Zimmerman, Nairobi Explained

Official Name:Zimmerman
Pushpin Map:Kenya
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of Zimmerman in Kenya
Coordinates:-1.2083°N 36.8997°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Kenya
Subdivision Type1:County
Subdivision Name1:Nairobi City
Subdivision Type2:Sub-county
Subdivision Name2:Kasarani
Area Total Km2:1.9
Population Footnotes:[1]
Population Total:49533
Population As Of:2019
Population Density Km2:26359

Zimmerman is a mixed-use and residential suburb of the city of Nairobi. Located within the larger Kasarani area, it is approximately 13km (08miles) northeast of Nairobi's central business district off Thika Road. The neighbourhood got its name from a German industrialist Karl Fritz Paul Zimmerman. The neighbourhood is high-density, hosting the lower middle income to low income segment of the Nairobi residents.

Location

Zimmerman is located approximately 13km (08miles) northeast of Nairobi's central business district, off Thika Road to the west, within the larger sub-county of Kasarani. It is located west of Kasarani; southwest of Roysambu; north of Githurai 44 and west of Mirema.

Overview

Zimmerman traces its origins from a German industrialist Karl Fritz Paul Zimmerman, who was the proprietor of a taxidermy factory known as Zimmerman Limited.[2] [3] The grounds that Zimmerman now sits on were previously used by the taxidermy factory, that was launched in 1929 and closed in 1977, after the Kenyan government banned hunting.[4] [5]

Zimmerman was initially zoned as an industrial zone and residential, with mixed residential development.[6] The neighbourhood has however increasingly gained a large population from residents from other parts of Kenya. It is a high-density, mixed-use residential area, due to its affordability for students and lower middle income to low income families.[7]

Zimmerman ward, an electoral division, borrows its name from the estate. Zimmerman is located within Roysambu Constituency, which encompasses other estates and neighbourhoods such as: Garden Estate, Thome, Ridgeways, Marurui, Kiwanja, Njathaini, Ngomongo, Kongo Soweto, parts of Kahawa and Githurai, Mirema, Kamiti, and Zimmerman.[8] Both electoral divisions are within the Kasarani Sub-county.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume II: Distribution of Population by Administrative Units . 18 April 2023 . Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. 248.
  2. Web site: Makao . Team . 2020-10-16 . How Zimmerman, Donholm and other Nairobi estates got their unique and sometimes funny names . 2022-11-18 . Makao Bora . en-GB.
  3. Web site: 2020-12-25 . Zimmermann’s: From a world-famous taxidermy factory to a housing estate . 2022-11-18 . Business Daily . en.
  4. Web site: 2020-07-02 . German who made a name in Nairobi . 2022-11-18 . Nation . en.
  5. Web site: Zimmerman: The estate where a foreign President came to shop . 2022-11-18 . Standard Entertainment . en.
  6. Mido . Collins Lugalia . Zorning Ordinance-Nairobi . 2022-11-18 . 2022-11-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221117112617/https://www.academia.edu/3790882/Zorning_Ordinance_Nairobi . dead .
  7. Web site: 19 September 2015 . Alarm as children compete for open spaces with cars, sewers and houses . Vincent . Achuka . Nation. 18 November 2022.
  8. Web site: Roysambu Constituency. Nairobi . Roysambu NG-CDF. 18 November 2022.