People-Centred Urban Design Processes Receive Nod at W.I.R.E. Awards

21st March 2022

The world continues to mark what has been dubbed International Women’s month! Part of those celebrations were the Women in Real Estate’s 2022 Legends and Leaders Awards Event held on Friday March 11th. The floral-themed event was held under the banner: “Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow”. The annual event celebrates role models and trailblazers in the built environment. ??

Among the awardees was The GoDown’s Executive Director, Joy Mboya, who was feted as a ‘Legend in Social Impact’ for her work in consistently promoting participatory processes in the development of inclusive and sustainable cities, and cultural infrastructure. ?

?The GoDown Arts Centre, now in its nineteenth year of operation, is in the process of developing its new, civic-scale centre at our property along Dunga Road in Nairobi’s Industrial Area. The design of the new centre has employed a participatory approach, building on a foundation of input from members of the various communities with which The GoDown interacts and from the neighbourhood in which it sits. This approach has been used in the design of the new building itself, and?in the re-design of the streets abutting our property, namely, Dunga and Dundori Roads, through the Her City#HerStreets Project. ?

?HerCity is a UN Habitat Program which promotes the development of inclusive and sustainable cities by incorporating the voices of girls and women in urban design. ?

?The GoDown’s HerCity#HerStreets Project could aptly be described as an urban acupuncture project which is relatively small in scale but is a socially and environmentally catalytic intervention into the city’s fabric aimed at transforming the larger urban context.?

The keynote address was given by wildlife conservationist and Wildlife Direct Executive Director, Paula Kahumbu.?

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