Dodoma National Capital Master Plan
Core idea
A decolonised capital moved inland to the rural heart of the nation
Why it matters
Africa's ujamaa-era answer to Brasília and Abuja
Description
In 1973 Tanzania voted to move its capital from coastal Dar es Salaam to Dodoma at the country's geographic centre, and the 1976 master plan by Project Planning Associates laid out a decentralised, non-monumental garden capital of communities aligned with Julius Nyerere's ujamaa socialism — deliberately rejecting the grandeur of colonial and Cold-War capitals.
Significance
Dodoma belongs to the postcolonial family of relocated capitals (Brasília, Islamabad, Abuja, later Naypyidaw), but is distinctive for its explicitly egalitarian, village-scaled ideology. Its slow, partial realisation — government fully seated only in the 2010s–2020s — makes it a study in the gap between capital dreams and fiscal reality.
What became of it
Stalled for decades; revived after 2016 when government functions finally moved, with parliament and ministries now in Dodoma though the 1976 plan was heavily revised.