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The process of urbanization is one of the most important dimensions of economic, social and physical changes. It is almost a truism that the planet’s future is an urban one and that the largest and fastest growing cities are in developing countries. Approximately 25 percent of Africa’s population lived in towns and cities in 1975. By the year 2000, due to rural-urban migration and rapid rates of natural increase, 38 percent of the continent’s population lived in urban areas. The proportion is expected to increase to 47 percent by 2015 and to double by 2025, Kenya is not an exception. Rapid urban population growth means an increasing demand for urban land. This land is not available within the city, but in the rural-urban fringe, for various reasons. [...] 