Paper short abstract:

Slum upgrading projects provide a valuable opportunity to redesign cities in a sustainable manner.This potential is underutilized. This paper looks at the environmental performance of upgraded settlements in Kenyan cities and strategies for repositioning the environmental agenda in slum upgrading.

Paper long abstract:

The phenomenal growth of urban centres in developing countries makes cities important sites for engaging with environmental issues. The prevalence of informal settlements in cities and its implication on environmental sustainability has become a growing concern. Metabolic processes of these spatial units significantly shape the urban ecological system and define quality of life in cities. However, the significance of this space in the environmental sustainability function has not been adequately considered. As a result, the upgraded settlements do not sufficiently contribute to improved urban environmental quality. The study assessed the environmental performance of 11 upgraded informal settlements using 16 environmental sustainability indicators within four domains: resource consumption, waste management, environmental quality and community organization. A total of 600 households were sampled from the eleven settlements through multistage method involving cluster and systematic sampling. A scoring system was used to determine significant differences in performance between cities. The highest environmental sustainability score in the upgraded settlements is 61.4% while the lowest score is 37%. The scores vary significantly between cities. Upgraded settlements in Nairobi have higher scores than those in Kisumu and Mombasa. Environmental quality indicators have the highest predictive ratio for environmental sustainability performance of an upgraded settlement. Informal settlement upgrading programs have not been adequately utilized to diffuse environmental sustainability in the urban space. The study recommends improved actor coordination; broader stakeholder engagement, institutionalizing an environmental unit in the ministry in charge of informal settlement upgrading and multi levelled environmental education in the implementation of upgrading programs.