Woodley is a residential neighbourhood in the city of

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 h ...

. It is approximately west of the central business district. It generally a low-density suburb that lies north of Africa's largest slum, Kibera. Woodley Estate was completed in 1950 and named after the then mayor of Nairobi, Sir Richard Woodley.

Location

Woodley Estate is located approximately west of Nairobi's central business district. Woodley Estate is straddled by Ngong Road to the south. It borders Kilimani Estate to the north, Golf Course to the east and Kibera to the south. Electorally, most of Woodley is placed under

Kibra Constituency Kibra Constituency is an electoral constituency in Nairobi, one of 17 constituencies in the county, and has an area of 12.1 km². It is located to the southwest of the City of Nairobi, and includes most of the Kibera slum and adjoining est ...

Overview

The estate was actualised by colonial mayor of Nairobi Sir Richard Woodley. Construction of Woodley Estate began in the late 1940s and completed in 1950. Woodley comprised 300 housing units made up of

flats Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

, and two and three bed-roomed stand-alone

bungalows A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

. It was a whites-only neighbourhood during colonial Kenya, but after independence the white residents left the country or moved out to more upscale neighbourhoods such as

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...

Kitisuru Kitisuru is a residential suburb of Nairobi. The name Kitisuru comes from a nearby river "Gìtathurù" which was borrowed from the original inhabitants of the area who were mainly of the Kikuyu dialect. Kitisuru forms part of Kitisuru Ward, a ...

and

Westlands 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 neighb ...

. The estate's new residents were the influential African locals who had climbed the social ladder, such as politicians and trade unionists. In 1959, the first phase of a shopping mall of its kind was completed in Woodley: Adams Arcade Shopping Centre was intended to serve the residents of Woodley and its environs. The estate was zoned as a residential neighbourhood with occasional apartments, with a maximum of four storeys, and mainly hosts the

middle-income The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...

segment of Nairobi residents.

Points of interest

# Adams Arcade, a shopping mall along Ngong Road, in Woodley. # Prestige Plaza, a shopping mall along Ngong Road, in Woodley.

References

{{nairobi, state=collapsed Suburbs of Nairobi