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Anders Ese

Researcher

Email
Anders.Ese@aho.no

Biography

Anders Ese specialises in urban development in the overlap between the fields of urbanism, social sciences, and historical research in East and Southern Africa, and has worked extensively on issues related to urbanisation, urban design, poverty, identities, and sustainability through academic, consultancy work, and teaching. Ese holds a PhD on mapping, data collection, and analysis of complex urban settings in Nairobi, Kenya. He has established and run interdisciplinary practices in both Norway and Tanzania in the cross section between architectural production and urbanism, and holds extensive knowledge from practice for private, municipal, county government and national government clients. His recent book The City Makers of Nairobi (Routledge 2020) explores African urban identities in Nairobi during the colonial period, arguing that the city’s cosmopolitan African population had a far greater impact on urban developments than what is popularly believed.

Projects:

Community Water Systems: Climate vulnerabilities and resilience opportunities|Social Media and Youth Empowerment: Voice, space, and capacity in Arua, Uganda

Publications (8)

2022

Article

Containment from Within : Women Entrepreneurs’ Strategies for Accessing Public Space and Securing Livelihoods in Nairobi during COVID-19 Pandemic

  • Ese, Anders|Ese, Kristin|Mukeku, Joseph|Sanyal, Romola|Sidori, Benjamin|Lien, Ida Zeline|Bergby, Synne

The restrictions limiting social interaction and use of public space in Nairobi during the COVID-19 pandemic have disproportionately affected residents in poor urban communities, who are dependent on using streets, alleyways, and communal areas as extensions of their household spaces to secure livelihoods... Read »

Article

Containment from Within: Women Entrepreneurs’ Strategies for Accessing Public Space and Securing Livelihoods in Nairobi during COVID-19 Pandemic

  • Ese, Anders|Ese, Kristin|Mukeku, Joseph|Sanyal, Romola|Sidori, Benjamin|Lien, Ida|Bergby, Synne

The restrictions limiting social interaction and use of public space in Nairobi during the COVID-19 pandemic have disproportionately affected residents in poor urban communities, who are dependent on using streets, alleyways, and communal areas as extensions of their household spaces to secure livelihoods... Read »

2021

Article

A Pandemic of Control: Views on Restrictions and Livelihoods among Women Traders in Nairobi

  • Ese, Anders|Mukeku, Joseph|Sanyal, Romola|Sidori, Benjamin|Ese, Kristin

In poor urban neighborhoods in Nairobi, Kenya, Covid-19 related restrictions have resulted in tremendous economic setbacks for residents. Through their SSRC-funded research, Anders Ese, Kristin Ese, Joseph Mukeku, Benjamin Sidori, and Romola Sanyal interviewed women traders to make connections between Covid-related setbacks, the practices of containment, and assistance provided by authorities... Read »

2020

Book

The City Makers of Nairobi: An African Urban History

The City Makers of Nairobi re-examines the history of the urban development of Nairobi in the colonial period. Although Nairobi was a colonial construct with lasting negative repercussions, the African population’s impact on its history and development is often overlooked... Read »