Cassilde Muhoza
PhD Researcher

Profile

Biography

Cassilde Muhoza is a Research Fellow, under the Sustainable Urbanisation Programme at SEI Africa. Her interest is in sustainable urban planning, urban green spaces, urban air pollution, urban mobility, urban water management and off-grid electrification. In addition to her work with SEI Africa, Cassilde has recently begun her doctoral studies in Human Geography and Environment at SEI York via distance learning, funded by a scholarship from the University of York. She is co-supervised by Dr Steve Cinderby and Dr Rachel Pateman. 

She is a geographer with over 7 years of experience working on sustainable urbanisation, biodiversity conservation, sustainable urban mobility, urban air pollution, off-grid electrification and integration of environmental issues (biodiversity, energy, and climate change) into urban planning policies and strategies. She conducted in 2015 an audit of SEI’s expertise in urbanization and mapping out potential partners in order to help SEI Africa develop its ‘Sustainable Urbanisation’ programme.

Research

Overview

Cassilde's thesis will explore how urban expansion patterns and urban planning policies have shaped the structure, functions, quality, availability and accessibility of Green Infrastructure (GI) over the past 20 years (2001-2021) in Nairobi, Kenya. The thesis will also examine how residents from various neighbourhoods (middle, low income areas and unplanned settlements) use and value GI and factors influencing uses and their perspectives on the pathways linking GI to mental health.

Mapping the experiences and uses of residents from different socio-economic backgrounds will facilitate the examination of social exclusion and spatial inequality in terms of accessibility of GI and its implication on health and well-being. Lastly, the thesis will assess the impact of GI on mental health and well-being. In doing so, it will test approaches for assessing health effects that have not been widely applied in urban settings in SSA.

This research will provide a deeper understanding of the evolution of GI provision over time and advance knowledge on the role and value of GI in promoting mental health and well-being in cities in SSA. The evidence-based insights on the mental health benefits of GI will therefore contribute to urban GI planning and conservation and urban sustainability in SSA.