Building redevelopment and its implications on spatial qualities in Kariakoo area, Dar es Salaam city, Tanzania

Abstract

This paper analyses building redevelopment and its effects on spatial qualities in Kariakoo, an inner city settlement in Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania. Kariakoo is rapidly transforming from typically single storey Swahili type of buildings to multi-storey buildings. As a consequence of this transformation, a number of spatial quality problems have emerged such as blocked ventilation, poor day lighting, blocked site views and limited spaces between building resulting into dark and unused alleyways. Even though several plans have been made to guide redevelopment processes in this area, their realisation on the ground is uncoordinated. Development control is largely lacking and the ‘market led’ redevelopment   dynamics as depicted by plot-by-plot redevelopment of houses seem to overshadow spatial qualities design requirements. In order to address these shortfalls, the establishment of special authorities and adoption of land pooling have been suggested as possible avenues for facilitating flexible design and effective management of the on-going redevelopment processes. 

Key Words: Building redevelopment, Spatial qualities, Kariakoo and Dar es Salaam.