Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi

This paper discusses the strategy, of growth and service centres as an urbanisation and rural development instrument in Kenya. The issue that decentralisation of urban development through designation of hierarchical growth points based on the theoretical framework of the Central Place Theory is critically analysed within the Kenyan Context. Constraints to this planning exercise are highlighted as being past government policies, settlement patterns, and the land tenure system. The effectiveness of the policy as being generatic to the rural surroundings in that the centres will create cash markets for the rural economy by providing industrial goods plus Government services is seen as highly hypothetical in an economy that is neither regionally integrated not internally oriented. Alternative transformative approaches are suggested in the last part of the paper