Not From the President's Desk: Dar es Salaam, my classroom in the city

Over the past three years living and working in Dar es Salaam, I’ve come to see the city as both a vibrant challenge and a daily source of inspiration. Riding a bajaji through the city’s winding roads, or visiting families building their own homes on the urban fringe, I was reminded again and again: Africa’s cities are growing—fast—and this growth is deeply human.

Dar taught me that building a resilient, inclusive city means more than masterplans and infrastructure. It means understanding where people feel they belong. It means working in partnership with local communities, acknowledging both formal systems and informal realities. And it means asking: how do we design cities where everyone feels at home?

Landscape architecture is uniquely positioned to address these questions. Our tools—green corridors, shaded public spaces, adaptive water systems—are not just aesthetic, they’re essential. They bring safety, dignity, and identity to the places people live. And when shaped with care, they offer something even greater: a shared future.

As we gear up for the 2025 IFLA Africa Symposium, I hope we can all carry this mindset forward—one rooted in long-term vision, local context, and deep collaboration. Let’s continue to spark change, not just through ideas, but through action on the grounded, and grounded in place.