The city of Nairobi is situated at a well-defined natural boundary between two very different landscapes, that indeed was the principal reason for the choice of the location. To the south-east are the wide dry open bush lands that extend south towards Athi River, Tsavo and the coast. To the north-west, the topography rises suddenly towards the dramatic Rift Valley escarpment creating a lush, forested landscape of deep fertile soils and well-defined valleys whose small streams and rivers drain out into the Athi Plains.

Inevitably, as the Nairobi Central Business District becomes more intensely developed, the areas around it also become the target of redevelopment, and this has been a feature of the northern areas for many years now. Similarly, areas to the south of the CBD have begun to change, and numerous recent and current redevelopments are to be found in the South C area, especially in the vicinity of the Mombasa Road/Southern Bypass interchange. This Belle Vue Arch proposal is therefore part of this uplift and redevelopment process.