Urban management in Kenya: South African policy issues

Striking parallels in the histories of urbanization between Kenya and South Africa signal the relevance of the Kenyan policy record for local policy‐makers. During the 1980s Kenya's national urban policy shifted from spatial concerns to broader considerations of national development planning. Urban management in Nairobi represents a case study in transcending colonial neglect of the urban poor in their struggles for shelter and productive income opportunities. South African policy‐makers can draw useful lessons from the Kenya's mixed record of post‐independence national urban policy and urban management.