One of the features that characterise the designated capital city of Dodoma is the limited green landscape element as a result of semiarid climatic conditions of the whole central region of Tanzania. Besides concerted efforts by the Dodoma urban authorities to develop greenery landscape within the city through the Capital City Development Programme, such efforts have fallen into conflict with people’s livelihood activities. In this paper, it is argued that the gap between identification of appropriate landscape features that are not consistent with people's lifestyles and the local conditions are the contributory factors to the observed conflicts between attempts to green the city and livelihoods of the residents. Borrowed planning concepts in the masterplans thatwere imposed on the contextof Dodoma do not reflectthe realityof thepeople's needs and priorities as regards their livelihoods. These concepts have to the greatest extent failed to integrate livelihood activities and greening initiatives. This paper underscores the need for developing locally based planning considerations that take cognisance of all stakeholders and the local context as a way towards harmonising greening initiatives while accommodating people's livelihood needs and activities.Key Words: greening initiatives, livelihood activities, semi-arid cities, urban planning, master plans, Dodoma, Tanzania.

The growth of African cities encountered movement of people from countryside to capital cities searching for employment opportunities. In the city of Dar es Salaam the job market has not grown enough to keep up population increase. The increasing urban population boosted the basic needs and the demand for land for various activities, posed daunting challenges for attaining liveable neighbourhoods. At the same time many of informal settlements are dynamic part of the city in physical, economic, social and cultural terms. Different programs from international organizations illustrate how sustainable urbanization can be a key contributor to poverty reduction to better quality of life. This research is based on literature reviews, documentary analysis, photographic registration and qualitative survey of the Mlalakuwa neighbourhood to provide a better understanding of the role of proactive cultural differences and social dynamics in promoting the spreading of spaces in informal settlements in the urban fabric, beyond the primarily necessary housing conditions. Researchers emphasize the importance of collective spaces for urbanisation, in social and economic terms as an important asset for quality of life and the construction of a sustainable and resilient community. The aim of this paper was to examine how social, and cultural factors cause the dynamics set up in physical collective spaces in a particular informal neighbourhood of Dar es Salaam city. The examination of human activities including social, cultural and economic functions respond to formation of spatial organisation of collective spaces at Mlalakuwa informal settlement. Notably, the paper illustrates that, the urban planning net-

Actors’ perception of urban agriculture can affect the way urban agricultural decisions are made and implemented either positively or negatively, with or without the actors being aware of it. The way actors perceive urban agriculture is influenced by actors’  interests, limited or unlimited information about urban agriculture, policy and legal frameworks. This study used a case-study design to examine the effects of actors’ diverse perception of urban agriculture on the governance of urban agriculture.  Purposefully selected 60 respondents participated in-depth interviews in the wards of Daraja Mbili and Lemala. Farmers and agricultural officers perceived urban agriculture positively because their livelihoods and professional interests were related and relied on the practice of urban agriculture. Urban planners and agricultural officers perceived  agriculture positively and negatively depending on the way agricultural activities affected the environment or were compatible with non-agricultural activities. The implementation of policy and enforcement of bylaws relating to urban agriculture was not successful because urban planners and environmental officers were skeptical about the value of urban agriculture. Doing urban agriculture in the environmentally sensitive areas was against environmental bylaws, but the area was encroached upon by the farmers who had no alternative land for farming. Land use hurdles for doing urban agriculture were rarely addressed by urban planners who had no evidence of the benefits of urban agriculture to city authority compared with revenue and employment opportunities from real estate developments. We conclude that the farmers’ and non-farmers positive and negative perception of urban agriculture stem from their interests, limited or unlimited information about urban agriculture. Government officials’ perception of urban agriculture is influenced by their carrier and work obligations. Despite the presence of policy acknowledging urban agriculture and environmental bylaws for regulating urban agriculture, actors cannot really govern urban agriculture if they perceive it negatively.

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In the near future, urban agriculture will not be the same as it was in the past or as it is at present. The different forms and context at which agricultural activities take place can have different effects on the value of urban agriculture. Information about the actual ideal place where urban agriculture has to be done and about the exact of value of urban agriculture is implicit. This study examines the factors that characterise the change of the nature and value of urban agriculture in Arusha as one of the rapidly urbanizing cities in Tanzania. It uses two case study areas that were purposefully selected from Arusha City, namely the wards of Daraja Mbili and Lemala. A total of 60 respondents participated in depth interviews. The study reveals that limited access to ideal areas for doing urban agriculture has made some farmers to acquire small portions of land in unlawful areas for that purpose. Hence, the livestock kept are limited in numbers and crops grown are those that take a short time to grow but with less ability to suffice the food needs of the farmers and urban residents. It also reveals that the majority farmers whose land is somehow secured to meet their food and income needs through agriculture. However, uncontrolled agricultural practices have on the one hand accelerated environmental degradation and pollution, its roles on supporting livelihoods of needy farmers cannot be underrated. The study argues that urban agriculture cannot take place in the absence of adequate access to agricultural land by the farmers. It cannot also take place in the weak institutional framework that can guide its operations without jeopardising other urban land uses.