Informal mechanisms of land delivery and their impact on housing and the built environment in peri-urban Kisumu, Kenya

Abstract

Kisumu’s formal channels of land and housing delivery are largely malfunctioning. This has forced residents to seek buildable land through ‘informal’ channels on the city’s periphery, resulting into unplanned and rapid conversion of peri-urban agricultural land into residential property. While this is currently the predominant mode of housing production and peri-urban transformation in Kisumu, there is hardly any detailed analysis on the actual operations of the informal mechanisms of land delivery in peri-urban Kisumu. The study sought to fill this gap by looking into how the informal land market actually works in Kisumu. The main aim was to examine the informal mechanisms of land delivery (IMLD) and their impact on housing and the resultant built environment. Specifically, the study sought to examine the actors and operations of the informal land market in peri-urban Kisumu; to assess the impact of informal mechanisms of land delivery on housing development in peri-urban Kisumu; and to assess the impact of informal mechanisms of land delivery on the spatial character of the emergent built environment in peri-urban Kisumu. The research employed a case study design, with the empirical focus being Kisumu Central Location, given the massive spatial transformation currently underway there. Both quantitative, qualitative and spatial methods of data collection were employed. Household survey, focus group discussions (FGDs), field-based observation and mapping, and key-informant interviews were used to gather data. Sample frame of 984 households was developed, from which a sample size of 169 households was drawn by snowball sampling technique. The FGDs targeted elders, women and youths from the constituent sub-locations; key informant interviews focused on public officials, built environment professionals and developers active in the area; while field-based observation and GIS techniques were used to collect data on the spatial character of the peri-urban built environment. The study results were presented in statistical summaries, tables, charts and graphs integrated with thematic narratives, photographs and maps. The study established that informal land market involves various actors and both in the formal and informal realms, all of whom play different – if complementary – roles in land assembly and development. IMLD have negatively affected the adequacy of housing, while also producing patchy development. There is also fragmentation of land sizes due to rapid subdivisions that has negatively affected livelihoods of the native households and even displaced some. The study recommends valorization and realignment of both formal and informal processes of land assembly and development, both in policy and practice, to ensure sustainable peri-urban development in Kisumu.