Across Tanzania, intermediary cities are playing an increasingly vital role in the country’s urban transformation. These secondary cities are not only home to rapidly growing populations, but also serve as key connectors between rural communities and economic hubs. Strengthening urban management in these cities—alongside investments in basic infrastructure and services—is essential to making urbanization more inclusive, resilient, and productive.

With this in mind, the government of Tanzania, with support from the World Bank and GFDRR, launched the $278 million Tanzania Cities Transforming Infrastructure and Competitiveness (TACTIC) project. Rolled out in 45 towns and cities across the country, the project is designed to improve how cities are managed and how services are delivered. It focuses on expanding rural-urban connectivity, upgrading underserved communities, improving resilience to climate and disaster risks like flooding and drought, and building local government capacity in areas such as urban planning, finance, service delivery, and maintenance. By investing in both infrastructure and institutions, TACTIC is helping cities grow in an economically competitive but sustainable way.

Tanga, Mtwara, Sumbawanga, and Mwanza are just some of the cities that TACTIC has supported over the years. Investments have focused on strengthening solid waste systems through sanitary landfills and collection points, upgrading urban infrastructure and over hundreds of kilometers of roads with streetlights, footbridges, and bus terminals to improve mobility and access, and constructing more than 150 kilometers of drainage infrastructure to reduce the impacts of flooding. The project has also helped enhance land use planning, improve city management, and increase local revenue collection—laying the groundwork for thriving urban centers across Tanzania.

Nestled along the shores of Lake Victoria, Mwanza is Tanzania’s second largest city. Like many urban centers across the country, it faces increasing risks from climate change—from intense flooding to rising temperatures and overstretched infrastructure. The city is grappling with the consequences of low-density, fragmented urban growth that is increasing its exposure to disaster hazards. For instance, outdated planning regulations and poor development controls have enabled unrestrained expansion into risk-prone areas. At the same time, weak land administration systems have struggled to manage the rapid conversion of rural land for urban use, leaving large portions of the city vulnerable to unregulated development.

In informal settlements such as Mabatini, unmanaged runoff regularly threatens homes and livelihoods. The Mwawasa–Tempere Outlet, meanwhile, suffers from blocked water flow due to sediment and informal land use.

To keep pace with urban growth and protect the people who call Mwanza home, a shift toward climate-smart planning and investment is urgently needed. With support from GFDRR, that shift is well underway. 

For instance, at the Kirumba Market, one of the city’s most important commercial hubs, redevelopment is underway to improve access and mobility for vendors and shoppers alike. New drainage systems are being integrated into the design, protecting market users from flooding and improving day-to-day service delivery. Meanwhile, at the Jabal Hira Primary School, which sits close to a river source, community groups are working to reduce erosion and protect water flows.

One of the key challenges GFDRR helped address was the lack of reliable, city-level data to guide decisions. GFDRR partnered with national and local authorities to help Mwanza and other cities strengthen its resilience from the ground up. Through detailed city-level risk assessments, it mapped urban morphology and exposure to hazards through 121 infrastructure subprojects across various cities under TACTIC. These include buildings, roads, drains, and other essential infrastructure designed not only to meet local needs, but also to withstand future disaster risks.

GFDRR also introduced performance tracking tools to give local governments access to critical information that they previously lacked. These tools are already informing how and where to invest in more resilient infrastructure. Bolstering efforts to turn technical guidance into long-term policy, GFDRR—in partnership with urban authorities—also helped finalize and mainstream Urban Planning and Development Control Guidelines that promote safer land use, reduce encroachment into high-risk areas, and support more sustainable urban expansion. These guidelines are now being adopted as local bylaws by the Mwanza and Ilemela Councils, helping to institutionalize resilience in everyday planning decisions. Finally, to augment local capacity, GFDRR also supported training and workshops for local officials on solid waste management and resource efficiency.

Communities are already playing a vital role in protecting sensitive areas like river sources from encroachment and dumping. With the right support, these grassroots efforts could be formalized and scaled across the watershed. Open spaces along rivers, if preserved and well-managed, could serve dual purposes: reducing flood risk while offering green public amenities and recreational corridors. Strengthening non-motorized mobility along these routes would also help connect people to jobs and services more safely and sustainably.

At the heart of these efforts lies a transformative vision: turning the Mirongo River, which is known to communities in Mwanza as a source of flooding and poor water quality, from a burden into a benefit for the people living near it. This includes reducing flood exposure, improving solid waste management, encouraging private investment in riverfront spaces, and boosting local revenues. Cleaner river systems will also support job growth in lake-dependent industries and improve water quality in and around Mwanza’s core urban areas.

Together, these efforts are helping Mwanza move from reactive disaster response to more proactive, risk-informed urban development and serve as a model for other municipalities. By combining data, tools, and policy reform, GFDRR’s support is enabling the city to design infrastructure that meets today’s needs while preparing for tomorrow’s risks.