Legal Implications of Protection of Informal Settlements on Urban Land use Planning in Tanzania

Abstract

Urban land use planning legislation prohibits the settingup of residential houses in any planning area withoutauthorization. Despite this prohibition, most urban areasin Tanzania face the problem of informal settlements;and these are protected by legislation. The Land Act, forexample, provides for upgrading of such settlementsthrough issuance of residential licences andregularization. In this paper, it is argued that protectinginformal settlements is an obstacle to planninginstitutions towards achieving planned urban areas asthe upgrading schemes address the problem partially. Itis recommended that during upgrading schemes, the lawshould be strictly complied with; and in the event somesettlements fall short of the standards, they should becompulsorily acquired so that their re-development is inaccordance with the law. The Government shouldensure that surveyed and serviced land for residentialpurposes is timely available; and the law should prohibitdevelopment of informal settlements.Key words: Informal Settlements, Regularization, ResidentialLicences, Urban Land Use Planning