Nairobi's Urban Development Challenges Are Similar To That Of Indian Cities

Nairobi's population has doubled in the past three decades and at present nearly 3.5 million people live in Nairobi, and over half of them live in slums. In other words, Nairobi is similar to Indian cities like Delhi and Mumbai. The population of Nairobi has largely risen because people in rural areas migrated to this city in large numbers, leading to massive real estate development, and also, to the proliferation of slums. The Kenya's capital is also home to one of the world's largest slum, Kibera.

Nearly 2.5 million people in Nairobi live in informal settlements, and this is seen as a crisis. This only means that all large cities in developing countries go through such a phase. This is inevitable, though third-world cities can do a lot to minimise the downsides.

Many intellectuals think that the growing population of Nairobi will lead to youth unemployment and poverty. But they seem to be confusing cause and effect. Nairobi is relatively prosperous, when compared to other cities in Kenya. So, it is not surprising that people migrate to this city, to avoid unemployment and poverty. As Harvard economist Edward Glaeser points out, cities do not make people poor. Cities attract poor people.

Like all large cities in developing countries, Nairobi is also good at attracting poor people. As Nairobi's population doubled in past three decades, it seems that the city is better than most cities in developing countries. When a city has large numbers of migrants who are looking for jobs, it is not surprising that large numbers of them remain unemployed. This is not a crisis, but a sign that a city is doing well.

So, it is not true that if migration is unchecked, this will lead to greater unemployment, as many activists say. This is why there are more job opportunities in Indian cities like Bengaluru and Mumbai than in sparsely populated villages. When there are more people, there is greater demand for many services. For instance, a village may not be able to support a supermarket because there is not enough demand to sustain such a business in a village. But, large cities are able to support many large supermarkets because of sheer density.

When you just add more people, many things that were not earlier possible become very easy. For instance, the service of a highly specialised physician will not be economically feasible in a village. But, cities have enough density to support such services and when more people come in, there is more demand for such services. This is true of other enterprises  and services, too.

Many intellectuals and activists tend to look at jobs and housing in cities as fixed entities. But there is no upper limit to the number of jobs that a city can support, and there is no upper limit to the housing that a city can provide. Any city in the world can provide a lot more jobs allowing more people to live within the boundaries of the city. All Indian cities can produce a lot more houses for people by just allowing people to build.

Sixty per cent of Nairobi's population occupies six per cent of the land. This itself is proof that people prefer density. Otherwise they would have spread out.