Nairobi, Jan. 26 -- Darius Masenge, who has lived in Katani, a growing middle-class estate near Syokimau off Nairobi's Mombasa Road, for 13 years, says the area's transformation has been dramatic.

Even so, he believes growth could have been faster, and more attractive to major developers, had infrastructure improved earlier and quarry activity been less extensive.

When the BDLife visited, Katani's modest roadside market stood out. Katani Centre, with its tightly packed shops hugging the road, functions as the area's informal commercial nerve. Beyond the market, the landscape opens into spaciously built homes.

"When we came here, we had few neighbours. I could count about three around us. There was nothing but grass and cactus," Mr Mase...