The Inventory aims to inform the approach to upgrading with the ultimate goal of a community-led development strategy. It also includes a standardized measure of the variables that define informal human settlements and markets.
One of its key messages is that no upgrading model, policy or law will change the urban landscape unless there is an intervention in each and every slum.
These interventions must take into consideration each slum’s unique set of circumstances so that the best possible solution for each slum can be crafted and negotiated.
The project began 16 months ago when residents of Nairobi’s Mukuru Sisal settlement who were fearful of eviction approached Pamoja Trust for assistance. Their attempts to establish ownership of the land they occupied had failed because files and maps were missing at the Survey Department and the Land Registry. The data collected in the inventory consists of stories, quotes, anecdotes and photos, many personal narrations by elderly residents about the formation of the communities.
