Understanding the tipping point of urban conflict: violence, cities and poverty reduction in the developing world Working Paper #6 May 2012 Understanding the tipping point of urban conflict: the case of Nairobi, Kenya Alfred Omenya and Grace Lubaale Understanding the tipping point of urban conflict: violence, cities and poverty reduction in the developing world Working Paper Series Alfred Omenya is Associate Professor of Architecture and Head of School at the University of Nairobi, the Kenya Polytechnic University College and Director at Eco-Build Africa. Contact: PO Box 22746-00100 GPO Nairobi Tel. +254-(0)723-883-912 Email:
[email protected] Grace Lubaale is Planner and Director at Eco-Build Africa and a PhD Candidate at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Contact: PO Box 22746-00100 GPO Nairobi Tel. 254-(0)722-783-698 Email:
[email protected] The Urban Tipping Point project is funded by an award from the ESRC/DFID Joint Scheme for Research on International Development (Poverty Alleviation). The Principal Investigator is Professor Caroline Moser, Director of the Global Urban Research Centre (GURC). The Co- Investigator is Dr Dennis Rodgers, Senior Researcher, Brooks World Poverty Institute (BWPI), both at the University of Manchester. © Urban Tipping Point (UTP) The University of Manchester Humanities Bridgeford Street Building Manchester M13 9PL UK www.urbantippingpoint.org Table of Contents Abstract 1 Acknowledgements 2 1.0 Introduction 3 1.1 Background 3 1.2 Research objectives 3 1.3 Conceptual framework 3 1.4