Self-Organized Social and Physical Livelihood Assets in State-Driven Urban Developments: A Case of Shekilango Commercial Street, Sinza - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Abstract

In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, local actors through self-organized practices that contribute to livelihoods generate the lived space amidst top-down processes in commercial streets. We employed a design anthropological approach in studying how inhabitants create, use and thrive in these spaces. We analyze and discuss the social and physical assets of commercial streets in the context of planned neighborhoods that are governed by regulations. We reveal how self-organized participatory design processes employed by various actors in diverse socio-economic networks hold both potential and challenges for the streets' livelihoods. The study also reveals how informal urban developments, particularly, resulting amenities such as verandas, outdoor public spaces, and parking spaces - can be a resource for practitioners, policy makers, authorities and other actors to learn from in creating urban commercial street spaces that respond to the realities of everyday life. In the bigger picture, the study intends to address the designer-user dichotomy that threatens low-key livelihood initiatives.