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Research title 'The shack becomes the house, the slum becomes the suburb and the slumdweller becomes the citizen': human settlement development in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Summary of research Using Dar es Salaam, Tanzania as a case study, this project is interested in the performance of human settlement development policy in the city. The introduction of a large-scale property formalization programme in Tanzania ‘MKURABITA’, underpinned by the work of Hernando de Soto, is said to provide a route to economic prosperity by transforming ‘slum dwellers’ into ‘homeowners’, offering them a route to access formal credit and consequently ending the undercapitalisation of the urban poor. Titling routes have attracted debate, however, for undermining the security of the poorest citizens living in slums, effectively removing them from their settlements as the city develops and finds more profitable uses for their land as previously unwanted scraps of slums become prime real estate. In effect, legalising inequality in the city. De Soto’s work separates and diverges the exchange and use value of housing, ultimately privileging the economic value of housing and relegating the cultural, social and emotional attachments that people have to their home.
This thesis provides a critique of violence of development projects which are steeped in an ever more neoliberalised global political economy. This thesis further investigates the rise of alternative (human) rights-based approaches to slum development which reposition tenure security as a crucial element in developing a more just city. This research adopts the perspective of grassroots activists using these alternative approaches in practice and investigates how the notion of a ‘right to the city’ offers a challenge to this de Sotoist model of urban development, one which recognizes the powerful agency of individuals and communities, the use value of property and the need for a more just city for all who inhabit it as well as developing new notions of shackdweller citizenship. Building on notions of ‘shackdweller’ and ‘insurgent’ citizenship, this thesis explores citizen struggles against national regimes of citizen inequality, citing the inclusive right to the city approach as a compelling alterative to legally and philosophically exclusive property rights.
Teaching Responsibilities:
Level 1 Tutor
Level 2 Demonstrator
Affiliations:
Early Career Housing Researcher’s Network (ECHRN)
Urban Geography Research Group (UGRG)
Glasgow Human Rights Network (GHRN)
Glasgow Centre for International Development (GCID)
Developing Areas Research Group (DARG)
RGS-IBG Postgraduate Fellow Supervisors Professor Joanne Sharp
Dr Deborah Bryceson
Professor John Briggs
Professor Davis Mwamfupe (University of Dodoma) Recent publications Sharp, J., Campbell, P. and Laurie, E. 2010. The violence of aid? Giving, power and active subjects in One World Conservatism. Third World Quarterly 31(7): 1125-1143. doi:10.1080/01436597.2010.518789 >> Campbell, P. 2011 Community-led Regeneration: A Review of Literature, Scottish Government Social Research View full text >> Campbell, P. 2011 Community-led Regeneration: A Review of the Literature- Research Findings. Scottish Government Social Research View full text >> Recent research grants | View all grants >> ESRC Studentship 2009-2013 Housing Studies Association/ Housing Studies Charitable Trust 2011 £400 RGS-IBG Slawson Awards 2011 £1500 |
