THE government is moving to execute a comprehensive urban renewal programme to uplift dilapidated neighborhoods across 24 regions, compensating its inhabitants and building improved housing.

Deogratias Ndejembi, the Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development minister, unveiled the plan at a weekend press conference here, said that the programme covers 111 areas holding altogether 24,300 hectares. 

Initial upgrade plans are underway in Kinondoni municipality in Dar es Salaam, Mbeya, Arusha and Mwanza designated city areas, he said, underlining that habitat improvement will enhance service delivery and uplift economic activities in those areas.

 “This initiative will improve livelihoods, reduce poverty and ensure climate-resilient urban growth,” he said, appealing to stakeholders to support its implementation.

He pointed at the review and launching of the revised 1995 National Land Policy updated in 2023 as among key achievements of the ministry during the past four years, with the revised form being launched on March 17, 2025.

It is intended to promote equitable land access, proper land use management and secure tenure systems, he said, signaling a new regulatory initiative with a real estate unit in the ministry and the proposed Real Estate Regulatory Authority to oversee industry practices, improve transparency and professionalize real estate services, he said.

The government has allocated 64.5bn/- for the land use planning, surveying and ownership programme, to facilitate planning and surveying of over 556,000 plots in 131 district and municipal councils, he said.

Similarly, the Land Tenure Improvement Project (LTIP) has verified village boundaries in 871 villages and developed land use plans for 846 villages, with over 583,000 land ‘parcels’ digitized into the national land registry portal., he said

A total of 318,868 customary land titles in six regions were registered, while handing titles to 136,129 informal settlements in urban areas of Dodoma, Chalinze, Songea, Kahama and Kigoma, he said.

Progress in digital tools enhancement includes installation of 427 geodetic control points, setting up 22 electronic land survey centers and enabling 13 district councils too link up with the electronic land registry, thus boosting digital land governance, he stated.

Strategic national projects including the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP), the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) and the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) took up considerable ministerial activity in the past four years, he said.

The ministry worked on providing land use planning and supporting survey efforts, with land use planning coverage surging by 124 percent as 2,088 villages to 4,679, attributed to government commitment and stakeholder collaboration.

Flagship housing projects like the Morocco Square project, worth 137bn/- have been completed with all 100 units sold, he said, pointing at the Kawe 711 sister project valued at 169bn/- as reached 70 percent completion, he added.