The plight of urban settlements based on the proliferation of dichotomy in Tanzania

Abstract

The observation of the juxtaposition of formal and informal urban settlements in the commonwealth and sub-Saharan developing countries has been trending as a common mundane phenomenon in emerging and fast-growing cities. Dar Es Salaam is one of the largest, and most populous cities in Tanzania; the dichotomy of informal and formal settlement is ubiquitous in peri-urban areas and its urban vicinities where land evolves from village to urban. The dichotomy of urban settlements occurs when the public authorities do not satisfactorily provide public urban services which are customarily attributed to poor governance and policies formulated, financial deficiencies, and nonstrategic urban land development. Different strategies and approaches have been applied by the government for at least providing the proper infrastructure; however, most of the approaches are not well successful and deliver the expected results following the high cost of urban land development. To comprehend the urban typology and land development characteristics of Dar es Salaam, urban land transformation, and to detect the change in the built-up area, data from 1975-2020 were examined through remote sensing, and images with ArcView GIS and LADER. The field survey data analysis supported the cause of unplanned settlements and the limitation of urban land acquisition and development. The aim of this study is to analyze the built-up area growth through the years for the study area. The result showed that rapid urbanization and dramatic growth in built-up areas especially between 1990-2000 years were easily observed, financial deficiencies and conventional urban land development policies have a significant contribution to the thriving of dichotomy settlement. The study suggested that innovative urban land development must be integrated with conventional approaches to leverage urban land development and cater to sustainable urban development.