Session 5 - Dar es Salaam
Transformations taking place and shaping urban space in African cities are largely driven by the market/real estate sector without significant regulatory role of the state. Inadequate capacities of the central government and local authorities expound the growing challenge African cities are facing. Unfortunately, the private sector, the drivers of the market and the state which is the custodian of public interests in urban space formation and transformation are in a dilemma and caught up in protracted conflicts that emanate from dysfunctional space that is neither supportive of short nor long term interests of the public or the market. This paper will attempt to explore this phenomenon using findings from a study on urban land nexus in Dar es Salaam and Mwanza cities, Tanzania. One of main observations is that unregulated transformations have given rise to spontaneous innovations at grassroots, where local communities are creating informal platforms for negotiations and interventions. The questions that this paper will attempt to answers are: i) What are the dynamics shaping and transforming contemporary urban space in African cities? iii) How are local communities in urban settlements responding to the market-led transformation? iii) What are implications for planning practice and theory?
Related Publication
Three City Land Nexus Research Team (2020) Examining the Urban Land Nexus and Inclusive Urbanisation in Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, and Khartoum, Synthesis Report, Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and East African Research Fund (EARF)