‘Is There an App for That?’ Tapping into Mobile Technology to Facilitate Urban Climate Change Resilience in Nairobi

Sammanfattning: Kenya’s rapid, unplanned urban development and rising pressure for cities to adapt to climate change and become more climate change resilient has led to the realisation that more needs to be done. In Nairobi, increasing access to mobile technology and internet access, faster internet speeds, and the growing technology sector could be possible means to facilitate urban climate change resilience (UCCR) and reduce vulnerability. This thesis considers how mobile technology can be used to facilitate urban climate change resilience in Nairobi. Guided by a framework that outlines seven entry points to UCCR – through key informant interviews and literature review – the thesis analyses how mobile tech is currently being used; what gaps can be exploited and what challenges are faced by Nairobi City County officials, developers and users in adopting mobile technology for UCCR. The findings show that residents, community based organisations, the private sector, innovators and other stakeholders are pioneering and adopting innovative ways to address the various challenges in Nairobi. This facilitates more resilient development, by lowering the vulnerability of the city, its residents, infrastructure and services. Climate change is however not often explicitly or extensively addressed by many of the innovations; further, the County has not fully prioritised UCCR. Thus, while the technology may be available to address various challenges, there isn’t a holistic vision about the County’s resilience objectives by all stakeholders. This means that while to some extent vulnerability at various levels is being addressed, it is difficult to determine if overall climate resilience is being developed.