Introduction
I spent two months in Bagamoyo in 2003 together with the Department of
Architecture and Development Studies, LTH/LU when I participated in a project
about streetscape of Bagamoyo. I became interested to continue working with
spatial planning in Bagamoyo for my diploma work, as the town has as well an
interesting history as a future.
The small Swahili coastal town Bagamoyo, has a rich cultural heritage as once
one of the most important trading harbours in East Africa. The importance of
Bagamoyo stagnated as a new harbour was built in Dar es Salaam in the late 19th
century. Today Bagamoyo grows rapidly because of its good connections to
Tanzania's most important city Dar es Salaam. Bagamoyo has got a nicer climate,
more vegetation and a calmer atmosphere compared to the larger city. Bagamoyo
attracts both visitors from Dar es Salaam during the weekends and far away
visitors from Europe and other parts of the world. The visitors spend most of
their time at the beach, which also is an important working area for the
fishing industry. Many people visit Bagamoyo for the historical buildings in
the town. Stone town, from the late 19th century, is a potential Cultural
Heritage of the World and the visitors of Bagamoyo are expected to increase
more in the future if Bagamoyo is accepted. The beach in Bagamoyo is a great
resource not fully used. The sea breeze does however not reach interior parts
of the town partly because of vegetation between the beach and the centre. In
many places in the inland of Bagamoyo the view over the sea is blocked, only
the closest parallel streets to the beach provide a view over the sea. Also the
connections between other parts of Bagamoyo are today poor. For a visitor it is
difficult to find one's way to different places in town because of this and
also because Bagamoyo has no clear structure and few landmarks.
aim of the project
This project is carried out at two different levels. An overall plan concerns
how to orientate in the town and the connection between different areas in
Bagamoyo and the coast. For a number of places detailed plans are presented.
These detailed plans concern the connection between the centre of the town and
the coast and the connections to the old Stone town. The main aim of the
project is to enhance the orientation and connections between different areas
in Bagamoyo. In order to do this I have come to the conclusion that it is
important to find areas or aspects which can work as connectors. Another aim of
the project is to create a public meeting place. A place to gather what
Bagamoyo is known for- history, culture and art- and ...
