From Dar es Salaam to Bongoland: Urban Mutations in Tanzania

The Evolution of Dar es Salaam’s Peri-Urban Space During the Period of German Colonisation (1890-1914)

The Evolution of Dar es Salaam’s Peri-Urban Space During the Period of German Colonisation (1890-1914) Franck Raimbault In his thesis on Douala1 , Andreas Eckert emphasizes that studies dealing with land issues in new colonial cities are a relatively rare occurrence. However, the evolution of urban real estate constitutes a privileged point of view for the analysis of society as a whole, as this is where numerous issues are dealt with far beyond mere economic dimensions. Colonial society’s appropriation of the existing space in its main base of operations, the cities, was as much material as it was symbolic: because of its apparent resemblance to the Saxony massif, the forest 8 km west of Dar es Salaam was baptized Sachsenwald by the Germans. At the very heart of the process of integrating peri-urban space into a whole, which is organically linked to the city, what one finds mostly is the development of a property market involving all social groups. Admittedly, the property market developed a priori according to legal rules decreed by a colonial State with dreams of omnipresence but which in actual fact rarely had the means of its ambitions. Market reality depended as much on settlers’ financial abilities, perceived economic opportunities and the connections between buyer and seller groups. Studying Dar es Salaam’s peri-urban space from 1891 to 1914 thus constitutes a means of seeing the various cogs in the machine of colonial society in the making being put in place. This research will not copy K. Vorlaufer’s study of the phases of creation of Dar es Salaam’s urban space,2 but will show the importance of a meticulous study of the property market for a better understanding of the different dimensions of colonial society (the social and economic process; juridical and cultural aspects, etc...) From this perspective, studying the city’s real estate market instead of that of the surrounding areas seemed less productive, as the former was too heavily dominated by state apparatus, the weight of which eclipsed the other role players. On the contrary, once the few urbanized hectares disappear into the distance, the State becomes 1 Eckert A., Grundbesitz, Landkonflikte und kolonialer Wandel. Douala 1880 bis 1960. Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 1999, 504p. 2 Karl Vorlaufer was interested in the socio-geographical logic governing the constitution of Dar es Salaam’s urban context between 1890 and 1970. Our approaches only tally in the margins, for example when I study those zones outside the city that are destined to become urban in the short term. What is more, by studying the cultural and economic influence of such and such a group on the urban tissue, his approach works from the top down. He does not take into account the reality of the real estate market. Vorlaufer K., Koloniale und Nachtkoloniale Stadtplanung in Dar es Salaam, Frankfurt-am-Main, Goethe Universität, 1970, 113p. 26 FROM DAR ES SALAAM TO BONGOLAND one of many players: certainly an important one, but one whose role is often not decisive in determining the future shape of the market. Using peri-urban space as a stake within colonial society as a starting point, it is possible to study the case of Dar es Salaam’s property market, thanks to the practices of the German colonial administration. The Tanzanian National Archives (TNA) conserves files, which are relative to the property market itself,3 containing laws and regulations and especially practice deeds, comprised mainly of sales contracts and local administration reports pertaining to development and status of land having been the object of a sale. Such a corpus is certainly not the perfect means for determining the use of periurban real estate and the social realities being played out around it, as many transactions escape the administration’s watchful eye. In addition, sales contracts do not always provide precise information about the location of the land that is the object of the transaction and the seller’s socio-economic status. Lastly, the development of the purchased land was not an object of continued interest and information is scattered. These gaps can be partially compensated by the various city maps drawn up by the administration.4 The archives of the missionary societies (who were amongst the first and most important buyers) provide detail on development difficulties that can be found nowhere else.5 Finally, the local press punctually provides information about all the points raised.6 Despite the absence of sources that would enable us...