Prime
Kariakoo: From a native village to a concrete jungle
Aerial view of the kariakoo and city center, Dar es Salaam. PHOTO | iStock
What you need to know:
- Succumbing to redevelopment pressure, Kariakoo developed on autopilot, plot by plot, as the old buildings were sold to investors; or as the investors went into joint venture agreements with the house/owners; and embarked on putting up high-rise commercial/residential blocks.
When a four-storey building undergoing underground extension collapsed, on the morning of Saturday 16 November 2024, there was panic in the City. Another accident, yes, but this was not an accident involving motor vehicles, which has become regular now. It was a commercial building, in the busiest area of Dar es Salaam that came tumbling down.
The President immediately ordered an inquiry and hopefully we will get to know what actually happened. She wants also to know whether the high rise buildings in Kariakoo are actually safe. The team that will make the investigation should include experts such as land use planners, engineers, land officers, architect, and quantity surveyors. One factor they may want to consider is the evolution of Kariakoo, from a native village to now, a forest of high rise building.
If the German and British colonial officials; and indeed, the officials of the Independence government of the 1960s, were to come back, they would be lost. Kariakoo is unrecognisable, comparing what it was planned to be, to what it eventually became.
The German’s first land use plan (Bauordnung) for Dar es Salaam, of 1891, envisaged three main land use areas in the city: a residential area where only European type of buildings were allowed; a commercial/residential area, where native type of buildings were not allowed; and an area where any type of buildings were allowed. Part of this latter area, was, during German rule, farmland belonging to the Sultan of Zanzibar on which slaves worked; and the other part, some 213 hectares, belonged to a German, one Schoeller who had bought it in the early days of German rule. There were 7250 bearing palms on this piece of land, so that Schoeller allowed natives to settle there, charging them land rent.
With the commencement of railway construction, many Africans flocked to Dar es Salaam and settled haphazardly particularly on Schoeller's Shamba. By 1913, the government was being enjoined by Dar es Salaam European residents to acquire Schoeller's Shamba for the proper settling natives. This was done in 1914. Schoeller's Shamba was bought by the Government in 1914 for 500,000 rupees and it immediately embarked on planning the area to accommodate natives. During World War I, the planning of this native area reached Karavan Strasse (today's Msimbazi Street).
At the same time, in view of the rapid increase in the population of Dar es Salaam, a new Bauordnung, was published in 1914, confirming the division of the city into three zones; but also planning for a neutral zone between the native zone and the other two zones. This neutral zone became today’s Mnazi Mmoja Grounds, and was cleared of its residents by the British Government in the late 1920s to the late 1930s, a government which also planned the rest of the native area beyond the Msimbazi Street, towards Ilala.
Simple houses constructed of non-permanent materials were allowed to be built in this area. A commercial area was planned, but was allocated to “non-natives”, whose residence in this native area was, however, not allowed.
The native area came to be known later on as Kariakoo, because it accommodated “Carrier Corps”, porters (men and women) who were recruited by the British government during World War I (1914-1918) to transport supplies to soldiers on the war front.
During the mid-1960s to mid-1970s many areas of Dar es Salaam originally constructed in non-permanent materials in Magomeni, Kinondoni, Ilala, Mwananyamala and Temeke were rebuilt with houses in permanent materials by the National Housing Corporation as an agent of the Government. Kariakoo, one of such areas, was, however, never rebuilt.
Succumbing to redevelopment pressure, Kariakoo developed on autopilot, plot by plot, as the old buildings were sold to investors; or as the investors went into joint venture agreements with the house/owners; and embarked on putting up high-rise commercial/residential blocks.
It is not clear whether regulations governing redevelopment on the small Kariakoo plots such as set backs, and plot ratios; as well as the relation of the upcoming high-rise buildings to the status of infrastructure such as roads, pavements, drains, parking, sewers, water, electricity, fire hydrants, open spaces, and others, in the area, were complied with. Transformation of a low income are into high-end properties is known as gentrification.
Kariakoo represents a paradox. It is a vibrant commercial area; it is a cash cow for public revenue, yet it is prone to disasters. Fire broke out in the area on July 10 2021, and again, on October 1 2023. In both cases Investigation Committees were set up. There is need for a follow up on the recommendations that these Committees made.
Development also means always learning from disasters so that they do not repeat themselves. Do we see a situation where we can say “never again” to disasters in Kariakoo? Is rapid response possible if another disaster was to happen?
Professional bodies could play a positive role ensuring that their members-engineer, planners, building inspectors, and others, enforce the necessary regulation and do not become part and cause of the problem.
Our sincere word of condolence to all those grieved by the recent Kariakoo disaster!
