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Influence and Invisibility

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Influence and Invisibility Tenants in Housing Provision in Mwanza City, Tanzania Jenny Cadstedt Department of Human Geography Stockholm University 2006 Abstract A high proportion of urban residents in Tanzanian cities are tenants who rent rooms in privately owned houses in unplanned settlements. However, in housing policy and in urban planning rental tenure gets very little attention. This study focuses on the reasons for and consequences of this discrepancy between policy and practice. Perspectives and actions of different actors involved in the housing provision process in Mwanza City, Tanzania, have been central to the research. The examined actors are residents in various housing tenure forms as well as government officials and representatives at different levels, from the neighbourhood level to UN-Habitat. The main methods have been interviews and discussions with actors as well as studies of policy documents, laws and plans. Among government actors, private rental tenure is largely seen as an issue between landlords and tenants. Tanzanian housing policy focuses more on land for housing than on shelter. This means that house-owners who control land have a more important role in urban planning and policies than tenants have. In Tanzania in general and in Mwanza in particular, housing policy focuses on residents’ involvement in upgrading unplanned areas by organising in Community Based Organisations. This means that owners who live for a longer period in an area benefit more from settlement improvements than tenants. Tenants are relatively mobile and do not take for granted that they will stay in the same house for long. This raises the question of tenants’ possibilities to influence as well as their rights as citizens as compared to that of owners. The question of citizens’ rights for dwellers in informal settlements has received increased attention during the last years in international housing policy discussions. There is an evident need to intensify and diversify this discussion. Keywords: rental tenure, tenants, housing provision, housing career, housing strategy, housing policy, urban planning, Sustainable Cities Programme, unplanned settlements, community participation, citizenship, secure tenure, Mwanza, Tanzania. © Copyright The Author and the Department of Human Geography, 2006. All rights reserved. Department of Human Geography Stockholm University ISBN 91-85445-35-5 ISSN 0349-7003 Printed by Intellecta DocuSys AB, Nacka, Sweden 2006. Cover photographs (from upper left): Doors in Kawekamo; Hill in Mwanza (photo Susan Leask); Stone-crusher in Kiloleli; Hilltop dwelling in Mabatini; Low ground dwelling in Mabatini; Lakefront view of Mwanza; Rocky plot in Mabatini. Other photos by Jenny Cadstedt. Contents Acknowledgements __________________________________________________7 1 Introduction___________________________________________________11 The Aims____________________________________________14 The Analytical Context of This Study __________________________16 Housing Practices _____________________________________16 Policy Discourse, Government, Governance and Citizenship____20 Outline of the Dissertation ___________________________________25 Methodological Considerations and Research Design ______________26 Interviews ___________________________________________28 Data Collection in the Settlements ________________________29 Definitions of Relevant Terms ________________________________37 2 Mwanza: Water, Rocks, Houses and People ________________________40 Where and What is Mwanza? ____________________________41 Housing in Mwanza after Independence ____________________46 The Administrative and Political Structure of Mwanza City ____49 The Three Settlements ______________________________________52 Mabatini ____________________________________________52 Kawekamo___________________________________________56 Kiloleli______________________________________________58 Housing Patterns in the Three Settlements __________________61 3. Rental Tenure____________________________________________________67 Rental Tenure in Tanzania ___________________________________71 Renting Arrangements in Mabatini, Kawekamo and Kiloleli ___73 Everyday Life as a Tenant_______________________________75 Rent Payments________________________________________80 Rental Agreements ____________________________________83 Reasons for Letting and for Renting _______________________90 Renting and Community Participation _____________________93 4. Housing Careers and Strategies _____________________________________96 Methodological Aspects ________________________________98 Housing Careers ___________________________________________99 The Household Situation _______________________________102 Sharing ____________________________________________103 Gender Differences Within the Household__________________107 Inheritance__________________________________________115 3 Location___________________________________________ 116 Migrant or Born in Mwanza ___________________________ 120 Financial Situation___________________________________ 120 Summary of Housing Careers __________________________ 122 Housing Strategies___________________________________ 125 5 Housing and Urban Planning in Policy ___________________________ 129 Land, Housing and Planning During the Colonial Times _____ 130 Land, Housing and Planning after Independence ___________ 133 The International Neo-Liberal Housing Discourse __________ 137 Land, Housing and Planning in Tanzania From the Mid-1980s Through Today _____________________________________ 138 From Top-Down Master Plans to Bottom-Up Strategic Urban Planning___________________________________________ 143 6 On the Hills: Trees or Houses? – Contested Space__________________ 150 The Demolition Exercise ______________________________ 152 Towards Decentralised Urban Planning in Mwanza _________ 159 Rental Tenure_______________________________________ 163 Tenants and Citizens’ Rights ___________________________ 165 7. Collective Action of Tenants? _____________________________________ 173 Formal Collective Organisation of Tenants________________ 173 Collective Actions Among Tenants in Mwanza? ___________ 176 Exit, Voice and Loyalty_______________________________ 177 Quiet Encroachment _________________________________ 180 No Voice – Whose Problem?___________________________ 182 8 Influence and Invisibility – Tenants in Housing Provision ___________ 184 Findings on the Views on Rental Tenure and Housing Strategies184 Rental Tenure in Housing Provisioning___________________ 186 Neglect of Rental Tenure in Housing Policy _______________ 189 Policy Implementation and Consequences of the Discrepancies Between Policy and Practice ___________________________ 191 Housing and Governance Structure in Mwanza and Elsewhere 195 References _______________________________________________________ 198 Appendix: Selection of Mitaa and Respondents ________________________ 213 4 Tables 1.1 Number of interviewees __________________________________ 33 2.1 Housing units occupied by tenants _________________________ 62 2.2 Housing units occupied by one household ___________________ 63 2.3 Rental housing units occupied by one household ______________ 63 2.4 Rental housing units with resident landlords __________________ 64 3.1 Price list of common items and services in Mwanza ____________ 82 4.1 A summary of the housing careers of the presented individuals __ 123 4.2 The housing situation of 54 respondent tenants about 1.5 or 2 years after the interview ______________________ 124 8.1 A summary of the actors, their views of rental tenure and their strategies on housing ___________________________ 185 Figures 2.1 The various levels in the structure of the local government in Mwanza in a simplified figure ____________________________________ 51 3.1 A drawing of the house where I lived _______________________ 76 4.1 Amon’s housing career after his arrival in Mwanza City _______ 101 4.2 The part of Grace’s housing career that has taken place in Mwanza 105 4.3 Rhema’s housing career _________________________________ 108 4.4 Mary’s housing career since her arrival in Mwanza City ________ 114 4.5 Alfred’s housing career since he arrived in Mwanza City _______ 119 Maps 1.1 Tanzania with the regions on the mainland ___________________ 10 2.1 Mwanza City with its Wards and the case study areas __________ 44 2.2 Mabatini ______________________________________________ 53 2.3 Kawekamo ____________________________________________ 56 2.4 Kiloleli _______________________________________________ 59 Photos 2.1 Scene from one of the hills in Mabatini, Mwanza City __________ 40 2.2 Houses climbing on the hillsides in Mabatini _________________ 47 2.3 Stony environment in Mabatini ____________________________ 48 2.4 One of the hilltops in Kiloleli _____________________________ 60 2.5 Stone crushing _________________________________________ 61 3.1 Rental housing in Kawekamo _____________________________ 74 3.2 The shared backyard in the house where Hamisi and Leyla rent ___ 78 6.1 One of the hilltops in Mwanza ____________________________ 150 5 6 Acknowledgements A main focus of this study is the housing careers and strategies, and the role of rental tenure in these, of urban dwellers in Mwanza City, Tanzania. This means that I am in total debt to the residents in the three housing areas of Mabatini, Kawekamo and Kiloleli in Mwanza who participated in this study by taking time to tell me about their lives and housing situations. Thank you! Since the study also examines the views of
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