Standing alongside Nairobi’s well-known slums are high-rise tenements and other ‘informal’ housing types that contravene planning and building regulations. The city is undergoing a shift from low-density shacks to multi-story tenements, and approximately 70% of Nairobi residents live in single-room units in informal settlements and tenements.

Tenements help to meet Nairobi’s booming demand for low-cost housing, particularly given its population growth and escalating land prices. Residents may consider tenements as an improvement on shacks that use even lower quality building materials, but high-density tenements are still very unsafe, with poor services or infrastructure and of low-quality construction

Nairobi requires a reliable land information system: developing a secure, updated, transparent system will reduce the risks of mismanagement and corrupt transactions. Such a system can also facilitate land-based infrastructure financing,15 thereby helping to address key shortfalls in provision. Better integration of land use and infrastructure planning can provide a strategic framework for shelter delivery, resolve land conflicts, and facilitate future interventions.