Paper short abstract:

The paper engages with the governance of Nakuru, Kenya. Nakuru was upgraded to a city in 2021 and seeks to become a role model for transformative change and participation. Based on interviews, the paper examines the continuities and disruptions in governance and its impacts on citizen participation.

Paper long abstract:

While the concept of “secondary cities” is fuzzy, it is consensus that secondary cities in Africa are yet to face their biggest growth. Hence, it is assumed that secondary cities are still in the position to develop governance structures that can better absorb incoming populations. The paper engages with this idea by studying Nakuru’s city governance. Nakuru (Kenya) was upgraded from a municipality to a town in 2021 and presents itself as a role model for transformative change and participatory governance. City officials argue that due to Nakuru’s status as an emerging city, its structures are not yet fully formed or established, evoking the image of a blank slate.

The paper critically engages with the idea of a blank slate and examines both the continuities and disruptions in governance that happened alongside the transition to a city. Based on interviews with government officials, civil society and city planners, the paper teases out how the specific conditions, processes and practices interact in shaping Nakuru’s governance. The paper also asks how these conditions enable and support the participation of citizens in decision-making processes. Not only Nakuru’s upgrading and its progressive politicians, but also the changes in Kenya’s constitution in 2010 provide a favourable environment for more participatory governance. However, city officials do not only have to meet accountability demands of the citizenry, but also the county government, leading to trade-offs. The paper seeks to contribute to scholarship on governance innovations in secondary cities and generates policy recommendations for other secondary cities.