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Part of my work focuses on urban development and planning of colonial Nairobi (East Africa). The city was set-up as a railway town, giving no concession to needs other than those of the railway. However, the city developed differently from what early planners had anticipated, mostly due to its rapid growth and the environmental conditions of the spot selected. While historiography still considers colonial cities as planned spaces, I argue that Nairobi needs to be understood as a 'living form' that pays attention to insurgent practices.

Work in progess:
- second book project: urban history of anti-colonial unrest in colonial cities
- special issue on urban proximity and neighbour relations in colonial cities (with Avner Ofrath)
- essay on the history of early urban planning in Nairobi