Examining Disparities in Living Conditions Slums of Nairobi and Dakar

The World Bank recently completed a survey of living conditions in over 3,700 slum households in Dakar, Senegal and Nairobi, Kenya. The findings indicated that living conditions (e.g. piped water, sanitation, electricity) in the slums of Nairobi were far worse than those in Dakar. The World Bank asked the Capstone team to analyze the data findings from the survey and begin to formulate hypotheses as to why these disparities exist. The work of the Capstone team included comprehensive research of literature on slums, and investigations into land tenure, household size, issues of colonization and colonial politics, ethnicity, government capacity and corruption in each country. This research helped give the team a basis by which to formulate main hypotheses and also identify gaps in the literature that should be studied further. The team then prepared a final report for the World Bank which outlined its findings and provided recommendations for further research.