A recently completed 35 floor PSPF Towers and a nearly completed neighbouring 40 floor TPA skyscraper are among numerous ultra modern spatial structures resulting from recent unprecedented urban redevelopment in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The new urban spatial structures include commercial, institutional, and residential buildings; as well as infrastructural and sports facilities, among others.
While new buildings in the city and down town areas in particular are absolutely beautiful with innovative shapes and appearance, the spaces between them are often fragmented and untreated. This seems to be a result of adoption of the individual building approach in the urban redevelopment of the city, by which individual new buildings are simply inserted into the existing urban fabric without prior detailed urban renewal plans for the urban quarters in which they are located. By this approach, emphasis seems to be on the vertical urban plane with a rather little attention to the horizontal urban plane.
People's experience of the vertical urban plane is indirect, often aesthetical and reinforced mainly by spatial appearance, shape and size. Some aspects of the vertical urban plane like skyline may not even be fully accessible for experiencing from the ground level. People's experience of the horizontal urban plane, however, is direct. While it can also be aesthetical, it is mainly social and economical. It is on the horizontal urban plane where people walk, sit, work, eat, play, rest, communicate, etc. The functional roles of the horizontal urban plane are mainly reinforced by the types, construction quality, and spatial organisation of urban space outfitting as well as the material used for such outfitting.
Attention to the horizontal urban plane is therefore equally important in the creation of good cities. In Dar es Salaam, this could be through the adoption of the urban block as the basic spatial organisation unit for urban design of the city instead of the above mentioned individual building approach.
By the urban block approach, introduction of new buildings into the existing urban fabric will be in accordance with approved detailed urban renewal plans for urban blocks. This will contextualise new buildings in the city as well as ensuring that design and treatment of resultant urban spaces become integral tasks of urban redevelopment projects. Where urban blocks do not exist like in many areas away from the CBD, detailed urban renewal plans for existing urban quarters that will convert them into urban blocks will have to be prepared prior to the actual redevelopment of the urban quarters. Accordingly, now that the demand for new buildings in Dar es Salaam is very high, it is imperative that preparation of detailed urban renewal plans for existing urban blocks and quarters becomes a prioritised urban planning activity in the city.
Urban blocks could still be redeveloped incrementally through introduction of individual new buildings, but then the new buildings will have to be in conformity with adopted detailed urban renewal plans for the urban blocks.
We are aware that there will be cases where the application of the urban block concept will be inappropriate like in cases of single mega building complexes, e.g. shopping centres, medical centres, university/college campuses, business centres, large multi purpose buildings, etc. But still, detailed urban renewal plans prepared presumably by developers and approved by the city's local authorities will be necessary to ensure among others, conformity of the complexes to the surrounding land uses and buildings.
The fundamental idea being advanced here is to have detailed urban renewal plans for guiding urban redevelopment in the city. Such detailed plans could also ensure that all stakeholders in urban redevelopment like the Department of Antiquities, relevant NGOs, the general public, etc, are fully involved ahead of any individual urban redevelopment project in an urban block/quarter in the city.
Preparation of detailed urban renewal plans for urban blocks/quarters along famous streets that may be exceptionally attractive to developers, like Azikiwe Street, Samora Avenue, Ohio Street, Kivukoni Front, etc, could be given priority. The detailed plans should ensure that sidewalks, from building lines to carriage way lines are also designed as parts of the blocks.
With Azikiwe Street in particular, we suggest that it's sidewalks between Askari Monument and the Holiday Inn, be drammatically widened, through reduction of it's current dual carriageway to a standard two lane carriageway. The resultant broad sidewalks should then be paved to ensure continuous, levelled and smooth surface. The sidewalks should also be provided at various points along their peripheries, with seating and bicycle parking places as well as planting beds or pots for landscaping trees, shrubs and flowers. In this way, the sidewalks would be converted into liveable vibrant urban spaces that cater for all users and more activities than their traditional ones of walking and passing through. This approach to street spatial improvement should be relevant to other similar streets in Dar es Salaam as well.
Further to the functional benefits, sidewalks designed and furnished in the above manner will enhance to great deal the beauty of the city, and particularly the CBD, hence it's position as a destination for tourists and even local and foreign investments. Such spatial street improvements should therefore be seen by the Government of Tanzania and Dar es Salaam local authorities, as important investments that have huge tangible economic returns. We must remember all the time that the beauty of most famous cities in the world, like Stockholm, Paris, London, New York, etc, emanates largely from the design and treatment of their street spaces, and overall streetscapes. ______________________
Last update: January 8, 2020
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