Dar Es Salaam City - Loosing It's Heritage

Unlike many African cities, the city of Dar Es Salaam has a unique architectural heritage. The East African coast, stretching from Mombassa in the north, to Northern Mozambique in the south was visited by traders since the 8th century. The Omani Arabs who had made Zanzibar the capital during the 16th century also built a presence on the mainland, influencing the architectural style of the region. Once the British had colonized East Africa, there was a huge influx on traders from Persia and India, but also migrant labor that came with the British empire to build the railway. The majority of these migrants were South Asian (when India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were one country) from Maharashtra and the Punjab. This pull of people from the Sub-Continent brought wealthier Indian merchants and traders from Gujarat who were to change the regions landscape forever. 

Building of Dar Es Salaam City

From small towns like Shinyanga to the city of Dar Es Salaam, Gujarati's built en-masse from the 1920's upto the early 1960's. From shops to buildings, their architectural style can be seen throughout the country. As Tanzania gained independence, unfortunate events took place in the country, where every single property owned by the South Asian community was nationalized (i.e. ownership taken by the government). There were families that owned beautiful properties worth millions at that time, and in a single day they lost everything! This lead to the creation of Tanzania's wealthiest state owned corporation - the National Housing Corporation (NHC) which now rents these unmaintained properties throughout the country.

With the recent boom in the Tanzanian economy, there are hundreds of joint ventures between the NHC and businessmen to break down older buildings and create high rises within the city centre of Dar Es Salaam. More than 30+ beautiful buildings have already been destroyed and replaced by ugly glass structures that reflect nothing but bad planning. Instead of protecting the heritage and history of the city, it is apparent that the Tanzanian government would rather get rid of it!