The concept of spatial quality and its challenges on exercised affordable housing design typology in Dar es Salaam e Tanzania Buberwa M. Tibesigwa * , Long Hao, Benson V. Karumuna Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Chongqing University, 400045, Shapingba District, Chongqing, China article info Article history: Received 12 March 2016 Received in revised form 1 August 2016 Accepted 17 November 2016 Keywords: Affordable housing Design typology Spatial quality Design quality indicators Quality characteristics Dar es Salaam abstract This study explores the influence of affordable housing design typologies on the spatial quality of the exercised schemes in Dar es Salaam City. Through a questionnaire survey, the study uses a systematic stratified sampling method to obtain 185 (26.8%) respondents out of 690 households from three spatially diverse affordable housing schemes. Two-factor without replication analysis of variance (ANOVA) and descriptive statistics were adopted to analyze the data. Based on eight (8) quality indicators, the findings revealed 66.5% and 33.5% of the respondents were moderately and above average satisfied respectively with their overall housing spatial quality, but had low satisfaction about certain aspects. This shows that the housing spatial quality varies among the three housing schemes. To validate the direct link and significance level, the ANOVA Test P-value is 0.004175 and 7.88E-05 for columns and rows respectively (significant at 0.05), which indicates that housing design typologies significantly influences post- occupancy housing satisfaction in 3 estates. This assessment provides the feedback to design/produc- tion process on the relationship between housing satisfaction and housing quality attributes. The study highlights the justification for variables to be considered for appropriate affordable housing design approach to improve spatial quality for dwellers' well-being in future projects. © 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. 1. Introduction Tanzania government through public housing agencies has focused into delivering affordable housing units to house the low and medium income earners since 1962 (Nnkya, 2014). But this program faces the challenges of both indoor and outdoor spatial quality that prolong to undermine desirable housing development programs in the country (Lupala, 2002). The house need doesn't limit itself to the accessibility of a structurally stable unit to live in but must be located and designed to afford amenity, convenience, health as well as accessing community social life (Kurian & Thampuran, 2011). In its policy to deliver adequate shelter to all citizens government has instituted various programs to address the problems resulting from urbanization trends and increase in pop- ulation (URT, 2000; Komu, 2011)). Soon after independence (1960's), Tanzania established the National Housing Corporation (NHC) to oversee and administer housing development in the country (Komu, 2011). Early program of eradication of all slums that had existed in strategic locations of the city and replaced them with multi-storey blocks of flats that were made of industrial materials (Ibid), reveals the existence of high quality housing concept in government policy since after independence. But the government withdrew from direct housing financing due to financial limitations leading to public agencies relying on rents to manage available units while the own built houses by individuals emerging around the city leading to poor quality housing (Mushumbusi, 2011). In the established affordable housing program, some of residents are adjusting their units to fulfill their needs or sometimes to maximize and improve the units to suit their family sizes (Komu, 2011). This is an experience that for a long time has been the concentration of several acknowledged literature pointing towards the policy stakeholders on changing the delivery approach to satisfactory quality affordable housing direction (Diang & Hayangah, 2011 , pp. 1e20). It is argued that, a good planning is complemented by a good design for a good quality affordable housing product, where the low design quality leads to dwellers' dissatisfaction, defects in housing units and un-programmed maintenance (Afaq et al., 2015). Spatial quality concept is developed from the general concept of space (Frank, Jan, & Barbara, 2011). The quality of space has different * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: btibesigwaezra@hotmail.com (B.M. Tibesigwa), longhao@cqu. edu.cn (L. Hao), karumunabenson@gmail.com (B.V. Karumuna). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Habitat International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/habitatint http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2016.11.010 0197-3975/© 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Habitat International 59 (2017) 44e59