Mukuru SPA: The Planner "In a brownfield the community is the client and also the designer"
Channel: Muungano wa Wanavijiji
Date: 2018-10-01

Smruti Jukur explains what makes the Mukuru Special Planning Area "special", and why the world is watching. 

Smruti is an urban planner for SPARC in Mumbai, India – one of the 42 organizations providing technical support to the SPA planning process in Mukuru, an informal settlement of 100,000 households in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Mukuru Special Planning Area is a 2-year collaborative, community-centred planning process, led by Nairobi City County. It aims to improve Mukuru residents’ lives and transform the informal settlement area into a healthy, functioning Nairobi neighbourhood.

The SPA planning process involves the community, Nairobi City County, and around 42 partner organizations (NGOs, civil society, academia and the private sector), working together to develop an Integrated Development Plan. 

The Muungano alliance* has worked with the Mukuru community for over 10 years: its SPA roles are to mobilize the community, help organise the consultation process, and coordinate the 42 organisations working together to draw up the plan.

*The Muungano alliance represents the combined force of 3 organisations: Muungano wa Wanavijiji, the Kenyan federation of slum dwellers; Akiba Mashinani Trust, the Kenyan urban poor fund; and SDI Kenya, an NGO providing professional and technical support to the federation.

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