Built Heritage in Urban Tanzania

Dar es Salaam city is changing structurally by replacement of old building with new as historic buildings are demolished to provide space for new building to accommodate the free market economy demands. Part of historic city of Dar es Salaam was declared as Architectural Conservation area with Government Notice No. 498 of September 8th, 1995. The aim was to protect historic values and townscape of the area. The study analyzes the effectiveness of policies, institutions, and laws in protecting and preserving historic values and townscape.It is revealed that policy, institutional and legal framework has been ineffective and inadequate in protection of the Architectural Conservation area as demolition of historic buildings persist while the construction of new buildings does not conform to the townscape. It is recommended that existing challenges should be addressed through harmonization of laws and coordination between institutional partners to ensure proper conservation of urban built heritage.