Will posh suburbs shake off the ugly twin?

They sit side by side - posh and affluent neighbourhoods adjacent to slums - and they rely on each other in a complex symbiotic labour/livelihood relationship. PETER MUIRURI explores this urban reality

The air is tranquil and the environment serene as you drive along Langata Road between the Bomas of Kenya junction and Karen Shopping Centre.

On both sides of the road are well-trimmed hedges that allow a partial glimpse of the palatial homes that may well be sitting on five-acre plots.

Neatly paved driveways lined with luxuriant flowers combine to give Karen a restful atmosphere.

Tucked within this estate however, is Kuwinda, an informal settlement of more than 1,000 inhabitants that has stuck out like a sore thumb for decades.

The village, hemmed in on one end by what looks like a natural forest, is a total contrast to the affluent lifestyle that exists just across the fence.

Here, we find children playing on the narrow, filthy alleys while a stray pig rummages on a nearby heap of garbage.

The stinging acrid smell is unbearable.

The script is the same in the posh estate of Runda where it is not uncommon to find homes valued at between Sh20 and Sh100 million.

Yet, in the same neighbourhood are Githogoro and Huruma villages, two other informal settlements that have found their place in the midst of prosperity.

Residents’ associations

These two scenarios — where lush neighbourhoods jostle for space with slums — are replicated in almost every major town in the country.

The classy Nyali Estate in Mombasa has the sprawling Bombolulu village as its next-door neighbour while the upmarket Milimani Estate in Kisumu brushes shoulders with Nyalenda slum.

While these slums choke with filth and have little attention from the authorities, their well-off neighbours enjoy services provided through the municipal government and their powerful residents’ associations.

As an example, the Runda Estate Association provides water supply and bills the residents, maintains the roads and street lights within and even outsources fire-extinguishing services.

Security vans are strategically located within the vast estate, with regular patrols as part of the deal.

Regardless of their social status, however, slum dwellers in these localities feel their presence next to the big boys is a necessary evil that cannot be wished away.

They see themselves as sources of cheap labour in fields such as gardening, cooking and driving, besides providing essential services such as newspaper delivery and garbage collection.

"We have found ways of living with these people. They are human, despite their living in the informal settlements. In fact, many domestic workers in our estate are drawn from these villages," says Daniel Methu, General Manager Runda Water Company and a council member of Runda Association. He notes that 40 employees of Runda Water live in either Githogoro or Huruma slum.

Not dens of crime

According to Methu, the association also sponsors bright children from the informal neighbourhoods, organises free medical camps and has installed a free water collection point for the villagers.

Many residents of Kuwinda slum in Karen eke out their livelihood from the rich neighbourhood. Simon Mutungi, for example, has lived here for 28 years.

He has educated all his five children from the proceeds of the many casual jobs he does within the leafy suburb.

He says the presence of rich neighbours is a boon to his house-painting job.

"I have knocked on those big doors many times looking for work. At times, they have come here looking for us. We want to eat but don’t have the money while they have the money but can’t do the menial jobs themselves," says Mutungi as he points at a plush house nearby.

Simon Ngigi, a village elder in Kuwinda slum, appreciates the symbiotic relationship between the two groups and debunks the ignorant stereotype that these slums are hiding dens for criminals out to wreck havoc on the rich neighbourhoods.

"We have always co-existed peacefully with our well-to-do neighbours. We are not out to terrorise them. If suspicions of criminal activity arise, we always involve the local administrators and the police to ensure that such disputes are solved amicably," says Ngigi, who also grew up in the slum.

Perimeter walls

But a glance at the posh suburbs reveals that the well heeled are leaving nothing to chance. Almost all the homes are heavily barricaded with ten-foot stonewalls, a trend that has been termed ‘the architecture of fear’.

These virtual fortresses with reinforced doors and windows as well as electric wire atop the perimeter walls are ironically installed using labour from the neighbouring slums.

While encouraging good neighbourliness between the two social classes, Jotham Kilimo, whose modern home lies 150 metres from Kuwinda slums, acknowledges that lack of basic amenities such as running water means that sewerage disposal is greatly hampered.

"As you can see, the fact that there are no proper toilets in the slum means that many relieve themselves in the bushes near our homes. You will see groups of people heading to a particular spot every morning and you do not have to guess what they are there to do," says Kilimo.

Like other informal settlements, the mushrooming of slums next to or within upmarket residential areas can again be attributed to poor urban planning.

Experts argue that the issue should be looked at from a human need point of view rather than it being seen as a social problem.

Erastus Abonyo, the Chairman of the Department of Architecture and Building Science at the University of Nairobi, remarks: "As long as people migrate into urban areas, they will need to be housed regardless of their social and economic standing. Unfortunately, the housing issue is a politically charged one.

"Whichever way we look at it, slums in these posh neighbourhoods are a result of poor urban planning. Since colonial times, our urban centres were planned on exclusion. There were designated zones divided to cater for each of the three races — Africans, Europeans and Asians. In Nairobi for example, Africans who were the low-income earners within the three groups, were confined to the eastern part of Nairobi (Eastlands), which soon became crowded. In search of job opportunities, part of the African population moved to affluent parts of the city," remarks Abonyo.

Little investment

"For the last 20 years, there has been very little investment by the Government in the housing industry as compared to other sectors of the economy such as infrastructure development," says Abonyo.