TY - CHAP
T1 - Nature-Based Adaptation in a Nairobi Informal Settlement
T2 - Addressing Chronic Flooding While Increasing Community Resilience Through Multi-Benefit Green Infrastructure
AU - Crosson, Courtney
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Over 50% of the population of Nairobi, Kenya lives in informal settlements. These settlements are often located in the lower elevations of the city and susceptible to annual flooding. Residents experience chronic property destruction and deaths during the two rainy seasons of the year. Climate change is projected to significantly worsen these impacts. The informal settlement of Kibera hugs the Ngong River and its associated streams, terminating at the Nairobi Dam. This research investigated the capacity for nature-based solutions in critical points along the Ngong River and associated streams to address the chronic and worsening flooding conditions. A partnership was formed between local residents, a local design organization (Kounkuey Design Initiative), and an upper-level architecture studio at the University of Arizona. This project developed designs for green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) at five locations of chronic flooding in Kibera to reduce impacts. During the design process, multiple co-benefits, unique to each site and community organization were developed. In addition to flood reduction, projects expanded urban agriculture, provided erosion control, increased social spaces, harvested material for local waste recycling enterprises, and expanded access to safe drinking water and water education. The five projects worked as a network along the Ngong River to reduce annual flooding by 1,202,000 gallons. As climate impacts increase and the growth of informal settlements continues, these five designs serve as replicable prototypes for future nature-based solutions along the Ngong River to incrementally ameliorate conditions while offering expanded community assets to the residents of Kibera.
AB - Over 50% of the population of Nairobi, Kenya lives in informal settlements. These settlements are often located in the lower elevations of the city and susceptible to annual flooding. Residents experience chronic property destruction and deaths during the two rainy seasons of the year. Climate change is projected to significantly worsen these impacts. The informal settlement of Kibera hugs the Ngong River and its associated streams, terminating at the Nairobi Dam. This research investigated the capacity for nature-based solutions in critical points along the Ngong River and associated streams to address the chronic and worsening flooding conditions. A partnership was formed between local residents, a local design organization (Kounkuey Design Initiative), and an upper-level architecture studio at the University of Arizona. This project developed designs for green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) at five locations of chronic flooding in Kibera to reduce impacts. During the design process, multiple co-benefits, unique to each site and community organization were developed. In addition to flood reduction, projects expanded urban agriculture, provided erosion control, increased social spaces, harvested material for local waste recycling enterprises, and expanded access to safe drinking water and water education. The five projects worked as a network along the Ngong River to reduce annual flooding by 1,202,000 gallons. As climate impacts increase and the growth of informal settlements continues, these five designs serve as replicable prototypes for future nature-based solutions along the Ngong River to incrementally ameliorate conditions while offering expanded community assets to the residents of Kibera.
KW - Green infrastructure
KW - Informal settlements
KW - Nature-based solutions
KW - Urban flooding
KW - Water infrastructure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85193915372&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85193915372&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-031-36320-7_31
DO - 10.1007/978-3-031-36320-7_31
M3 - Chapter
AN - SCOPUS:85193915372
T3 - Sustainable Development Goals Series
SP - 475
EP - 490
BT - Sustainable Development Goals Series
PB - Springer
ER -