Employment creation through participatory urban planning and slum upgrading: The case of Kitale, Kenya

This paper reviews the experience of an action research project that aimed to improve the living conditions and lives of urban poor communities in three slums in Kitale, Kenya. The project set out to test whether a participatory planning approach and the creation of partnerships between slum communities and the public, private and NGO sectors could build local capacity to assess and address the needs of slum dwellers through slum upgrading, which has a known potential link to employment creation. Drawing on the experience of the project, the paper examines how far this potential was realized and makes recommendations for coordinated policies and action on employment creation through participatory urban planning, partnership building and working, and slum upgrading.