Nairobi's Half Life - Eastland's, Where Dreams are Made

Before Nairobi became the bustling city it is today, marginalization and discrimination were highly pronounced, so much so that there were three classes of people.

The three distinct groups, which existed during the colonial times, were Whites, Arabs and Africans.

In the classification introduced by the British, the White Europeans were in the ruling class and were in charge of politics and state resources. Arabs were in the upper middle class controlling commerce in the city.

Africans occupied the majority of the middle and the lower class as they were described as those who worked for the elite and the upper classes as well as the bulk of the voters.

The Africans were only allowed to settle in the East of Uhuru Highway commonly referred to as Eastlands. The estates housing the blacks were limited to the Pumwani area which was characterised by drains, communal toilets and washing blocks.

The houses in Bahati, Kaloleni and Jericho were deliberately made small to discourage the Africans from having relatives visit.
Another interesting fact about the Estates meant for Africans was that settlements in areas like Muthurwa were built closer to the city so that the workers could walk to and from work.

Workers at City Hall were provided housing in Council estates like Ziwani where they could walk to work and also the cheap housing was a way of making sure there were no demands of salary increments.

On the other hand, the European settlers inhabited the West side of the Uhuru Highway which is now the Upper Hill, Kileleshwa and Kilimani areas. They preferred these areas because of the hilly nature which was not prone to flooding. Their houses were extravagant in sizes and style.

The Arabs and Muhindis lived in the Parklands, Ngara, Eastleigh, South C, Pangani and Highridge areas. They majorly dealt in wholesale and retail, manufacturing and commerce.

Interestingly, even after the colonial masters left the City, the marginalization would still remain with the areas that were inhabited by the Whites and Arabs still being perceived as affluent till date.

Source: https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/20071-how-colonialists-divided-nairobi-3-eastlands-parklands-upper-hill
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