Counting for change: the hustle for social inclusion in Nairobi. A case study of the Mukuru Special Planning Area (SPA).

The global norm setting Agenda 2030 has revived the inclusive development concept. Sustainable development has become a consensus building term without legal recourse to address the structural barriers to inequality in access to basic public infrastructure and to basic human rights principles. How this conundrum plays out in the context of cities of the Global South is at the core of the UN call for transformational change whilst ‘leaving no one behind’. Most empirical data of inclusive development in practice is from an urban context. We are living in the "urban century". Knowledge about our planet from an urban perspective has become central to understanding the future of our living conditions. SDG 11 intends to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable by 2030. This ambitious goal puts unprecedented expectations on national governments in the Global South to deliver on long-term transformational change. Understanding how social movements are not only resisting exclusion but also are negotiating and coproducing with local governments for better living conditions is fundamental to explore the complexity of city-making in political and socio-economic contexts like Nairobi, Kenya. Mainstream discourses and global agendas have never been so well aligned with an agenda of justice, equality, inclusivity, and sustainability. However, a closer understanding of the informal everyday pursuits of slum movements, street vendors, waste pickers and so on is essential to national and city level imaginations of what an inclusive city should look like (Simone 2010; Huchzermeyer 2011; Pieterse 2008). This research uses a case study approach to understand how community-led mapping, data collection and participatory planning with local government connects to the de-politicised Agenda 2030. In this case, the crucial contribution of epistemic communities to the work of social movements created the necessary economic evidence for local government to lead on the upgrading of an informal settlement on private land, in the industrial area of Nairobi. The Mukuru SPA in Nairobi is a demonstration of how transdisciplinary activism, democracy of knowledge and social movements can create inclusive urban development strategies at scale. People living in informal settlements, albeit through the technical support of NGOs, have been able to shift the narrative that stigmatises poor people living in temporary shelters. People living in Mukuru have been able to negotiate with government authorities to address the complexity of competition for lucrative untaxed rental markets and valuable land titles in Nairobi. This empirical study of events spanning a seven-year period offers valuable insights on how an inclusive urban development process navigated the structural barriers to better living conditions in Nairobi.