formalizes their partnership with KDI through a Memorandum of Understanding.
We then move into the collaborative design process. KDI’s architects, engineers, and community facilitators – who are almost all from Kibera, and often engaged in previous KPSP projects – work with residents through a series of workshops in which they envision a community identity, identify challenges and needs, propose and prioritize solutions, and develop a site master plan integrating infrastructure, services, small businesses, and programs. KDI uses a range of engagement techniques to appeal to residents of all ages, abilities, and interests, and conducts workshops in Swahili - with age or gender-specific groups when appropriate - to ensure all residents can share their ideas freely.
In the final stages of design, residents engage in surveying, costing, business planning, and budgeting exercises, retaining control over major design and financial decisions. KDI helps the community group set up the site-based enterprises and
programs and work with municipal agencies to establish formal water and sewerage connections where possible. During construction, unskilled labor is usually provided by the community group and nearby residents, while skilled labor is sourced from the wider Kibera community.
This process results in active community ownership over the completed space, with residents assuming responsibility for maintenance and operations, and often continuing to develop the space and programs after KDI has stepped back. For example, the community group at KPSP01 created its own composting business and the group at KPSP02 saved enough money to buy a second water tank for their sanitation block. Moreover, the process builds trust and collaboration between residents and formal decision makers, as seen when the community group at KPSP05 successfully negotiated a sewer line connection with the City.
“The water and toilet have helped so many community members – at 6am there’s always people waiting to use them.” - Richard, Slumcare member and toilet block operator at KPSP04
“We have become role models to the community. The group has created jobs. We have also gained skills – the people operating the greenhouse, making compost, they have gained new knowledge.” - Ann, member of NNDC at KPSP01
• New Nairobi Dam Community - KPSP01• Riverside Usafi Group (RUG) - KPSP02• The S.U.N. Centre - KPSP04• Vijana Usafi na Maendeleo (VUMA) - KPSP11
TECHNICAL PARTNERS• Arup• Buro Happold• Engineers Without Borders UK
GOVERNMENT• Nairobi City County
FUNDERS• Jeffrey Cook Trust• Swedish Research Council• Swedbio• Swiss Re Foundation• IDEO.org• Welthungerhilfe
PROJECT OUTCOMES
The KPSP has reclaimed around 4,000m² of polluted land and riverbank in Kibera and transformed it into a lively network of active, attractive community hubs that benefit human and natural ecologies through both physical and programmatic solutions.
PhysicalEach site incorporates an array of green infrastructure elements such as bioswales, constructed wetlands, bamboo and tree planting, composting toilets, pervious paving, planted infiltration pits, revetments, and rain gardens, alongside traditional “grey” infrastructure such as paved drainage and gabions, to reduce flood risk and combat pollution. Where available, the sites connect to municipal water and sewerage services. Dozens of unsanitary and environmentally hazardous latrines have been replaced with proper toilets that serve around 150,000 users annually. Other public amenities and affordable services benefitting local residents include showers, kiosks, community halls, water taps, and laundry areas. Four of the sites provide safe, stimulating playgrounds for around 4,000 kids per week who would otherwise be playing in polluted,
unsafe spaces. All of the sites feature new or improved walkways and footbridges - two of which have been formally adopted by Nairobi City County - facilitating over a million safe journeys annually and drastically improving access and commuting times.
ProgrammaticTo bring the sites to life and generate income to help maintain them, residents manage a number of programs, including savings and loans groups, craft collectives, compost sales, and urban agriculture. An average of 16 jobs and 4 small businesses are created at each site. 80% of the members of these groups are women, who typically invest any take-home profit into their families (especially education) and communities. Together with sanitation facilities, laundry areas, community halls, and kiosks built into the sites, these programs enable the managing community organizations to generate around $50,000 annually across the network for site maintenance, environmental clean-ups, and profit. Public art and events such as dance and music performances make each site a hub for collective expression and celebration of culture.
The KPSP project is also connecting residents from the informal settlement with formal processes and actors that have historically marginalized them. The footbridges at KPSP05 and KPSP07 were adopted by Nairobi City County - a recognition that provides a sense of stability and legitimacy to a vulnerable informal neighborhood - while the KPSP05 group successfully negotiated a municipal sewer line connection to their sanitation block, independently of KDI. As a result, local government actors have a greater understanding of the needs of informal settlements, and residents are equipped to participate more actively in planning and designing “slum upgrades”.
The KPSP project has also served as a case study in groundbreaking research on community-led approaches to climate adaptation, with a particular focus on flooding and green infrastructure. With partners such as KTH University, Stockholm University, Lund University, Resurgence, King’s College London, the Technical University of Kenya, International Alert, and others, the network has been the focus of 5 international research projects and 5 published academic papers, furthering global institutional knowledge and practice around community-led sustainable development.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Kibera occupies a space two-thirds the size of New York City’s Central Park and is home to around 250,000 residents. Everyday life means grappling with overcrowding, a lack of basic services, high unemployment and crime, and an increasingly unpredictable climate. Most residents are “illegal” squatters, work in “informal” economies, and struggle to participate in civic life, trapping them in a cycle of poverty and risk.
Since 2006, Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) has partnered with community members to transform 11 (and counting) hotspots of crime and pollution in Kibera into a vibrant network of public spaces. Known collectively as the Kibera Public Space Project (KPSP), they demonstrate how community know-how, integrated design, and working at multiple scales can transform neighborhoods for the better.
Participation: Designing with, not forKDI partners with local residents - rather than working for them - to design each space in the KPSP network through an intensely collaborative process. Residents’ knowledge and skills are married with design and engineering expertise to create spaces that serve their needs and fulfill their vision for sustainable development.
Integration: From waste spaces to multifunctional placesThe KPSP transforms Kibera’s “waste” spaces - sites that are unused, polluted, and dangerous - into flexible, functional systems that address complex challenges. Physical components like sanitation centers, bridges, community halls, flood protection, and playgrounds are layered with resident-managed economic programs to provide basic services and promote sustainability and resilience.
Networked change: A growing ecosystemTop-down development can take away a community’s voice, while bottom-up efforts can struggle to achieve sustained impact. The KPSP sites anchor a network of community leaders who share knowledge and skills, while creating connections between the informal settlement and formal processes and actors. Community and city are able to collaborate more effectively to create sustainable change in Kibera and beyond.
“It benefits the community because when they want to share ideas they can come here. It’s open, green, it has trees, and it has shade.” - Edward, Chairman of NNDC at KPSP01
KPSP10 is part of the Community-Responsive Adaptation to Flooding project, which will evaluate a series of climate-focused public space interventions that combine “hard” protection measures with “soft” resilience-building strategies such as gathering spaces, communications and warning systems, and public art and storytelling. The recently completed site features shaded seating, landscaping, drainage, a water tank, and a playground.
KPSP08 was designed and built in parternship with Anwa Junior Academy, a local school. Featuring wattle-and-daub walls and matabi (steel) sheeting, the building references local architecture to instil community pride. The classrooms are fitted with desks and bamboo shutters to control light and heat, sustainably produced by 10 members of the KDI-KEFRI Carpentry Academy (pictured above), who have graduated with increased skills and earning prospects.
The first KPSP site lies at the edge of the Nairobi Dam in Silanga Village, Kibera. The site was swampy, filled with trash, and a notoriously dangerous area with high levels of crime. When KDI asked residents what they thought needed to change, and how as designers KDI could help, they were surprised to hear that instead of improved housing, residents wanted a clean environment, safe places for their kids to play, and more opportunities to earn income.
Completed in 2010, the site is a multifunctional public space system that responds to all of these needs. KPSP01 features a community hall - which serves as a school, place of worship, meeting place, events venue and more - as well as an office, garden, and flood protections. The site is managed by New Nairobi Dam Community Group, who rent the hall and run a savings and loans group. Kiki Women’s Weavers are also based there. In 2014, a compost toilet block, greenhouse, and bamboo planting were added.
“With the network, if Site 1 has a problem, we as Site 5 might have the same problem. We go there as brothers and sisters, see what’s the problem. And we can help them, teach them to fix it. That’s the benefit of networking. And then that one can help another site, and so on.” Nicholas, Chairman of KAGO at KPSP05
PARTNERS :PROJECT TEAM:
FUNDERS :
LOCAL PROJECT CHALLENGE 2020 is project is a partnership between the Center for Sustainable Urban Development, The Earth Institute, Columbia University, and the Faculty of Architecture, Federal University, Rio de Janeiro.
STATUS:
PROJECT: SDGs CONSIDERED:
LOCAL CHALLENGE PROJECT 2020
1 - 6 - 9 - 11IN PROCESS
CIVIL SOCIETYKIBERA PUBLIC SPACE PROJECTNAIROBI, KENYA
2/2
PERKINS EASTMAN
Anna Rubbo, Silvia Vercher, Filiberto Agarri, Monica Alicea, Pepe Perez, Filiberto Agarri, Monica Alicea. Anna Rubbo, Silvia Vercher, Filiberto Agarri, Monica Alicea, Pepe Perez, Filiberto Agarri, Monica Alicea.
PERKINS EASTMAN
Target 1.5: Build Resilience to Environmental, Economic, and Social Disasters
Each KPSP site features physical flood protections and basic infrastructure built with climate change scenarios in mind to increase environmental resilience. Savings groups and small site-based businesses help build economic resilience, while gathering spaces and programs help the community build strong social networks.
Target 6.6: Protect and Restore Water-Related Ecosystems
Before a KPSP site is built, the river and surrounding land undergo extensive remediation. Pit latrines are replaced with proper sanitation, reducing the flow of organic waste into the rivers. Regular community clean-ups and green infrastructure such as wetlands systems and bamboo planting help maintain a healthy river ecosystem.
Target 9.A: Facilitate Sustainable Infrastructure Development for Developing Countries
The KPSP sites feature grey, green, and blue infrastructure that serve both human and ecosystem needs. These include hard drainage and landscaping, municipal water and sewer connections, decentralized sanitation, stormwater detention, wastewater filtration, and bridges. Much of this infrastructure has been adopted by local government, closing the gap between formal and informal city.
Target 11.3: Inclusive and Sustainable Urbanization
The co-design process actively includes community members of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds to ensure each KPSP site meets their needs and priorities. Community members undergo leadership training to manage and maintain the site for years to come, and form partnerships with local government to secure municipal connections and political buy-in.
Target 11.7: Provide Access to Safe and Inclusive Green and Public Spaces
At heart each KPSP site is a public space, with green open areas and playgrounds for recreation and gathering. Multipurpose halls provide space for local events and gatherings as well as committee meetings, worship, and even education. Improved footpaths, bridges, shade, and seating ensure everyone can access and enjoy these spaces.
Target 11.B: Implement Policies for Inclusion, Resource Efficiency, and Disaster Risk Reduction
Each KPSP site brings together residents and decisionmakers and demonstrates the value of community participation, promoting more inclusive models of development. Several sites form the basis of international research on climate adaptation and participatory design, with learnings disseminated through academic papers, books, conferences, presentations, and more.
