Page 41 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 25
P. 41
The Environment
The Environment
UNINTENDED
CONSEQUENCES:
Nairobi Construction Boom’s Impact on Nature-Based
Solutions for Urban Heat, and Drainage Problems
Introduction cost. The once-green landscape The construction boom in
of Nairobi is gradually giving Nairobi has significantly
airobi, Kenya, way to concrete and steel, altered the city’s urban fabric.
often referred to as leading to the loss of crucial As the demand for housing,
Nthe “Green City in nature-based solutions such commercial spaces, and
the Sun,” has experienced a as low vegetative landscapes transportation infrastructure
remarkable construction boom and tree systems. These has soared, large swaths of
over the years. As the nation’s losses have, in turn, amplified green spaces, low vegetative
capital and a regional economic urban heat temperatures and landscapes, and tree systems
hub, Nairobi has seen a surge exacerbated drainage problems have been sacrificed.
in building and infrastructure in the city. Unfortunately, the importance
projects. However, this rapid The Construction Boom and of these nature-based solutions
urbanization has come at a Nature-Based Solutions: for urban cooling and drainage
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