In or Out? Emerging Urban Practices of Citizenship in East Africa

Koechlin outlines novel urban practices in Kisumu, Western Kenya, and explores the relationship between changing urban spaces and urban practices, shedding light on potential urban futures and meanings of citizenship. African cities are transforming rapidly, with high rates of urbanization changing urban compositions and new infrastructure facilitating mobility and financial flows. This is the case not only for Nairobi but also for mid-sized cities such as Kisumu. These changes are compounded by devolution, granting provinces and municipalities new powers. More constitutional reforms are being negotiated, with uneven knowledge and consensus at local level. Arguably, there is not only an institutional disjunction but also a normative and cultural one which, however, opens up new spaces of political claim making and practices of legitimacy.