Urbanization in Kenya and perhaps in subSaharan Africa can be described as prescriptive rather than organic. We posit that this prescriptive urbanization can be checked and balanced by employing the governance model of devolution and rural capacity. We first review competing views on urbanization in Kenya during the colonial and postcolonial era and its contribution to disenfranchising both urban and rural inhabitants. We then examine devolution in Kenya through the lens of Lefebvre's theory of production of space and the right to the city, enabling us to contextualize and redefine 'the right to the city'. In the second part we analyze the potential of rural capacity in Malaysia to absorb a large influx of return immigrants and demonstrates how they have adapted and benefited from the prosperity of land in the face of diminishing energy resources and de-industrialization. We conclude that coupling devolution with rural capacity may hold the key to check rapid urbanization, especially in Kenya.

Purpose This study aims to focus on the four user characteristics of innovation diffusion (availability, observability and trialability [AOT], simplicity, relative advantage [RA] and interoperability) to observe their influence on building information modelling (BIM) usage. This study focuses on the Kenyan construction industry, specifically the building contractors. Design/methodology/approach This study uses purposive sampling and specifically focusses on active construction sites that met requirements needed for BIM usage to thrive. Data was collected manually using questionnaires (N = 62). Findings This paper contributes to the analysis of the current state of BIM usage by the Kenyan construction industry specifically among building contractors and confirms that Kenya is at the early majority adopters’ stage of diffusion characterised by low BIM usage. In terms of correlation, this study found out that AOT had a strong positive correlation with usage, RA had a moderate positive correlation with usage, simplicity had a weak positive correlation with usage and interoperability had no correlation with usage. Practical implications This study gives a clear trend on BIM usage among building contractors to assist potential BIM users make informed decision. The recommendations in this study can be adopted by any late adopter jurisdiction whose structure of the construction industry is similar to Kenya’s. Originality/value This paper highlights variables that enable or subdue BIM usage. It goes further to localise and contextualise the barriers for deeper understanding of what makes these barriers be major hindrances towards BIM usage and giving practical solutions to these barriers.

Flood management requires in-depth computational modelling through assessment of flood return period and river flow data in order to effectively analyze catchment response. The participatory geographic information system (PGIS) is a tool which is increasingly used for collecting data and decision making on environmental issues. This study sought to determine the return periods of major floods that happened in Narok Town, Kenya, using rainfall frequency analysis and PGIS. For this purpose, a number of statistical distribution functions were applied to daily rainfall data from two stations: Narok water supply (WS) station and Narok meteorological station (MS). The first station has a dataset of thirty years and the second one has a dataset of fifty-nine (59) years. The parameters obtained from the Kolmogorov–Smirnov (K–S) test and chi-square test helped to select the appropriate distribution. The best-fitted distribution for WS station were Gumbel L-moment, Pareto L-moment, and Weibull distribution for maximum one day, two days, and three days rainfall, respectively. However, the best-fitted distribution was found to be generalized extreme value L-moment, Gumbel and gamma distribution for maximum one day, two days, and three days, respectively for the meteorological station data. Each of the selected best-fitted distribution was used to compute the corresponding rainfall intensity for 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 years return period, as well as the return period of the significant flood that happened in the town. The January 1993 flood was found to have a return period of six years, while the April 2013, March 2013, and April 2015 floods had a return period of one year each. This study helped to establish the return period of major flood events that occurred in Narok, and highlights the importance of population in disaster management. The study’s results would be useful in developing flood hazard maps of Narok Town for different return periods.

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Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a technology and a process that has brought changes in the construction's traditional procurement system. Kenya lacks contractual guidelines on implementation of BIM; this makes the adoption of BIM slow and difficult. Previous research has identified a gap in contractual relationships, roles and resulting risks. The objectives of this study were to investigate BIM adoption in Nairobi and to investigate the influence of BIM on Engineering Contract Management (ECM) in Nairobi Kenya. The survey research was a descriptive study with 175 responsive questionnaires. Respondents comprised of Civil Engineers, Construction Project Managers, Architects, Quantity Surveyors, Contractors and Facility Managers. Data was collected through self-administered questionnaire and in-depth interview. Descriptive analytics, correlation and Exploratory factor analysis methods were used to analyse quantitative data. Qualitative data was analysed thematically. It emerged that adoption level was at 56.6% and shallow understanding of BIM capabilities remains to be a barrier to its adoption and implementation. It also emerged that BIM improves ECM; when time, cost, quality, collaboration and return on investment improve, ECM becomes easier. Latent factors found in BIM and ECM relationship were Legal Implications, awareness and knowledge, efficiency, versatility, mandate and leadership, and competitiveness. Further, the study found out that BIM influence on ECM demands for establishment of standards, guidelines, policy, legal framework, and regulations, which can be achieved by amending the public procurement act which dictates the operation of all the other standard forms of contract. Further research should be conducted to measure whether the understanding of BIM had positively improved.

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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from The British Library.This book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Non-derivative 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work for personal and non-commercial use providing author and publisher attribution is clearly stated. As scientists, historians and archaeologists continue to uncover, study and promote access to tangible and intangible cultural heritage, there are ever increasing challenges that pervade conservation efforts. Heritage conservation is threatened as the world globalizes and African economies open up to new realms of growth in the international markets while increased building construction, infrastructural expansion as well as terrorism destroy existing heritage assets. Kenya in particular prides itself as a prodigious habitat for abundant and various natural and cultural heritage assets including archaeological sites, wildlife, landscapes and folklores. However, the different forms cultural and natural heritage take and the complexity of the conservation challenges are not congealed; their constant and respective evolution requires continuous regeneration of competence, technology and value systems. Conservators must therefore seek to expand existing principles and practices in the management of cultural and natural heritage, including the assessment of values attributed to the heritage, questions of reversibility and replica as well as access and security issues.Cultural heritage conservation is not one of the subjects that have been accorded great attention in Kenya over the past century. The editors and contributors aim, however, to highlight and expand conservation studies from the confines of technical and scientific management expertise into the strata of matters engrained in local populations and the intrinsic links between communities, and their cultural and natural environment within the Kenyan legal framework. An in-depth discussion on contradictions in existing laws in Kenya exposes the difficulties in implementing conservation guidelines.This book gives voice to subjects and highlights heritage uncared for, which helps to tell and understand the national narrative. The heritage mentioned includes monuments, trafficking of African antiquities, wildlife, cultural tourism, indigenous methods of conservation, the participation and empowerment of communities as immediate beneficiaries and vi F O RE WO RD makers of the culture. Consequently, ownership rights and utilization of heritage resources is presented as an issue of human rights and democracy. This book also introduces rural landscapes from the dimension of aesthetics and how these can be understood and used as a socio-cultural resource. It is a book that opens up conversations on 'esoteric' historical issues such as colonization and the influence of religion on cultural practices.Kenyan scholars have for a long time relied on foreign knowledge in seeking to understand and expl...

Street walkability is an indication of the suitability of the built environment to walking. Walkability of any street will increase when safe, comfortable and accessible infrastructure is provided for pedestrians. Urban designs influence how an individual perceives the built environment, including the desirability of walking and all other physical activities involved. Three street factors (accessibility, congestion and cleanliness) along a 900 meters long central segment of Ngei Street in Machakos Town were directly measured by use of standardized questionnaires. The number of pedestrians in the segment was estimated using Fischer's formula and 96 of them where sampled using judgmental technique. Majority (51%) of pedestrians who responded to the questionnaire indicated that the street was wide enough and accessible while 12%, 15%, 3% and 17% strongly agreed, disagreed, neutral and agreed respectively. In addition, the results revealed that densities of movement increase with increased width of the walkways. With little consideration of pedestrians and other road users' this has led to high congestion in Ngei Street which was affirmed by 47% of the majority respondents. Lastly, 56% of the respondent confirmed that the Ngei Street (understudy) was well maintained and clean. This study recommends improvement and addition of non-continuous pedestrian walkways, designation of pedestrian crossing across all street segments to ease traffic management and reduce vehicle congestion in addition to periodic walkways maintenance and regular pavement cleaning.