ABSTRACT
At the core of conflicts about space in Kenya are different notions of land stemming from colonial and postcolonial times. Unclear property rights and land claims that are especially contested within Nairobi provide an understanding of conflicts and their impact on the production of urban spaces. The problem of delayed and unresolved legislation, uncertain, and overlapping land rights is crucial, yet insufficient to fully understand these conflict-driven spatial productions. Conflictual spatial figurations in Makongeni and Kaloleni estates in Nairobi's South East are spatially and socially productive forces that follow historical trajectories and reciprocally produce urban spaces and communities, by mobilizing architectural and cultural resources. Although similar land insecurities manifest in both conflictual constellations, they lead to different productions of urban spaces and communities. Using a popular song about Nairobi, legal, and ethnographic data from Kaloleni and Makongeni estates, we will show how different notions of land are entangled within broader figurations of conflict in Nairobi.
