Woodley is a residential neighbourhood in the city of

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

. It is approximately west of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center 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 wit ...

. It generally a low-density suburb that lies north of Africa's largest slum,

Kibera Kibera (Kinubi language, Kinubi: ''Forest'' or ''Jungle'') is a division and neighbourhood of Nairobi, Kenya, from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and also the largest urban slum in all of Africa. The 2009 Kenya Popul ...

. 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

. Woodley Estate is straddled by

Ngong Road Ngong Road is a major road in Kenya that links the city of Nairobi to Ngong town. It runs from the Nairobi central business district all the way to the Ngong Stadium, passing by major places in Nairobi and Ngong such as the Kenyatta National Hosp ...

to the south. It borders Kilimani Estate to the north, Golf Course to the east and

to the south. Electorally, most of Woodley is placed under

Kibra Constituency Kibra Constituency is an Constituencies of Kenya, 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 Kiber ...

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 * Apartment, known as a flat in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), a two-dimens ...

, and two and three bed-roomed

stand-alone Standalone or Stand-alone may refer to: *Stand-alone DSL, a digital subscriber line without analog telephone service; also known as ''naked DSL'' *Stand-alone expansion pack, an expansion pack which does not require the original game in order to us ...

bungalows A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide verandas. Th ...

. 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 white woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand * House of Karen, a historic ...

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

and Westlands. 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 In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a ...

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. Commo ...

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