Informal settlements in Tanzania accommodate more than 70% of the urban population. Owing to this, the Tanzanian government has undertaken several initiatives to address the growing size and number of informal settlements. One such initiative is regularisation which addresses security of tenure for residents of these settlements. Most of the people living in informal settlements lack legal land ownership and as a result properties in such settlements have relatively less value and lack security of tenure. Providing security of tenure is believed to encourage investment into informal households and facilitate the provision of urban services. This study aims to evaluate the process of regularisation in three Tanzanian settlements; Magengenu in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania’s largest city), Ibungilo and Isamilo in Mwanza city (the nation’s second largest city). Using qualitative data the paper explores the challenges and opportunities that emerged from regularisation. Findings indicate that the regularisation process has facilitated the issuance of title deeds, increased land value and security of tenure. However, a number of challenges were highlighted during regularisation. These include an over-emphasis on the protection of private rights while undermining public interests, a lack of harmonised cost for regularisation, and prolonged delays in completing the regularisation process. These require policy actions, particularly reviewing the national informal settlements regularisation guidelines, as a way to address the weaknesses emerging from regularisation projects in the studied settlements. We conclude that land regularisation remains an important tool to enhance livable cities and protect long-term public and private interests in land development. In order to achieve this, supportive policy actions are required to support the protection of public interests in land regularisation and harmonise the costs of regularisation.

The paper documents the resettlement process undertaken following the 2011 heavy rains in Dar es Salaam City, which adversely affected many people who lived in flood prone areas particularly in and along Msimbazi river valley. Within the resettlement process, challenges which were encountered by different actors during the resettlement process were investigated. With the use of qualitative and quantitative data, the paper shows that the resettlement of households from Msimbazi River Valley to Mabwepande followed a number of steps decided during the process with no predetermined guidelines. The process largely centred around identifying those to be resettled, relocating them to the resettlement area and issuing alternative plots. The physical, economic, social, cultural and environmental dimensions of resettlement were less coherent in the process. Subsequently, the process resulted into both negative and positive outcomes, which are persistent until today. These include poor housing conditions, disruption of economic and income generating activities, unreliable social and technical infrastructure services, inability and or reluctance to develop the new plots and low living standards. However, high level of tenure security and certainty of being free from flood risk are some positive outcomes of the resettlement. The paper argues that the implementation of resettlement projects with no well-articulated process that takes care of the environmental, spatial, economic and social needs of the resettled population obscures the outcomes of the project. It therefore calls for caution when planning and implementing disaster led resettlement projects that necessary steps ought to be carried out to protect and enhance the wellbeing and livelihoods of those resettled apart from issuing alternative parcels of land.

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This paper presents study findings regarding private rental housing in urban settlements in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with specific reference to people with physical disabilities especially the lame and handicapped. The major objective of the study was to procure deep understanding of the access to private rental housing by the lame and handicapped section of the society living in urban areas; and use of the infrastructure services related therewith. Reseach method used is case study where by interview questions were addressed to different actors. Focus group discussion, taking measurements and literature review were also used as data collection tools. The study revealed that neither the current policy nor the legal frameworks address the issue of access to rental housing by the lame and the handicapped in the prevailing private rental housing market in urban areas. Furthermore, body characteristics of the lame and handicapped, affordability of brokers fees and monthly rentals were ranked most highly among the challenges facing the lame and handicapped when searching for rental houses. The challenges pertaining to the use of the commonly shared housing infrastructure services, lack of hygiene on outdoor environment and unfavourable house and toilet/bathroom designs were noted as critical challenges related to the use of the commonly shared housing infrastructure services. The paper recommends that the lame and handicapped need to be considered as a priority and vulnerable group which need special attention in housing policy aspects. A direction of procedures to guide the lame and handicapped house seekers searching for a rental house and institutionalizing a rent regulatory body are considered paramount.

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