Westlands is an affluent, mixed-use commercial and residential neighbourhood in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

Location

Westlands is located approximately , by road, northwest of the central business district of Nairobi. The geographical coordinates of the neighbourhood are: 01°16'01.0"S, 36°48'42.0"E (Latitude:-1.266944; Longitude:36.811667).

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 A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

, 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 An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

population.

Muthaiga Muthaiga is an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi. In 2019, media reports indicated that it was the most affluent and most expensive neighbourhood in the entire country. Location Muthaiga is located approximately , by road, north of ...

, a neighbourhood to the northeast of Westlands, but within the Westlands Division of the county, is rated the most affluent and most expensive neighbourhood in the country.

Points of interest

In Westlands or near the boundaries of the neighbourhood, there are several points of interest, including the following: * UNHCR branch office in Kenya * The

Sarit Centre This is a list of shopping malls in Kenya. Nairobi Metropolitan Region Nairobi Metropolitan region comprises Nairobi, Kiambu, Machakos, Kajiado and parts of Murang'a County. Nairobi City County * Mountain View Mall - Waiyaki Way *The Waterfront ...

Shopping Mall * Catholic Relief Services- East Africa Regional Office * The Ukay Shopping Mall * The Westgate Shopping Mall * The M. P. Shah Hospital, a private hospital * Unga House – An office high-rise building * Mpaka Road – Many businesses have offices on this street * USAID Towers – The headquarters of

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

in Kenya * The High Commission of

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to Kenya * The Embassy of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

to Kenya * The Embassy of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

to Kenya * Westlands Office Park * Westlands Primary School * Datoo's Glassware Mart Ltd * An office of

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

* Sankara Hotel * Dusit D2 * Phillips Pharmaceuticals Head office * Delta Towers * Safaricom Head Office * Art Cafe Head office * Java Head office * Villa Rosa

Kempinski Kempinski Hotels S.A., commonly known as Kempinski, is a luxury hotel management company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in Berlin in 1897 as the ''Hotelbetriebs-Aktiengesellschaft'', the group currently operates 78 five-star ho ...

Nairobi * Movenpick Hotel * A branch of

Woolworth Stores This is a list of buildings related to Foot Locker, Inc., its predecessors, or the Woolworth family. File:Manhattan-woolworth-building-top.jpg, Woolworth Building The Woolworth Building is an early skyscraper, early American skyscraper d ...

* The Nairobi Institute of Technology

Westlands Division

Prior to 2013, a division named after Westlands was also one of the eight administrative divisions of

, which is coterminous with Nairobi City. The other divisions were Central, Dagoretti,

Embakasi Embakasi is a neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi. It is approximately , southeast of the central business district. Embakasi is considered part of Nairobi's Eastlands area, lying to the south-east of Nairobi County. The Embakasi proper covers ...

, Kasarani,

Kibera Kibera (Kinubi: ''Forest'' or ''Jungle'') is a division of Nairobi Area, Kenya, and neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the largest urban slum in Africa.http://www.dominionpa ...

, Makadara and

Pumwani Pumwani is an estate of Nairobi. In 2005 it had an estimated population of 29,616. The Pumwani Maternity Hospital is located in Pumwani. It is the largest public maternity hospital in Kenya. Many Kenyan freedom fighters are known to have lived ...

. Areas in the Westlands Division were: * Parklands * Kitisuru * Highridge *

Kangemi Kangemi is a slum in Kenya located, like many other slums in Nairobi, on the outskirts of the city. It is bordered on the north by the middle-class neighbourhoods of Loresho and Kibagare and Westlands on its west. Its southern border connects wit ...

* Kilimani * Lavington *

Currently, there is a constituency and a sub-county named after Westlands;

Westlands Constituency Westlands Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of the seventeen constituencies in Nairobi County. The constituency is situated within Westlands Sub-county, formerly Westlands District. The entire constituency is locate ...

is one of the 17 constituencies of Nairobi and Westlands Sub-county is one of the 11 sub-counties of Nairobi.

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.Accueil
" '' Lycée Denis Diderot''. Retrieved on 18 January 2015. There are many other educational institutions in Westlands Division, as detailed in this reference.

References

{{coord, 01, 16, 01, S, 36, 48, 42, E, display=title Populated places in Kenya Cities in the Great Rift Valley Suburbs of Nairobi