Abstract
Kenya’s general elections have long been marked by ethnic conflict and violence, shaping a layered environment of risk and uncertainty for its citizens. While much scholarship has examined the causes of past electoral violence, less attention has been given to how ordinary people negotiate the tense and often hostile conditions that surround elections. This research investigates how Nairobi residents perceived and responded to the risks of political and ethnic violence during the 2022 general elections. Drawing on a riskscape framework and a qualitative design, the study utilised interviews, media content analysis, and autoethnography to capture personal experiences of risk. The findings reveal that memories of previous elections strongly shaped people’s perceptions and coping strategies in 2022. Moreover, while legal and institutional reforms played a role in curbing violence, grassroots community networks also fostered resilience from the bottom up. The study argues that the 2022 Nairobi election exemplified the interplay of historical, institutional, and community dynamics, with adaptive resilience emerging organically at the local level. In doing so, it enriches both riskscape scholarship and the literature on electoral violence by highlighting how related risk is socially and spatially navigated in politically charged urban settings.