The urban climate system is a complex system
constituting many components including urban air pollution
and the thermal climate. While air pollution modifies local
climate through the composition of the air, human biometeorological
condition is assessed through thermal indices in
order to understand the effects of thermal climate on man. In
this study, a holistic approach was applied to review the past
research in urban climate of Dar es Salaam, by considering the
past research in air pollution and thermal climate about the
city. Dar es Salaam is one of the fastest growing cities in the
world, and this study is very relevant to future research in
urban climate and urban planning, especially to cities with
similar environmental challenges like Dar es Salaam. It was
noted that the city, as many other cities in Africa or developing
world, lacks a proper air quality monitoring programme despite
of air pollution being a problem many years ago.
However, meteorological observation started as early as in
nineteenth century with rainfall being the most sampled environmental
parameter in terms of spatial distribution, hence
providing a potential to future research and comprehensive
understanding of the urban climate.