Dar es Salaam is one of the most rapidly growing cities. All over the world, rapid urbanization is forcing cities to reckon with the realities of insufficient planning in the face of demands from a growing population that puts increased pressure on infrastructure. These demands on city space and services often outpace the ability of planners to respond, resulting in poor outcomes for infrastructure development and mobility services. This session focuses on innovative solutions that cities are employing to respond and adapt to these pressures.

In this workshop, facilitators will introduce and demonstrate tools that are being used to improve street design and access for all in cities around the world.

This session will be a discussion of the operational challenges many BRT systems face long after opening, and ways to keep the focus on maintaining operations over the years.

Dockless bikeshare is taking cities by storm and creating challenges with regulations around shared public space. This session will introduce the new, 2018 version of ITDP’s Bikeshare Planning Guide, with a focus on integrating dockless into city and neighborhood planning.

Urbanization, transport and air pollution are intrinsically linked. In the Africa region in particular, a large share of the increasing ambient air pollution is due to rapid urbanization and traffic. Through targeted campaign and communication strategies, the BreatheLife campaign stimulates awareness of healthy urban and transport planning, as well as offers tactics and tools to combat health impacts from transport.

If you could see the city from an elevation of 95 centimeters, the average height of a healthy 3 year old, how would you plan transportation, neighborhoods and a mix of activities differently? By incorporating a focus on early childhood development (ages 0-5) into mobility, it is clear that urban environments pose a multitude of challenges such as unsafe streets, poor air quality and inaccessible public transport. Based on the Bernard van Leer Foundation’s Urban95 Starter Kit, participants will explore where to start planning for young children and their caregivers to create healthy, prosperous and vibrant cities, and provide the best start in life for their youngest residents. Please review the Urban95 Starter Kit (available on the MOBILIZE app) before the session.

The new cycle path along the DART BRT corridor is a continuous path that connects lower income neighborhoods with the central business district. Participants will experience Dar by bike, and see how the corridor cycling infrastructure compares to those in adjacent neighborhoods and integrates with other modes of transport.

The volume of cargo handled by the Port of Dar-es-Salaam has grown 9 percent a year for the past five years, and faces issues of capacity and urban freight. Projections of volume of goods handled could almost triple to more than 38 million tons by 2030, while truck drivers use city streets to move goods to global markets in Zambia, Burundi, and Uganda. This site visit will be a behind-the-scenes look at how the city’s Port is interconnected with timely deliveries and how goods distribution is impacted further down the supply chain.

Experience riding the first true BRT corridor in East Africa. Points include the interchange station connecting DART with regional rail and local mini-bus operations (known as dala dalas). While DART has achieved design excellence with the first phase BRT corridor, more corridors are planned and operations will become more complex. This site visit will include discussions about the operational challenges DART faces after implementation of the first phase of BRT, especially considering more coming corridors and phases to create a true inter-connected rapid transit network.

The BRT corridor gave walking in Dar a huge boost by including quality pedestrian infrastructure, improving access to stations and surrounding neighborhoods. These improvements to the pedestrian realm and public spaces along the BRT corridor have been an impetus for infrastructure improvements throughout the city.

Hear stories of professional failure and the lessons that can be drawn from them. Every inspirational story has elements of not giving up against all odds, but rarely touches on the tactical and systematic errors made along the way.  The wounds may be too fresh and embarrassing. Yet once they heal, they can be some of the best tales of perseverance.

In Conversation: Carolina Toha, Former Mayor of Santiago, Chile and Philipp Rode, Executive Director of LSE Cities

Market solutions are sometimes at odds with government capacity constraints to set and enforce regulations for the public good. Reliance on the market must be balanced with the government’s role in serving the public interest without unnecessarily monopolizing services, limiting innovation or accepting inertia in providing better mobility. This session will explore how mobility systems can best be deployed for the public good through government or market mechanisms.

Traffic collisions are the number one cause of death and injury for children. The vast majority of these incidents happen in low and middle-income countries. The good news is that street design interventions, along with speed limits and enforcement, are already making a huge difference all around the world. This session will show how interventions and policies, including Vision Zero, have succeeded in improving the safety and quality of life for children, the elderly, and everyone in between.

Public transport services create jobs and also impact labor dynamics. Automated and on-demand services offer new work opportunities, but threaten traditional labor practices. This session will discuss the labor implications of formalizing mobility, balancing with informal activity and the challenges posed by the new mobility systems.

Rapid urbanization is not always accompanied by economic development. Seventy percent of Dar’s five million residents, and one third of the world’s urban population lives in informal, unplanned settlements, which are a byproduct of the socioeconomic inequality of rapid urbanization. They often serve as entry points to cities’ newest migrants, and are fundamentally lacking in quality infrastructure, services, and access to transit. This session will discuss the vital role these informal economic systems play, and the governance challenges they pose.

As 80 percent of GHG emissions come from cities and 14 percent come from the transport sector, changes in the way we move cities can have a major positive effect, and is even more essential in rapidly growing cities such as Dar es Salaam. From fossil fuel free street declarations to low emission zones, this session will discuss the challenges and opportunities different strategies present.

The new cycle path along the DART BRT corridor is a continuous path that connects lower income neighborhoods with the central business district. Participants will experience Dar by bike, and see how the corridor cycling infrastructure compares to those in adjacent neighborhoods and integrates with other modes of transport.

Experience riding the first true BRT corridor in East Africa. Points include the interchange station connecting DART with regional rail and local mini-bus operations (known as dala dalas). While DART has achieved design excellence with the first phase BRT corridor, more corridors are planned and operations will become more complex. This site visit will include discussions about the operational challenges DART faces after implementation of the first phase of BRT, especially considering more coming corridors and phases to create a true inter-connected rapid transit network.

The BRT corridor gave walking in Dar a huge boost by including quality pedestrian infrastructure, improving access to stations and surrounding neighborhoods. These improvements to the pedestrian realm and public spaces along the BRT corridor have been an impetus for infrastructure improvements throughout the city.

A truly equitable city ensures that the needs of everyone are taken into account in transit planning. Women, children, the elderly, the disabled, and many others are often left with inadequate or unsafe access to their city. This session will explore best practices in designing inclusive transit systems.

The demands for curb space on city streets is increasing. Bike share, goods delivery, and safe street policies are forcing cities to evaluate their streets as an ever important public asset. Trade-offs are necessary in balancing user needs and safe streets, and its important that these trade-offs be considered and communicated in policy decisions. This session will look at challenges and successes in cities around the world in managing their roads and streetscapes.

BRT systems function better when they are integrated with feeder networks, such as rickshaws, minibuses and other 2- and 3-wheeler modes. Meanwhile, smaller modes may be hubs of their own when form rapid transit systems do not exist. All mass transit systems work best when integrated with feeder modes, such as rickshaws, minibuses, and bikes. This session will discuss how high capacity rapid transit works in tandem with smaller modes that are an important, nimble service in a rapidly growing city.

In most cities, the primary responsibility for caretaking falls to women, who, as a result, have different transport needs than the ‘solo male commuter’, for whom the system was most likely designed. This session will present options for more accessible cities, neighborhoods, and transit hubs.

This session will feature case studies and research on rapid urbanization from cities around the world.

1. Road Safety
2. Air Quality and Health
3. Modal Integration
4. Data and Tech

Christian Benimana is currently the chairman of both the Education Board of the Rwanda Institute of Architects and the Education Board of the East African Institute of Architects. He is an architect with MASS Group and holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the School of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP) of Tongji University in Shanghai, China. Focusing on inclusivity and context, he is leading the implementation of the African Design Center.