Matchmaking in Nairobi : The Role of Land Use

Avner, Paolo ; Lall, Somik

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: URBAN ACCESSIBILITY;    land use patterns;    matchmaking;    labor market;    accessibility;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7904
RP-ID  :  WPS7904

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Well-functioning cities reduce theeconomic distance between people and economic opportunities.Cities thrive because they enable matchmaking -- amongpeople, among firms, and between people and jobopportunities. This paper examines employment accessibilityin Nairobi, Kenya and evaluates whether modification of landuse patterns can contribute to increases in aggregateaccessibility. The assessment is based on simulation ofcounterfactual scenarios of the location of jobs andhouseholds throughout the city without new investments inhousing or transport infrastructure. The analysis finds thatmodifications to the spatial layout of Nairobi thatencourage land use clustering can increase the share ofoverall opportunities that can be accessed within a giventime-frame. When commuters travel by foot or using theminibus network, the share of accessible economicopportunities within an hour doubles from 11 to 21 percentand from 20 to 42 percent respectively. The analysis alsofinds that spatial layouts that maximize the number ofhouseholds that have access to a minimum share of jobs,through a more even jobs-housing balance, come at theexpense of average accessibility. This result is interpretedas a trade-off between inclusive and efficient labor markets.