Prior to European colonialism, most Kenyans were rural dwellers, except for those in the coastal region that had a long pre-existing urban tradition. Europeans, beginning in the late 1800s, founded most of Kenya's urban areas and set them aside for exclusive European habitation. To the detriment of Africans (i.e., indigenous black Africans) and Asians (see note for definition), different strategies were used to exclude these groups. Exclusion of Asians took the form of under-representation in the municipal councils, especially in Nairobi; limits on their admission into the country following the completion of the Kenya-Uganda railway; barring them from owning rural land in order to protect European settler interests; and restrictions on their ownership of land in Nairobi, except in designated areas. Moreover, Asian residential and commercial areas in Nairobi were declared unhygienic and razed on the pretext of controlling plague outbreaks in the first half of the twentieth century.

To a greater extent than Asians, Africans were directly excluded from urban areas through legislation and coercion, and indirectly through harassment. Various pieces of legislation, such as those that controlled African movement and employment, housing, land ownership, and urban infrastructural standards, were purposefully crafted to make it difficult for Africans to move into, live, and work in urban areas. In housing, for instance, the colonial authorities prohibited Africans from owning land in cities and adopted European standards that resulted in housing that was too expensive or inappropriate for African family occupation (e.g., sharing bathrooms with strangers). These regulations also made it impossible for Africans to erect decent housing for themselves. Moreover, even the few employers (e.g., Kenya Railways) that provided housing for their African labor force limited such housing to bachelor rooms, thereby precluding African families from settling in cities. In addition, colonial pass laws that severely constrained the movement of Africans to and within urban areas were enacted. Collectively, these legal instruments created a sense of non-belonging among urban Africans. Over time, even those few lucky Africans who owned urban housing came to consider themselves as sojourners with “houses” rather than “homes.”

As might be expected, Africans and Asians resisted these exclusionary measures in various ways. At first they acted separately, but later they realized that unity is strength and began to coordinate their efforts.