The Urban Land Nexus and Inclusive Urbanisation in Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, and Khartoum

Cities are largely self-organising systems and can play a pivotal role in a country’s economy. Unfortunately, neither conventional markets nor urban plans are very well suited to guiding what goes where in a city efficiently or equitably. As a result, cities are often exceedingly unequal, with certain groups finding it difficult to secure reasonably well-located and liveable homes. This Briefing Note is intended for readers interested in new ways of thinking about how to engage with cities to provide more and better affordable housing. It starts by introducing the land nexus processes and vulnerable groups in Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, and Khartoum. It then contrasts the affordable housing trajectories in the two Tanzanian cities with that of Khartoum, and ends with an illustrative example of an action in each city that could make their land and housing trajectories more inclusive.