UN-HABITAT twenty first session of the Governing Council, 16-20 April 2007, Nairobi, Kenya: history of urbanization and proliferation of slums in Kenya

The process of urbanization in Kenya is still an evolving phenomenon. However, it has proceeded at a tremendous pace over the past four decades, especially after political independence in the early 1960s. In 1962, for example, only one Kenyan out of every 12 lived in urban centres; where market centres, towns, municipalities and cities with a minimum population of 2000 people are classified as urban centres. However, by 1999, the proportion of the urban population had increased to 34.5 per cent affirming that one out of every three Kenyans currently live in urban areas. Moreover, this percentage is expected to increase to 50% per cent by the year 2015. It is also noteworthy that during the 1989-1999 inter-censual period, the country’s urban population has more than doubled by increasing from 3.88 million to 9.90 million that represents an increase 155%. Over the same period, the number of urban centres has also risen from 139 to 194 representing a 40% increase.