The research case study is Mlalakuwa informal settlement located in Kinondoni district, Dar es Salaam region. Mlalakuwa is one of the prominent informal neighbourhoods which is surrounded by six major activity centers, namely: Mwenge military hospital, Mwenge woodcarvers market, DDC Mlimani park³, a retail center (Mlimani City Mall), University of Dar es Salaam, and Ardhi University. Mlalakuwa is an informal settlement with a diverse social and economic population, including students, faculty and non-academic staff, vendors, landlords, nurses, and retired army officers (Kalugila & Mbisso, 2018; Lutta et al., 2021).

The pressure to search for collective spaces for various economic and social activities is increasing every day to mitigate the number of inhabitants and non-inhabitants looking for services. According to URT (2013), Mlalakuwa has a population of about 19,453 inhabitants, of which 9950 are men and 9503 are women. Nevertheless, it is a settlement that keeps on receiving new people with the aspiration of connecting the community to social, economic, and physical development potential (Teyanga & Mrema, 2018; Kalugila & Mbisso, 2018; Tesha, 2020). Mlalakuwa is located in the western part of Dar es Salaam city and is well connected to other parts of the city through Sam Nujoma Road, Morogoro and Bagamoyo highways (Figure 1). The current challenges at Mlalakuwa, as in other informal settlements, include the operation of SSI, which leads to an emerging diversity of collective spaces such as car repair workshops, furniture workshops, steel workshops, and sewing workshops. This is the concern to study how the informal settlement is legible to attract the operation of SSI activities which led to the development of Mlalakuwa neighbourhood.

There are 6 main types of Small-Scale Industries, which make a total of 56 Small-Scale Industries found in the Mlalakuwa area this is includes: 8 car repair garages, 11 sewing workshops, 22 wood processing and furniture workshops, 2 bakeries and 11 steel workshops and 2 Cement and sand blocks (Table 1). However, it has been found that most of the SSI is located near the main roads. i.e., Bagamoyo road, Sam-Nujoma road and University main road. Figure 2 depicting SSI located in interior streets of the Mlalakuwa. However, car repair workshops, wood processing and furniture workshops were seen to be located close to main streets. An interview with a customer at car repair workshop narrated:

(…) “I often prefer to use this garage close to the main road because it's easier to access. As you can see, there are many of potholes in the streets of Mlalakuwa neighbourhood. During the rainy season, the potholes are full of water and it becomes difficult to drive on interior streets. And of course, along the main road we can get other services, like bars and shops, which are everywhere”⁴.

This implies that SSI activities which located along or near by the main roads they have privilege of getting more customers because of flexibility and proximity to main roads. The study revealed that they are three car repair workshops located near to the University road, four along Sam Nujoma road and two car repair workshops on the side of Bagamoyo road which seems to be convenient for most of the customers at Mlalakuwa and adjoining settlements easily access for services.

Source: Adopted from (Kalugila & Mbisso, 2018), (Tesha, 2020) and updated during Fieldwork, 2020.

The study revealed that Lufungila and Mpakani along Sam Nujoma road and other areas along Bagamoyo road and has massive collective spaces for Small-Scale industrial activities, and they are located close to the sides of the main roads. These areas have several steel workshops and more than 70% of Small-Scale industrial activities, taking advantage of the availability of customers and accessibility to other parts of the city (Figure 3(a) and Figure 3(b)). Since the area is having mixed low and middle-income communities, Small-Scale industrial activities grow quite rapid because it becomes an alternative solution to meet the demand of the products needed by local customers at Mlalakuwa and other nearby settlements. SSI operators are self-employed operating from renting space, with others using additional available collective spaces for other functions. SSI has been a part of creating economic infrastructures not only at Mlalakuwa also to other adjacent informal settlements. Many of SSI locations have been training centers for young people who have finished primary schools and don’t have the opportunity to further studies in high schools. They engage in SSI activities and get skills, and later they establish other centers at different locations in the city of Dar es Salaam. One of the employees at the Steel workshop narrated:

(…) “I’m planning to have my own workshop later on. I work and learn so hardly to get experience and new ideas, because the customers are well exposed to internet browsing. They bring us images from the internet and ask us to make the same steel furniture that they saw on the internet”⁵.

This implies that SSI becomes an important self-developed sector which becomes an alternative employment for people who are not employed to formal sectors. This also has been sensitised by politicians that people had to employ themselves as there is insufficient employment opportunities to public sectors. However, young people who practising SSI activities will continue to be given an opportunity by the government to establish themselves including getting loans for the developing their small-scale industrial activities⁶.

Apparently, it was observed that the SSI activities are legally practising at Mlalakuwa because most of them have registered to formal institutions like BRELA⁷ and TRA⁸ and recognised as low-income earners. SSI seems to have contribution by paying taxes and levies to the government. A narration regarding the SSI operation at Mlalakuwa:

(…) “Most of the SSI operators follow the rules for conducting their activities at Mlalakuwa area. They pay taxes and levies to the authorities, which is very important for them and the community at large. There is a little slight challenge that I would say to these people. I have some cases against some of these SSI operators as they block streets and give out challenges to other street users. So we, as local authorities, are finding different ways to solve this problem of misusing the streets. I hope that at the end of the day, we are going to have a better solution for that”⁹.

1.0

It was observed that Mlalakuwa is a mixed informal settlement that is dominated by single-story to two stories building typologies, and more than three stories to some commercial buildings along the University and Sam-Nujoma roads (Kalugila & Mbisso, 2018). However, it has been seen that the front domestic spaces are mostly used for many functions including the operation of Small-Scale industrial activities like sewing and shoemakers were seen to operate in domestic spaces (Figure 4(a)).

Collective spaces surrounded by buildings were converted to garage workshops, sand and cement block workshops, where verandas are quite often converted to offices for garages (Figure 4(b)). On the other hand, buildings collective spaces are converted to car spare shops and parking spaces close to main car repair workshop (Figure 5). Also, these spaces have been used by motorcycle

operators quite often to wait to pick up car owners who might need a quick transport to other parts of the city while their cars are still in repairing process.

It has been observed that spaces along service roads and pedestrian ways were converted to parking for repaired cars, whereas in some areas, spaces were used as products display areas (Figure 6(a)) and Figure 6(b)). Presence of Small-Scale industrial activities at Mlalakuwa changed space use to a great extent. Collective spaces available were converted to adopt the functional and operation of Small-Scale industrial activities. A carpenter found during field observation narrated:

(…) “We have limited spaces here. For instance, we have several activities around us and we need more spaces like a workshop area, storage, an office, and a display area. We have tried to maximize the use of space, but we still we don’t have enough space to display our furniture. That’s why we are using this pedestrian way as a display area”¹⁰.

This implies that SSI activities at Mlalakuwa are the source of collective transformation. As many spaces transformed by reflecting the nature of activities. Other collective spaces along streets adopted to suit a different SSI industrial function. However, the limited space and population increase also have been source for SSI to contribute increase the use of collective spaces at Mlalakuwa.

It was found that more than 40% of Small-Scale industrial operators responded positively, that more spaces were needed to run their activities. However, 23% of the residents from adjoining settlements suggested that there is a need for collective spaces for people to interact apart from the existing collective spaces where seem to be the main area for Small-Scale industrial production. And 15% of employees’ respondents suggested common spaces needed for other activities like displaying areas and waiting areas, which are most convenient for the customers (Table 2).

Existing literature (Bernstein, 1982; Fiori & Brandão, 2010) emphasizing the quality of life depends upon social equality in the settlement. It is a moral and social,

Source: Fieldwork, 2020.

physical concept that is attained by the goal of being free to eliminate the gap between the rich community and poor communities to encourage development that covers social inequality. Streets and collective spaces have become important economic drivers for spatial development at Mlalakuwa informal settlement neighbourhood.

It has been found that there are two ways economic drivers and networks formed the spatial patterns within the settlements through an examination of the qualitative data. Within the case study area, there are internal and external economic drivers’ networks whereby the external supply chain depends on resources like vehicle spares imported from Dubai, China and Japan¹¹ and woods mostly from Sao-hill, Mufindi in the Iringa region they are transported to Buguruni area. All resources from the external supply chain were brought to Kariakoo¹² as the main distribution point of many types of products from abroad and upcountry that are used for SSI sectors in the city of Dar es Salaam (Figure 7(a))¹³. Buguruni area also found to be the main distribution point for wood resources

to Mlalakuwa neighbourhood which enhance the increases spatial development at Mlalakuwa (Figure 7(b)).

The internal supply chains are necessary for processed products like furniture making, at point (a) e.g., steelworks, block works, etc. SSI, such as carpenters, sofa makers, welders—any sorts of trade involving furniture making, follow at point (a) in (Figure 8). However, the places are easily accessible that create dispersed movements of spatial pattern along Samu-Nujoma, Morogoro and Alhassan-Mwinyi roads towards those distribution areas to accelerate and ease the flow of materials to run the Small-Scale industrial activities. There is still vast evidence that the clustering of the furniture making points at all main roads at Mlalakuwa neighbourhood.

Most Small-Scale industries range from carpentry furniture production and tailor production, steel fabrication, vehicle repair, metal doors, windows, etc. The study revealed that 33% of furniture workshops contribute to a large number of economic activities due to the high demand for products needed by customers. The need of products from this SSI means operational spaces also needed to accommodate all functions. It is clear that operation of Small-Scale Industries,

is expanding and likely contribute the emerging of collective spaces since the increasing the space usage which will later affect the space value.