Planning education in Tanzania: the experience of Ardhi University

This paper provides an overview of the planning education offered at the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ardhi University. The paper sets the scene by highlighting the socio-economic and environmental contexts within which training of planners and planning practice take place. Besides, links with the planning system are also underscored. The planning education as manifested in planning practice is elaborated. The need for revitalising planning education with a view to enhancing its effectiveness as a tool for management of change of the natural and built environments has been elaborated. One of the key observations is the fact that although ARU has been training Town Planners since the 1970s, the efficacy of plans and planners to comprehend national and international development agendas remain questionable. This is apparently noted by the increasing nature and extent of informal urbanisation or unregulated urban development that pervade most urban centres in Tanzania. There are, however, intrinsic challenges that surround the training of Planning Professionals. These include: increasing enrolment rates which threaten the quality of outputs, limited exposure to literature among students and staff, and inadequate IT and e-Learning resources. As consequence, the imparted knowledge falls short of preparing planners to effectively respond to the challenges of the 21st century. In order to address these challenges, the paper recommends the institution of measures that will provide checks and balances on quality versus quantity, improving access to recent literature and knowledge, adopting teaching methods that improve critical thinking, review of curricula to take on board emerging socio-economic and political changes and consolidation of the linkage between planning education and the industry