Posts in category: debate

An Olympian’s Solution: From the Unwalkable Walking City and other Paradoxes, to a Healthier and Safer Nairobi

Date & Time: Friday May 10, 2013, 6.00-8.00pm (event starts 6.30pm sharp)
Venue: 3rd Floor, Alliance Française

This month’s conversation will be throwing a spotlight on the potential contribution of Nairobi residents to create healthier and safer urban spaces.

Healthier Cities
Douglas Wakiihuri will share his experiences as an Olympian, retired competitive runner and current road runner. He will speak to the challenges that the ever evolving urban environment impose on his running activities and the lifestyles of urban residents. Douglas runs the Sotokoto Marathon, mentors a group of young runners (children) in Kibera and encourages city dwellers to lead active lives. Herein lies the challenge, he’s discovered; it’s neither “healthy” nor safe to lead an active life in the city.

Paradoxes exist from the lack of appropriate urban infrastructure (e.g. encouraging walking in an unwalkable city) and facilities (Kenya produces elite runners in spite of the lack of locally accessible training facilities as Wakiihuri points out) to the lack of green spaces. Nairobi’s setup tends to encourage a sedentary or vehicle dependent lifestyle.

Safer Cities
Safety, as tragically revealed during the recent events at the Boston Marathon, is also key. In addition to personal safety which is hits closer to home, pedestrian safety, air quality and easily accessible paths are all legitimate concerns for the would be walker, jogger or runner. To that end, Juma Assiago from UN Habitat’s Safer Cities program will engage participants in an exchange about the development of safety measures at city level.

For more info visit: http://naipolitans.tumblr.com/