Contested Urban Citizenship in Kenya

Access to the social and political means of citizenship is a distinct expectation of those living and working in Nairobi’s urban informality. In an empirical analysis based on original survey data comparing rural and urban Kenya and focus-group discussions in informal settlements of Nairobi, this book shows that expectations of accessing public goods were high when people first arrived in the city and rose over time among dwellers in Nairobi’s urban informality, despite previous repeated frustrations of such expectations as well as strong attachments to rural areas. The book demonstrates that urban informality distinctly shapes citizenship.