Westlands is an affluent, mixed-use commercial and residential neighbourhood in
Nairobi.
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 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 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 in Kenya
* The High Commission of
Botswana to Kenya
* The Embassy of
Norway 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
* Sankara Hotel
* Dusit D2
* Phillips Pharmaceuticals Head office
* Delta Towers
*
Safaricom Head Office
* Art Cafe Head office
* Java Head office
* Villa Rosa
Kempinski 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
Nairobi, which is coterminous with Nairobi City. The other divisions were Central,
Dagoretti,
Embakasi,
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.
Areas in the Westlands Division were:
*
Parklands
*
Kitisuru
*
Highridge
*
Kangemi
*
Kilimani
*
Lavington
*
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 ...
Currently, there is a constituency and a sub-county named after Westlands;
Westlands Constituency 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.
See also
* Parklands, Nairobi
* Upper Hill, Nairobi
* Nairobi
* Eastleigh, Nairobi
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