The economy of Kenya has been steadily improving over the last few years and the outlook for the immediate future is promising. In 2006 the United Nations declared Kisumu the first UN Millennium City in the world, partly because a number of ambitious development strategies were in place, and also because of its considerable economic potential as well as its status as an emerging urban hub in the region. Founded as a colonial town in 1901, from which the white settlers departed long ago, it has since grown into Kenya’s third largest city. However, with 60 per cent of its population of 500,000 living in dense, crude, informal settlements and relying on the informal sector for nearly all their essential needs, it is also the third poorest and reflects the realities facing the contemporary African city. Its growing prosperity and continuing informality are obviously paradoxical phenomena, with the modernity and progress being envisaged by the government unquestionably in conflict with increasing levels of informality. Recording one of the highest urban population densities in the country, Kisumu occupies an eight by four kilometer area. In contrast to the low density sprawl characteristic of many African cities, it is relatively compact and it is, therefore, somewhat easier to analyse the spatial and socio-economic attributes of its urban complexities and to explore the tension between the quest for modernity and the apparent inevitability of informality. Copyright©2012 IAHS.
