Work

Building-level changes reveal ubiquitous intra-urban dynamics in Nairobi, Kenya

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: While spatial analysis has provided great insights into the expansion of built-up areas, changes within built-up areas have mostly been ignored. As a result, the amount of change within existing urban areas and the change processes they represent remain unknown. Even so, such changes can have important implications for urban sustainability. Here, we use very-high-resolution imagery to analyse different types of building-level changes in Nairobi, Kenya, between 2010 and 2021. Specifically, we manually map whether buildings appeared, persisted, changed, were replaced, or removed, and link these changes to urban development processes. We find that removal, replaced, and renewal combined make up as much as 29% of the total mapped building area in 2010. These changes highlight intricate patterns of urban change, driven by processes such as slum formalisation, rezoning and urban renewal. Our approach provides a generalisable framework for analysing urban change within built-up areas.

Source: International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development

DOI: 10.1080/19463138.2025.2594259

Authors: Job F. Rosier, Elizabeth Wamuchiru, Vita Bakker, Jasper van Vliet

Institutions: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, University of Nairobi

Language: English

Topic: Remote Sensing and Land Use

Subfield: Atmospheric Science

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,270