A Spatial Analysis of Unplanned and Mushrooming Dumpsites and Environmental Governance in Nairobi County

Abstract

Unplanned and mushrooming dumpsites in Nairobi County are growing at an alarming rate regardless of the socio- economic status resulting in unclean, ugly outlook of the city. The creation of these unplanned dumpsites underscores the governance gaps that exist in the solid waste management (SWM) in Nairobi County. In a period of fourteen years, the unplanned dumpsites have an exponential growth that necessitates intervention in the mechanism of handling solid waste in Nairobi County. Environmental governance in solid waste management is becoming a key pillar in the proper waste management strategies and dominates the development discourse. Most Nairobi County residents are not conscious of proper and well-maintained waste management systems. The purpose of this study was to explicate the spatial analysis of the importance of environmental governance in Solid Waste Management in Nairobi County on why unplanned dumpsites are on the increase. The study area was the two hundred and seventy seven unplanned dumpsites distributed across Nairobi County. Sampling was done through spatial analysis, the data sources were mainly from Quick Bird images of 2003 and 2007, and WorldView-2 images of 2013 and 2017. Other secondary data used were Nairobi County boundary shape-file, Kenya rivers shape-file, Kenya roads shape-file and Kenya settlements shape-file, they were all obtained from Survey of Kenya databases. This paper provides a platform for other researchers to conduct further investigation on the importance of environmental governance to promote sustainable Solid Waste Management in Nairobi County with a view of reducing the unplanned and mushrooming dumpsites.

Keywords: Solid Waste Management, Environmental governance, unplanned dumpsites, Nairobi County, Spatial analysis, Solid Waste Management

DOI: 10.7176/JEES/9-10-17

Publication date:October 31^st 2019