ABSTRACT
The identity of the city is constructed through its people’s interaction with the physical design and aesthetic of their surroundings. A crucial part of both the aesthetic and design is the environment; where its strategic use affects the politics, culture and everyday life of the people in the city. This paper shall highlight the use of the environment as both an aesthetic and method to resist the politics of poverty in the city. It shall focus on guerrilla gardening in Nairobi, Kenya; as an environmental aesthetic and movement that shapes the identity of the city. The paper shall therefore explore the nexus between poverty and political ecology with emphasis on the garden city movement and its influence on Nairobi’s 1948 Master Plan as well as Nairobi Vision 2030.
