DCRP: Urban Studies

Images: photos and student journals from the Nairobi Studio, Mathare Collaborative Upgrade. Summer 2009.

--courtesy:  Zachary Taylor and Daniella Sawaya

The Mathare Collaborative Upgrade

The Mathare Collaborative Upgrade is an ongoing partnership between the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Nairobi, and a Kenyan NGO, Pamoja Trust. The partnership, initiated in late 2008, seeks to improve the lives of the residents of the Mathare slums of Nairobi and serve as a collaborative learning environment for students. The Summer of 2009 saw the inaugural six-week Nairobi studio, which culminated in a two-week visit to Nairobi. Professor Jason Corburn of the Department of City and Regional Planning took a multidisciplinary team of students to Nairobi during August of 2009. Displayed here are the journals of two of the Berkeley students and a few personal photographs from their trip to Nairobi.

The UC Berkeley Team:
Professor Jason Corburn, Department of City & Regional Planning

Graduate Students:
Julie Beagle, Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
Lisa Chen, City Planning and Public Health
Terry Lo, Public Health
Ayrin Zahner, City Planning

Undergraduate Students:
Ishita Aggarwal, Biology
Mary Chesus, Political Economy
Orlando Monegas, Jr. Architecture
Aparna Ramakrishnan, Bio-Engineering
Daniella Sawaya, Architecture
Zachary Taylor, Urban Studies

The University of Nairobi Team:
Professor Peter Ngau, Department of Urban and Regional Planning

Undergraduate Planning Students:
Gabriel Ageng’a
George Kirui
Nahashon Mucheru
Lemech Nyariki
Peter Orimba
Emmanuel Wathome

--courtesy Z. Taylor