Abstract:
The expansion of the cities into the rural-urban fringes is creating direct and indirect impacts with those living there facing new challenges and opportunities in meeting their life needs and accommodating the by-products of urbanization. Although urbanization in these areas provides opportunities for employment, better housing, education, knowledge and technology transfer, and ready markets for the agricultural products, increase in population places enormous stress on natural resources and existing social services and infrastructure. This paper, using a multiple theoretical framework and qualitative research approach, attempts to describe the positive and adverse effects of urbanization on land use planning, livelihood and environment in rural-urban fringes, using the Town Council of Karuri, within Nairobi rural-urban fringe, Kenya, as a case study.
