Matchmaking in Nairobi : The Role of Land Use

Well-functioning cities reduce the economic distance between people and economic opportunities. Cities thrive because they enable matchmaking -- among people, among firms, and between people and job opportunities. This paper examines employment acc...

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Main Authors: Avner, Paolo, Lall, Somik
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/716381480965677299/Matchmaking-in-Nairobi-the-role-of-land-use
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25803
id okr-10986-25803
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-258032021-06-08T14:42:46Z Matchmaking in Nairobi : The Role of Land Use Avner, Paolo Lall, Somik URBAN ACCESSIBILITY land use patterns matchmaking labor market accessibility employment urban transport geospatial modeling Well-functioning cities reduce the economic distance between people and economic opportunities. Cities thrive because they enable matchmaking -- among people, among firms, and between people and job opportunities. This paper examines employment accessibility in Nairobi, Kenya and evaluates whether modification of land use patterns can contribute to increases in aggregate accessibility. The assessment is based on simulation of counterfactual scenarios of the location of jobs and households throughout the city without new investments in housing or transport infrastructure. The analysis finds that modifications to the spatial layout of Nairobi that encourage land use clustering can increase the share of overall opportunities that can be accessed within a given time-frame. When commuters travel by foot or using the minibus network, the share of accessible economic opportunities within an hour doubles from 11 to 21 percent and from 20 to 42 percent respectively. The analysis also finds that spatial layouts that maximize the number of households that have access to a minimum share of jobs, through a more even jobs-housing balance, come at the expense of average accessibility. This result is interpreted as a trade-off between inclusive and efficient labor markets. 2017-01-04T21:00:40Z 2017-01-04T21:00:40Z 2016-12 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/716381480965677299/Matchmaking-in-Nairobi-the-role-of-land-use http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25803 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7904 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Africa Kenya
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic URBAN ACCESSIBILITY
land use patterns
matchmaking
labor market
accessibility
employment
urban transport
geospatial modeling
spellingShingle URBAN ACCESSIBILITY
land use patterns
matchmaking
labor market
accessibility
employment
urban transport
geospatial modeling
Avner, Paolo
Lall, Somik
Matchmaking in Nairobi : The Role of Land Use
geographic_facet Africa
Kenya
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7904
description Well-functioning cities reduce the economic distance between people and economic opportunities. Cities thrive because they enable matchmaking -- among people, among firms, and between people and job opportunities. This paper examines employment accessibility in Nairobi, Kenya and evaluates whether modification of land use patterns can contribute to increases in aggregate accessibility. The assessment is based on simulation of counterfactual scenarios of the location of jobs and households throughout the city without new investments in housing or transport infrastructure. The analysis finds that modifications to the spatial layout of Nairobi that encourage land use clustering can increase the share of overall opportunities that can be accessed within a given time-frame. When commuters travel by foot or using the minibus network, the share of accessible economic opportunities within an hour doubles from 11 to 21 percent and from 20 to 42 percent respectively. The analysis also finds that spatial layouts that maximize the number of households that have access to a minimum share of jobs, through a more even jobs-housing balance, come at the expense of average accessibility. This result is interpreted as a trade-off between inclusive and efficient labor markets.
format Working Paper
author Avner, Paolo
Lall, Somik
author_facet Avner, Paolo
Lall, Somik
author_sort Avner, Paolo
title Matchmaking in Nairobi : The Role of Land Use
title_short Matchmaking in Nairobi : The Role of Land Use
title_full Matchmaking in Nairobi : The Role of Land Use
title_fullStr Matchmaking in Nairobi : The Role of Land Use
title_full_unstemmed Matchmaking in Nairobi : The Role of Land Use
title_sort matchmaking in nairobi : the role of land use
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2017
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/716381480965677299/Matchmaking-in-Nairobi-the-role-of-land-use
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25803
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