Dynamics of land for urban housing in Tanzania

Abstract

With increased movement of population in search for better settlement and employment, more people
tend to be concentrated in urban areas. This article identifies the dynamics of land for urban housing in
Tanzania with specific reference to Songea municipality. The article remarks on one hand, weaknesses
in the existing institutional framework for urban planning and delivery of land services, unnecessary
prolonged procedure and actors in the process with overlapping authorities, roles and lines of
accountabilities has been identified as contributing factors to such dynamics, on the other hand, lack of
technical capacity, limited financial resources embedded with cumbersome procedures in the whole
process of preparation and approval of detailed plans as prepared by land experts has been a catalyst
for the low capacity of the municipality in allocating land for housing development to the developers.
With the increasing influx of population towards town and cities, land grabbing, institutions need to be
reformed to take into account the rapid population dynamics within the society. Municipalities need to
be empowered with both technical and financial capacity to facilitate in provision of effective and
efficiency services of providing land for housing.