[THREAD] Today I officiated a meeting on Msimbazi River, under the Tanzania Urban Resilience Programme we are undertaking with the support of @UKinTanzania and @WBTanzania. This is a climate and urban planning project. I shall talk more about it later. First the context: 
We are into the new Millennium. We may have many names for it but it will surely be an Urban Millennium – where almost the entire humanity will eventually live in urban areas. Africa was late but now is catching up - but faster than we are prepared.
In the next 30 years, Africa will have more people living in urban areas than its entire population today. By 2020, the Gulf of Guinea will have more than 300 cities with 100,000 or more people. Dar will double its population in the next 15 years.
Why this matters: We’re romantic about rural Africa but urban Africa is the engine of Africa’s economy and social and political progress. The 40% urban Africans produce 80% of Africa’s GDP. This proportion will remain as Africa’s economies modernizes into service orientation.
How urbanization plays out in Africa will determine its fortunes. Climate related risks threaten the prosperity of cities. Dar loses an average of $47m whenever there are floods. In short, Dar and its residents are vulnerable and the city needs to be made a little more resilient.
That’s what this project/TURP is about. It will transform Lower Msimbazi. Through the Msimbazi Charrette, an innovative participatory design/decision-making process, four interventions were identified, including a detailed plan for flood control, open space, and land development.
The Jangwani bridge is proposed to be raised, new bridge to be built on the other side, DART depot to be moved, a modern City Park to be created, a new prime real estate area of about 140 acres to be created, and so forth. The government will take on board these proposals.
In my address I proposed to our partners that we expand this program to other cities facing similar risks. [At some point in the future I will thread more on secondary cities and also what I call “roadside towns”, which are exploding (Igulusi, Tunduma, Chalinze, Kibaigwa, etc)]
The proposed Msimbazi outcomes are a result of a combination of science, studies, [flood] modelling and, most importantly, seven months of CONSULTATIONS which involved and reached thousands of Msimbazi residents. The Charrette process created unprecedented inclusiveness.
