Crispino C. Ochieng

Social Culture in the Urban Built Environment: a Study Set in Western Kenya Crispino C. Ochieng

Research set out to address the traditions that were manifest in rural settlement in terms of kinship relations and patterns of behavior and cultural requirements among kinship relating to important activities and rituals and matter of continuance of these traditions in the urban settlements. Basic assumptions underlying this research are the idea that any urban element of a regional town should be based on and influenced by the requirement of the surrounding culture. In most cases the majority of the residents of the regional town would be from the surrounding rural districts. Data was collected both from rural as well as corresponding urban settlements. This research has found that in both rural and urban settings, the appropriate use of space is critical to certain important issues. Also, behavior between some of the kinship members should be one of the primary reasons influencing the selection of a place.