SURVEY AREA, MLALAKUWA Dar Es Salaam - Tanzania Jasper Boussaert, Núria Estarlich, Daniel Montes Urban Projects, Collective Spaces and Local Identities
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction and Methodology 2 Mlalakuwa Settlement: Survey Area 2.1 Location 2.2 History 2.3 Population 3 Macro-scale Mapping 3.1 Historical Urbanisation 3.2 Urban Morphology 3.3 Greenblue Grid 3.4 Important Roads 3.5 Important Places 4 Meso-scale Mapping 4.1 Important Roads 4.2 Important Places 5 Micro-scale Mapping 5.1 Connectivity and Density 5.2 Greenblue Grid 5.3 Built and Open Spaces 5.4 Open Spaces 5.5 Functions of Buildings 6 Human-scale Mapping 6.1 Master Plan 6.2 Actual Situation in University Road 6.3 Proposal in University Road 6.4 Actual Situation in the River 6.5 Proposal in the River 6.6 Actual Situation in the Park 6.7 Proposal in the Park 6.8 Actual Situation in the Shops Street 6.9 Proposal in the Shops Street 6.10 Sections for the Proposals 7 Conclusion
The study is based in a deductive approach, going from a big scale analysis to a more close up look to the functioning and the importance of the Mlalakuwa district inside Dar Es Salaam. First, some history about the town was investigated, to have a clearer view of how the urban fabric had been developed throughout the last 50 years, and then understand better the roots and the value of this district. Then, once some context was set with the help of the tutor, native to Tanzania, a macro-scale analysis was done in order to find the main connections with the city and the focal places around the settlement. Afterwards, in a medium scale it was intended to see how these connections and focal places affects to the neighborhood. Finally, an analysis of the settlement itself focused on the survey area was carried out with the goal of understanding how it really works and spot what is the collective space. At that point, from the analysis we extracted the threats that the settlement is facing as well as the main strenghs, weaknesses and opportunities. Then, some strategies are proposed through a master-plan followed by some examples of the actions that could materialize these strategies in a human scale scope. Finally, some conclusions are drawn where some of the difficulties that we have found and the learning we have aquired are explained.
INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY1
INTRODUCTION
The appearance and growth of informal settlements is a reality that is becoming a major issue in most metropoli located in the Global South. Normally, born from the need for a place to live of the population that is migrating to urban cores, these settlements don’t answer to minimum standards of what a home should be. As a consecuence of the lack, on the one hand, of affordable housing in the cities, and on the other hand, of caring about the territory connectivity, these circumstances are increasing and leading to worse life conditions for people that are looking for opportunites out of the rural areas.
In the frame of the course 'Urban projects, collective spaces & local identities', several ways to upgrade informal settlements have been researched during the semester. Among the study cases that were proposed, this work will expand on Survey area inside the Mlalakuwa neighborhood in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
METHODOLOGY
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanzania (2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dar_es_Salaam
SETTLEMENT: SURVEY AREA 2.1 Location 2
Source: Modelling informal settlements in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. By Fikreselassie Abebe Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanza nia, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands at the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Re public of the Congo to the west. Mount Kiliman jaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania. (1) Dar es Salaam is the largest city and former cap ital of Tanzania, located on the coastline close to the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba. Nearby the city centre, Mlalakuwa is an informal settlement located close to Dar Es Salaam University and Mlimani City Mall bordered by the Mlalakuwa riv er and the Bagamoyo highway on the north. Due to proximity to the equator and the warm In dian Ocean, the city experiences tropical climatic conditions, typified by hot and humid weather throughout much of the year. (2)
Sources:
MLALAKUWA
2.2 History 2
The British colonial rule came to power in 1916 by defeating the Germans, and led the coun try, the then Tanganyika, till independence in 1961. During those years Dar Es Salaam has made significant progress, and became the undeniable economic, political and cultural centre of the country. In the early years, the British proceeded with the segregation line of urban development already established by the Germans (Brennan, et al., 2007). In 1924 the town was clearly demarcated into three racially segregated zones. The Second World War signalled a turning point for the persistent and accelerated urbanization of the city.
Sources: (3) Charles Cosmas Mkalawa & Pan Haixiao (2014) Dar es Salaam city temporal growth and its influence on transportation, Urban, Planning and Transport Research, 2:1, 423-446. (4) Hossain, S; Scholz, W; & Baumgart, S. (2015). Translation of urban planning models: Planning principles, procedural elements and institution al settings. Dortmund: University of Dortmund.
Source: Modelling informal settlements in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. By Fikreselassie Abebe Dar es Salaam means “Haven of Peace” (Dari roof salama peace) in the Swahili language (3). It was a small coastal village with a handful of fishermen until it was converted into a small harbour and trading centre in 1867 by the Arab Sultan of Zanzibar, Sayid Majid. After the death of Sultan Majid in 1870, it experienced continuous decline and decay until 1887 when the German East African Company took con trol over the coastal strip in Tanganyika (pres ent mainland Tanzania) and subsequently converted Dar es Salaam into the new capital of German colonial rule in East Africa. After it became the administrative and commercial centre of the German East Africa Company in 1891, the settlement started growing signifi cantly. At the end of the 19th century, the city had an area extending about 2 kms from the coast into the surrounding area. (4)
MLALAKUWA SETTLEMENT: SURVEY AREA
MLALAKUWA SETTLEMENT: SURVEY AREA
The rural-urban migration was led by the perceived opportunity the city would present. The highly sig nificant urbanization in 1940s was made up with shortage in housing which had not been addressed to the scale of the demand. In the late colonial pe riod, substantial informal settlements appeared ac commodating the increasing population. The independence gained in 1961 offered a great merit that drove further development of the city. Racially informed urban governance was abolished once and for all, though eventual physical urban evo lution of post colonial time was highly influenced by late colonial urban development, both planned and unplanned. Since 1980s population growth stimu lated the proliferation of informal settlements and exceeded urban infrastructure. This population in crease accelerated land use change at the periphery of the city from local/rural inhabitants to new settlers who were trading middle-class or salaried citizens.
(7) Hossain, S., Sholz, W. and Baumgart, S. (2018) Territorialisation, urban planning and spatial order in Dar es Salaam. In U. Engel, M. Boeckler and D. Müller-Mahn(eds.) Spatial Practices: Territory, Boarder and Infrastructure in Africa, Leiden and Boston: BRILL, pp. 190-210.
2.2 History 2
(6) Basteck, T.; Hill, A.; Hühner, T.; Kreibich, V.; Lindner, C.; & Scholz, W. (2007). Intermediate report megacities Dar es Salaam. Trunk infrastruc ture and urban growth e Managing rapid urbanisation in poverty in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Dortmund: University of Dortmund.
Source: Translation of urban planning models: Planning principles, procedural el ements and institutional settings. By Shahadat Hossain, Wolfgang Scholz, Sabine Baumgart
The(5) linear development of Dar es Salaam that dom inated in the 1980s has now been supplemented by extensive urban sprawl in the surroundings of the major trunk roads, covering up to 40 kms to the west and the north. Large settlement areas, most ly unplanned and without basic infrastructure, have developed between the arterial roads, transforming agricultural land informally into building plots, espe cially for residential uses (6) The urban planning’s failure to respond to the grow ing urban needs has resulted into growth of infor mal land market and informal urban development. Between 70 and 80 per cent of the total urban areas of Dar es Salaam is informally developed built-up residential areas. (7)
Sources: (5) Fikreselassie Abebe. (2011). Modelling informal settlements in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Ethiopia: Addis Ababa University.
MLALAKUWA SETTLEMENT: SURVEY AREA 2.3 Population
Sources: (8) Hossain, S; Scholz, W; & Baumgart, S. (2015). Translation of urban planning models: Planning principles, procedural elements and institutional settings. Dortmund: University of Dortmund.
The high population increases, massive physical expansion, uncontrolled growth of informal settlements, informal periph eral expansion and absence of municipal services for a major ity of its population are a few of the issues that render today's Dar es Salaam a city with major challenges (8)
This city experienced continuous urban growth from colonial times up to today with several intermediate ups and downs. In 1913 it had a population of 22,500 on a land area of ap proximately 500 ha extending up to 2 kms along the coast line. The city expanded to 4 kms in 1945, covering an area of about 1200 ha and accommodating a population of 93,363 in 1957. Tanzania's independence and the withdrawal of co lonial migration restrictions after independence resulted in massive immigration into Dar es Salaam, as evident from its very high population growth of 11.3% for the period 19571967 and 7.8% for 1967-1978. Economic liberalisation in the mid-1980s and sub-sequent economic growth led to an on going higher annual population growth of 5.8% that has con tinued until the present day. Today, being a dominant economic, political and administra tive centre, Dar es Salaam continues to attract migrants from all over Tanzania. Its 4.36 million population now constitutes one third of the country's urban population, accommodated on an area of about 1350 km2
2
MACRO-SCALE MAPPING 3.1 Historical Urbanisation 3
URBANISATION19821975 500m Mlalakuwa district and its surroundings date from the late 1970s and the early 1980s, when the highest population growth was being experienced. They were the kind of settlements that appeared while the population rise en hanced land use change, from local/rural inhabitants to new settlers, transforming agricultural land informally into building plots, especially for residential uses.
MACRO-SCALE MAPPING 3.2 Urban Morphology 3
Around Mlalakuwa there are different settlement types such as chessboard style residential areas closer to the centre; some planned residential areas that were devel oped during the 1980s following the neighbourhood unit concept (site-and-service-scheme funded by the World Bank), being Sinza among those; and informal urban de velopment spreading along the main highways on former farm land under customary land tenure.
NeighborhoodChess-boardTransformedInformalMORPHOLOGYsettlementvillagestyleunit
Actually, that is something remarkable of this case study, informal settlements in Tanzania differ in terms of tenure security, structural quality of housing and social compo sition. Anyone who establishes a structure in an informal settlement has ‘perceived’ security of tenure coming from the National Land Policy. Land in Tanzania is owned by the state, and it is safeguarded by the President for the interest of all the citizens. This indicates that there is no private ownership of land, and bare land has no value but the existing structure upon it. This way, ten ure security has led to the use of permanent and mod ern building materials and thanks to this easier access to land, informal settlements in Tanzania host a wide range of socio-economic groups.
URBAN
500m
Being one of the first informal settlements, it can be seen that the green areas are quite consolidated, exist ing great non-built extensions next to Mlalakuwa. Appart from the open green spaces, there are several masses of trees in the hinterlands of the rivers that provide shelter and food contributing to a better ecologycal connectivi ty. Two rivers can be found in the area, the Mto Ng’ombe River which gets directly into the city center and the Mlal akuwa River which performs a border for the settlement and have a direct impact in the life of its inhabitants.
Open space GREENBLUEForestWaterGRID 500m
Mto Ng’ombeMlalakuwaMlalakuwa
MACRO-SCALE MAPPING 3.3 Greenblue Grid 3
MACRO-SCALE MAPPING 3.4 Important Roads 3 Bagamoyo Road Sam Nujoma Road Morogoro Road Shekilang Road University Road Tertairy roads Premier
IMPORTANTSecundaryroadsroadsROADSConnectivity(1m-6mwalk)
The urban structure of Dar-Es-Salaam resembles a four finger pattern following the four major arterial roads (to Bagamoyo, Morogoro, Pugu, and Kilwa), described as a diffusion process progressing in wave-like concentric rings from the city centre towards the periphery of the city in combination with broadening strips following the arterial roads. In this sense, Mlalakuwa is in a great location regarding to the connection with the city and the territory since it is attached to Bagamoyo Road and close to Morogoro Road, connected to them trough Sam Nujoma Road. This is another issue that makes this settlement different from what we normally understand as informal because people can be provided of goods more easily and at the same time access to other parts of the city.
500m
MACRO-SCALE MAPPING 3.5 Important Places 3 Ardhi UniversityMlimani City Mall University of Dar Es Salaam Lugalo Army Referral Hospital MagufuliTanzaniaHostelLaw School UbungoTerminalBus Mwenge IMPORTANTPlace(1m-6mConnectivityPLACESwalk) 500m
Thanks to the area’s good connectivity there are some city scale functions surrounding the settlement. Dar Es Salaam University and Ardhi University have important campus and faculties in this area which influences in the sort of inhabitats that live in Mlalakuwa, existing a great demand for student and professor accomodation. In ad dition, some main commercial places can be found such as Mlimani City Mall and Mwenge. Good connectivity makes this a good area to host these big functions.
MESO-SCALE MAPPING 4.1 Important Roads 4 Bagamoyo Road Main Mlalakuwa Road Sam Nujoma Road MakongoUniversityRoad Road Tertairy roads Premier
250m Bagamoyo Road and Sam Nujoma Road have an influ ence in the dynamics of the settlement since they allow it to be connected to the city, but once we start to zoom, it is discovered that University Road is the one that really marks the dynamics of the settlement. Mlalakuwa inhabi tants usually set off from this road to wherever they want to go. Besides, it is the road that makes up the access to the universities, so in the peak hours there are normally traffic jams. The main Mlalakuwa road goes through the middle of the settlement, dividing it into two halves if we look at the plan, but the reality is that this road doesn’t de fine a border since it is not paved formally. It just acts as the main road since the main commercial activity and the main flows are contained in it.
IMPORTANTSecundaryroadsroadsROADSConnectivity(1m-4mwalk)
MESO-SCALE MAPPING 4.2 Important Places 4 Ardhi University Mlimani City Mall PrimaryMlimaniSchool Full Gospel Bible Fellowship Church MwengeChurchTAG St.HospitalEdward's PrimaryMapambanoSchool Mama ReferralLugaloHospitalNgomaArmyHospital Mwenge IMPORTANTPlace(1m-4mConnectivityPLACESwalk) 250m
Ardhi University and Mlimani City Mall are the places that influence the most the dynamics of the settlement due to their scale and to its proximity since they are located at a walkable distance. Other important attractors (functions that draw crowds) such as some churches and hospitals are also located at the surroundings of the settlement. Basically it can be seen that inside the neighborhood there is no main attractor at city scale but only at the hinterlands of it, showing the informal character of the settlement.
Residents in Mlalakuwa settlement use public Daladala, Bodaboda, Bajaji and taxis as means of transport inside and outside the settlement. Bus stops are located along Sam Nujoma and University Road. Stations for motorcy cles and Bajaji at Savei-Darajani, Bulls Park Bar, DDC Mli mani Park, Mpakani Bus Stop and Mwenge are used as reference points. The bajaj, and bodaboda stations were not designed by anyone despite the fact that they are recurrently used by the outsiders as landing points. They normally ask the operators to guide them to reach the specific areas they want to visit. Most people in Mlalaku wa have handset-phones so they call, and get picked up easily.”
MICRO-SCALE MAPPING 5.1 Connectivity and Density 5 CONNECTIVITYCollectConnectAcces SURVEY AREA
HighPedestriandensity areas TaxiBus MotorBajaj 100m
In Dar Es Salaam, the waiting time at a bus stop is five min utes (this is not official since no public transport schedules exist); however, due to a shortage of buses, residents are forced to scramble when a bus pulls in, which means one would spend more time waiting for a decent opportunity to board a bus. It is because of this problem some mid dleincome earners tend to buy second-hand vehicles to meet their needs. As a consequence of heavy congestion during peak hours, some residents resort to using motor cycles. Motorcycles account for about 50% of traffic on main roads during peak hours.
A MICRO-SCALE MAPPING 5.1 Connectivity and Density 5 B A B C C Some pictures of the roads and means of transport
MICRO-SCALE MAPPING 5.2 Greenblue Grid 5 Green areas
Likewise, the river works as an edge for the settlement being able, at the same time, to host life for the com munity. Informal growth has allowed good ecological connectivity. Since the growth has been based on land acquisition and building a smaller construction than the plot itself, it has derived in open green areas that along with the trees provide a proper green structure.
In African cultures, nature is an important element of leg ibility of the space, being the trees landmarks that at the same time gather people playing the role of nodes as they provide shadow.
GREENBLUETreesWaterGRID 100m
MICRO-SCALE MAPPING 5.2 Greenblue Grid 5 Some pictures of the river
BUILT AND OPEN SPACES100m
This plan clearly shows the informally developed urban fabric as well as the composition of the open space. Some areas are more densified than others, being prob ably related to the income of the inhabitants. In previous analysis, it has been explained that one characteristic that makes Tanzanian informal settlements differ from other countries is that their social composition is mixed, there are people with different wage levels. Usually, these more densified areas locate close to the main streets since this is where most commerce are situated, and where a profit can be made inside the neighborhood. The less densi fied areas correspond normally to bigger plots with more formal structures, located away from the main busy roads as the owners may not get their income from inside Mlal akuwa. These situations shape a complex urban plan that diverges from the urban fabric located at the other side of the University Road where Mlimani City Mall defines a big stain which shows its importance not only as a city scale function but also as a built structure making a con trast with a great open space next to it. Similarly, Mlal akuwa urban fabric looks different from the other side of Sam Nujoma Road, where the formal neighborhood unit of Sinza performs a more western orthogonal pattern.
MICRO-SCALE MAPPING 5.3 Built and Open Spaces 5
MICRO-SCALE MAPPING 5.4 Open Spaces 5
5
MAPPING 5.4
MICRO-SCALE Open Spaces
After contrasting the built and open space, the next step is to find out how the open spaces actually are. Digging deep into the orthophotos and checking with some pictures of the settlement it has been discovered that most of the open spaces belong to private plots, and are surrounded by different types of fences that close them. Without this reading it is impossible to understand how the collective space really is and how much remains public. The open and private spaces plan should constitute the basis to every future proposal since it the most accurate representation of the dynamics of Mlalakuwa. There are around 5 bigger public spaces that normally conform parking lots. Next to the river, due to the vegetation, some space for the community can be found depending on the maintenance that is carried out. Finally, the main collective spaces seem to be the streets, that should be used not only as vehicle roads but also as spaces where meetings occur.
ResidentialShop+HouseCommercial Health
It can be observed that the most dominant landed prop erty found at Mlalakuwa are residential house properties. Furthermore, it can be observed that, commercial rent al spaces (frames) are the dominant commercial landed properties, which are found mostly along the main roads and the number decreases as you move into the interior parts of the settlement.
Care SocialEducational
MICRO-SCALE MAPPING 5.5 Functions of Buildings 5
MICRO-SCALE MAPPING 5.5 Functions of Buildings 5 DDC Park O ces / Businesses Shop + House Bar / RestaurantFuel MlimaniStationCity Mall Other TemporaryshopsStalls
We can distinguish different types of commercial build ings. There are ones more formalised such as the Mlimani City Mall and towers with offices and businesses. On the other hand, informal bars and restaurants along the road as well as informal vendors, are one of the most rele vant functions and where the dominant social activities of gathering are taking place. But at the same time, inside the settlement we find the most common type of commercial buildings, the frames (shops as a part of a house). These are houses that nor mally have a front verandah to the street and that is con verted into a shop. Therefore, the streets with frames are also the main places where social activities happen.
MICRO-SCALE MAPPING 5.5 Functions of Buildings 5 Mlimani City MallVendors along the roads A A DBC C B D
MICRO-SCALE MAPPING 5.5 Functions of Buildings 5 Source: Trading Facilities and Socio-spatial Character of Informal Settlements: The Case of Mlalakuwa in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania by Daniel A. Mbisso & Shubira L. Kalugila A B A B A street with shops opening (a front verandah) to the street. Frames. Shopping arcade along the streets of Mlalakuwa Section of a street with frames. A
MICRO-SCALE MAPPING 5.5 Functions of Buildings 5 Mlimani Studentsapartmentsapartments Shop + House DwellingsHostels
We can find different types of landed residential prop erty. There are two dominants: the frames, mentioned before; and the normal dwellings or residential housing. When dwellers have a big plot they divide the different rooms and transform them into independent units in or der to rent them. Other types of housing, as hostels and students apart ments are also very common. All this informality is con trasted with the formalised Mlimani Apartments.
MICRO-SCALE MAPPING 5.5 Functions of Buildings 5 A house with a frame at the verandah Apartments as a residential landed property Students Hostels / Apartments Mlimani Apartments
In this settlement we can also identify other types of functions, a part from the principal ones. These are the ones such as ed ucational buildings, from Ardhi University; social and religious buildigs; and buildings related to health care, such as pharma cies or hospitals. After having analysed all these area, we assume these secondary functions, but not less important, have also a strong influence on the surroundings.
MICRO-SCALE MAPPING 5.5 Functions of Buildings 5 Ardhi University Buildings Students apartments Community Hall TYPESChurchesOFSOCIAL BUILDINGS HospitalPharmacies
HUMAN-SCALE6.1MAPPINGMasterPlan6 Resting area Car MASTERPLANGatheringdisplacementareaNewconnectionStreetimprovement100m
HUMAN-SCALE6.1MAPPINGMasterPlan6
The research has been partly based on the residents' under standing of the built environment through Lynch's five ele ments legibility: nodes, paths, edges, landmarks and districts. That’s why the greenblue grid and the functions are essential to understand better how locals read the space. Urban nodes include bars, social halls, social clubs, religious buildings, gasoline filling stations, banks, garages, parking areas and education buildings. Landmarks include communi cation towers, electric transformers, high rise office buildings, and trees. Urban edges include roads, rivers, and bridges. Path include setbacks of buildings within the private proper ties. Districts are not apparent. Residents use references which are not seen from far to move in the landscape. Those include famous people's residences, old buildings, milling factories, road type (tarmac road), religious buildings, bus stops, taxis/ motorcycles/bajaj stands and bajaj stations.
We focused more on the nature of the nodes, since they are more related to the collective space in a usable way. They mainly correspond to semipublic spaces that depend upon other people to function. In a way, this is good because it is necessary to engage different actors to meet people, but it also shows the lack of actual public space in the broad sense of the concept, meaning that anyone could have access to it.
At the same time, the second strategy is related with the im provement of the main streets as collective spaces. It is known that for someone to want to stay somewhere is not only about creating a community but also about having an income. Up grading the commercial streets favors the transactions since a more comfortable and uniform space is created. Also, through strategic resting places where the streets get wider it is in tended again to boost the relations between the sellers and consumers as members of the same community. Finally, it will be promoted the connection of the settlement with the adjacent areas, breaking the barriers that the roads and the river perform today. Mlalakuwa is enclosed by its strong edges, but this should be improved so that the inhab itants can enjoy the surrounding open green spaces next to Mlimani City Mall and have a better walking connection with Ardhi University crossing the river. This will also allow to add value to the river and that the people respect and maintain it.
The first strategy is based on providing quality gathering space for everyone. This will also help to create a stronger sense of community since the best defense against gentrifi cation is an ongoing renewal of cooperation and exchange between the inhabitants. The sense of belonging with a com munity reinforces the roots of the population making more difficult for investors the acquisition of land. Several open public spaces have been selected from the plan that classi fied the open space, being two of them current parking lots whose displacement to the other side of the University Road would be fostered to gain them as gathering spots.
As a summary of the main features of Mlalakuwa, can be high lighted that is well located inside Dar Es Salaam, close to two of the main highways and surrounded by city scale complex es. The University Road makes up a kind of service supply line from where the neighborhood is nourished at the same time that hosts the main means of transport stops. People has land tenure security which derives in better quality for malized structures and a mixed social composition. The urban fabric presents more densified areas closer to the commercial streets while it is more open when we get away from those. The fences play an important role when defining the collec tive Fromspace.thisanalysis, some conclusions can be extracted. The main strengths of the settlement are related to its location and its dimensions since it is a walkable space. Due to the close existence of big scale functions such as universities and malls makes it an attractive place to make investments that can threat the dynamics of the locals and perform a kind of gentrification process. Besides, it has to be faced the lack of quality gathering space for everyone, presenting a weakness in the possible future strategies if the current properties are kept. However, there are several opportunities to confront these issues such as working with the river to include it in peo ple’s lives or developing the University Road as an interstitial space that can connect the settlement in a better way with the open space next to Mlimani City Mall.
HUMAN-SCALE MAPPING 6.2 Actual Situation in University Road 6 PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENTPRODUCEDVERSIONBYANAUTODESKSTUDENTVERSION Scale 1:300The University Road is a very important road at the edge of the settlement. Here are many functions (street vendors, bajaj stops, bus stops, bars, shops, etc.) that are important for the settlement, but also for the wider environment.
Scale 1:300As a result, the proposal makes an extra effort on this intersti tial space, whereby the possibilities for the wider environment are expanded but it is still in contact with the local settlement. A crossing place ensures better and safer contact here. In ad dition, concrete platforms are also provided for setting up the street vendors. On the side of the Mlalakuwa settlement the place will also be car-free, so that there is more room for meet ing.
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENTPRODUCEDVERSIONBYANAUTODESKSTUDENTVERSION
HUMAN-SCALE MAPPING 6.3 Proposal in University Road 6
HUMAN-SCALE MAPPING 6.4 Actual Situation in the River 6 PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENTPRODUCEDVERSIONBYANAUTODESKSTUDENTVERSION Scale 1:300On this place we see two paths along the Mlalakuwa river. One path comes from the university campus, the other from the settlement. We suspect that during dry times the river is crossed on foot at this place, an informal path as a shortcut between settlement and university. If it rains too much, this crossing is no longer possible and the route to school be comes much longer.
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENTPRODUCEDVERSIONBYANAUTODESKSTUDENTVERSION
HUMAN-SCALE MAPPING 6.5 Proposal in the River 6
Scale 1:300That is why the master plan provides for a crossing at this location, which in the proposal is seen as a bridge. In addi tion to this crossing, a meeting place is also provided at this location. By preserving the trees in this place but removing the bushes and high-growing herbs, we create a pleasant place on the water. The place offers comfort through various seating areas and is much safer due to its openness. This is a point of contact with the river to create respect for the river so that it does not become a dump site for waste.
This large open space is hardly used at the moment. A cause for this may be the lack of functions within the open space, but also the fact that the place is not a passage but an end point.
HUMAN-SCALE MAPPING 6.6 Actual Situation in the Park 6 VERSIONSTUDENTAUTODESKANBYPRODUCED PRODUCEDBYANAUTODESKSTUDENTVERSION VERSIONSTUDENTAUTODESKANBYPRODUCED
Scale 1:300
HUMAN-SCALE MAPPING 6.7 Proposal in the Park 6 VERSIONSTUDENTAUTODESKANBYPRODUCED VERSIONSTUDENTAUTODESKANBYPRODUCED PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION
Scale 1:300That is why various points are indicated in the master plan where a passage can be made on the plot boundary. In addition, the place is made into a large meeting place by adding various func tions (playgrounds, benches, etc.). It will be a meeting place for different people and different generations. This strengthens the community, which we believe is very important in the fight against gentrification of the settlement.
This zoom is a typical shopping street in the settlement. The streets are narrow and focus primarily on movement, with the various shops on the side. Because of this movement, there is also a need for peace and quiet, to deviate from the crowds. 1:300
Scale
HUMAN-SCALE MAPPING 6.8 Actual Situation in Shops Street 6 VERSIONSTUDENTAUTODESKANBYPRODUCED PRODUCEDBYANAUTODESKSTUDENTVERSION VERSIONSTUDENTAUTODESKANBYPRODUCED
That is why the master plan specifies different resting points that are in places where the narrow shopping streets become slightly wider, for example at an intersection. A pleasant place can then be created here with trees and benches. In addition, the shop ping streets are being improved in themselves, with interventions such as a stripe of uniform pavement attached to the buildings which sets the foundation of a formal street at the same time that gives a continuity that will allow commerces be more porfitable. It is already by its shape a tough street to go through with vehi cles, so it is not intended to take any further action in this sense. Since the proposed pavement will be sloped from the building to the permeable stripe of road it will allow the crossing of two vehicles.
Scale 1:300
HUMAN-SCALE MAPPING 6.9 Proposal in Shops Street 6 VERSIONSTUDENTAUTODESKANBYPRODUCED PRODUCEDBYANAUTODESKSTUDENTVERSION VERSIONSTUDENTAUTODESKANBYPRODUCED
PRODUCEDBYANAUTODESKSTUDENTVERSION
VERSIONSTUDENTAUTODESKANBYPRODUCED
AUTODESKDEESTUDIANTESPARAVERSIÓNUNACONCREADO PRODUCED BY
VERSIONSTUDENTAUTODESKANBYPRODUCED
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION
VERSIONSTUDENTAUTODESKANBYPRODUCED
AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION
PRODUCEDBYANAUTODESKSTUDENTVERSION
HUMAN-SCALE MAPPING 6.10 Sections for the Proposals 6 CREADO CON UNA VERSIÓN PARA ESTUDIANTES DE AUTODESK
AUTODESKDEESTUDIANTESPARAVERSIÓNUNACONCREADO AN
Shops PathUniversityStreetsRoadintheRiver
VERSIONSTUDENTAUTODESKANBYPRODUCED
CONCLUSION
The experience of working in the topic of the informal settlements has been so enrichising in many ways. We have faced and learned about a growing reality in most of the major cities in the glob al south which is going to be one of the biggest challenges to tackle for upcoming generations. Through reading several articles in the issue, debating about them and getting to know more upgrading projects thanks to our classmates presentations we have started too see with different eyes our future job, in a more colaborative way. We have discovered a different way of facing a project, being crucial the engament with the community and quite good knowledge about social, economic and political issues.
With this background of the first sesions we were able to start to put our case study on track. We chose Mlalakuwa in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, to apply the insight we were acquiring. At first it was quite difficult to start the analysis since it is such a different culture and we hadn’t much informa tion. We looked for some articles, and along with the help of our tutor we fortunately began to understand the urban fabric of Dar Es Salaam better and the reasons of the current situation in Mlalakuwa. And that is something so important, because when upgrading an informal settlement the understanding of its dynamics is essential for the plan to work. In this kind of projects, the ac ceptance of the community, so what would be ideal is to spend months talking with the inhabitants about their worries and their hopes for the settlement.
Since we don’t have means to go to the settlement, we tried, through a tough analysis, to get this understanding. We have worked in different scales which has helped us a lot to find the main strengths and opportunities as well as the weaknesses and threats that Mlalakuwa is facing. We decided to propose some simple strategies linked to the collective space to tackle the main issues, as we know that normally the budget is so limited. Community, connectivity and comfort were the main goals. We further developed some human scale approaches related with those strategies that were drafted in a master plan. We feel that a lot of work is still necessary to be done, above all, fieldwork. To success in upgrading informal settlements, get to know the community and take their opinions into account is probably the main moral that we can extract of this course.
CONCLUSION7