Density as Threshold and Resource
Urban Life and Futures in Dar-es-Salaam
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3775899 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Colin Mcfarlane (0000-0001-9209-4494, Durham University, corresponding author), Wilbard Kombe (0000-0001-9117-9496, Ardhi University), Florence Muheirwe (0000-0002-4414-9347, Ardhi University), Said Nuhu (0000-0002-0845-2154, Ardhi University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 115 |
| Issue | 9 |
| Pages | 1-18 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-07 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Annals of the American Association of Geographers (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2469-4452 • E-ISSN: 2469-4460 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/24694452.2025.2516090 |
| OpenAlex | W4412086054 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 28 |
Cities in sub-Saharan Africa are rapidly urbanizing, producing new geographies of densification and sprawl. Amidst the debate about the current and future patterns of informal urbanization, the ways in which residents perceive and experience urban densities have been largely absent. We argue for the value of attending to how residents encounter and interpret densities, including what this approach reveals for research in geography and urban studies. Drawing on field work in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, one of the fastest growing cities in the world, we focus on three concepts: density-as-resource, threshold density, and future densities. In examining the ways in which people encounter high-density urbanism, we use this resource-threshold density framework to find connections to how the city has transformed and density’s role within it. We do so from the context of Mlalakuwa, a densifying small and mixed-income neighborhood. From this context, we seek to advance conceptualizations of urban density, call for greater research on experiential densities, and consider the policy consequences for supporting and enabling dense urban life
Business · Dar es salaam · Economics · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Futures contract · Geography · Natural resource economics · Tanzania · Computer Science · Urban and Rural Development Challenges · Urban Planning and Governance · Water Governance and Infrastructure · Finance
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Jakarta, Drawing the City Near
Infrastructural Lives
Experiences of private firms in delivering land services in peri-urban areas in Tanzania
Peri-Urban Land Governance in Developing Countries
Land Pattern of Highly Urbanizing Cities
Jakarta, Drawing the City Near
Legibility of Small-Scale Industrial Sector in Promoting Social-Economic Development of Informal Settlements
Toward Urban Resilience? Coping with Blackouts in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Density as a politics of value
Introduction
Global urban sprawl containment strategies and their implications for rapidly urbanising cities in Ghana
Land use dynamics in peri-urban areas and their implications on the urban growth and form
Suburbanisation, homeownership aspirations and urban housing
Peri-urban Development in an Era of Structural Adjustment in Africa
The crowd and citylife
The space of encounter and the making of difference
Landscapes of extended ruralisation
On geography and encounter
Density textures
Perceptions of atmosphere
Boundary Work
Community policing and the politics of local development in Tanzania
Fragments of the City
The Surrounds
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |