Public Defence Doctoral Thesis: Richard Besha
Richard Besha has the pleasure to invite you to the public defence of his doctoral thesis on September 3rd 2025: Exploring Self-organized Commercial Streets: Towards a Participatory Design Approach through an Anthropological Study of Shekilango Commercial Street in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Dit event is reeds afgelopen
Abstract
In sub-Saharan Africa, state-driven interventions into urban environments do not sufficiently tap into residents' daily lived realities, thereby missing their aim and affecting livelihoods of residents. Residents have the capacity to shape their environment through self-organization by employing tacit knowledge, which can be an inspiration for authorities and professionals, but remains largely unanalyzed.
This study is an attempt to reveal self-organized processes and resident-created qualities in co-producing Shekilango commercial street in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The study employed a design anthropological approach in which the researcher observed and interviewed respondents through coworking, and shadowing. It has revealed strong actors’ interdependencies and codesign processes for overcoming what is scarce in urban built environments.
The study proposes closer interactions between authorities, professionals and residents in laying out residents’ contributions in urban transitions. In this way, self-organized spaces ought to be viewed as “negotiated lived spaces” which continually evolve.
- Prof. dr. Koenraad VAN CLEEMPOEL (Chairman of the doctoral jury, Hasselt University)
- Prof. dr. Liesbeth HUYBRECHTS (Promotor, Hasselt University )
- Prof. dr. Wilbard Kombe (Promotor, Ardhi University)
- Prof. dr. ir. arch. Oswald DEVISCH (Co-promoter, Hasselt University)
- dr. arch. Daniel Mbisso (Co-promoter, Bank of Tanzania)
- dr. arch. Els HANNES (Hasselt University)
- prof. dr. Ann Verhetsel (University of Antwerp)
- prof. dr. Faustin Tirwirukwa Kalabamu (University of Botswana)
- prof. dr. Geraldine John Kikwasi (Ardhi University)
- prof. dr. Claire Mercer (London School of Economics and Political Science)
Date and locations:
- Wednesday September 3rd 2025
- Defence: 15h30 - 17h30
- Followed by a reception
- Old Prison (Yellow Room), Martelarenlaan 42, 3500 Hasselt
Registration
You can register for this PhD defence via this Google Form.
Please fill in this form before August 25th 2025.