What the study found
The study found that Nairobi’s matatu system, an indigenous and informal transport network, is in tension with the Nairobi Expressway and other formal transport infrastructure backed by Chinese investment. It also found distinct differences between Chinese infrastructure models and Kenya’s existing transport organization, especially around funding, operations, and regulation.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors say the findings help explain conflicts between indigenous transport systems and foreign, privatized infrastructure in post-colonial African cities. They conclude that the study adds to discussions of decolonizing African urbanism and broader South-South urbanization and infrastructural politics.
What the researchers tested
The researchers examined relationships between the matatu system and Chinese-backed mega-infrastructure in Nairobi, focusing on the Nairobi Expressway as Kenya’s first major transport public-private partnership, or PPP, project funded, built, and operated by a Chinese contractor. They used field observations, surveys, mappings, and interviews conducted between 2022 and 2024.
What worked and what didn't
The study reports that the matatu system’s struggle for access to formal transport infrastructure could be documented, analyzed, and visualized through its socio-spatial dynamics. It also reports that Chinese contractors, especially engineering-focused state-owned enterprises, exported domestic ideas about modern infrastructure, which contrasted with indigenous self-organization and neo-liberalizing formal regulation in Kenya.
What to keep in mind
The abstract does not provide detailed numerical results or specify the full scope of cases beyond Nairobi and the Expressway. It also does not describe limitations in the available summary.
Key points
- The study focuses on tension between Nairobi’s matatu system and the Chinese-backed Nairobi Expressway.
- It describes the Nairobi Expressway as Kenya’s first major transport PPP project funded, built, and operated by a Chinese contractor.
- The authors report differences in funding structures, operational patterns, development paths, and institutional agents of Chinese infrastructure.
- Field observations, surveys, mappings, and interviews were used from 2022 to 2024.
- The abstract says the work contributes to debates on decolonizing African urbanism and South-South urbanization.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Matatu access conflicts with Nairobi Expressway infrastructure
- Authors:
- Cheng Chen, Ang Liu
- Institutions:
- University of Virginia, Ithaca College, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
- Publication date:
- 2026-02-27
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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