Paper short abstract:

The paper takes a historical approach to the development of transport infrastructure in Nairobi, analysing the contradictory demands placed by matatus and city planners in the positioning of major hubs in passenger transport in Nairobi

Paper long abstract:

Crossing Moi Avenue from Nairobi's Central Business District to the north of the Nairobi Central, one is struck by the complete change in scenery and activity - the calm, largely pedestrian CBD gives way to a noisy, busy assemblage of streets and places that are jam-packed full of matatus in all sizes, boda-boda motorcycles, tuk tuks and street hawkers.

This is not one bus station, but rather a conglomerate of stops distributed throughout the quarter, where each street has become a specific terminus for routes from one area - Accra Road for the intercity buses, Latema Road for buses from the West and Northwest, Temple Road for those from the East and so on.

These are the result of constant interaction between City Hall and the matatu operators. While the bus stops developed in imitiation of public transport routes, they've outgrown their heritage. Historically, the city administration exhibited a seemingly arbitrary attitude to matatus, varyingly chastising them for their accident- and criminality-prone behaviour, introducing regulations and leaving the industry largely on its own.

The position and structure of bus stops in Nairobi, the paper argues, are the result of this combination of neglect and arbitrary measures introduced by the Kenyan state, and the creative reactions of matatu operators and their associations, who avoided, protested, occupied space and "captured" official terminals in the search for most profitable routes. Bus stations thus become areas of contested space in the city, where different actors vie for access to the city's infrastructure.