Understanding Urbanization from the Ground: co-production in Dar es Salaam

This research explores methods and methodologies for understanding urban co-production in Dar es Salaam as it happens on the ground and connects with national, regional and global development forces. Specifically, we look to answer the question of whether and how creating a safe space for convening informal networks of governance to discuss dynamics associated with Dar es Salaam’s urban transformation can shed light on the multiplicities of urban transformation in and around the city, and re-imagine possibilities of co-production that reflects urban dweller’s appropriation of the city space.

Set up and analysis of thematic urban experiments support this framework through a threefold approach: first, convening local actors often missing in mainstream urban analysis but nonetheless involved in the co-production of space; second, creating a safe space for dialogue and discovery; and third, addressing the call for urban theory to place contemporary urbanization of countries in the Global South in the evolution of global capitalism while also peculiarizing knowledge within localities and regions and planners to be more imaginative as facilitators of urban transformation.

Lead Researcher:

Dr. Priscila Izar, Ardhi University / Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Dr. Nathalie Jean-Baptiste, Ardhi University / Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Co-Research Fellows:

Ms. Upendo Mbunda, Ardhi University 

Mr. Emanuel Njavike, Ardhi University

Papers & Publications

Izar, P & Jean-Baptiste, N. “Understanding Urbanization from the Ground: the case of Dar es Salaam. African Perspectives on Sustainable Architecture and Urbanisation. Bouwkunde, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, 27-29 March 2019