Claiming Space Visual Competition
By Upendo Mbunda
The Claiming Space visual competition was organized by the CityLab Dar es Salaam with the aim of involving artists, designers and the general public in the exploration of how the city is transforming. A call for the competition for all artists in Tanzania was launched in April, 2019. It asked participants to show graphically how people use spaces in ways that are different than originally planned. The idea was also to explore what opportunities and challenges exist in open and public spaces in Dar as Salaam. Often we see that despite planning, urban design and regulations, people opt to use spaces their own way. They occupy spaces in ways that are beneficial to them and when they do, they don’t typically consider conceptual ideas of public spaces and what is proposed in a master plan. We call this re-appropriation of space.
Figure 1: Photo of Dar es Salaam city.
● This re-appropriation is done not only by people but by institutions as well. For instance, the police posts that are found on different corners along main roads and the Task Revenue Authority (TRA) posts for collecting tariffs are located where best suits the authority but they were not originally planned to be there. So during the Claiming Space competition we asked ourselves the following questions: How are public spaces actually used in Dar es Salaam and why?
● Are there opportunities for transformation when such spaces are designed and planned?
● Do planners consider social services enough in a city like Dar es Salaam?
● Can incremental planning be done - meaning do we have the opportunity to co-create space with planners and suggest ideas from the perspective of the users?
With this in mind, the CityLab launched the Claiming Space visual competition. Artists were required to submit a one page on their ideas on how people are using spaces in the city in different ways that their intended function.
The CityLab selected five judges - three were artists themselves with extensive experience in the art and media in Tanzania and East Africa. One judge was from the planning department of the City of Dar es Salaam and another was an architect from Ardhi University. The diversity of the judges and their different views brought a lot of dynamic to the CityLab competition. They not only judged the first proposals but they also guided the progress of the finalists that were selected. For instance, the local government officer’s view during the selection of the finalists was crucial because it gave us all an insight on what the local government is thinking, what projects they have in the pipeline. In addition, the local government had an opportunity to see what is happening currently in the city versus what they have planned for the city’s spaces.
Figure 2: Group photo of Judges, CityLAB team and finalists after a creative workshop
Out of the 18 submissions received, 13 abstract were selected to continue through to the completion. The selection criteria took into account the perspective of artists, the judges, scholars, and the CityLAB team. Specific items in the criteria were as follows:
1. Does the submission correspond to the call? / Is it relevant to the project (since the ideas on using the city space come from the artists)?
2. Does it address contemporary issues?
3. Is the idea/project feasible?
4. Is the idea/project applicable in terms and laws and regulations? In other words, is it worth to be taken to the local government?
5. Is the idea/project creative, unique and original?
6. Is the overall abstract idea well presented?
Figure 3: Workshop day where judges gave advice and helped guide the finalists on their final presentations.
The main goal of the competition was to understand types and degrees of challenges individuals and organized civil society groups face when accessing urban spaces in Dar es Salaam. Another goal was to understand the possible solutions to the challenges and the opportunities created by the user for urban transformation. Further, the competition aimed to look into how these agents are using the spaces to satisfy their own needs compared to what the spaces were originally planned for.
Additionally, we intended to get an idea of what people need the most in the use of urban space and what are some of the missing items that people need in planned spaces. For instance, from planned bus stops or public markets what are some important provisional factors missing for users? How are people misusing some of public spaces, like cemetery areas, and what is the extent of the misuse? Finally, what could be done in the case of misused spaces?
It was interesting to see all the work created by the finalists in the exhibition. On the day of the exhibition, a wide variety of people attended, such as parents, musicians, scholars and students. The presentations caught the interest of many different people because they were based on their life experiences on using urban spaces to satisfy their own needs.
After the presentation of all the finalists, the audience received ballots to cast their votes for their choice of the winner, while the judges stepped out to deliberate on their choice. The audience voted based on the final presentations they saw, whereas the judges took into account the journey of the finalist from the day of submission until their final presentation. The winner of the people’s choice received a certificate while the finalist selected by the judges received the prize cheque for the competition.
Figure 4: Dr. Nathalie Jean-Baptiste congratulating the first place winner, Chanika Togama, of the competition
There was excitement in the air as the winner was finally announced. The CityLAB and the judges were thrilled to have achieved all of its goals for this competition and to be able to see it through to the end.
Something to take away from this competition is that city planning and design, while requiring the work of architects, planners and decision makers, should also adhere to the needs of the growing population. Local plans should consider the lifestyle of the people living in the area and how they are currently using their own spaces. In order to create more flexible plans, designers need to become more familiar with the areas they are targeting and gain firsthand insight into what the circumstances look like. In doing so, they will be better able to create a plan that best meets the needs of the people residing there, instead of using copy-paste models from other cities considered “more developed” and then trying to implement that.