Nairobi, May 11 -- On any given afternoon at Kamakis Corner, smoke curls out of busy nyama choma joints, waiters hurry between wooden tables, balancing trays of roast meat and beer. A few metres away, trucks loaded with construction materials squeeze past shoppers and boda bodas before disappearing into new gated estates where workers put finishing touches on new maisonettes.

Just behind one of the modern homes, however, pigs roll in the mud beside a small kitchen garden, and chickens cluck in a nearby coop.

Welcome to Kamakis, a rapidly growing settlement along the Eastern Bypass in Ruiru, which has become one of Nairobi's hottest property markets, attracting developers, middle-class families, and investors chasing space outside the ci...