Nairobi District Development Plan 2008-2012

Abstract

Nairobi West District is one of the districts that form Nairobi Province. It covers an area of 359.7 Km2 and is situated between longitude 36° 40' east and 1° 25' South. The district borders Kiambu District to the North, Nairobi North to the East, Kajiado District to the South and Nairobi East to the Southwest. Administratively, the district is divided into three and further into 19 locations and 43 sub-locations. Kibera division occupies the largest area in the district, 223.4 Km2 while Dagoretti Division is the smallest with an area of 38.7 Km 2. The district is an urban district with no rural set up therefore the settlement structure is urban. It has high income estates such as Karen, Westlands, Kileleshwa, Lavington and Runda. These high income residential estates are characterized by low population density. There are also informal settlements, where many residents with low income reside, such as Kibera, Kawangware and Kangemi. These informal settlements have high population densities.The State House, several foreign embassies and the United Nations headquarters at Gigiri (the only UN headquarters in the third world countries) are found in low density areas. Most of these are within Westlands Division. Westlands Division, though having some residential areas, is increasingly becoming a major commercial area. Dagoretti Division is predominantly an agricultural area where land is divided into shambas (farms) with numerous small ownerships while some people have more than ten acres in the area. Here residents practice urban/ peri-urban agriculture. The district headquarters is also located here. Kawangware also hosts some informal settlements where basic infrastructure is inadequate. In Kibera Division there are 420,671 persons as of 2008 projections. Out of this population, over 265,000 (63%) live in the informal settlements and provide labour to the industrial area of the adjacent Nairobi East District while others are engaged in self employment.