Title: Modelling citizen participation in apathetic urban communities: suggestions based on Nairobi's urban solid waste related flood risk management practices

Authors: Janes Ouma Odongo; Boqian Zhang; Donghui Ma

Addresses: College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Beijing University of Technology, No. 100, Ping Le Yuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing City, 100124, China; Department of Government and Legal Studies, The Technical University of Kenya, P.O. Box 52428, 00200, Nairobi, Kenya ' College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Beijing University of Technology, No. 100, Ping Le Yuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing City, 100124, China ' College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Beijing University of Technology, No. 100, Ping Le Yuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing City, 100124, China

Abstract: As cities grow, they become more complex and challenging to govern. Citizens and stakeholders contribute to shaping this complexity through their actions and inactions. Consequently, the United Nations recognises the need for wholesale stakeholder participation in governance and calls upon cities to implement this in their policies and programmes. Still, stakeholders often display apathy towards their neighbourhoods, leading to pollution and the prevalence of related avoidable disasters, including urban flooding. To facilitate a deeper understanding of and address this non-involvement, we conducted this descriptive study in Nairobi, guided by the theory of participatory urban governance. The study employed literature review and used of primary data collection from structured questionnaires, Key Informant Interviews, observation and mapwork. It describes prevailing stakeholder participation dynamics, the resulting solid waste and flood risk management challenges, and designs a technology-led prospective stakeholder participation model that can aid sustainable urban solid waste and related flood risk management.

Keywords: participatory urban governance; stakeholder apathy; solid waste management; flood risk management; sustainable urbanism; Nairobi.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2024.142560

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2024 Vol.74 No.1/2/3/4, pp.127 - 153

Received: 25 Dec 2023
Accepted: 13 May 2024
Published online: 08 Nov 2024 *

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