The politics of space: negotiating tenure security in a Nairobi Slum

Slum upgrading is a planning intervention where the state, in the process of upgrading an informal space, is seen as delivering tenure security to the residents in that space. This dissertation investigates the making legible of an informal space in Nairobi by analysing the processes and outcomes of a slum upgrading project and the consequent impact on tenure security. Using a qualitative, case study approach, I begin by analysing the production of the Korogocho slum and the practices that contributed to the production of the informal space. Next I examine two processes within the slum upgrading intervention aimed at making legible the space and the people, processes that are distinctively grounded in modernist planning: preparing a physical plan and conducting enumeration. I show how during these processes different rationalities, or ways of knowing, are continually meeting, contesting and negotiating, leading to hybridized outcomes. While the planning intervention has made some aspects of the space legible, it has reduced the legitimacy of some use claims on the space, particularly those of sole structure owners. Further, only certain subpopulations are made legible; long-term tenants, particularly those that are youth born in the settlement, are pushed further into illegibility and tenure insecurity. Within this analysis, I discuss how residents in the settlement propose how the two processes could have been implemented to lead to legibility that matched their ways of knowing. My findings illustrate that planning interventions that are predicated on technocratic solutions need to be balanced with an understanding of the everyday dynamics, or rationalities, of residents in informal spaces. I argue that tenure security needs to be conceptualised as the outcome of negotiated practices between actors taking place in a particular type of space rather than the outcome of planning practices used by the state to guarantee tenure security or used by urban residents to contest or fight for it. In addition, I argue that slum upgrading needs to move attention beyond tenure regularization to other components of tenure security, including those for the various categories of tenants in order to match their needs

A growing space for dialogue : the case of street vending in Nairobi's Central Business District

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-71).The tension in Nairobi between the desired modernization of the city and the ongoing "un-modern" activity of street vending is replicated in many cities in developing countries, often pitting the city's local government and formal businesses against street vendors. However, informal sector activities, such as street vending, provide sustenance for many citizens and contribute substantially to the economy. Therefore, for these cities to truly develop economically, it has become critical to understand how the local government, formal businesses and street vendors can work together. In Nairobi's Central Business District, while on the surface the cat-and-mouse game still continues between the two sides over the tug-of-war for "modern" streets, a growing space for dialogue between the different parties is emerging. This dialogue space has brought street vendors in touch with policy-makers for the first time. This thesis explores the factors that have led to this growing space.(cont.) Four associations emerge as key elements in linking the street vendors to the discourse on policy; one city-level formal business association, Nairobi Central Business District Association (NCBDA), one city-level street vendors' association, Nairobi Informal Sector Confederation (NISCOF), one national level formal business association, Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), and one taxpayers' association, the National Taxpayers' Association. Through these associations, two non-conventional conduits emerge through which street vendors express their needs: alliances with growth coalitions and the growing pertinence of the tax discourse in Kenya. While it is still early yet to determine the long term effectiveness of this space for dialogue, its emergence signals a positive change in the direction of the discourse regarding street vendors. It also shows that linkages between formal and informal businesses can go beyond economic terms, to include advocacy and other civic support.by Sheila Wanjiru Kamunyori.M.C.P

Science-based health innovation in Uganda: creative strategies for applying research to development

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Uganda has a long history of health research, but still faces critical health problems. It has made a number of recent moves towards building science and technology capacity which could have an impact on local health, if innovation can be fostered and harnessed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Qualitative case study research methodology was used. Data were collected through reviews of academic literature and policy documents and through open-ended, face-to-face interviews with 30 people from across the science-based health innovation system, including government officials, researchers in research institutes and universities, entrepreneurs, international donors, and non-governmental organization representatives.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Uganda has a range of institutions influencing science-based health innovation, with varying degrees of success. However, the country still lacks a coherent mechanism for effectively coordinating STI policy among all the stakeholders. Classified as a least developed country, Uganda has opted for exemptions from the TRIPS intellectual property protection regime that include permitting parallel importation and providing for compulsory licenses for pharmaceuticals. Uganda is unique in Africa in taking part in the Millennium Science Initiative (MSI), an ambitious though early-stage $30m project, funded jointly by the World Bank and Government of Uganda, to build science capacity and encourage entrepreneurship through funding industry-research collaboration. Two universities – Makerere and Mbarara – stand out in terms of health research, though as yet technology development and commercialization is weak. Uganda has several incubators which are producing low-tech products, and is beginning to move into higher-tech ones like diagnostics. Its pharmaceutical industry has started to create partnerships which encourage innovation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Science-based health product innovation is in its early stages in Uganda, as are policies for guiding its development. Nevertheless, there is political will for the development of STI in Uganda, demonstrated through personal initiatives of the President and the government’s willingness to invest heavily for the long term in support of STI through the Millennium Science Initiative. Activities to support technology transfer and private-public collaboration have been put in motion; these need to be monitored, coordinated, and learned from. In the private sector, there are examples of incremental innovation to address neglected diseases driven by entrepreneurial individuals and South-South collaboration. Lessons can be learned from their experience that will help support Ugandan health innovation.</p

Taxing the Informal Economy: The Current State of Knowledge and Agendas for Future Research

This paper reviews the literature on taxation of the informal economy, taking stock of key debates and drawing attention to recent innovations. Conventionally, the debate on whether to tax has frequently focused on the limited revenue potential, high cost of collection, and potentially adverse impact on small firms. Recent arguments have increasingly emphasised the more indirect benefits of informal taxation in relation to economic growth, broader tax compliance, and governance. More research is needed, we argue, into the relevant costs and benefits for all, including quasi-voluntary compliance, political and administrative incentives for reform, and citizen-state bargaining over taxation

Science-based health innovation in Ghana: health entrepreneurs point the way to a new development path

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Science, technology and innovation have long played a role in Ghana’s vision for development, including in improving its health outcomes. However, so far little research has been conducted on Ghana’s capacity for health innovation to address local diseases. This research aims to fill that gap, mapping out the key actors involved, highlighting examples of indigenous innovation, setting out the challenges ahead and outlining recommendations for strengthening Ghana’s health innovation system.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Case study research methodology was used. Data were collected through reviews of academic literature and policy documents and through open-ended, face-to-face interviews with 48 people from across the science-based health innovation system. Data was collected over three visits to Ghana from February 2007 to August 2008, and stakeholders engaged subsequently.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ghana has strengths which could underpin science-based health innovation in the future, including health and biosciences research institutions with strong foreign linkages and donor support; a relatively strong regulatory system which is building capacity in other West African countries; the beginnings of new funding forms such as venture capital; and the return of professionals from the diaspora, bringing expertise and contacts. Some health products and services are already being developed in Ghana by individual entrepreneurs, which are innovative in the sense of being new to the country and, in some cases, the continent. They include essential medicines, raw pharmaceutical materials, new formulations for pediatric use and plant medicines at various stages of development.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>While Ghana has many institutions concerned with health research and its commercialization, their ability to work together to address clear health goals is low. If Ghana is to capitalize on its assets, including political and macroeconomic stability which underpin investment in health enterprises, it needs to improve the health innovation environment through increasing support for its small firms; coordinating policies; and beginning a dialogue with donors on how health research can create locally-owned knowledge and be more demand-driven. Mobilizing stakeholders around health product development areas, such as traditional medicines and diagnostics, would help to create trust between groups and build a stronger health innovation system.</p

Enveloping Multiple Obstacles with Hexagonal Metamorphic Robots

The problem addressed is reconfiguration planning for a metamorphic robotic system composed of any number of hexagonal robots when multiple simple obstacles are embedded in the goal environment. Simple obstacles are defined as obstacles that have even surfaces with no pockets or indentations and that, as a group, form no narrow corridors or isolated areas. We extend our earlier work on filling multiple pockets in an obstacle to the case where the goal may contain several simple obstacles. In this paper, we present algorithms that determine how many obstacles are in the goal by logically grouping the obstacle cells in the goal into distinct connected components, order them lexicographically from north-west to south-east, and then link them by shortest path bridges to form one large obstacle with multiple pockets. We subsequently use techniques presented in our earlier papers to envelop the composite obstacle

Facteurs influençant la pollution d'un aquifère sableux non confiné par les nitrates

Taxation is fundamental to sustainable development, as it supports the basic functions of an effective state and sets the context for economic growth. More often overlooked is the role of taxation as a catalyst for the development of responsive and accountable government, and for the expansion of state capacity. Recent research has begun to focus on this broader relationship between taxation and state building, but the analysis has frequently remained relatively theoretical and abstract. This paper seeks to chart new territory by translating the findings of existing research into a practical agenda for action, focusing on the specific measures that governments, with the support of development partners, could be taking to strengthen the state building role of taxation. In short, this paper seeks to outline the core elements of a governance focused tax reform agenda