Trading Facilities and Socio-spatial Character of Informal Settlements: The Case of Mlalakuwa in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Informal settlements constitute the largest means of habitation in the urbanizing world especially in the developing countries. In Dar es Salaam, informal settlements serve over 75% of the population. Among the often-mentioned characteristics of informal settlements include the dominance of informal economic activities. In particular, spaces for trading activities are observed to be randomly distributed in the informal settlements as they serve for the everyday life of its dwellers.However, little had been studied and analysed on the role of trading in shaping socio-spatial character of informal settlements. The aforesaid called for the need to investigate the underlying trading processes and products that characterise the setting of informal settlements. Using Mlalakuwa settlement in Dar es Salaam as a case, this paper maps and analyzes the social and institutional context of trading facilities and the resulting spatial character of informal settlements. One of the key findings in this paper is that trading activities along the main roads transform most of the bounding residential houses into trading facilities. The nature and character of trading facilities appear to define the spatial character of informal settlements in the context of the coexistence of formal and informal systems.