Tomorrow is too Late: Responding to Social and Climate Vulnerability in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 2011.
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David Dodman, Euster Kibona and Linda Kiluma. UN HABITAT. Case study prepared for Cities and Climate Change: Global Report on Human Settlements 2011.
Seventy percent of the population of Dar es Salaam lives in unplanned settlements; and fifty percent of the residents of these informal settlements live on an average income of less than US$1/day. This fact is an important starting point for discussing the city’s vulnerability to climate change, and the strategies for adapting to this. The large number of people living in poor quality housing, frequently on land that is exposed to a variety of hazards, are socially, economically and environmentally vulnerable. The city also has severe shortfalls in its sanitation systems: estimates suggest that approximately 93 per cent of urban residents rely on pit latrines of various types, 5 per cent have access to septic tanks or sewerage, and the remaining 2 per cent have no formal excreta disposal facility. Adaptation responses need to take these issues into account if they are to respond to the threats posed by climate change – and to meet the needs of low-income urban residents.
