Housing the low-income in a revitalising inner city: Issues to consider when designing enabling housing strategies for Kariakoo Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

The usefulness of any development programmes is achieved only when it is planned and implemented the way that responds to the needs of the intended beneficiaries. This study examines issues to consider when designing enabling strategies for housing the low-income in a revitalizing inner city. The target is the inner cities in developing countries specifically Tanzania. The location of the study is Kariakoo Area, which is part of Dar es salaam city. Kariakoo area is a low-income residential area that was established in 1861.The locality has been under active redevelopment program since the year 2002. However, there were no specific strategies for supporting the existence of the low-income housing. Consequently, the low-income who used to be the majority are gradually relocating to somewhere else. The main objective of the research was to outline issues needed to be addressed when designing strategies for delivery of decent and affordable housing for the low-income residents of inner cities. In order to achieve the objective, this research was guided by the main research question: How does the revitalization of Kariakoo area facilitate the delivery of affordable housing for low-income earner? This is basically an exploratory-qualitative research. However, mixed methods were applied so as to expand an understanding from one method to another, to converge/ confirm finding from different data sources. The exploratory method enabled exploration of hot issues; and attitudinal research method was deployed to evaluate the opinions, views or perceptions of the respondent towards the issue at hand. There were four groups of respondents according to one's role: (i) indigenous house owners (before 2002) and private house owners (after 2002): (20); (ii) commercial developer (5) (iii) authorities (7) and (iv) professionals (6). In total 38 respondents were interviewed: These samples are considered appropriate as they are between 5 and 25 (Creswell, 1994). Data were collected through both structured and semi-structured interviews. The responses were analysed by using descriptive and explanatory methods. The findings show that the community was not effectively involved in planning. Consequently, the redevelopment scheme has adversely affected the housing opportunities for the low-income earners. The majority of indigenous house owners have relocated. The bottlenecks include: improper urban management and the inappropriate planning approach that never focused on the people; lack of strategic development in partnerships for housing development, lack of long-term housing finance; faulty flow of information; low capacity of the local authority; existence of unregistered property rights, and the poor economic status of the majority. The study results have supported the idea that observing the enabling strategies is an effective approach to administering the development of housing sector. It is concluded that inner city revitalization is an opportunity that can be captured to support housing HOUSING THE LOW-INCOME IN THE REVITALISING INNER CITY: Issues to consider when designing enabling housing strategies for Kariakoo, Dar es salaam iv provision for low-income. However, the conditions that make such strategies work were not available at the study area. The study found out that the following issues are so critical that they should be observed when designing enabling housing strategies for an inner city: i. Effective involvement of the community; ii. Clear and efficient land amalgamation strategies; iii. Housing finance and mortgage facilities that are responsive to the needs of low-income arners; iv. Existence of partnerships in housing development v. Support the development of community-based specialized networks vi. Support poverty alleviation initiatives vii. Carryout housing need assessment viii. Create an efficient information network ix. Public acquisition of land for provision of infrastructure x. Capacity building and result oriented institutional collaboration xi. Understanding the complexities and limitations that exist on property rights, and xii. The appropriate use of planning standards According to the findings there are too little chances for Kariakoo to develop as per the existing redevelopment plan. The author recommends reviewing of the plan in a more participatory and the empowerment of the society concerned, bearing in mind the above mentioned issues. It is also recommended for the landowners to establish a housing cooperative as a first step for establishment of Special Inner City Management Board for managing and overseeing the scheme implementation. The board will constitute of democratically elected representatives of the society Lastly, the study suggests for an investigation that would elucidate on the best or effective participatory methods that can improve community participation without exclusion.