Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the lived experiences of exclusion and invisibility of informal settlement communities in policy-making through the work of national government public administrators in created spaces for citizen participation.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the lived experiences of informal settlement communities in the processes of policy making. Following constitutional changes in Kenya in 2010, citizen participation was entrenched and interpreted as a key pillar driving national and sub-national development. Urban informal settlements present the unique challenge of existing on the periphery of the formalised city. These are grey spaces hosting more than half of Nairobi's population. The national government, through the public administration utilises chiefs to open up created spaces for participation in the form of the baraza. The baraza has been hailed over the years in Kenya as a space for participation with mixed results. In the informal settlements in takes on a contextualised meanings through the lens of the community. Drawing on findings from research in Mukuru Kayaba, we highlight the perceptions of these communities towards the baraza as a tool for inclusion in policy making and interpretation of their informality. The current push to demolish homes to make for roads and at the height of the global pandemic also serve as a lens through which the paper examines whether the presence or absence of public administration and their created spaces are beneficial to informal settlement communities