Production of Hegemony and Production of Space in Nairobi

Abstract

The high profile attributed to African urban economies in the global market, the promise of the evergreen ‘development project’ and the contradictions produced by the rapid urbanization process contribute to make African cities important domains for the affirmation and maintenance of hegemonic projects. The discourse about the city is a key terrain through which hegemony is fought.Nairobi is a point in case, where power and discourse have been interwoven with the production of the city. Since independence, the World Bank and United Nations have largely influenced urban policies. Nowadays, new players and interests are engaged in this battle for ideas.Four urban projects initiated in the last decade by actors operating at multiple political and geographic scales are analysed in the paper. The main objective is to reveal the imaginaries they embed and explain why they have become hegemonic.

Keywords

• urban planning
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• critical discourse analysis
• urban politic