ABSTRACT

The rate at which informal settlements are mushrooming all over the world is alarming causing health problems, environmental deterioration, social distress, economic destruction (fire), and urban violence. This has forced many countries to put in place measures and efforts to eradicate the informal settlements. There has been no clear indicator as to whether the efforts put in place are bearing fruits or not. The overall aim of this study was to analyze the extent of spatial change of Kibera between 2008 and 2013. It was guided by the following objectives: to establish the pattern of spatial growth and to identify the spatial growth hotspots of Kibera. The study adopted comparative research design which involved use of two satellite imageries of Kibera (2008 and 2013) which was requested from Oakar Services Limited. The imageries were compared to determine the changes that Kibera had experienced over the time frame of the study. ArcGIS was used to digitize the boundary of Kibera from Nairobi Topo sheet requested from GEODEV Limited and create an area of interest shapefile. The shapefile was imported to ERDAS imagine and used to generate subset image of Kibera from the respective imageries. ERDAS imagine was used to perform supervised classification for each image where training sites were assigned to develop spectral reflectance which was defined. The supervised images were compared to determine the trend in the extent of spatial change of Kibera for each year. Microsoft Excel was used to calculate the percentage change in thematic areas of respective years and to generate a chart depicting the same. The study established that Kibera has been expanding over the time period of the study in terms of internal densification and expansion of spatial boundary. The growth has been along River Muitini and its tributaries and along the railway line in the northern side. The growth has had several land cover and land use changes within the slum itself and also towards the surrounding environment. This was an indication that the spatial extent of Kibera has expanded. The study recommends that the residents of Kibera be involved in any programme that will affect them to avoid development of new structures that they cannot afford. It also recommends that an alternative land be bought where proper planning should be done and enough houses that the residents can be relocated considering the fact that current land is almost fully congested.