Envisioning Nairobi

Client: Nkatha Gichuyia, Urban Re-engineering Taskforce <lindankatha@gmail.com>

Large cities around the world are grappling with plans to accommodate environmental, social and climate change. But there is a huge gulf between the technical software of geographical information systems and infrastructure planning on one hand, and the retail and entertainment data that is promoted in consumer products like Google Maps. The city of Nairobi is thinking ahead through visionary planned cities as Nairobi Railway City, Tatu City, and the Konza Technopolis, that aim to present models of how an environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient urban area developments in a carbon-constrained environment can be delivered. Your role is to prototype a new social mapping tool that could engage members of the local population in these discussions, visualising data, plans, priorities, and their personal implications.