The impact of individual plot developers to city form: a case of Kimara Informal Settlement in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Abstract

This paper describes the way individual informal developers at plot level in Dar es Salaam city play a significant role in shaping the city form in a situation where conventional urban design standards are rarely enforceable. Kimara informal settlement in Dar es Salaam city, as a case, is analysed based on issues of plot access, allocation and development. These are meant to capture the significance of the plot developers’ practices to the city form. It is revealed that the network of informal developers acting individually at plot level and collectively at block level have formulated communal norms. The norms tend to control most of the development operations outside the mechanisms of city authority. The outcome of this process appears to meet fairly the immediate requirements of communities at cluster and block level but strained to meet the requirements at city level. The conclusion is that, innovations of informal developers at plot and block levels can be supplemented by professional input to create effective impact at city level.

Keywords: Individual developers, city form, plot, informal, development process