Faculty

Albert Nyiti is a registered town planner with over ten years of industrial experience. He works as an Assistant Research Fellow at the Institute of Human Settlements Studies (IHSS), Ardhi University (ARU) in Tanzania, where he received both his MSc. in Housing and BSc. in Housing and Infrastructure Planning. Albert is currently a doctoral researcher at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin’s (HU Berlin) Geography Department, where he also serves as the coordinator of the East African German Transdisciplinary University Network (EAGER Trans-Net). His PhD research explores the housing access experiences of the urban poor in Dar es Salaam through the lens of a just city. Moreover, Albert is a Queen Elizabeth Scholar and an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Planning, Geography and Environmental Studies, University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), in Canada. His passion for contributing to urban theory scholarship has made him part of initiatives such as the Dar es Salaam CityLab, the Just City Platform (JCP) in Tanzania, and UTA-Do (Urban Theory Africa—'Doing''). 

(Ongoing 2024-2028) PhD in Geography (Urban Studies) - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

MSc. in Housing - Ardhi University (2014-2016)

BSc. in Housing and Infrastructure Planning - Ardhi University (2008-2012)

1. Fully Registered Town Planner - Town Planners Registration Board (TPRB) - https://www.tprb.go.tz/#
2. Full Member of the Tanzania Institute of Town Planners (TITP) - https://titp.or.tz/
3. Associate Member of the CityLab Dar es Salaam (https://www.citylab-dar.ac.tz)  
4. Member of Secretariat of the Just City Platform, an initiative facilitated by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung-Tanzania (https://tanzania.fes.de/e/buildingjustcityintz)
5. Coordinator of the East African German Transdisciplinary University Network (EAGER Trans-Net) (https://www.geographie.hu-berlin.de/de/abteilungen/wirtschaftsgeographie/eager-trans-net )
6. Associate Member of the Planners for Climate Action (P4CA) an initiative by UNHABITAT ( https://www.planners4climateaction.org/)  
7. Member of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) a U.S.A signature effort to invest in the next generation of African leaders (https://yali.state.gov)
8. Development Studies Association (DSA) of the United Kingdom (https://www.devstud.org.uk/)  

Eurocentric and/or Americentric scholarship has long dominated urban theory; my sessions aim to highlight global south perspectives. I aspire to challenge my students to critically engage in dialogues with practitioners and students from other regions so that they can build a global understanding of urban-related issues. When answering questions, I discourage assessing students by labelling them right or wrong, but I value their perceptions of the matter at hand. 

Urban planning, global south urban theory, and housing.

Critical urban theory; affordable housing and infrastructure; just cities; urban food systems and climate change.

Funder: Volvo Research and Educational Foundations (2024-2025)

Role: Co-Investigator

Research Topic: Inequality in Walking the 24 hour city: temporality, intersectionality and the

embodied experience in Dar es Salaam, Tshwane and Cardiff

Other Partners:

Principal Investigator: Dr. Margot Rubin

Position: Lecturer in Spatial Planning, School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University

Co-investigator: Professor Sarah Charlton

Position: Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

Co-investigator: Dr. Priscila Izar

Position: Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Urbanism and the Built Environment,

School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

Co-investigator: Dr. Alex Halligey

Position: Research Fellow, Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study, University of

Johannesburg.

• The Exploration of Moonshot Innovations for Urban Food Security in 2030 Megacities – The case of Dar es Salaam (WFPX2.0) https://youtu.be/QMu-PHNl3oM
• “Building the Just City in Tanzania: Essays on Urban Housing” book launch ceremony that was held on March 21, 2023, in Dodoma, and was attended by the Minister of Lands, Housing, and Human Settlements Development as the guest of honour, Dr. Angeline Mabula, and the Lord Mayor of Dodoma City, Prof. Davis Mwamfupe. https://fb.watch/jplNS92oU-/?mibextid=irwG9G (You can listen to my 10-minute talk on the video from the 31-minute mark to the 41.17-minute mark.)

1. Albert Nyiti. (2024) Re-thinking the urban glossary in Tanzania. Published online: 16 of January 2024 – © riproduzione riservata on: https://inchieste.ilgiornaledellarchitettura.com/re-thinking-the-urban-glossary-in-tanzania/
2. Izar, P., Limbumba, T.M., Nyiti, A. (2023). What Lies Inbetween: Self-Built Housing and the Struggle to Remain in Place in Dar es Salaam. In: Rubin, M., Charlton, S., Klug, N. (eds) Housing in African Cities. GeoJournal Library. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37408-1_6
3. Albert Nyiti. (2023) Governance and Institutional framework for ensuring just access to housing for all. Building the just city in Tanzania: “Essays on urban Housing” Electronic ed.: Dares Salaam, ISBN 978-9912-41-006-0 http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/tanzania/20135.pdf
4. Nyiti, Albert. & Genes, Mariam (2023). Urban Planning Versus Urban Agriculture in Dar es Salaam, Exploring Urban Agriculture in Global North and South. Results of two international study and teaching projects as part of the East African German Transdisciplinary University Network on rural-Urban Transformations (EAGER Trans-Net) Download (Page 145-157).
5. Maria-C. Velte, Antonia Segieth, Albert C. Nyiti, Neema A. Munuo, B. Makau Kitata, Juliana Eggers, Nestory E. Yamungu, Sabine Fuss (Hrsg.). (2023). Exploring Urban Agriculture in Global North and South, Results of two international study and teaching projects as part of the East African German Transdisciplinary University Network on rural-urban transformations (EAGER Trans-Net) Download. 
6. Nyiti, Albert. & Genes, Mariam (2022). Dwindling of the Tanzanian Housing Sector: Role of the Swahili Language. IGLUS Quarterly Vol 8, Issue 2 https://iglus.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/IGLUS-Quarterly-Vol-8-Issue-2.pdf page 13 -17
7. Shirima, M., Kombe, W., Kihaule, A., Nuhu, S., & Nyiti, A. (2021). The Impact of Stock Market on Smallholder Farmers’ Livelihoods: Lesson from TATEPA in Tanzania. Retrieved 11 November 2021, from http://journals.aru.ac.tz/index.php/JBLD/article/view/319
8. Priscila Izar, Albert Nyiti, Elinorata Mbuya, Daniel Mbisso. (2020). The urban poor in Sub-Saharan Africa under the coronavirus pandemic – a view from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. (2020). [Blog]. Retrieved from https://www.africancentreforcities.net/blog-the-urban-poor-in-sub-saharan-africa-under-the-coronavirus-pandemic-a-view-from-dar-es-salaam-tanzania/

Community engagement

Assisting in raising awareness for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) through Asia Kidney Foundation.