Walking through the streets of the central business district in Nairobi, at six o'clock in the evening, is surprisingly enlightening. The matatu conductors call out to customers from the windows, the drivers try to squeeze their buses into the tiny parking spots. Outside the graffitied buses, people patiently wait in line to get on. Some are on their phones, some in deep and ecstatic conversations. The street vendor lays out her merchandise on the pavement. She shouts her prices. Some pedestrians stop and buy, while some try to find what little is left of the sidewalk, and some walk on the tarmac, dodging hooting cars stuck in traffic. From inside the shop, the owner sits stoic and looks into the street in silence, watching as a motorbike almost run over a police officer. In the distance, the city county officers stop to pick up the sausage and egg vendor. The officers throw his trolley into the back of their old run down van, it lists as he also gets on to join the other entrepreneurs inside. They lock the rusted metal gate and drive off. He might spend the rest of the night negotiating his release. This is the state of the city.

The walk through Uhuru park is equally as eye opening. In between the tall skyscrapers is a public park. Despite the multiple attempts in the past to make it private property, it still remains. You used to be able to walk through the park, past the green grass, where new lovers had first dates, and get to the water ponds. Once here, you would find families with their children in tiny boats, paddling along enjoying a quiet sunny day. The occasional street hawker would try to sell balloon animals to the parents, while they asked the children what type of animal they liked. You would continue walking past the ebullient laughs of children playing, the preacher shouting and the magicians trying to make money. You would then walk out of the park and get to the streets of the central business district. There is now a two metre high fence around the park. The city authorities say that the park is still public property. We wait to see if this will remain so.

On the 2nd of February at about 11:30 PM at Mradi Embakasi, a neighbourhood located southeast of the central business district, a gas cylinder exploded. Over 300 people were injured and 3 lost their lives. According to the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, the gas plant had been built in the area illegally. Prior applications to build the storage facility that they received, were rejected. The question of who, at the Nairobi City County government, approved the construction of the filling station near a residential area, is still unanswered. This same pattern, of unevenly enforced rules, happens across the city in many other aspects of life here. The Broken windows theory, as it relates to crime, proposes that "visible signs of crime, antisocial behaviour and civil disorder create an urban environment that encourages further crime and disorder, including serious crimes." A couple of researchers in the Netherlands, while investigating this theory, conducted an experiment on this topic. The researchers found that visible graffiti or other forms of social and environmental disorder can "encourage'' other forms of crime such as stealing. French economist Frédéric Bastiat also wrote about broken windows as part of his well known parable, the parable of the broken window. In his essay "That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen", the fallacy is used to teach about opportunity costs and unintended consequences. Bastiat wrote this about economics, however, the lesson is still relevant even now, 174 years later after it was first narrated. When laws are ignored in one place or situation, the effects are felt and seen by innocent bystanders in many other areas. 



Notes.

1. Kenyan Gas Explosion (Al Jazeera): Reports on the February 2nd gas explosion in Embakasi, Nairobi that injured over 300 people.
2. Embakasi (Wikipedia): Provides information on the Embakasi neighbourhood in Nairobi, Kenya.
3. Broken windows theory (Wikipedia): Explains the theory that visible signs of disorder can lead to more crime.
4. Parable of the Broken Window (Wikipedia): Details the economic theory introduced by Frédéric Bastiat about unintended consequences.
5. Prof Maathai relentlessly fought State to save Uhuru Park, Karura Forest (Nation): Highlights the efforts of environmental activist Wangari Maathai to protect Uhuru Park.