The limit of community initiatives in addressing resettlement in Kurasini ward, Tanzania

Abstract

This paper describes the process adopted for the redevelopment of Kurasini ward in Dar-es-Salaam to allow for the expansion of the port. The redevelopment includes the resettlement of more than 36,000 people who have been living in various informal settlements within the ward. However, the resettlement and compensation offer nothing to most residents who are tenants. It has also failed to identify alternative sites for the displaced people. The paper describes how the Tanzania Urban Poor Federation (TUPF) and the Centre for Community Initiatives (a local NGO) are collaborating with the municipal authorities and the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements to develop alternative solutions for land and shelter for the displaced people. This includes the federation purchasing land and developing it, and also suggesting plot layouts that can cut unit costs. Drawing on this example, the author argues that in resettlement projects, national and local government agencies need to be fl exible in addressing the needs of all the urban poor, including not only the owners of the structures in informal settlements but also the tenants.KEYWORDS NGOs / owners / resettlement / structures / Tanzania Federation of the Urban Poor / urban poor / urbanization I. THE CONTEXT a. Urbanization in Tanzania and Dar-es-SalaamTanzania is a large country, with an area of approximately 940,100 square kilometres and a population of approximately 36 million. Of the total population, some 25 per cent live in urban areas, but the urban population is growing rapidly -at around 5 per cent a year -which is about twice the national rate. Despite government emphasis in the past on improving living conditions in the rural areas, rapid urbanization has continued. Investment in the public and private sectors has not kept pace with population growth in urban areas. Low levels of urban management capacity and inappropriate institutional arrangements have hampered the development of the urban sector.(1)Dar-es-Salaam is the commercial city of Tanzania. Due to a combination of high rates of natural increase and net in-migration, the city is growing at a rate of approximately 8 per cent per annum and suffers most of the endemic problems. With 70 per cent of the urban population accommodated in informal settlements, the ability of the city government

Using Empathic Design as a Tool for Urban Sustainability in Low-Resource Settings

“…In the case of Kuisebmond, the data consists of (1) several documents from an evaluation currently being done on the national mass housing program by the Namibian architectural firm Nina Maritz Architects [6,[40][41][42][43][44][45][46]; and (2) through field interviews and observations by one of the authors in 2016 [47]. In the case of Chamazi, the data comes from (1) discussions with the personnel of the NGO Centre for Community Initiatives and an article written by the managing director of the NGO [5,48]; (2) an article about community empowerment in subsistence markets studying the case of Chamazi [4]; and (3) from field observation by one of the authors in 2014 and 2015 [48]. In the case of Quinta Monroy, data comes from (1) a publication written by the architects behind the Quinta Monroy project [7]; (2) a critical scientific article on the case [49]; and (3) internet publications in Arch Daily [50,51], an internet portal, as well as one article in the Guardian [52].…”

“…For most of the inhabitants, this meant losing their homes, their neighbors and their livelihoods without compensation, as they were tenants [5]. The government did not provide the tenants that were evicted with any support.…”

“…The inhabitants were supported by the Tanzanian Federation of the Urban Poor (a sub organization for Slum Dwellers International) and the local NGO Centre for Community Initiatives (CCI) to create a platform for discussion and to make a numeration study on the inhabitants of the area, as no such data existed. This process led to the former inhabitants of Kurasini being able to purchase a plot of land and establish a new community in Chamazi with financial support from Slum Dwellers International [4,5]. This small urban community that is growing incrementally is thus created by the inhabitants themselves ( Figure 4).…”

“…The sewage and sanitation systems are innovative, and all wastewater is treated on site [48]. Single family one-story houses are not an efficient way of using land and adds to urban sprawl; however, the split of the normative size of a plot makes the site more densely inhabited than regular officially planned areas in Dar es Salaam [4,5].…”

“…To find these points, we have developed a sustainability model through a synthesis of the Quantifying Sustainability in the Aftermath of Natural Disasters (QSAND) and UN Habitat models designed for low-resource settings. The synthesis model is used to examine the architectural design process of three different examples of affordable housing in different parts of the world: Chamazi community in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania [4,5]; the national housing in Kuisebmond, in Walvis Bay, Namibia [6]; and social housing by Elemental Chile in Iquique, Chile [7]. These examples are representative in the context of our research because they all provide housing for less advantaged parts of the society, are situated in developing areas, and are carried out in different ways.…”