Since the 1990s, the Tanzanian public housing authority, the National Housing Corporation (NHC), has been changing its goal, from prioritizing delivery of affordable housing, to becoming a leading commercial and residential real estate developer. This happens against a backdrop of market-based reform and the state’s growing reliance on private markets to support urban development. In this paper, we look at the impact of NHC’s new approach and its effect on housing production and every day practice in Dar es Salaam. The analysis is based on a case study of two new NHC middle to high-income development projects and housing practice in the neighbourhoods surrounding these projects. Analysis is informed by semi-structured interviews, and project and site investigation. Findings indicate that currently, NHC operates like a private corporation, prioritizing market-rate developments over low-income housing projects, and promoting segregated developments based on land value criteria, while also lacking protocols regarding its trickling down approach. High input costs and declining state subsidies are some of the factors mentioned as a challenge towards meeting the housing needs of moderate to low-income households. The paper contributes to the international debate concerning the state’s adoption of business-like approaches to housing production and the affordability crisis.

Photovoice is a popular participatory research method for instigating critical reflection and social change. It does, however, rely on participants being able to photographically capture the phenomenon under study. This raises challenging questions that may obstruct the use of Photovoice in climate change studies. Is climate change visible? Can it be photographically captured? What change can Photovoice instigate in the context of global climate change? To gain clarity on the role of Photovoice in climate change studies, this article provides an overview of previously published work. We do this to identify some of the different ways in which Photovoice can usefully capture various aspects of climate change and to critically appraise the studies' ability to fully leverage Photovoice's change potentials. We identify five ways in which Photovoice is used to study climate change. This includes studying (i) how local people understand climate change, (ii) how people experience the (perceived) impacts of climate change, (iii) community perspectives on their vulnerabilities to climate change, (iv) local adaptation and mitigation responses, and finally, (v) ways of facilitating transformative learning about climate change. While many studies effectively capture people's intersubjective relationships with climate change, the action‐oriented social change potential of Photovoice is rarely realized. Future Photovoice projects must consider the theoretical underpinnings of the method and be intentional about its emancipatory and change potential, particularly by collaborating with powerful change agents, thereby increasing the likelihood that Photovoice findings will translate into policy changes and community initiatives.

Increased flooding caused by climate change impacts is a challenge for many cities both in developing and developed countries. The existing storm water drainage systems in place have to be physically constructed and expanded to meet the water run-off challenge. This is an expensive run-off management undertaking for resource poor countries such as Tanzania. Landscape based storm water management (LSM) is put forward as a sustainable option to manage storm water run-off and it also addresses water scarcity problems in under-served urban settlement. However its implementation in cities that are faced with informal residential development is challenging because among other things, LSM requires land for implementation as well as the collaboration of different institutions, disciplines and actors. Drawing from data and information obtained from the Water Resilient Green Cities Africa (WGA) Project in two cities of Africa, this paper explores the planning and institutional challenges for LSM in Dar es Salaam, a rapidly urbanising city. The paper also presents opportunities inherent in the process some of which suggest that local institutions offer a critical platform to collaboratively plan and implement LSM in rapidly urbanising cities.

This article aims to understand grassroots responses to COVID-19 and how they impacted the well-being of low-income informal communities in Dar es Salaam. An exploratory qualitative research design, using semi-structured questionnaires, was adopted for use in Ubungo Kisiwani and Hanna Nassif settlements. Focus group discussions with select members of the community, including women’s groups, and mtaa (sub-ward) and ten-cell leaders, were held. The selection of respondents took into account the socio-economic and spatial characteristics of the two communities. Although Tanzania’s response to COVID-19 was based on a partial lockdown, these measures led to decline in income and loss of livelihoods among the poor. Likewise, several low-income persons, particularly those working in the hospitality industry, were temporarily retrenched owing to the poor business environment, severely undermining their ability to pay for basic services. The largely collective but limited social capital deployed by grassroots actors were crucial safety nets for the most vulnerable. These have to be acknowledged and coordinated. Mixed land use in informal settlements also proved useful in providing convenient access to the basic needs of households; reducing the need to travel outside one’s neighbourhood, thus enhancing the resilience of the communities.