Unsettled urbanization: spatiality of urban growth in Dodoma, Tanzania

Rapid urbanization has traditionally stifled socio-economic development and led to limitless urban expansion across African cities. However, limited research has focused on land use simulation and modeling as useful analytical tools to analyze, understand, and respond to urban transformation due to...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Neema Simon Sumari, Patrick Brandful Cobbinah, Nathan Tetteh, Michael Odei Erdiaw-Kwasie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-06-01
Series:Geo-spatial Information Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10095020.2025.2505550
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850231663748972544
author Neema Simon Sumari
Patrick Brandful Cobbinah
Nathan Tetteh
Michael Odei Erdiaw-Kwasie
author_facet Neema Simon Sumari
Patrick Brandful Cobbinah
Nathan Tetteh
Michael Odei Erdiaw-Kwasie
author_sort Neema Simon Sumari
collection DOAJ
description Rapid urbanization has traditionally stifled socio-economic development and led to limitless urban expansion across African cities. However, limited research has focused on land use simulation and modeling as useful analytical tools to analyze, understand, and respond to urban transformation due to rapid changes. With the ongoing threat of climate change and rapid urbanization across African cities, this paper uses Dodoma, Tanzania, as a case study to (i) explore the spatial distribution of land use and urban extent between 2000 and 2022; (ii) establish the driving variables that frame and dictate patterns of land use changes; and (iii) develop a future simulation of urban land use of the city for 2050 to support sustainable urban development. We utilize the TerrSet and Land Change Modeler (LCM) models to analyze the Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) patterns from 2000 to 2022. The results indicate that the spatial extent of Dodoma urban increased by 154.61 km2 between 2000 and 2022 double the rate of inhabitant growth (5.8% per annum) during the same period. The accuracy of the actual land use was confirmed with a confusion matrix and Kappa statistics of 94.71% and 0.4916, respectively. We argue that knowledge of the current state and simulated outcomes of future urban expansion is critical to Dodoma’s future land use planning and management. Our findings provide guidelines and highlight possible options for sustainable urban land use practices in similar urbanizing African cities. We conclude by advancing a research agenda on African urbanization planning and management, drawing upon a land use modeling approach grounded in responsibility.
format Article
id doaj-art-80e5b6f80db548d99b75ac84f4a3793d
institution OA Journals
issn 1009-5020
1993-5153
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
record_format Article
series Geo-spatial Information Science
spelling doaj-art-80e5b6f80db548d99b75ac84f4a3793d2025-08-20T02:03:27ZengTaylor & Francis GroupGeo-spatial Information Science1009-50201993-51532025-06-0112010.1080/10095020.2025.2505550Unsettled urbanization: spatiality of urban growth in Dodoma, TanzaniaNeema Simon Sumari0Patrick Brandful Cobbinah1Nathan Tetteh2Michael Odei Erdiaw-Kwasie3College of Applied and Natural Sciences, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, TanzaniaFaculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, AustraliaFaculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, AustraliaFaculty of Arts and Society, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, AustraliaRapid urbanization has traditionally stifled socio-economic development and led to limitless urban expansion across African cities. However, limited research has focused on land use simulation and modeling as useful analytical tools to analyze, understand, and respond to urban transformation due to rapid changes. With the ongoing threat of climate change and rapid urbanization across African cities, this paper uses Dodoma, Tanzania, as a case study to (i) explore the spatial distribution of land use and urban extent between 2000 and 2022; (ii) establish the driving variables that frame and dictate patterns of land use changes; and (iii) develop a future simulation of urban land use of the city for 2050 to support sustainable urban development. We utilize the TerrSet and Land Change Modeler (LCM) models to analyze the Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) patterns from 2000 to 2022. The results indicate that the spatial extent of Dodoma urban increased by 154.61 km2 between 2000 and 2022 double the rate of inhabitant growth (5.8% per annum) during the same period. The accuracy of the actual land use was confirmed with a confusion matrix and Kappa statistics of 94.71% and 0.4916, respectively. We argue that knowledge of the current state and simulated outcomes of future urban expansion is critical to Dodoma’s future land use planning and management. Our findings provide guidelines and highlight possible options for sustainable urban land use practices in similar urbanizing African cities. We conclude by advancing a research agenda on African urbanization planning and management, drawing upon a land use modeling approach grounded in responsibility.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10095020.2025.2505550Urban planningurbanizationsimulationurban developmentsustainable futuredodoma
spellingShingle Neema Simon Sumari
Patrick Brandful Cobbinah
Nathan Tetteh
Michael Odei Erdiaw-Kwasie
Unsettled urbanization: spatiality of urban growth in Dodoma, Tanzania
Geo-spatial Information Science
Urban planning
urbanization
simulation
urban development
sustainable future
dodoma
title Unsettled urbanization: spatiality of urban growth in Dodoma, Tanzania
title_full Unsettled urbanization: spatiality of urban growth in Dodoma, Tanzania
title_fullStr Unsettled urbanization: spatiality of urban growth in Dodoma, Tanzania
title_full_unstemmed Unsettled urbanization: spatiality of urban growth in Dodoma, Tanzania
title_short Unsettled urbanization: spatiality of urban growth in Dodoma, Tanzania
title_sort unsettled urbanization spatiality of urban growth in dodoma tanzania
topic Urban planning
urbanization
simulation
urban development
sustainable future
dodoma
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10095020.2025.2505550
work_keys_str_mv AT neemasimonsumari unsettledurbanizationspatialityofurbangrowthindodomatanzania
AT patrickbrandfulcobbinah unsettledurbanizationspatialityofurbangrowthindodomatanzania
AT nathantetteh unsettledurbanizationspatialityofurbangrowthindodomatanzania
AT michaelodeierdiawkwasie unsettledurbanizationspatialityofurbangrowthindodomatanzania