Economy
Looking Down at Nairobi's Explosive Growth
Urban development aside, more than half the city’s population still lives in slums.
The population of Nairobi has doubled since 1986 to 3.5 million, partly due to the Africa-wide trend of rural residents flocking to cities in search of employment. As expected with such an influx, the Kenyan capital has seen vast areas of land transform into jammed neighborhoods, as seen in this satellite comparison from the past three decades.
First, here’s Nairobi in January 1986 spotted by the USGS’ Landsat 5 craft: