Studies of Markets in Dar
Dr. Mbisso completed his PHD entitled 'Typological space analysis of petty trading marketplaces: the case of Urafiki Ndizi and Temeke Stereo in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania' - he has a breadth of experience studying large marketplaces in Dar. I came across some of his research before my fieldwork period and thought it would be great to meet with him and discuss this further.
We met briefly at Ardhi University and chatted about findings/suggestions that came out of his research:
All markets in Dar are public, none of them have been privatised (Big difference with Kampala)
markets cannot be sustained in a purely formal building, like 'Kariakoo'
There are many lessons to learn from informal build ups, as with residencies on roads turning into commercial shops
The most successful examples of markets in this context mix 'formal and informal'?
what does that look like in reality? Example, Greek adaptable sheds what open out in the day and used for different pursposes in the evenings (not the best example but there arent many examples)
Most markets in Dar are run by ‘mafia’ that own many spaces and rent them out tot vendors (seen with Owino Market in Kampala)
Machinga complex is the first example of a redeveloped market – it is known as 'a white elephant; - undesired and underused by vendors; through research made comparisons to Wandegeya in Kampala
Markets aret up quickly, overpowering other industries- example : Urafiki market that took over the textile industry land that wasn’t being used, 3000 + vendors, invaded land
Did project with students that influenced council in Kiddoni, after considering upgrading and seeing could gain tax
Street vendors not allowed but president says ‘don’t chase them’; local government to give them trading spaces
Dr. Mbisso also showed me some work from a project entitled ' Redesigning Kariakoo - transforming urban place in the South' done in 2009 students from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (some images of their presentation bellow), There were a number of different proposals tackling different issues from creating better access to outlining empty space and creating links with neighbouring buildings.
He also mentioned he supervised two students writing a masters thesis including design proposals for a market in Dar. It's entitled Vendors galore and more: in search of cultural identity and social values in the Tanzanian marketplace by Sara Boustedt and Nathalie Mair (From Chalmers University of Technology Architecture department, spring 2013) . I look forward to reading this and seeing their findings.
Ardhi University used to be a part of the University of Dar es Salaam, I walked around it with Aileen - a number of modernist buildings fill the campus.
