Nairobi in the Making: Landscapes of Time and Urban Belonging

Constance Smith examines the making and remaking of Nairobi, one of Africa's most fragmented, vibrant cities, contributing to debates on urban anthropology, the politics of the past, and postcolonial materialities. She explores how projects of self-making and city-making are entwined, tracing how urban landscapes are formed through residents' everyday lives. Nairobi emerges as a place of pathways and plans, obstructions and aspirations, residues and endurances, reflecting how ordinary people produce the city and generate practices of history-making, ideas about urban belonging, and attempts to refashion Vision 2030 into a future more meaningful and inclusive to ordinary city dwellers.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 14 June 2022
Publisher: James Currey

Examining the creation and reconstruction of Nairobi, one of Africa's most fragmented and dynamic cities, this book contributes to ongoing debates in urban anthropology, historical politics, and postcolonial materialities. What does it mean to live a life in an African metropolis today? How do ordinary Africans navigate amidst collapsing urban infrastructures and the fantastical promises of hypermodern, globalized futures, while striving to secure a place for themselves in the city's future?

Constance Smith delves into the intricate relationship between the remnants of empire and the global city, exploring themes of urban belonging and exclusion, housing and security. Through extensive ethnographic research in a dilapidated, colonial-era public housing project slated for demolition, Smith explores how projects of self-making and city-making intertwine. She traces how urban landscapes are shaped through the everyday lives of residents, encompassing mundane tasks of home maintenance, the accumulation of stories about the past, and ordinary people's aspirations for the future.

Nairobi emerges as a place of pathways and plans, obstacles and aspirations, residues and endurance, reflecting the complex ways in which cities are formed, imagined, materialized, and transformed over time. This book offers valuable insights into the lived experiences of ordinary Africans in the urban context, shedding light on the complexities and challenges of urban life in Africa.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781847013262