Westlands, Nairobi


Westlands is an affluent, mixed-use commercial and residential neighborhood in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. Westlands is also one of the eight administrative divisions of Nairobi County, which is coterminous with Nairobi City. The other divisions are Central, Dagoretti Embakasi, Kasarani, Kibera, Makadara and Pumwani.

Location

Westlands is located approximately, by road, northwest of the central business district of Nairobi. The geographical coordinates of the neighborhood are:01°16'01.0"S, 36°48'42.0"E.

Overview

Westlands was a residential district during the colonial period which ended in 1963. Then, it housed mainly Kenyan Asians of Indian descent.
During the 1990s and early 2000s, as land and office space became scarce and exorbitantly priced in the central business district, more businesses have relocated to Westlands and Upper Hill, where land and office space are more readily available and less expensive. Westlands was initially considered part of the Parklands area and straddled what is now Waiyaki Way, originally the Kenya-Uganda Railway. The area has been nicknamed Westie by the youth of Nairobi. It is nowadays typically inhabited by a significant number of the city's expatriate population. Muthaiga, a neighborhood to the northeast of Westlands proper, but within the Westlands Division of the county, is rated the most affluent and most expensive neighborhood in the country.

Points of interest

In Westlands or near the boundaries of the neighbourhood, there are several points of interest, including the following:
Kuza Biashara, a company that trains small business owners and youth is also found in Westlands

Westlands Division

Apart from being a commercial centre, Westlands is also one of the eight administrative divisions in Nairobi. The division consists of the following six subdivisions:
Westlands is also an electoral constituency, the Westlands Constituency. It has the same borders with Westlands Division.

Deep Sea Settlement

Within the Westlands Division lies the Deep Sea Settlement. This is a shanty town of approximately 7,000 inhabitants. In 2005 a private firm, with police support, began bulldozing homes, an act the Kenyan high court deemed illegal. The High Court viewed the 'law' that allowed the private firm land rights' as unfair, because the area harboured squatters for more than 12 years. Combined with this land-rights issue, poverty is rife and is exacerbated by the area's poor sanitation.

Education

The Lycée Denis Diderot opened in Westlands as the École française à Nairobi in 1962. It moved to Kilimani in 1972. There are many other educational institutions in Westlands Division, as detailed in this reference.