I beg to disagree.
Kitengela demonstrates what happens when proper planning and regulation is totally lacking. No roads, no sewer line, no decent schools or hospitals - at least the last time I was there. One neighbour operates a posho mill, the other rears pigs next to your fence!
The middle class do not deserve that. Visit Nyayo Estate Enbakasi and try to visualise what the planners had in mind. Duplicate that vision 100 times in different sites around the country and you have respectable middle class housing.
For such developments, the cost of providing amenities and security is relatively low. When you have to be out of town, you do not have to worry about your young family or even leaving your house unoccupied for weeks. If you must have a garden, think leafy suburbs not Kitengela.
My 2 cents.

@simpson

Depends on where you visited. In every town, you will find different people leaving in different areas. if you visited the areas of milimani, kyuna and I think its called muigai, then you will realise that these areas have controlled development.... In milimani area, they have an association that wont allow anyone to keep any sort of animals and the pieces of land available are limited. You cant also put up a flat or apartment and the like... and i think even kyuna too. In these areas, they have police posts around so i think that helps (not sure if they are very effective but they are there anyway).

I am not sure what you meant by decent hospitals but if you have been there lately, you may have realised that Aga Khan has open a branch there (you can google to confirm) and Getrude's Hospital is opening a branch there before end of the year.

There is also a school called Acacia Crest Academy which produced 3 top 100 students in Kenya last year. Their first lot had one candidate sitting for her KCSE at alliance girls... if that does not constitute decent education, i then may have been lost in translation. Within the area, there are children who school in riara, mombasa road, lukenya and another one called Kitengela international.....

There are also developments where they are coming up with several gated communities and these are mostly bungalows. I think that is not very unsafe but i would have reservations building on my own if there are no neighbours around.... but there are many people who have done the that especially in the controlled areas..

And simpson... by the time we are thinking "leafy surbarbs" havent we already crossed the "middle class" line to the top?

Personally i have done a study of the area and i know for a fact what i have said here is facts..... not hearsays but all the same, you dont have to stay where you dont want to.

@mpobiz. Although the project is dead for now I was wondering about Tatu's proximity to a slum or poor areas. Where would they get the labour to do the odd jobs and what kind of services would the city offer ... isn't that where the South African model city (for dem white elite folk) is also breaking down. The poor people may not be eager to relocate to central kenya. What you think?

@wendz. Whoops, polee if I was offensive; it didn't mean to come out that way ... I just figured the model for the city was like those of SA where Tatu was meant for Kenyan HNWs. I heard that the 'tatu' like cities in SA are no longer attractive to SA labours because security was beefed up in Jo'burg; they don't need to move for the work; the odd jobs that rich folk don't do ... not sure whether this is accurate ...

So at least we'd have to acknowledge that Tatu would need proximity to some sort of informal dwelling ... or will create one to service the city. I suppose Tatu will provide it's own security against Mungiki. Nairobi is more mixed in population wrt to populous in slums that service our richer urban folk, so are you implying that Tatu wlll serviced largely by labours who belong to the community in Central Province? or will all kinds of folk move from informal settlement in Nairobi to the new ones that will exist?

So you believe the service offered by the city will be low cost housing? And that will sustain the Tatu city years into the future? The city isn't on the tourist circuit and not in close proximity to any key raw materials. I personally thought Tatu City could offer entertainment services, perhaps casinos or other leisure services in order to sustain itself.

Kitengela is promising and the town is growing rapidly.However
water is a big problem . I have noted that some real estate companies/ plot sellers are now selling off property in the area under the estate gated community concept and even promising prospective buyers that they will build swimming pools , dig boreholes etc . Anyway the area near East Africa University/Kamapala
University is an area to watch .