IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v61y2024i12p2309-2327.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The missing link for effective informal settlement upgrading: Appropriation shaping the outcome of new infrastructure

Author

Listed:
  • George Kiambuthi Wainaina

    (Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Switzerland; Utrecht University, The Netherlands)

  • Bernhard Truffer

    (Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Switzerland; Utrecht University, The Netherlands)

Abstract

Infrastructure investments, a core element of slum upgrading, play a role in improving the livelihoods of over 1 billion slum residents globally. Established planning practices often successfully deliver functional infrastructure but evidence shows that their contribution to improved livelihoods often either is absent or declines sharply after some time. To explain this limited effectiveness, this article identifies the missing link between infrastructure delivery and livelihood improvements as lying in the appropriation process, that is, the uptake and embedding of infrastructures into the daily practices of residents. Recent insights from sociotechnical transitions studies help to conceptualise appropriation. The authors use Munyaka informal settlement in Eldoret town, Kenya as a case to investigate the mechanisms of new infrastructure uptake. Findings indicate that appropriation is a social process that proceeds in three steps: reception, domestication and institutionalisation. This process is driven by the need to maintain or adjust residents’ livelihood practices relative to prevailing socioeconomic and spatiotemporal conditions. The study concludes that appropriation is a significant process that planners should try to anticipate. Prevalent approaches to participation have to be modified accordingly. This is essential for planning to improve livelihoods in slums.

Suggested Citation

  • George Kiambuthi Wainaina & Bernhard Truffer, 2024. "The missing link for effective informal settlement upgrading: Appropriation shaping the outcome of new infrastructure," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(12), pages 2309-2327, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:61:y:2024:i:12:p:2309-2327
    DOI: 10.1177/00420980241236077
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00420980241236077
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00420980241236077?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cherunya, Pauline C. & Ahlborg, Helene & Truffer, Bernhard, 2020. "Anchoring innovations in oscillating domestic spaces: Why sanitation service offerings fail in informal settlements," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    2. Gulyani, Sumila & Talukdar, Debabrata & Jack, Darby, 2010. "Poverty, living conditions, and infrastructure access : a comparison of slums in Dakar, Johannesburg, and Nairobi," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5388, The World Bank.
    3. Gregory F Randolph & Michael Storper, 2023. "Is urbanisation in the Global South fundamentally different? Comparative global urban analysis for the 21st century," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(1), pages 3-25, January.
    4. Chikaraishi, Makoto & Jana, Arnab & Bardhan, Ronita & Varghese, Varun & Fujiwara, Akimasa, 2017. "A framework to analyze capability and travel in formal and informal urban settings: A case from Mumbai," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 101-110.
    5. Pauline C Cherunya & Bernhard Truffer & Edinah Moraa Samuel & Christoph Lüthi, 2021. "The challenges of livelihoods reconstruction in the context of informal settlement upgrading," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(1), pages 168-190, February.
    6. Hesam Kamalipour, 2020. "Improvising Places: The Fluidity of Space in Informal Settlements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-14, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leonardo Becchetti & Pierluigi Conzo & Alessandro Romeo, 2014. "Violence, trust, and trustworthiness: evidence from a Nairobi slum," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 66(1), pages 283-305, January.
    2. Shuanglei Zhou & Shaojun Chen, 2023. "The Impact of the Anti-Poverty Relocation and Settlement Program on Farmers’ Livelihood: Perspective of Livelihood Space," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-15, May.
    3. Bantis, Thanos & Haworth, James, 2020. "Assessing transport related social exclusion using a capabilities approach to accessibility framework: A dynamic Bayesian network approach," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    4. Muhammad Mashhood Arif & Muhammad Ahsan & Oswald Devisch & Yves Schoonjans, 2022. "Integrated Approach to Explore Multidimensional Urban Morphology of Informal Settlements: The Case Studies of Lahore, Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-28, June.
    5. Busisiwe Nkonki-Mandleni & Abiodun Olusola Omotayo & David Ikponmwosa Ighodaro & Samuel Babatunde Agbola, 2021. "Analysis of the Living Conditions at eZakheleni Informal Settlement of Durban: Implications for Community Revitalization in South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-16, February.
    6. Mengyuan Lu & Bin Guo & Jianna Li, 2024. "Using the Extended Theory of Planned Behavior to Explore the Effect of Farmer Differentiation on Their Intention to Revitalize Idle Homesteads: Empirical Evidence from Shaanxi, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-21, September.
    7. Onyenekenwa Cyprian Eneh, 2021. "Abuja slums: development, causes, waste-related health challenges, government response and way-forward," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 9379-9396, June.
    8. Hesam Kamalipour & Aminreza Iranmanesh, 2021. "Morphogenesis of Emerging Settlements: Mapping Incremental Urbanism," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, January.
    9. Aijun Guo & Obaid Ullah & Ali Zeb & Naeem Ud Din & Shujaat Hussain, 2025. "Unveiling health dynamics: Exploring the impact of CO2 emissions, urbanization, and renewable energy on life expectancy and infant mortality in SAARC countries (1990–2022)," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(2), pages 1795-1822, May.
    10. Bansal, Sanchita & Singh, Shifali & Nangia, Priya & Chanaliya, Nisha & Sala, Dariusz, 2024. "Sustaining the mining industry through the lens of corporate social responsibility: A review research," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    11. David Ockwell & Robert Byrne & Joanes Atela & Victoria Chengo & Elsie Onsongo & Jacob Fodio Todd & Victoria Kasprowicz & Adrian Ely, 2021. "Transforming Access to Clean Energy Technologies in the Global South: Learning from Lighting Africa in Kenya," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-24, July.
    12. Kok, Kristiaan P.W. & Loeber, Anne M.C. & Grin, John, 2021. "Politics of complexity: Conceptualizing agency, power and powering in the transitional dynamics of complex adaptive systems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(3).
    13. Jedwab, Remi & Ianchovichina, Elena & Haslop, Federico, 2025. "The employment profile of cities around the world: Consumption vs. production cities and economic development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    14. Vaidehi Tandel & Sahil Gandhi & Shaonlee Patranabis & Luís M. A. Bettencourt & Anup Malani, 2022. "Infrastructure, enforcement, and COVID‐19 in Mumbai slums: A first look," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(3), pages 645-669, June.
    15. Barau, Aliyu Salisu & Abubakar, Ismaila Rimi & Kafi, Kamil Muhammad & Olugbodi, Kemi Hamdat & Abubakar, Jibrin Ibrahim, 2023. "Dynamics of negotiated use of public open spaces between children and adults in an African city," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    16. Hadia Majid & Mahvish Shami, 2024. "Targeting the centre and (least) poor: Evidence from urban Lahore, Pakistan," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(13), pages 2644-2662, October.
    17. Varghese, Varun & Moniruzzaman, Md. & Chikaraishi, Makoto, 2023. "Environmental sustainability or equity in welfare? Analysing passenger flows of a mass rapid transit system with heterogeneous demand," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    18. Hesam Kamalipour, 2023. "Shaping Public Space in Informal Settlements: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-17, February.
    19. Isaac Sarfo & Jiajun Qiao & Nana Adwoa Anokye Effah & Michael Atuahene Djan & Dzifa Adimle Puplampu & Michael Batame & Rosemary Achentisa Ayelazuno & Emmanuel Yeboah & Michael Kpakpo Allotey & Xiaoyon, 2025. "A bibliometric analysis of China’s rural revitalization paradox: opportunities for collaboration, social innovation and global development," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(5), pages 9629-9671, May.
    20. Pauline C Cherunya & Bernhard Truffer & Edinah Moraa Samuel & Christoph Lüthi, 2021. "The challenges of livelihoods reconstruction in the context of informal settlement upgrading," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(1), pages 168-190, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:61:y:2024:i:12:p:2309-2327. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.