The dynamics of land use change and tenure systems in Sub-Saharan Africa cities; learning from Himo community protest, conflict and interest in urban planning practice in Tanzania

This paper analyses local communities' involvement inland use planning to regulate land use change and customary land tenure challenges in a rapidly expanding city in Tanzania. It takes Himo settlement in Kilimanjaro in Sub-Saharan Africa as a case study. It analyses, on the one hand, how those excluded from the land use planning process articulated their interests in the planning system, and what strategies, resources and powers they used. On the other hand it looks at how planners and others operators of the planning system responded to such initiatives of the stakeholders, and what were the implications for the subsequent processes of land use change. Further, it looks at pre-occupations of the planning system over time, the extent to which the system adapted to prevailing pressures resulting from social, economic, spatial and political changes, and how such pressures shape the type of planning interventions. The study shows that land development resulting from the existence of customary land tenure has little recognition in the formal land development system in urban development. Existing customary land rights are presumed not existent anymore according to planning authorities in urban settings. Likely, no legal procedures are instituted to formally consider the customary land rights before the land is relocated for urban development. Consequently disputes and protest arise due to the conflicts between statutory tenure and the still in place customary land rights during urban expansion. The conflicts and protests which characterized land development suggest what the planning system was up against, and the seemingly poor performance of urban planning practice given the changes envisaged in Land Policy of 1995 in recognizing land value among other land rights in Tanzania. This was an important dimension in land management, around which most land disputes revolved, and which was strongly upheld by landholders. The paper highlights possible intervention options, which can be applied to resolve these conflicts, and meeting community centred interests for sustaining their livelihood within decentralized governance in urban planning practice. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.