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Left page from left to right: 1. The image shows a neighborhood in the CBD. Houses are in good condition, however roads are not paved. 2. Group of houses along one of the main roads in Mwanza. These are lower rise and normally have a store in the front part of the house. The back part is normally the home of the store owner. It contains rooms and kitchen. 3. The houses are made of blocks, bricks and concrete and normally have an iron roof. 4. Building own by the housing company of Mwanza. These are categorized by their color and a stamp on the facade that indicates the owner. This building is in good shape and contains 3 floors of apartments and one floor that serves for commercial purposes. 5. Building of apartments owned by the housing company. The stamp can be seen in its facade. This building requires maintenance. 6. . Building of apartments owned by the housing company. This room requires maintenance. Source: Personal archive.
population. In addition, the average occupancy rate per room is 4 persons. Out of these tenants we can sort out the following breakdown:
Owner occupier - 36% Tenants in Private Houses - 34% Tenants in NHC houses - 26% State institutions - 4%
Which means that only 36% own a house while the rest of the population in the CBD is renting a house. Aside from the amount of housing in the center it is worthy to mention the physical state of such. The quality of houses differs from one place to another. Within the CBD we found a greater quality compared to the unplanned settlements. These are built with concrete blocks, bricks and/or metal roof. Nonetheless, we have found deteriorated buildings, some of which need partial or complete renovation. Informal settlements are normally build in hilly areas as
Bugando, Isamilo and Igogo. “Studies (Fieldwork 2006) have revealed that in 2005 and 2006 a total of 40,081 and 3,583 houses respectively were built in the unplanned areas. Out of the total 43,664 structures 65.1% were built of mud and poles and were thus of poor quality. Only 34.9% were built of permanent structures’ material and thus were of good quality.”7 Regarding a more general use of land, the central area is of mixed land use. “The central part of the central area between Nyerere, Makongoro, Station road and the lake shore is primarily an office zone with private and public institutions.” Some of the buildings in this area are the central government offices, state organizations, CCM building, Bank of Tanzania, 3 National Bank of Commerce Branches and a CRDB Bank Branch. The area along Rwegasore road and Pamba road has several service industries particularly saw mills and carpentry workshops. The rest of the central area is dominated by commercial and residential uses, market, bus stands and 7 Mwanza Master Plan Draft Report 2007 P.73
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educational facilities, however the land assigned to only housing is very little. Along Lumumba road many residential buildings were transformed to commercial uses (see the map in the next page).8 Lastly, it is worthy to mention that commercial activities comprehend wholesale shops, retail shops, specialized and professional businesses, restaurants/hotels, guest-houses/lodgings and commercial banks. Major commercial establishments are concentrated along Nyerere, Kenyatta, Uhuru, Lumumba, Rwegasore, Pamba and Station roads.
ii. Opportunity areas The current situation in Mwanza points out several issues that need to be addressed. These are merely opportunity areas where is obvious that the city should intervene. Based on the current situation and the findings from our field trips below are concise issues that are important to 8 (Regional Town Planning Office, 1993)P.11
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focus on: • Uncontrolled sprawl: The growth around the city of Mwanza that these number show gives a clear idea of the increase of population moving from rural to urban areas. Also, it adds pressure in the CBD to accommodate the land and provide enough healthy housing for the population. In addition, according to the current population and growth rate mentioned on the first chapter, Mwanza should be ready to provide housing for approximately 500,000 new residents each year. • Increase of informal settlements: As seen before, currently the government is unable to provide land to all the population, hence the informal settlements continue to expand at a rapid rate. This uncontrolled growth adds insecurity, an unhealthy environment and accentuates the gap between social classes. • Overcrowding: Due to the condition of the current housing buildings people, and as statistics show us, people are being force to share small spaces with a lot
HOUSING AND LAND USE 1993
CBD New Boundary CBD Old Boundary Open Spaces Commercial Residential Commercial Institutional/Public Space Under Construction Schools and Religious Buildings
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of persons. This overcrowding can lead to diseases, unhealthy environments and violence. Therefore, it is important, not only to provide housing for all, but to ensure that the quality of those spaces is a place to live with dignity. • Situation of buildings: As mentioned before the houses within the CBD have been neglected and are in state of decay. This is not only an unhealthy environment for the families but it also shows the residents a constant feeling of decay, which later results in a culture that doesn’t respect its surroundings. • Costs: Another latent issue is the high construction costs and lack of local materials in the city. It is very expensive for particular owners and construction firms to build. Hence, there is an increase on the use of cheap materials and buildings become rapidly deteriorated. This points out an important business opportunity for the city to create industrial work that would be able to produce local and sustainable materials which would improve the construction area.
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• Commerce predominates in the area: Currently commerce predominates in the CBD which sounds logical as it is fulfilling one of the primary goals of a city: provide a space for transactions. However, it also raises important questions for the future. This kind of land use is pushing housing and public spaces away from the city center, which might result in an uncontrolled urban sprawl and, as we saw in the previous chapter, it might create transport, social and economical issues in the future. Therefore, it is important to plan for diverse forms of use within the CBD. This will ensure that, no matter what happens in the future the CBD will have the flexibility to adapt to new ways of life. The opportunity points mentioned above are only some of the main issues in the city, however these are, what I consider, cornerstones for the city’s development. Thus, it is fair to say that housing and land use involve a bigger analysis with the help of different actors. Nonetheless, the next subtopic contains specific examples on how two of these opportunity areas have developed in other coun-
Housing Construction in Unplanned Settlements in Mwanza City (1986-2006) Period
Number of Constructed Houses
Number of Added Houses
Up to 1986
2,726
-
1987-1990
10,578
7,852
1991-1993
14,628
4,050
1994-1996
25,000
10,372
1997-2000
30,000
5,000
2001-2006
43,633
13,633
Source: City Urban Planning Department, 2006
Existing Land Use Composition Land Use
Area in HA
Percentage
Institutional
13.06
16.5
Commercial
1.5
1.8
Residential
2.57
3.2
Commercial/Residential
17.4
22.0
Service Industries
2.7
2.7
Planned Open Space
2.08
2.6
Transportation Terminal
3.04
3.8
Hills & Rock Inselbergs
3.03
3.9
Roads
13.0
16.5
Incidental Open Spaces
21.15
27.0
TOTAL
79.00
100
Source: (Regional Town Planning Office, 1993) P.12
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Lo Barnechea Right page from left to right: 1. With a 10,000 subsidy from the government the firm was able to buy the land, provide services and design a very small house for the family. 2. However, the architects came up with an idea of producing a home unit that will cost the same price, but that would allow the family to expand through the years as they see fit. Starting home: 44 m². Home expanded: 69,20 m². 3. The third image shows the initial state of the slums. People living there have barely access to water. 4. Image shows a playground near the social houses. Architecture doesn’t have to be expensive. 5. New neighborhood of social housing. 6. Another view of the complex. Source: (Hustwit, 2011) and (Elemental , 2014)
tries; thus, provide an insight on the best way to approach these.
iii. Example Before pointing out solutions, I consider necessary to mention some successful and unsuccessful strategies that have taken place around the world, therefore, the following example takes place in Chile. Santiago De Chile has a population of 7.2 million inhabitants. This city is currently working on the process of urbanization; this means that people moving from rural to urban areas is happening so quickly that it is happening in the forms of slums. Therefore, in order to ease the flow of people coming into cities a private practice, called Elemental, took the task to create quality in the current social housing. In Lo Barnechea project, the most important thing was the location rather than extra meters of house. So the
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goal was to provide low income settlers a house that: would have a very good location, wouldn’t cut out any infrastructure services, would be big enough for a family and would be cheap. With a subsidy from the government and the investment of Elemental, the families would be able to own a house that they could modify over time. So instead of building a tiny home Elemental built “half a house” with the resources they had; this would allow families to expand their home through time according to their needs and preferences. The design included families sitting with the stakeholders in order to tell what they would want. As a surprise this process allowed the stakeholders to understand what was more relevant in the design. For example, what would people prefer, a water heater or a bath tub? Since their was not a lot of money people were given the choice, and in 100% of the cases everyone chose a bath tub. Decision makers, politicians and professionals normally tend to answer the water heater, but for families that were used to live under conditions with no water and shower, having a bath tub that will bring them priva-
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The next page from left to right: 1. Bird view from Urban sprawl in Arizona. This has become a landmark for the air traffic. 2. Bird view Urban sprawl. 3. The houses have become the exact same copy of each one producing a lack of diversity. 4. Even the stores and retails have adopted the same kind of monotonous architecture. 5. More store fronts with the same style of architecture. 6. The image shows a congested highway during peak times. More roads have produce more cars thus the commuting times have also become longer. Source: (Hustwit, 2011)
cy was far more important. And more importantly when they moved in, they didn’t have the money to pay for gas bill to heat the water.9 It can be seen how design, architecture, and urban planning help this families to achieve the middle income standard in the future and this is how the quality of a design should be measured. Normally this is not the way we design and plan for our lower classes, however it makes a very big difference.
was an American journalist, author and activist which recognized that the social infrastructure combined with the urban fabric was what defined a city at its best. Hence, the interaction and closeness was what gave the city its character. However, after the war the American dream was to own a piece of land in the suburbs, where having a car was consider an upgrade of the current life. However, as people started to move out of the city their was a loss of the civic center.
This illustrates how informal settlements represent a growing issue among developing cities around the world. Particularly in Mwanza, it raises important issues that should be considered in the developing of a new plan. Moreover, the closeness of Pamba ward to the new CBD introduces what can be a positive and good opportunity to raise the income level of the families housed in the area.
This was experienced specially on the sun belt states of the United States, where every house became the exact same model and even every store followed the same architectural model. And, what was first seen as the American dream, it later became just a vast city in the dessert in which driving long distances became the norm.
As another example let’s take the case of Jane Jacobs. She
Unlike Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s capital, Mwanza is still a low rise city and, although some high buildings can be found in the city center, the city is still growing mostly in a
9 Paraphrased from (Hustwit, 2011) and (Elemental , 2014)
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City Scape analysis according to Mwanza’s landscape. The diagram below shows the highest points within the CBD, those being C
CAPRI POINT
1300
HEART OF T 15 Stories
1200
1220
1226
1220
1218
22 Stories
17 Stories
1214
1190 1170
1168
1162 1156
1154 1146
1144
1146
1142
1100
1000
horizontal than vertical direction. However, it is important to notice that the growth is also resulting in overcrowding. Therefore, it is important to consider that densifying the CBD will allow, according to Jane Jacobs, for the urban fabric to melt with the social happenings at the same time that it alleviates the growth and the overcrowding.
iv. Approach In the last two examples we reviewed the importance of strengthening the informal settlements with participatory design and the importance of densifying the CBD in order to keep the importance of the civic center and the social life in it. Based on them and on Mwanza’s opportunity areas, following are concrete approaches to achieve the part of the objectives mentioned before: • Densifying the center: This is one of the key elements in the land use strategy. As we have seen before, Mwanza is growing at a fast rate, however if this growth is not controlled it might result into urban
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sprawl which immediately result in an exhaustive use of city and natural resources. As Power explains, “renewing existing homes and communities would increase the population density of built-up areas, lead to greater social integration, reduce land use, energy consumption and transport needs, and generate greater urban viability. It would maximize the value of the existing infrastructure, which would be a huge cost saving. It would renew existing neighborhoods by attracting new resources and renovating buildings while reducing energy use and waste. It would revalue existing older property. This would in turn attract investors to small abandoned sites, scattered liberally within existing neighborhoods and encourage high-density infill development, leading to more mixed communities and better services.”10 Therefore, densifying the center will create a compact city which is easier to manage and invest in. In addition, citizens will switch to sustainable forms of transportation and the city save money in infrastructure. 10 (Power, 2007)
1146
Capri point and the Mbugani ward. The buildings are represented in different heights in order to avoid surpassing these points.
THE CBD
INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS 1284
14 Stories
10 Stories
1272
4 Stories 1190
1196
1232
1198
1180
1144
1143
1144
1146
1148
• Slums upgrade: The integration of the informal settlements to the CBD is another key point, which will not only resolve a housing issue, but consequently improve the equality of the citizens. This is an issue that has commonly been unforeseen in the western civilizations, which has lead to an obvious division of classes. While the western civilization has tried to build the cities around the strong economical class, the medium and lower classes have suffered. Therefore, investing on infrastructure for the informal settlements area will automatically upgrade their housing status. Eventually this will result in the integration of these areas to the normal city life (see public spaces subtopic for more information regarding this strategy). • Land use modification: In the last urban plan Mwanza had less population and a CBD of 79 ha, however, due to the increasing number of inhabitants the CBD has been forced to change. As mentioned before, it now contains 460 ha, so its important that the land use is modified in order to meet the future needs. The map
in the next page explains the assigned areas: PG - Public and Green Spaces: Refers to all those places which are available for the public and consist of green areas and may also include public amenities. Examples of these spaces are: parks, open spaces, interim greens, park connectors, promenades, nature reserves, nature areas ,water bodies, refreshment stands, playgrounds, temporary architecture, pop up furniture, sports fields, markets, amenities, and/or theaters. These spaces are open to all public and are always available to citizens. In these spaces the build environment should not exceed the green areas (see public spaces subtopic for more information regarding this strategy). HC - Housing and Commerce: These areas are reserved for housing and commerce facilities. At least 50% of the 1st floor facing a road must be reserved for commercial use. Minimum building height is 8 and maximum 22 floors. Medium and high density area according to the Urban Planning and Space
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Standard Regulations 2011.11 A minimum of 1 parking slots/120 m2 must be reserved, except where parking restrictions apply (see traffic subtopic for more information regarding this strategy). Upper floors are reserved for residential facilities. B - Business Area: Consists of areas dedicated to the business sector. Area is reserved for commerce and business facilities. At least 50% of the 1st floor facing a road must be reserved for commercial facilities. Minimum building height is 6 and maximum 16 floors. Minimum of 1 parking slots/100 m2 must be reserved. Maximum of 20% of the floor area in upper floors can be reserved for housing. GPG - Government, Public and Green Areas: Public building area. Area is reserved for public buildings and offices. Area surrounding buildings must be reserved for open public space. Housing facilities are not allowed. Value of cultural heritage must be taken into consideration. In these spaces the build 11 (Subsidiary Legislation, 2011) P.2
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environment should not exceed the green areas. H - Housing: Area is reserved for housing facilities. Maximum building hight is 5 floors. At least 30% of plot area must be reserved for garden area. Medium and high density area according to the Urban Planning and Space Standard Regulations 2011.12 ER - Educational and Religious: Area is reserved for educational buildings. Safe and healthy pedestrian connections must be reserved. At least 30% of plot area must be reserved for garden area. Value of cultural heritage must be taken into consideration. • Building quality: Lastly, it is important to mention that the construction quality of every building is important to achieve; however, it requires of a job industry that is also willing to provide it. This is a job opportunity for the city’s future that should be looked more into, with the objective to discover new and sustainable technologies. 12 (Subsidiary Legislation, 2011) P.2
HOUSING AND LAND USE STRATEGY
CBD New Boundary PG - Public and Green Spaces HC - Housing and Commerce B - Business Area GPG - Government, Public and Green Areas H - Housing ER - Educational and Religious W - Water Section A - A'
1: 15000
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“In great cities, spaces as well as places are designed and built: walking, witnessing, being in public, are as much part of the design and purpose as is being inside to eat, sleep, make shoes or love or music. The word citizen has to do with cities, and the ideal city is organized around citizenship -- around participation in public life.� Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking
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Public Space As much as housing, public spaces also play a key role in the city life. In the early 60’s there was a plan to build several major highways in Greenwich village, the neighborhood where Jane Jacobs was living. So, being a journalist and activist, she started to write about what the planners were not seeing. She was looking at the perspective of someone in the street rather than in the skyline. She talked about the importance to have eyes in the street and make it a safer and more comfortable space. She recognized that the moment that you take someone and put it in a housing block you lose the fundamental social infrastructure that makes a community possible. Where people met informally was no longer close to where people were living; so much effort was going into planning the housing units that designers forgot to think about where do kids play, or where do mothers take care of them? Cacciari ponders in the idea, is it possible to live without a place? Is it possible to inhabit there, where no places are shaped? If we continue to be from places, how could we
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not want places? Public space is an essential part of the city as it can serve as an equalizer to a more inclusive society. In these spaces people have the opportunity to meet as equals as they are prone to perform the same kind of activities: meet friends, enjoy the city, get their mind of work, socialize. However if these spaces are neglected in the city it might originate social problems that are later more difficult to solve. As an example: “the upper-income executive goes home to a large house, probably with a garden, has access to sports clubs, country houses, restaurants, expensive cultural activities and trips abroad. The low-income person and his or her children live in a very small dwelling and the only alternative to television for spending their leisure time is public space accessible for pedestrians.”13 Green spaces might be the best solution for inclusion, quality of life and happiness level. As we have seen, the lowest income class eventually has access to the new technology, washing machines, appliances for home, televisions, and ultimately everyone will have access to 13 (Peñalosa, 2007) P.311
CURRENT PUBLIC SPACE
1
CBD New Boundary Green Areas 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Fish Market Waterfront Park Regional Comissioners Residence Municipal Park Waterfront Open Space Bismarck Point Nyamagana Stadium Public Park Mirongo River Market Square South Waterfront Nyamagana Hill
3 2
4 5
9
6 7
8 10
11 12
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computers. However, they will not have access to public spaces, sport facilities and different forms of leisure if the government doesn’t provide them. “Open spaces are precious because neglecting to acquire and secure them today is not something that can be remedied easily in the future. It would be extremely difficult to purchase and demolish hundreds of buildings in order to create green spaces.”14 Therefore, the following section describes the current situation in public space in Mwanza and points out relevant issues regarding the open spaces in the city. In addition, new strategies are given in order to improve the green and public spaces in the urban area.
v. Current situation Public spaces refer to facilities or spaces for relaxing purposes. These might include buildings such as theaters, cinemas, sports halls, and music halls; in addition open 14 (Peñalosa, 2007) P.311
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spaces are also part of these spaces and they might be parks, stadiums, playgrounds, zoos, etc. Regarding the spaces in Mwanza, the city has few open spaces for recreational purposes. One of those is the Nyamagana stadium with a capacity of 20,000 people with an area of approximately 1.8 hectares. This space is used for local sporting activities particularly football, netball and volleyball. This stadium is under the Municipal council, however is poorly maintained. Aside from this, the CBD doesn’t have available spaces for sports or hobbies. The city also counts with green and natural spaces, unfortunately some of them are not available for the public and the rest are not enough for the population or the are not well maintained. The areas open for the public are: a public park located in front of the CCM Headquarters with an area of 3,100 m2; the second is a green area which has been built with the help of the city of Tampere along the waterfront; and lastly the waterfront, which currently is used by informal sellers, trash dumps and fishery. Although these are areas open for public, the are in urgent
The next pages from left to right: 1. CBD public park. 2. The public spaces are filled with street vendors and they come up sporadically. 3. The waterfront is nowadays full of improvised commerce. 4. Road leading to the fish market along Makongoro Road. 5. - 6. Random roads showing the use of public space. 7. - 8. Park in front of the CCM Headquarters. 9. - 10. View of the park created in cooperation with Tampere’s city. 11. -12. Bismarck point.
need of maintenance in order to provide clean, healthy and safe places. Other green areas that exist in the city but are not open to the public are: the Bismarck point that has been renovated with the help of private investors, the municipal park and the surrounding park around the Regional commissioner’s residence. Lastly, it is worth to mention that there is another green space in the city with a big potential, this is the riverside. Sadly, nowadays serves as the back side of houses and it carries a lot of solid waste to the lake. In regards to public facilities and for leisure time Mwanza has two cinema halls: Liberty and Tivoli, however these have been neglected and few people frequent them. There are also hotels which include dancing halls and clubs like New Mwanza Hotel, Lake, Pamba and Shinyanga. In addition, “there are three social halls which are invariably used as conference halls, wedding social functions and meetings. These include one located and near the
Source: Personal archive.
CCM Kirumba stadium, the Manhatan Memorial Center and the one in Mirongo ward.”15 However, the city currently lacks a conference hall to accommodate at least 500 people. The current existing halls accommodate only 250 people. Nowadays there is an ongoing construction of a shopping mall that will host stores and will serve as a public space for people. Though this shopping center will promote commerce, it is not counted as a public space within the city since it makes the difference between classes bigger, as it will lure only residents to shop. Lastly, the Lake Victoria and Mirongo River are public spaces that are currently not taken care of. According to Mwanza Master Plan for the city: “Increased rate of population growth in Mwanza City has contributed a lot to a massive pollution of Mirongo River. People have built haphazardly along the river banks. Most of the houses situated on the banks have their respective pit latrines 15 (Mwanza City Council in collaboration with Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, 2007) P. 65
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and septic tanks directly connected to the river leading to sewage water flowing directly into the river. Open defecation is commonly done along the river channel. Likewise, a number of garages and petrol stations contribute further in degrading the water quality of Mirongo River. After car washing and service activities the produced waste water possesses traces of crude oil (petroleum) which are also being discharged openly into the river.”16 In addition it is very common to residents to pour trash into the river. This is highly seen specially in the areas of Mbugani and Mabatini, around the CBD. This problem worsens specially during the rainy season, when all the trash and water is carried down to the Lake Victoria. The contaminants normally start at the river mouth, and increase with the market generated food remains. It is worthy to mention that this is one of the areas that has more potential on becoming an important public space, not only in the CBD but in the city, and is one that 16 (Mwanza City Council in collaboration with Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, 2007) P.36
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has been seriously neglected. vi. Opportunity areas Based on the current situation and field notes the following are concrete opportunity areas detected in Mwanza: • • • • • • • • •
Lack of public open spaces. Lack of spaces for people to perform sports. Public spaces are not safe after evening. Waterfront doesn’t belong to the public and it currently serves as left space. There is a lack of spaces for leisure, conferences, sports, wondering, etc. Some of the most beautiful green areas in the CBD are not public. Riverside is full of solid waste and is currently underused. Green areas are not close enough for all residents and are poorly maintained. Housing ratio is too dense and there is barely any playgrounds for kids or parents .
• Most of the current public activities involve commerce. • Contamination of Lake Victoria and Mirongo River due to the trash that other wards are generating along the city. • Open spaces serve as junkyards for solid waste. • Market place is neglected and currently in unhealthy conditions.
vii. Example Copenhagen, Denmark, has been one of the first cities around the world to be concerned about the public life. Already in the 60’s decade studies were performed and several initiatives were taken in order to improve the public life. Jan Gehl, an architect and urban planner, is a follower of Jane Jacobs steps. He believes that if people get involved in social activities they will forget place an time and just enjoy. He came to this conclusion after performing several studies in the dwellers behavior when they were in the city.
Therefore, in his book How to study public life, he takes the Danish capital as an example. In 1962 Copenhagen’s main street, Stoget, was turned into a pedestrian street, however it was a difficult task to achieve, for as Gehl explains people were firmly believing that “We are Danes, not Italians, and car-free public space is never going to work in Scandinavian weather and Scandinavian culture”; nonetheless, the street was closed. In 1962 just when the crisis of Fordism became apparent to the world, this was an avant-garde initiative. However, the Danish took a good example of how Germany was reconstructing its city just after the World War II. “In these cities as well as in Copenhagen, the motive was primarily to strengthen trade and give customers in the inner city more room and better conditions for shopping. While that was indeed good for customers, it also proved beneficial for the inner city, as downtown was increasingly forced to compete with the new, American-inspired shopping centers that began sprouting up on the outskirts of cities in the 1960’s.”17 At the end, despite all the arguments against, the new pedestrian street became very popular. It extended to 1.1 17 (Gehl & Svarre, 2013) P.151
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kilometers along several blocks and it was 11 meters wide and the pedestrian intake increased to 35% the first year. Another important thing is that the eye can not perceive more than 100m x 100 m. This is the distance where you can see other people and movements, but if it gets bigger and bigger a person can feel less comfortable. With this it is important to understand that the main characteristic of space is people. We are really talking about the needs of a homo-sapient, and homo-sapient are the same all around the world.18 Gehl also believes that in order to understand the vitality of a public space within a city, it is not needed to look at how many people are working in the city but how many have stop to enjoy what is there. Nevertheless, design details play a very important role on this. There should be many reasons why someone should want to come into a place. For instance, movable chairs allow you to socialize or be by yourself. One can move them, create bigger groups, or just be by oneself. This flexible environments 18 (Hustwit, 2011)
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attract a lot of users. The next pages contain a series of images that reinforce this idea. The images tell us that people go out to public spaces either by need or by choice. Where need is something that happens in any kind of environment, the choice to go out only happens when the city provides friendly, beautiful spaces. Therefore, people can go to public space for several reasons, may it be just a need of air or socializing. Therefore, giving people things to do outside and provide a good quality of public spaces will attract more users. In another example regarding public space we found the phenomenon of the pop up culture. Nowadays, according to Peter Bishop, executive chief of the London Development Agency, we live in a “Liquid Modernity� where we have enough data and facts but where we are uncertain of the future. So the pop culture is working to revitalize spaces and create happenings in any kind of scenario. For example, the concept of pop up coffee shops or restaurants are gaining acceptance in London, to the point that
The image below from left to right: 1. Top left: Amagertorv, Copenhagen view from the south 1953. Bottom left: Same view from 2013. 2. Top right: Gammeltorv/Nytorv, Copenhagen view 1954. Bottom right: Same view from 2006. Copenhagen, Denmark is one of the first cities in the world to perform urban and people studies. These studies have played a key role in the development of the city and the quality of life of its residents. The changes achieved have made the local government and the business community to gradually began to see the investment in public life as a valuable tool for development.
Source: (Gehl & Svarre, 2013) P. 150 - 154
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The image on the left called, The function of the city for people, corresponds to a study called “People in cities” by Jan Gehl. These images show in a clear way what the city represents for people and how the users would normally use it. These examples are taken from a study The image above shows a study that was performed in 1968 by Jan Gehl called “People on foot” This shows the activities that people normally perform, either by option or by need. In our current days this study should also include a variation of activities such as: talking on cell phones, smoking in public spaces and other kind of exercise.
Source: (Gehl & Svarre, 2013) P. 91, 16.
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The images in the right from left to right: 1. Urban farms. 2. Bike lanes are being created by citizens. 3. “Guerrilla” group gardening in a sidewalk. 4. Users take of parking spaces to convert it into a green living room. 5. Urban furniture is a powerful initiative that lures people to the spaces. 6. Pedestrian walkways, bicycle lanes and markets have the power to revitalize any kind of space. Source: (George Webster, CNN, 2011) and Personal Archive.
it has become very natural to see this kind of happenings everywhere around the city. What this is telling the urban planners is that people are taking the public space and making it theirs. They are saying that as a citizen you don’t need permission to use the city. This is the basic idea of living in a city!, to be able to enjoy it, and acknowledge its space. To feel like home everywhere in the city. Thus, along with this culture different groups have started to emerge. As an example the “guerrilla group” is taking spaces in the city and converting them on urban farms or gardens. In the other hand cyclists have realized that they don’t need the politicians to approve an expensive plan of bicycle lanes, instead they are doing it. Overall, these groups are showing to everyone is that it is important to: value what is there, nurture the possible and define what is missing, in order to allow the next generation to take work forward. We are in a decade of urban obsolescence were our traditional forms of planning the city are no longer working. Thus, we need to give room to
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the idea that spaces are temporary and that they are in constant mutation. At the end planning for a flexible CBD in Mwanza will allow the city to be more resilient through time and friendly with its inhabitants.
viii. Approach Previously, the Housing and Land Use Strategy, already contained public and green spaces reserved within the CBD. As stated before these refer to the places that are available for the public and consist of green areas and may also include public amenities. Notice that these areas are separated into a 300 meter radius that provide users a constant flow between green and public spaces. In addition the government, religious and educational areas are included in the scope of public spaces as a reason to keep all these integrated and open for public. Having them as open as possible for public makes them available and users are more willing to use the surrounding space as space for happenings. Thus, the next points contain more information about each one.
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• Vitalization of the waterfront: Water is an essential element for human kind, and one that brings the best comfort to our public spaces. In Mwanza, this is a cornerstone for the city’s development; to promote equality by creating accessibility to public spaces for everyone. Hence, the plan shows the spaces along the river and lake that should be reserved and improved for public life. These spaces should consist of parks, urban furniture, local vegetation and unlimited access for everyone. • Creation and access to parks and reserves: The creation of parks and the access to the now restricted green areas is an essential strategy in the public spaces plan. These parks should be well maintained in a regular basis and should provide comfortable, friendly and safe environment for the residents. • Redesign of public space areas: Although is important to assigned public areas to the city, it is essential to nurture them and integrate urban furniture and cre-
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ate happenings in order to give residents a reason to use these areas. Therefore these areas should be well illuminated, should provide sitting and resting spaces and holistic furniture for all ages (see subtopic People Power and Safety for more information about this). • Green areas in housing facilities: In addition to public spaces, it is important for Mwanza to promote life between buildings, in other words, parks and playgrounds for the housing facilities are extremely necessary for the residents. As we mentioned before, it is important to have eyes in the street and make it a safer, more comfortable space and encourage communities (see subtopic People Power and Safety for more information about this). • Market place development: The market area is one of the city’s most characteristic traits, hence, it is important to provide clean facilities that would be able to host the current demand for market places. Unifying the market area would bring great value to the pedestrian life and tourism.
PUBLIC SPACE STRATEGY
CBD New Boundary PG - Public and Green Spaces GPG - Government, Public and Green Areas ER - Educational and Religious Other 300 meters radius
1: 15000
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“Traffic congestion is caused by vehicles, not by people in themselves.” Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities
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Transport There is a constant debate going in our cities, what are we asking from our cities, what is the benefit of their proximity, and what are the best means of transportation solutions? The challenges that we currently face are the long commuting times, the amount of money spend on traveling and the ecological footprint that we are leaving in our planet. This is true for undeveloped as for developed countries, they both need an efficient solution with down to earth scale that will allow them to have human interactions, complexity and public life. However, in order to achieve a good solution we need to understand that any kind will directly affect our city form. Therefore, we end up asking us the same question, what do we want to experience in a city? Sadly today our cities are force to work against solutions
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that once were introduce with great enthusiasm. The car boom meant not only dedicating large amount of space to these high speed machines, but also adopting urban design solutions that corresponded to the new requirements of speed – linear, monotonous structures lacking design quality or sympathy with the human scale. This decision, made our cities not more efficient but less, due to the fact that cars require more space than any other modes of transport. In addition, roads become barriers within our cities as they reduce the social interaction of dwellers living opposite to each other. Nevertheless, today our current technology allows us to support transportation that brings back the authentic character the city, which is cheaper and more sustainable. Following, the current situation in Mwanza and examples around the world would provide an interesting point of view to shift to better designs.
CURRENT TRANSPORT SITUATION
CBD New Boundary Roads Main Roads Authorized Parking Space
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ix. Current Situation Currently Mwanza has three main roads that cross the CBD: Kenyatta, Nyerere and Makongoro road. These also become interstate and they merge in a round about in front of the CCM building and close to the waterfront in the north. In addition, Mwanza has only one traffic light between the crossroads of Nyerere road and Station Road and Post Street. These main roads are currently the ones which carry most of the traffic and are very prone to traffic jams, specially during the peak hours (07:00 - 9:30 and 15:30 - 17:00). The main and secondary roads are in a good shape, however they are missing safe crossings, signaling, sidewalks, bike lanes, bus stands, etc. The tertiary roads are usually in between private houses and are not paved. According to a survey, 55% of the trips are made by foot, 25% by bicycles, 15% public transport and 5% by private car. Out of these trips 35% are made for shopping, 30%
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for working, 25% for school and 10% for other purposes.19 Currently cars are a first option for the high class, however the rate for private ownership is still very low (62,8 vehicles per 1000 people). The majority of the vehicles consist in trucks (58%) followed by private automobiles (36%) and minivans (17%).20 Another option for transportation in the city is the public transport. There is an existing stack of around 100 mini vans that serve as buses. These run along the main roads and some secondary roads. Inappropriately, these have no official bus stops or bus parkings. Some temporary central are localed around the city, representing a hazard for other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists. In addition, these mini vans run from 6:30 am to 9:00 pm, however they do not have any fixed time table, which often ends up in delays for the passengers.21 As for long distance trips, there are around 50 buses that 19 (Regional Town Planning Office, 1993) P.22 20 (Regional Town Planning Office, 1993) P.22 21 (Regional Town Planning Office, 1993) P.26
DALA DALA ROUTES
CBD New Boundary Roads Main Roads Bus Stands and Stops
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operate among cities. The station is located in the central area and it is 5,880 m2 with a capacity of 25 buses. Even so, the central bus station is located in one of main roads of the city which increases the traffic in the area. Fortunately for Mwanza, the bicycle is a mode of transportation that is available to the majority of the population. A survey showed that 87% of households own a bicycle; this is one of the main characteristics of the city since these trips are made for several reasons such as: transportation of small goods, leisure, work, school and farmers. Nonetheless this is one of the areas that has been neglected in the urban planning and that has even resulted in safety issues in the city’s statistics; over 20% of all accidents which occurred in the central area involved cyclists.22 In addition, this mode of transportation is easily stolen. In the case of pedestrians, although walking is the highest percentage of how people move around the city, it still lacks a lot of good infrastructure. Pedestrians use the edge of roadways or informal pathways, which makes it 22 (Regional Town Planning Office, 1993) P.25
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very unsafe for them. As an example, a high amount of pedestrians are injured just trying to cross the street. This situation forced the city to build an elevated pedestrian bridge in the outskirts of the city, however, people are still not using it. Hence, this situation is becoming rapidly obsolete. In addition, “the city is experiencing a lot of accidents as the number has been gradually increasing since 1998. This is due to lack of specific priorities and conflicts to some road junctions and round about. Other causes include high motor vehicle speeds, negligence of drivers and motor cyclists, reckless and dangerous driving, careless pedestrians, mechanical defects of motor vehicles, poor road condition, careless pedestrians, fogs and careless cyclists.”23 Currently the concentration of pedestrians increases in the market area, hospital and the bus, railway and ferry stations. For this reason the city designers opt for 1,5 to 2 m sidewalks covered by a system of colonnades to protect pedestrians from rain and sun; however, this doesn’t 23 (Mwanza City Council in collaboration with Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, 2007) P.78