Creating Urban Social Capital: Some Evidence from Informal Traders in Nairobi

The poverty and dramatic alteration in geographical composition of African cities have been associated with rapid urbanisation, the growth of the informal economy and migration. The latter has separated individuals from long-established social and kinship networks, and from familiar livelihood strat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Urban studies (Edinburgh, Scotland) Scotland), 2005-06, Vol.42 (7), p.1077-1097
Main Authors: Lyons, Michal, Snoxell, Simon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business
Cities
Cultural Capital
Employment
Friendship
Geography
Informal economy
Informal sector
Kinship Networks
Men
Migration
Nairobi
Poverty
Savings
Sociability
Social capital
Social Networks
Social Theories
Sustainable cities
Sustainable development
Traders
Trust
Urban development
Urban studies
Urbanization
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Summary:The poverty and dramatic alteration in geographical composition of African cities have been associated with rapid urbanisation, the growth of the informal economy and migration. The latter has separated individuals from long-established social and kinship networks, and from familiar livelihood strategies. The sustainable livelihoods approach views social capital as one of the poor's most important assets in managing their lives. This paper asks four central questions. (1) Does the creation of new, urban forms of social capital, depend upon and deplete inherited forms? (2) Is social capital deliberately created or is it a by-product of sociability? (3) What are its functions in supporting the livelihoods of informal traders? (4) Is there a gender dimension to the strategies adopted? The paper draws on interviews with 124 traders in 2 Nairobi markets, and on key-informant interviews. Principal findings are that, whilst traders initially draw heavily on existing inherited social capital, they deliberately create and adapt their networks, opportunistically building relationships of trust in the marketplace which enable them to survive. The pace of change is different in different economic milieux. Women and men adopt different strategies to achieve similar ends. Conclusions are drawn for social capital theory and policy.
ISSN:0042-0980
1360-063X
DOI:10.1080/00420980500120865