Towards effective self-help housing delivery: Contributions through network analysis in Nairobi,Kenya and Johannesburg,South Africa

Student Number : 0111065D - PhD thesis - School of Architecture and Planning - Faculty of Engineering and the Built EnvironmentThis thesis deals with self-help housing networks in Nairobi, Kenya and Johannesburg, South Africa. It starts by discussing some of the current manifestations and challenges of self-help housing in the two contexts. It locates these against neo-liberal development paradigms in Kenya and South Africa. It reviews some of the main theories and concepts that have been applied to understand self-help housing, arguing that there are many issues that these lenses fail to explain. Amongst these are the relationships amongst actors and the ways resources are exchanged in self-help housing. The thesis discusses some of the key resources used for self-help housing in Nairobi and Johannesburg, namely: land, finance, labour, materials and technology, and infrastructure and services. It develops a case for network analysis of these resources and actors in self-help housing. The second part of the thesis is dedicated to analysis of self-help housing networks in Nairobi and Johannesburg, based on empirical data. The three categories of networks analysed are: individual-based ego-centric networks; group-based networks of collective action; and content-of-ties-based networks of exchange. The study compares self-help housing networks in Nairobi and Johannesburg. On one hand, lack of the state intervention in Kenya has resulted in self-help housing in Nairobi being accessed almost exclusively through networks. On the other hand, state intervention in South Africa has resulted in weakening of ties within local groups and domination of state/market hierarchies in access to various self-help housing resources in Johannesburg. The major conclusion from this study is that, in both cities, networks remain a viable third way of provision of housing, in addition to (not instead of) housing production through state/market hierarchies and decentralised models. Networks tend to overcome lack of inclusion dominant in state/market hierarchies and lack of capacity, endemic in decentralised models. In terms of analysis, the study shows that network theories are relevant to understanding the operations of actors and access to resources in low-income housing, complementing sector-based understanding, which remains dominant in analysis of low-income housing today

Music, Riddles and Proverbs in Kenya’s Presidential Elections: Raila Odinga’s Oratory Style and the 2017 General Election

Popular art is an effective medium for expressing individual and collective representations and aspirations. It helps to share experience and captures the contradictions and dynamics prevalent in society. In Kenya, every election has been characterized by the use of popular music and other types of popular means of expression. Songs as well as riddles and proverbs are consistently being used during electoral campaigns. This was evident during the 2017 general election during which Raila Odinga, the National Super Alliance (NASA) presidential candidate, campaigned through popular music and used proverbs and riddles to draw his supporters behind him. This chapter examines some of Raila’s campaign speeches to further understand the importance and efficiency of oratory style and popular culture for political mobilization and identity construction in Kenya

A high-performance solid-state synthesized LiVOPO4 for lithium-ion batteries

Funding Information: This research was funded by U.S. Department of Energy , Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) program under BMR award no. DE-EE0006852 . The structural characterization using NMR and PDF techniques was supported by the NorthEast Center for Chemical Energy Storage (NECCES), an Energy Frontier Research Center supported by the U.S. Department of Energy , Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under award no. DE-SC0012583 . This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. We thank Dr. Fengxia Xin for help with TG-MS data acquisition, and Drs. Jatinkumar Rana and Jia Ding, for many helpful discussions. Funding Information: This research was funded by U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) program under BMR award no. DE-EE0006852. The structural characterization using NMR and PDF techniques was supported by the NorthEast Center for Chemical Energy Storage (NECCES), an Energy Frontier Research Center supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under award no. DE-SC0012583. This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. We thank Dr. Fengxia Xin for help with TG-MS data acquisition, and Drs. Jatinkumar Rana and Jia Ding, for many helpful discussions. Publisher Copyright: © 2019 The AuthorsPeer reviewe

Towards High Capacity Li-ion Batteries Based on Silicon-Graphene Composite Anodes and Sub-micron V-doped LiFePO4 Cathodes

Lithium iron phosphate, LiFePO4 (LFP) has demonstrated promising performance as a cathode material in lithium ion batteries (LIBs), by overcoming the rate performance issues from limited electronic conductivity. Nano-sized vanadium-doped LFP (V-LFP) was synthesized using a continuous hydrothermal process using supercritical water as a reagent. The atomic % of dopant determined the particle shape. 5 at. % gave mixed plate and rod-like morphology, showing optimal electrochemical performance and good rate properties vs. Li. Specific capacities of >160 mAh g−1 were achieved. In order to increase the capacity of a full cell, V-LFP was cycled against an inexpensive micron-sized metallurgical grade Si-containing anode. This electrode was capable of reversible capacities of approximately 2000 mAh g−1 for over 150 cycles vs. Li, with improved performance resulting from the incorporation of few layer graphene (FLG) to enhance conductivity, tensile behaviour and thus, the composite stability. The cathode material synthesis and electrode formulation are scalable, inexpensive and are suitable for the fabrication of larger format cells suited to grid and transport applications

Afro-Asian relations in Kenya: A socio-economic history of Kisumu District, Nyanza province

Gordon Omenya, "Afro-Asian relations in Kenya: A socio-economic history of Kisumu District, Nyanza province", Mambo! Volume XI n° 5 - 2013. Since the establishment of populations of Indian or Asian origin in Kenya, the history of Afro-Asians relationships has been shaped by changes in the economic and political context. However, due to the specific position and status occupied by most Asians in comparison to the majority of Africans since colonial rule, segregation and tensions expressed in r..

Afro-Asian Relations in Kisumu, Kenya

Gordon OMENYA, "Afro-Asian Relations in Kenya: A Socio-Economic History of Kisumu District, Nyanza Province", Mambo! Vol. XI (5) 2013. Since the establishment of populations of Indian or Asian origin in Kenya, the history of Afro-Asians relationships has been shaped by changes in the economic and political context. However, due to the specific position and status occupied by most Asians in comparison to the majority of Africans since colonial rule, segregation and tensions expressed in racial..

A Networks Approach to Understanding the Role of the Market and the State in Housing: The Cases of Nairobi, Kenya and Johannesburg, South Africa

This paper presents an outline case for use of ‘housing networks concept’ to unpack housing problems in the context of Johannesburg, South Africa and Nairobi, Kenya. It begins by defining housing networks and outliningareas of knowledge where the ‘networks concept’ has been used. The paper then develops a case for application of ‘networks’ in understanding urban housing problems, focusing on the roles of the state, the market and civil society. It explores resource origins, allocation, flows and destination in low-income housing in Nairobi, Kenya and Johannesburg, South Africa. The paper argues that the networks for land delivery make land inaccessible for the low-income in both cities. The means of accessing finance for housing available to the poor tend to be exploitative despite government regulation in the case of Johannesburg. Provision of infrastructure, services and social amenities ignore the collective resources of the low-income. Labour and sweat equity concepts are misplaced in light of cheap labour and unemployment, particularly in Nairobi. Building standards, materials and technology favour the upper- income despite allowance in both cities for lower building standards. Key lessons and conclusions are drawn at the end

The History of the Caravan

An audio documentary about the history of the first newspaper at the American University in Cairo