Urban definition and demography: The most consistent definition of ‘urban’ in Tanzania
is that used by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which rests on the classification
of census enumeration areas as either ‘urban’ or ‘rural’ based on the judgement of local
officials in consultation with NBS. Using this definition, the urban population of Tanzania
has increased at about twice the rate of population growth of about 3% p.a., raising
urbanization from about 6% in 1967 to nearly 30% in 2012. Within the urban hierarchy,
Dar es Salaam is dominant, accounting for about 10% of the national population and a
third of the urban population. However, some regional capitals such as Arusha, Mbeya
and Mwanza have also grown strongly as have many smaller settlements.
Unfortunately, urban authorities have been pretty much overwhelmed by this growth
and have struggled to provide housing, infrastructure and other services so that much of
the growth has been in informal shanty-type structures.
At the same time, it is important to note that despite rapid urbanization, over 70% of
the mainland population remains rural. Moreover, of the 31.6 million increase in
population between 1967 and 2012, 19.6 million were not absorbed into urban areas so
that there has been a nearly threefold increase in the population of rural areas, adding
greatly to the pressures on land and other resources.