Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the role of UN-Habitat in the appropriation of global urban agendas in Kenya. It questions the functioning of UN-Habitat headquarters in Nairobi and the presence of local experts, as well as its territorial integration in Kenya and its relations to political and economic fields.

Paper long abstract:

Kenya occupies a special position in the global urban governance arena. The capital hosts the headquarters and the regional office for Africa of UN-Habitat. This UN agency led the elaboration of the New Urban Agenda and is now monitoring its implementation. UN-Habitat also organized the 2018 World Urban Forum, where the Kenyan delegation presented the report submitted to the UN on urbanization in Kenya, and the guidelines for Kenyan city planners. With South Africa, Kenya has led discussions on integration between the African Union's Agenda 2063 and the New Urban Agenda. This paper examines UN-Habitat's relations to local political and economic fields, and to platforms set up in 2016 in Kenya for assessing sustainable development objectives. Does UN-Habitat play a role in the modalities of appropriation of these agendas by local actors? The multiscalar and multilocalized modalities of action of UN-Habitat pose a methodological challenge. To counter this, I conduct investigations both within the agency on working practices, recruitment policies and internal dynamics, and within local urban platforms, strategic planning projects and the elaboration of reforms for which the agency provides technical assistance. The territorial integration of UN-Habitat varies significantly, and there is a high degree of circularity among experts. The agency plays a mediation role in the consultancy markets that have increased with these agendas. But it has little control over structural decisions, in the face of donors whose experts are located directly in the ministry offices, and politicians who intervene during the steps of finalization of the expertise.