Population censuses and changes in housing quality in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

In spite of efforts by the British colonial government to improve the social welfare of Tanganyika Territory's African residents, its housing policy was inadequate. It constructed too few homes and provided those homes with few urban amenities such as electricity, piped water and sanitation. The coming of independence to Tanganyika did not end those policies, so housing shortages increased and service provision continued to lag behind population growth. This paper uses four postcolonial housing and population censuses - from 1967, 1978, 1988 and 2002 - to track changes in housing quantity and quality. It demonstrates that some small improvements in quality have been realized but that many problems remain, especially in the prevalence of pit latrines and increasing reliance on water vendors.