Urban areas are exposed to compounded effects of climate change emanating from the confluence of a globally changing climate and the unique characteristics of urban climate. The unique urban climate is brought about by land cover patterns and the interaction between urban surfaces and weather elements. Among the recorded effects of this include the Urban Heat Island, increased surface runoff and altered wind flow patterns. Nairobi city has continued to experience these effects and it is projected that they may worsen under the changing climate. This study sought to establish the physical characteristics that make Nairobi City vulnerable to the climate change effects of flooding, to recommend adaptation measures. Nairobi City County watershed was the research situs. A descriptive research design was used to model runoff over two distinct periods of 1984 and 2016 using the Curve Number Method. The results pointed to a 162% increase in urban sprawl and a 45% increase in average rainfall for the corresponding period. The surface sealing from urban sprawl and the increasing surface runoff expose the city to a higher flooding risk. At the same time, the ecological services of green systems within urban areas are diminishing due to fragmentation of the green networks. It is recommended that urban development adopt a paradigm shift towards the use of green infrastructures like greenways, small urban green spaces and green roofs alongside water sensitive urban design approaches to adapt urban areas to the effects of climate change.
| Published in | Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning (Volume 5, Issue 2) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.larp.20200502.14 |
| Page(s) | 38-45 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Adaptation, Climate Change, Flooding, Land Cover, Nairobi
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APA Style
Sunday Julius Abuje, Bernard Moirongo Otoki, Bernard Mugwima Njuguna, Gerryshom Munala. (2020). The Vulnerability of Nairobi to the Effects of Climate Change Between 1984 and 2016. Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, 5(2), 38-45. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.larp.20200502.14
ACS Style
Sunday Julius Abuje; Bernard Moirongo Otoki; Bernard Mugwima Njuguna; Gerryshom Munala. The Vulnerability of Nairobi to the Effects of Climate Change Between 1984 and 2016. Landsc. Archit. Reg. Plan. 2020, 5(2), 38-45. doi: 10.11648/j.larp.20200502.14
AMA Style
Sunday Julius Abuje, Bernard Moirongo Otoki, Bernard Mugwima Njuguna, Gerryshom Munala. The Vulnerability of Nairobi to the Effects of Climate Change Between 1984 and 2016. Landsc Archit Reg Plan. 2020;5(2):38-45. doi: 10.11648/j.larp.20200502.14
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Download@article{10.11648/j.larp.20200502.14,
author = {Sunday Julius Abuje and Bernard Moirongo Otoki and Bernard Mugwima Njuguna and Gerryshom Munala},
title = {The Vulnerability of Nairobi to the Effects of Climate Change Between 1984 and 2016},
journal = {Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning},
volume = {5},
number = {2},
pages = {38-45},
doi = {10.11648/j.larp.20200502.14},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.larp.20200502.14},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.larp.20200502.14},
abstract = {Urban areas are exposed to compounded effects of climate change emanating from the confluence of a globally changing climate and the unique characteristics of urban climate. The unique urban climate is brought about by land cover patterns and the interaction between urban surfaces and weather elements. Among the recorded effects of this include the Urban Heat Island, increased surface runoff and altered wind flow patterns. Nairobi city has continued to experience these effects and it is projected that they may worsen under the changing climate. This study sought to establish the physical characteristics that make Nairobi City vulnerable to the climate change effects of flooding, to recommend adaptation measures. Nairobi City County watershed was the research situs. A descriptive research design was used to model runoff over two distinct periods of 1984 and 2016 using the Curve Number Method. The results pointed to a 162% increase in urban sprawl and a 45% increase in average rainfall for the corresponding period. The surface sealing from urban sprawl and the increasing surface runoff expose the city to a higher flooding risk. At the same time, the ecological services of green systems within urban areas are diminishing due to fragmentation of the green networks. It is recommended that urban development adopt a paradigm shift towards the use of green infrastructures like greenways, small urban green spaces and green roofs alongside water sensitive urban design approaches to adapt urban areas to the effects of climate change.},
year = {2020}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - The Vulnerability of Nairobi to the Effects of Climate Change Between 1984 and 2016 AU - Sunday Julius Abuje AU - Bernard Moirongo Otoki AU - Bernard Mugwima Njuguna AU - Gerryshom Munala Y1 - 2020/06/20 PY - 2020 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.larp.20200502.14 DO - 10.11648/j.larp.20200502.14 T2 - Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning JF - Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning JO - Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning SP - 38 EP - 45 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2637-4374 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.larp.20200502.14 AB - Urban areas are exposed to compounded effects of climate change emanating from the confluence of a globally changing climate and the unique characteristics of urban climate. The unique urban climate is brought about by land cover patterns and the interaction between urban surfaces and weather elements. Among the recorded effects of this include the Urban Heat Island, increased surface runoff and altered wind flow patterns. Nairobi city has continued to experience these effects and it is projected that they may worsen under the changing climate. This study sought to establish the physical characteristics that make Nairobi City vulnerable to the climate change effects of flooding, to recommend adaptation measures. Nairobi City County watershed was the research situs. A descriptive research design was used to model runoff over two distinct periods of 1984 and 2016 using the Curve Number Method. The results pointed to a 162% increase in urban sprawl and a 45% increase in average rainfall for the corresponding period. The surface sealing from urban sprawl and the increasing surface runoff expose the city to a higher flooding risk. At the same time, the ecological services of green systems within urban areas are diminishing due to fragmentation of the green networks. It is recommended that urban development adopt a paradigm shift towards the use of green infrastructures like greenways, small urban green spaces and green roofs alongside water sensitive urban design approaches to adapt urban areas to the effects of climate change. VL - 5 IS - 2 ER -
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