ABSTRACT
The title of this chapter refers to the way in which the barriers to spatial mobility experienced by young people in a Nairobi slum may generate forms of mobility and identifications, which are not necessarily confined to the slum area, ethnic group or nation. More specifically, I would like to discuss the significance of mobility and diasporas in the light of young people’s dreams and experiences and in relation to their local construction of livelihoods and transnational opportunities for cultural identifications. I argue that for young people in an African city such as Nairobi, being African and being urban carry greater significance than belonging to a nation, in this case Kenya, and or to an ethnic group. This can only partly be explained by local histories of migration. Another significant factor is the transnational cultural products that are used and produced by the young people themselves.
