title: Human geographies of the rural-urban fringe: Social dynamics of land development in the Nairobi rural-urban fringe, Kenya

authors: Thuo, Aggrey Daniel Maina

subjects: rural-urban fringe

abstract: The process of urbanization is one of the most important dimensions of economic, social and physical change. It is almost a truism that the planet’s future is an urban one and that the largest and fastest growing cities are primarily in developing countries. As in other parts of the developing world, the urban population in Africa is expected to double by 2025, Kenya is no exception. Rapid urban population growth means an increasing demand for urban land. This land is not available within cities, but in the rural-urban fringes, for various reasons. The conversion of agricultural land to residential uses in these areas is leading to rapid transformations of this space. This thesis is motivated by a concern for the quality of life and environment in the Nairobi rural-urban fringe, specifically Town Council of Karuri (TCK). This is because it is a place where generic problems associated with urban growth (such as pollution, social dislocation, land use conflicts, loss of agricultural land) are increasingly becoming evident and manifest. This thesis thus examines the dynamics of land use change in the TCK with the aim of building an understanding of the drivers of agricultural land conversions, implications of resulting land use changes, and the related response mechanisms to the changes. The leading question that guided the line of enquiry and discussion is: why is agriculture being squeezed out by non-agricultural land uses in the Nairobi rural-urban fringe? To understand land use dynamics it was necessary to frame landholders and their decision-making environments in ‘situated contexts’. However literature, personal experience and interviews, indicated that forces driving or influencing land conversions interact and operate at varying scales and in an interrelated manner. With this understanding the study adopted an approach that embraced a nested set of scales, an approach that enabled an understanding of the complex local and macro forces and their localized consequences and responses. A case study research that adopted a multiple method qualitative approach and made use of a conceptual framework that borrowed from different theoretical perspectives was adopted. This study, in the main, has indicated that the geography of rural-urban fringe is the outcome of a host of public and private economic, social, cultural, environmental and political forces operating on a variety of scales from the global to the local/human. As a result, a full understanding of the rural-urban fringe and of the problems and prospects for different people and places needs to be grounded in the knowledge of the structural forces and processes that operate on and in combination with contextual factors to condition the geographies of the rural-urban fringe. This study has explored the complexity of geographies of the rural-urban fringe from a social perspective. It has illustrated the significance of macro, micro, local/human forces in creating and recreating the rural-urban fringe environment. The study achieved this by delving into the TCK to examine the diversity of places and actors and the way they affect land development. This study points out that a number of powerful conditions/factors operate at broad scales to determine what is possible at the level of the individual landholder in respect to land use. These forces are leading to land conversions which produce both intended and unintended consequences. These consequences are contributing to change in social, cultural, environmental and economic aspects of the Nairobi rural-urban fringe. Actors (landholders and the residents) are however not passively accepting the fate of being victims of land use changes but instead they are evolving varieties of local/human-level responses (and also developing/recalling subaltern strategies) to enable them to live in the rapidly changing environment. Their varied individual and collective agency is however at times limited or strongly constrained by structural factors and conditions that are beyond their knowledge repertoire or control. This has led to differences in collective and individual responses to the conditions that shape the effects of drivers of land conversions. The differentiated responses are, however also, unintentionally creating conditions for further land conversions, either through making the hitherto unfavourable areas for settlement favourable or creating more obstacles for the continuation of viable agricultural activities. The findings of this thesis point out that the explanation of why agricultural land use is being edged out by non-agricultural uses in the Nairobi fringe is contingent on many factors/conditions, primary of which is population increase through natural growth and in-migration. Population growth thus is a necessary condition for land conversions from agricultural to residential use in the Nairobi fringe. The process that produces population growth is, however, a part of the processes that produces land conversions in the Nairobi fringe. The study argues for redefinition of focus as is embodied in the dichotomous definitions such as rural/urban, legal/illegal, formal/informal to definitions that reflect hybrid characteristics that rural-urban fringes are manifesting. Further implications of the findings on the future research, policy and planning in urban/rural-urban fringe contexts of the developing countries are also enumerated. Areas/aspects in which this thesis was considered weak are identified and future rural-urban fringe research directions are proposed.

text: Human geographies of the rural-urban fringe: Social dynamics of land development in the Nairobi rural-urban fringe, Kenya The process of urbanization is one of the most important dimensions of economic, social and physical change. It is almost a truism that the planet’s future is an urban one and that the largest and fastest growing cities are primarily in developing countries. As in other parts of the developing world, the urban population in Africa is expected to double by 2025, Kenya is no exception. Rapid urban population growth means an increasing demand for urban land. This land is not available within cities, but in the rural-urban fringes, for various reasons. The conversion of agricultural land to residential uses in these areas is leading to rapid transformations of this space. This thesis is motivated by a concern for the quality of life and environment in the Nairobi rural-urban fringe, specifically Town Council of Karuri (TCK). This is because it is a place where generic problems associated with urban growth (such as pollution, social dislocation, land use conflicts, loss of agricultural land) are increasingly becoming evident and manifest. This thesis thus examines the dynamics of land use change in the TCK with the aim of building an understanding of the drivers of agricultural land conversions, implications of resulting land use changes, and the related response mechanisms to the changes. The leading question that guided the line of enquiry and discussion is: why is agriculture being squeezed out by non-agricultural land uses in the Nairobi rural-urban fringe? To understand land use dynamics it was necessary to frame landholders and their decision-making environments in ‘situated contexts’. However literature, personal experience and interviews, indicated that forces driving or influencing land conversions interact and operate at varying scales and in an interrelated manner. With this understanding the study adopted an approach that embraced a nested set of scales, an approach that enabled an understanding of the complex local and macro forces and their localized consequences and responses. A case study research that adopted a multiple method qualitative approach and made use of a conceptual framework that borrowed from different theoretical perspectives was adopted. This study, in the main, has indicated that the geography of rural-urban fringe is the outcome of a host of public and private economic, social, cultural, environmental and political forces operating on a variety of scales from the global to the local/human. As a result, a full understanding of the rural-urban fringe and of the problems and prospects for different people and places needs to be grounded in the knowledge of the structural forces and processes that operate on and in combination with contextual factors to condition the geographies of the rural-urban fringe. This study has explored the complexity of geographies of the rural-urban fringe from a social perspective. It has illustrated the significance of macro, micro, local/human forces in creating and recreating the rural-urban fringe environment. The study achieved this by delving into the TCK to examine the diversity of places and actors and the way they affect land development. This study points out that a number of powerful conditions/factors operate at broad scales to determine what is possible at the level of the individual landholder in respect to land use. These forces are leading to land conversions which produce both intended and unintended consequences. These consequences are contributing to change in social, cultural, environmental and economic aspects of the Nairobi rural-urban fringe. Actors (landholders and the residents) are however not passively accepting the fate of being victims of land use changes but instead they are evolving varieties of local/human-level responses (and also developing/recalling subaltern strategies) to enable them to live in the rapidly changing environment. Their varied individual and collective agency is however at times limited or strongly constrained by structural factors and conditions that are beyond their knowledge repertoire or control. This has led to differences in collective and individual responses to the conditions that shape the effects of drivers of land conversions. The differentiated responses are, however also, unintentionally creating conditions for further land conversions, either through making the hitherto unfavourable areas for settlement favourable or creating more obstacles for the continuation of viable agricultural activities. The findings of this thesis point out that the explanation of why agricultural land use is being edged out by non-agricultural uses in the Nairobi fringe is contingent on many factors/conditions, primary of which is population increase through natural growth and in-migration. Population growth thus is a necessary condition for land conversions from agricultural to residential use in the Nairobi fringe. The process that produces population growth is, however, a part of the processes that produces land conversions in the Nairobi fringe. The study argues for redefinition of focus as is embodied in the dichotomous definitions such as rural/urban, legal/illegal, formal/informal to definitions that reflect hybrid characteristics that rural-urban fringes are manifesting. Further implications of the findings on the future research, policy and planning in urban/rural-urban fringe contexts of the developing countries are also enumerated. Areas/aspects in which this thesis was considered weak are identified and future rural-urban fringe research directions are proposed.

year: 2010

title: Developing usability studies via formal models of UIs

authors: Bowen, Judy

subjects: computer science

abstract: Developing usability studies to evaluate software is a task requiring a wide variety of skills. For software developers who are not used to taking a user-centred approach to development it is often easier and more convenient to dismiss the use of user evaluation as too time-consuming or too hard. This is even more likely to be the case for developers who take a formal approach to software development, which is generally not focused on interface or usability concerns. In this paper we present an early investigation into the use of formal models of user interface designs as the basis for designing software evaluation studies. We have undertaken a comparison study to find out whether a useful study can be derived in this way and whether or not further investigation into this is worthwhile, and we present the results here.

text: Developing usability studies via formal models of UIs Developing usability studies to evaluate software is a task requiring a wide variety of skills. For software developers who are not used to taking a user-centred approach to development it is often easier and more convenient to dismiss the use of user evaluation as too time-consuming or too hard. This is even more likely to be the case for developers who take a formal approach to software development, which is generally not focused on interface or usability concerns. In this paper we present an early investigation into the use of formal models of user interface designs as the basis for designing software evaluation studies. We have undertaken a comparison study to find out whether a useful study can be derived in this way and whether or not further investigation into this is worthwhile, and we present the results here.

year: 2010

title: Te ao hurihuri : iwi identification in the census

authors: Kukutai, Tahu

abstract: As the flagship of official statistics, the national population census is an important forum for the recognition of indigenous peoples in their homelands and territories (United Nations, 2008). While most governments worldwide count and classify their populations by ethnicity, New Zealand is rare in enabling multiple expressions of indigenous identity in the census. Since 1991, it has been possible to identify as Māori in three ways: by descent, ethnicity and iwi (tribal) affiliation (see Figure 1). The Māori descent population is the largest— in 2013, just under 669,000 individuals ticked the Māori descent box. The number identifying as Māori by ethnicity - intended as a measure of cultural belonging - was substantially lower at just under 600,000. Most of the remaining 69,000 Māori descendants identified solely as NZ European. In 2013 nearly 83 per cent of Māori descendants (n=535,941) reported belonging to at least one iwi. Of those that did not report an iwi affiliation, 40 per cent did not identify as Māori by ethnicity either.

text: Te ao hurihuri : iwi identification in the census As the flagship of official statistics, the national population census is an important forum for the recognition of indigenous peoples in their homelands and territories (United Nations, 2008). While most governments worldwide count and classify their populations by ethnicity, New Zealand is rare in enabling multiple expressions of indigenous identity in the census. Since 1991, it has been possible to identify as Māori in three ways: by descent, ethnicity and iwi (tribal) affiliation (see Figure 1). The Māori descent population is the largest— in 2013, just under 669,000 individuals ticked the Māori descent box. The number identifying as Māori by ethnicity - intended as a measure of cultural belonging - was substantially lower at just under 600,000. Most of the remaining 69,000 Māori descendants identified solely as NZ European. In 2013 nearly 83 per cent of Māori descendants (n=535,941) reported belonging to at least one iwi. Of those that did not report an iwi affiliation, 40 per cent did not identify as Māori by ethnicity either.

year: 2015