Understanding Living Conditions and Deprivation in Informal Settlements of Kisumu, Kenya

Urban Forum https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-018-9346-3 Understanding Living Conditions and Deprivation in Informal Settlements of Kisumu, Kenya Sheillah Simiyu 1,2 & Sandy Cairncross 3 & Mark Swilling 1 # The Author(s) 2018, corrected publication 2018 Abstract Informal settlements are a common occurrence in developing countries. Each settlement, however, has unique living conditions which require improvement efforts that are specifically tailored to the settlement. This study, carried out in Kisumu’s informal settlements, had two aims: to describe living conditions and to propose areas of improvement within the settlements. The study adopted two approaches: the living conditions framework and the multi-dimensional poverty index. Results indicate that deprivation is widespread at the individual and housing unit level, but the settlements are served with public services such as schools and health centres which residents can access. At the compound level, compounds lack infrastructural services such as water, sanitation and solid waste disposal, and where they are available, these services are shared. This study highlights the importance of basic service provision, upgrading of housing and supporting of existing income-generating opportunities within the settlements. Development efforts should involve all stakeholders, including landlords, tenants, community groups and governmental and non-governmental organisations. Keywords Deprivation . Development . Informal settlements . Kisumu . Poverty * Sheillah Simiyu Sandy Cairncross Mark Swilling 1 School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, Private bag X1, Matieland, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa 2 Present address: Great Lakes University of Kisumu, P.O Box 2224-40100, Kisumu, Kenya 3 Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK S. Simiyu et al. Introduction Background According to the United Nations (UN), more than half of the world’s population now lives in urban areas; and out of every ten urban residents of the world, more than seven are in developing countries (UN-Habitat 2013, p. 25). This increase in the urban population has led to (among others) the urbanisation of poverty, inequality and the growth of informal settlements (UN-Habitat 2014, p. 31; Zhang 2016). These informal settlements are characterised by poverty, tenure insecurity, informal housing, a lack of basic services and overcrowding (Davis 2006; Nuissl and Heinrichs 2013; UN-Habitat 2003, 2014, p. 31). Apart from urbanisation, their expansion has also been attributed to colonialism, poor urban planning approaches, poor governance and the inability of governments to meet the demands of the growing urban population (Cranby 2012; Fox 2014; Huchzermeyer 2014; UN-Habitat 2003; Watson 2014). These settlements, however, provide shelter to a large portion of a city’s population; for instance in Africa, approximately 62–70% of the urban population lives in informal settlements (Turok 2014; UN-Habitat 2013, p. 151; Zhang 2016). It is projected that by 2020, African cities will have expanded by 150 million (Parnell and Walawege 2014), and it is therefore likely that the population in informal settlements in Africa will also grow exponentially. Countries around the world have their development agenda focused on meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with an aim of ensuring equality and creating a better future for later generations. The first goal particularly aims at ending poverty ‘in all its forms’ among men, women and children of all ages. Poverty is usually measured directly or indirectly. The direct method is used to show whether people satisfy a set of specified basic needs, while the indirect method, often called the income approach, determines whether people’s incomes fall below a level at which basic needs can be satisfied (Alkire and Santos 2014). The income method has been extensively applied in many countries around the world and the threshold as per the SDGs is set at 1.25 USD per person per day. Poverty, however, is often times not only about income. It is noted that measurement of poverty is complex and should be extended beyond indicators that measure income or consumption (Alkire and Santos 2014; Gulyani et al. 2014; Sida 2017). Scholars and researchers in admission of the complexity of poverty have used various approaches to define and measure poverty. The multi-dimensional poverty index (MPI) is an approach proposed for measuring poverty through different ‘dimensions’ (Alkire and Foster 2011; Alkire and Santos 2014). According to the MPI approach, poverty is defined as deprivation in three dimensions: health, education and living standards. Other authors have also defined and measured poverty using different approaches. Gulyani and colleagues (Gulyani et al. 2010, 2014) acknowledge that urban poverty is complex and multi-dimensional and therefore developed three frameworks (the living conditions diamond, the development diamond and the infrastructure polygon) to paint a picture of poverty in informal settlements in Johannesburg, Nairobi and Dakar, and convey the multi-dimensionality of poverty. More recently, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) also developed a conceptual framework to highlight the different dimensions of Understanding Living Conditions and Deprivation in Informal... poverty (Sida 2017). According to SIDA’s framework, poverty can be understood in four dimensions: resources, opportunities and choice, power and voice and human security (Sida 2017). Poverty is often a defining characteristic of informal settlements. Residents of these settlements are faced with vulnerabilities such as inadequate and unstable incomes, payment of high prices for necessities, inadequate protection of rights through the operation of the law, voicelessness and powerlessness within political systems, inadequate provision of infrastructure, lack of collateral for accessing credit, few or no savings and health burdens from undernutrition and the use of poor-quality food, fuel and water (Satterthwaite and Mitlin 2014, pp. 240–241). It is therefore imperative that measurement of poverty and deprivation in informal settlements adopts a multiple dimension approach in order to effectively understand the different vulnerabilities that residents of the settlements contend with. The above-mentioned approaches can be adopted and applied in informal settlements to gain a better understanding of vulnerability and deprivation. The purpose of this paper is therefore to illustrate living conditions and deprivation in informal settlements in a Kenyan city by adopting the MPI approach and the living conditions framework. A combination of these two approaches is significant as such an approach leads to an understanding of the various forms of deprivation in informal settlements. This information can then be used by policymakers in decisions reg (...truncated)