The Go Down Arts Centre is a proposal for a new building to an existing organisation in Nairobi, Kenya. The proposal relates to the scale of the city by making a statement on a future urban path, and by welcoming the city in to the building. The proposal houses both activities affiliated to Go Down, such as studios and rehersal rooms, as well as opportunities for the visitor to meet and interact with the culture produced at Go Down, both in formal and informal settings. The building is closed to its surroundings, apart from a grand entrance towards the urban path. There, the city passes through the building to an inner courtyard, where the communication to all the rooms and activities takes place. From the exterior courtyard, the buildning acts as an halftone screen towards a darker, more specific and more temperated room, where it meets the outer wall. / The Go Down Arts Centre är ett förslag på en ny byggnad till en existerande verksamhet i Nairobi, Kenya. Förslaget relaterar till stadens skala, genom att utmärka sig på ett framtida urbant stråk och bjuda in staden i byggnaden. I byggnaden finns plats både för verksamheter knutna till Go Down, i form av ateljéer, studios, replokaler, osv. och för besökaren att möta och integrera med kulturen, både i formella och informella sammanhang. Själva byggnaden är sluten utåt, med en stor öppning vid stråket, där staden passerar in i byggnaden till en innergård där kommunikationerna till alla rum och verksamheter återfinns. Från den exteriöra innergården går byggnaden genom ett raster mot ett allt slutnare, mörkare och mer tempererat rum tills den möter den tunga ytterväggen.

The researcher investigated internet usage among students at the University of Nairobi using a quantitative case study method. A questionnaire-based survey was done among 381 students and face-to-face interviews were conducted with the university‟s library staff. The research findings indicate that the students' level of awareness about the internet services offered at the university was high. The students had good basic computer and internet skills; however, they lacked more advanced skills and this negatively affected their use of internet resources. The students used the internet for various purposes, including to study, teach and do research; to communicate; and for social interaction. The major recommendations of the study include providing formal internet training and adequate facilities; implementing a better, inclusive policy on internet use; and better co-ordinated university efforts. Free internet access should be made available to all the university students, if not all members of the university community. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Science)

The researcher investigated internet usage among students at the University of Nairobi using a quantitative case study method. A questionnaire-based survey was done among 381 students and face-to-face interviews were conducted with the university‟s library staff. The research findings indicate that the students' level of awareness about the internet services offered at the university was high. The students had good basic computer and internet skills; however, they lacked more advanced skills and this negatively affected their use of internet resources. The students used the internet for various purposes, including to study, teach and do research; to communicate; and for social interaction. The major recommendations of the study include providing formal internet training and adequate facilities; implementing a better, inclusive policy on internet use; and better co-ordinated university efforts. Free internet access should be made available to all the university students, if not all members of the university community. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Science)

<p style="text-align: justify / " class="Default">In developing economies and specifically Sub-Saharan Africa physical inactivity has been identified as a risk factor along with tobacco use, poor nutrition and poor diet as this has increasingly formed part of today&rsquo / s lifestyle. Physical activity declines with age this decline is more marked during the adolescent period. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of physical inactivity and factors associated with it among adolescents in <st1:place><st1:city>Nairobi</st1:city>, <st1:country-region>Kenya</st1:country-region></st1:place>. The overall aim of the study is to determine the factors influencing their levels of physical activity in relation to their socio-economic characteristics. <o:p></o:p></p>

The aim of this study is to investigate the level of awareness of history teachers in public secondary schools in Nairobi, Kenya, of the benefits of library use for the curriculum. The availability of school libraries in public secondary schools in Nairobi provided a context for this investigation into teacher library use. In order to establish if libraries are used effectively, or used at all, for curriculum purposes, literature on this was searched and little came from Nairobi or even Kenya. This lack of information in this area formed a justification for investigation because libraries exist in many public schools in Nairobi and they have the potential to have a positive influence. A survey of literature internationally illustrates the degree of the serious attention both history as a discipline, and library and the curriculum receive. History is given attention because of its role in both maintaining and revolutionising order in a country. In the case of resource-based learning, many countries have shifted to a child-centred approach. This requires much more use of libraries than traditional teaching methods. The evaluation of teacher and librarian views was undertaken by means of a survey. In the survey questionnaires were used. The population was that provided by the Director of Education in Nairobi and a corresponding list of schools where teachers and librarians were employed is given. The findings of the survey established the level of awareness of history teachers to resource based education that took account of library-curriculum partnership. The study established the need for greater attention towards school libraries in the allocation of budgets, building resources that are needed, and management. Staff development of both teachers and librarians was suggested in order to promote resource-based education. To achieve this, a written policy on the management of school libraries is suggested. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

<p style="text-align: justify / " class="Default">In developing economies and specifically Sub-Saharan Africa physical inactivity has been identified as a risk factor along with tobacco use, poor nutrition and poor diet as this has increasingly formed part of today&rsquo / s lifestyle. Physical activity declines with age this decline is more marked during the adolescent period. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of physical inactivity and factors associated with it among adolescents in <st1:place><st1:city>Nairobi</st1:city>, <st1:country-region>Kenya</st1:country-region></st1:place>. The overall aim of the study is to determine the factors influencing their levels of physical activity in relation to their socio-economic characteristics. <o:p></o:p></p>

This study investigates the Daily Nation and Standard’s news coverage of Kenya’s 2007/2008 general election and the unprecedented eruptions of violence which followed. This research responds to the question which came about as Kenyan print journalists and editors considered their role in possibly contributing to the violence, which took on an ethnic dimension. Vernacular radio has been fingered for having escalated longstanding ethnic tensions, but the role of the press has not been fully understood. In the aftermath of the violence, print journalists and editors met over a series of Round Table events in Nairobi to consider whether their conduct during the election could have encouraged violence. Although ten years have passed since this incidence, much of what happened within the Kenyan print media during and after the 2007/2008 general election remains unexplored and, largely, unexplained today. Although the pre- and post-election phases spanned months, my research is confined to purposive samples from a four-week period from 3 December 2007 to 4 January 2008. These four weeks were selected as they are roughly representative of the three phases of the national election which are considered significant to this study, namely the pre-election phase, the election, and the post-election violence. The research is concerned with analysing and understanding the coverage in the two dailies, the Daily Nation and Standard, and comparing the discursive work of the two, particularly in relation to identity and ethnicity. This study draws on cultural studies, critical discourse analysis and normative theories of the media to inform the research project. The critical discourse analysis explores the discourses articulated during and after the election, with a particular focus on issues of identity, ethnicity and incitement. Through this process the study found that both publications avoided references to ethnicity, despite this being an important factor in Kenyan politics and voter behaviour. In analysing these issues the study found that while the publications might claim to attempt to avoid fuelling tensions by not reporting on ethnicity, the disavowal comprised a silence which positioned the press in a collaborative role, in which it colluded with a powerful Kenyan state. Although a significant amount of time has gone by since the 2007/2008 elections, this study still considers the event significant in understanding the conduct of journalists during times of violence, and specifically for the future of journalism in Kenya.

Today, librarians are confronted with new roles during the execution of their work. The emerging roles require practical and technical skills, professional competencies and ability to perform and to constantly be in touch with those emerging technologies to stay afloat. The purpose of this research was to investigate the changing roles of academic librarians at the University of Nairobi (UoN) and its constituent college libraries in the current information age so that challenges can be established and measures put in place to overcome them. The current study employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study was descriptive in nature and a survey research method was adopted. Purposive sampling was used to select respondents from each of the 13 libraries. Data was collected using a questionnaire and an interview schedule. A population of 70 respondents was to be surveyed but only 54 of them responded to the questionnaire. Quantitative data was descriptively analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) while qualitative data was analysed using content analysis. The study revealed that the role of librarians at the UoN has not necessarily changed in terms of duties, responsibilities, functions and processes, but what has changed is the intensity and manner of conducting the role. The main challenge remains that of re-training of staff in the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs). Therefore the study recommended training of staff in the use of ICTs, acquiring powerful servers to increase bandwidth connectivity and allocating more funds towards various activities. The study recommends that a similar research be replicated using different groups of librarians, for example those who started working when the services were already automated to find out whether they are also as challenged as their counterparts. A further research should also be carried out to investigate current jobs that exist elsewhere in the profession, such as knowledge management, ICT management in libraries, research data management and data curation. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Science)

East Africa, with Nairobi at its hub, is currently experiencing unprecedented rates of urban population growth. Much of this growth is absorbed into informal settlements which, in the case of Nairobi, house over 55% of the city's population. The largest of these settlements is Kibera with a population totaling approximately 700,000. The thesis focuses on Pentecostal churches in Gatwikera, one of the twelve urban villages which together make up Kibera. It is argued that what is emerging within these communities is a distinctive type of church which is defined as informal Pentecostal. Consideration is given to why mainline churches appear to struggle within the informal sector while these churches appear to thrive. The explanation for this is given in the way the Pentecostal churches emerge along the same lines as the informal economy. The thesis sets out to identify the distinctive nature of the churches and the way in which they exemplify a different form of Christian presence in the settlements to that of mainline churches and Roho churches. The study offers an analysis of their ministry and their pastors and considers their relationship to the flows of the rural urban continuum and the liminality of informal settlements. The study seeks to identify the contribution these churches make to mission within the community particularly looking at their role in social transformation. It concludes that while the churches provide an important Christian presence within the community and social capital to enable people to better survive and retain hope within the settlements they offer little towards the much needed social transformation within the settlements. It is further argued that for this to be achieved, attention needs to be given to the development of appropriate forms of training and the facilitation of higher degrees of networking and collaboration. The thesis is structured around the pastoral cycle which forms both the theoretical framework and the research methodology. The suitability of the pastoral cycle as a research method is explored within the thesis. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Missiology)

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is an exploration of Richard Florida’s Creative Class theory within an African city context. The economic value of the Creative Class is that their work revolves around innovation, a quality seen as essential to ‘new economy’ urban growth. Quality of place (that which makes ‘New York, New York’) is said to attract the Creative Class to certain cities, as lifestyle amenities are valued as much as employment opportunities. Nairobi is an example of an African city currently attracting both Kenyan and expatriate Creative Class workers, particularly in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. The research aimed to understand why this group chose to live in Nairobi and to describe Nairobi’s quality of place, with a particular focus on infrastructure disruption. Overall, the Western city is the reference point for Creative Class literature and quality of place is embedded within a framework of urbanisation through industrialisation - a period known as the first urbanisation wave. The fastest growing cities on the African continent (Nairobi included) are part of the second urbanisation wave, an urbanisation process spurred by a set of vastly different dynamics in which industrialisation is virtually inconsequential. Urbanisation through industrialisation induced concomitant investments into infrastructure and thus it is unsurprising that the Creative Class literature assumes that urban infrastructure is ‘always on’ – available at all times as an inherent attribute of place. The point of the study was not to draw modernist comparisons, but rather to emphasise that notions of quality of place are incomplete given the rise of technological innovation in urban Africa, where cities often suffer from disruption of basic infrastructure. Until more recently, African cities did not feature in the Creative Class literature; the predominantly rural focus of ICT diffusion in the literature is a contributing factor to the lack of information on the Creative Class in African cities. The case study revealed that Nairobi’s quality of place is fundamentally different to normative prescriptions given to urban planners and, in some instances, is highly frustrating and unattractive. Contrary to Florida’s theory, those interviewed were not leaving Nairobi in search of cities with higher quality of place attributes or better infrastructure provision – individuals were rooted to the city because of their work and the professional networks with which they were associated. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie is ‘n verkenning van Richard Florida se teorie van Kreatiewe Klas binne die konteks van ‘n Afrika-stad. Die ekonomiese waarde van die Kreatiewe Klas is dat hul werk rondom innovasie draai, wat as noodsaaklik beskou word vir die stedelike groei van die “nuwe ekonomie”. Plekkwaliteit (dit wat ‘New York, New York’ maak) lok luidens Florida se teorie die Kreatiewe Klas na sekere stede, aangesien hulle leefstylgeriewe net so hoog soos werksgeleenthede op die prys stel. Nairobi is ‘n voorbeeld van ‘n Afrika-stad wat tans beide Keniaanse en buitelandse werkers van die Kreatiewe Klas lok, veral na die plaaslike Informasie- en Kommunikasietegnologiesektor (IKT-sektor). Die navorsing het gepoog om te verstaan waarom hierdie groep gekies het om in Nairobi te woon asook om Nairobi se plekkwaliteit te beskryf, met ‘n spesifieke klem op die onderbreking van infrastruktuur. Oor die algemeen is die Westerse stad die vertrekpunt vir literatuur oor die Kreatiewe Klas. Daarby word plekkwaliteit gewoonlik beskou binne die raamwerk van “verstedeliking deur industrialisering”, wat bekend staan as die eerste verstedelikingsgolf. Die vinnig groeiendste stede op die Afrika-vasteland (insluitend Nairobi) is deel van ‘n tweede verstedelikingsgolf wat deur gans ander dinamika gedryf word, waarvan industrialisering ‘n feitlik weglaatbare faset is. Verstedeliking deur industrialisering het tot gelyktydige beleggings in infrastruktuur aanleiding gegee, dus maak dit sin dat literatuur oor die Kreatiewe Klas aanvaar dat stedelike infrastruktuur “altyd aan” is – dit wil sê, immerbeskikbaar as ‘n onafskeidelike kenmerk van die plek. Die doel van die studie was nie om modernistiese vergelykings te tref nie, maar om te beklemtoon dat begrippe van plekkwaliteit onvolledig is gegewe die opkoms van tegnologiese innovasie in stedelike Afrika, waar stede dikwels ly aan onderbrekings van basiese infrastruktuur. Tot baie onlangs is Afrika-stede nie genoem in literatuur oor die Kreatiewe Klas nie; die oorwegend landelike fokus van die verspreiding van IKT dra ook by tot die gebrek aan inligting aangaande die Kreatiewe Klas in Afrikastede. Die gevallestudie het onthul dat Nairobi se plekkwaliteit in wese anders is as die normatiewe voorskrifte wat aan stadsbeplanners voorgehou word en dat dit selfs, in sommige gevalle, uiters frustrerend en onaantreklik is. In teenstelling met Florida se teorie was diegene met wie onderhoude gevoer is, nie van plan om Nairobi te verlaat op soek na stede met hoër plekkwaliteitkenmerke of beter infrastruktuur nie – dié individue was gevestig in die stad weens hul werk en die professionele netwerke waarmee hul geskakel het.