Date of Graduation
2000
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MA
Committee Chair
Calvin Masilela
Abstract
Centrally controlled political and economic systems are popular among Third World countries. They however, become problematic particularly in rapidly growing urban areas where different forces compete for scarce resources, hence calling for an understanding of the nature of the relationships between the different forces that produce the urban environment. In Kenya, the basic assumption is that urban space is mediated by the local state. The author uses Athi River town, as a case study, through which survey questionnaires and informal interviews are conducted with key personnel of Mavoko Municipal Council on one hand, and central government ministries operating within the municipality, on the other. Archival search and content analysis are used to provide a complete historical record of the urban policy, and the legal framework that legitimizes urban land use. Various urban processes are identified through which different central government ministries interact with the local authority to shape the built environment of the town. The results reveal that though the legal framework empowers local authorities to control the nature and character of the urban built environment, innumerable central controls imposed by the same legislation undermine local capacity to assume this function. The resulting shape of the urban environment, this work concludes, is largely influenced by this unbalanced power relationship.
Recommended Citation
Koti, Francis Tama, "Production of urban space in Kenya: Central-local government power relations in mediating space in Athi River Town." (2000). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 10466.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/10466