Exploring Disaster Resilience in Nairobi: Examining the Effectiveness of Coping Strategies to Flooding among Residents of Mukuru Kwa Njenga Informal Settlement in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Climate change is intensifying extreme weather events globally, with flooding posing acute risks for developing countries where rapid urbanization, weak infrastructure and governance deficits heighten vulnerability. Informal settlements are particularly exposed: inadequate drainage, insecure land tenure and limited access to services force residents to depend on improvised strategies that often perpetuate cycles of poverty and exclusion. Understanding how such communities adapt is critical to advancing global debates on resilience and climate adaptation. This study investigates disaster resilience in Mukuru Kwa Njenga, one of Nairobi’s largest informal settlements, which faces recurrent and destructive flooding. Drawing on Environmental Justice theory (EJ), the Pressure and Release Model (PAR), and the Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction framework (CBDRR), the research applies a qualitative study approach. Data were collected through twelve focus group discussion and eight key informant interview with household heads, women’s groups, youth representatives, small business owners, community leaders and governmental officials. Findings reveal that residents employ a mix of structural adjustments such as raised floors and makeshift barriers, behavioural responses including temporary relocation and collective practices like mutual aid networks and community clean-ups. While these strategies demonstrate local agency, they remain limited by gendered inequalities, economic precarity, insecure tenure and weak institutional support. Women and low-income renters bear disproportionate burdens, while inadequate infrastructure and fragmented urban governance undermine long-term resilience. The study concludes that community and household coping mechanisms, though vital, cannot substitute for comprehensive and sustained institutional interventions. It recommends integrating grassroots knowledge into disaster risk reduction policies, strengthening participatory urban planning and investing in flood-resilient infrastructure. By centering lived experiences, the study contributes to scholarship on urban resilience and offers actionable insights for policymakers and practitioners addressing vulnerability in flood-prone informal settlements across the Global South.