Biography: Lilian Kato is an Assistant Lecturer in Geomatics at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and a doctoral researcher at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. She holds a MSc in Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation from the University of Twente, the Netherlands, and a BSc in Geomatics from Ardhi University, Tanzania. Her academic and research interests focus on geospatial analysis, remote sensing, Earth observation, urban sustainability and environmental change. Her doctoral research examines peri-urban sprawl and its implications for ecosystem services in rapidly growing African cities, using Dar es Salaam as a case study. Through the Global Center of Spatial Methods for Urban Sustainability (SMUS), her research combines spatial-temporal analysis with ecosystem service assessment and governance perspectives to contribute to more sustainable and adaptive urban planning.
PhD Thesis Working Title: Peri-urban Sprawl and Ecosystem Degradation in African Cities: Spatial-Temporal Insights of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Abstract: Peri-urban areas are among the most rapidly transforming landscapes in African cities, where urban expansion increasingly intersects with ecologically sensitive areas, informal development and evolving planning systems. In Dar es Salaam, rapid outward growth is transforming land-use patterns and placing increasing pressure on ecosystems that provide essential services to urban and peri-urban communities. However, the spatial dynamics of peri-urban sprawl, its effects on ecosystem services, and the governance processes shaping these transformations are often examined separately, limiting understanding of their interactions.
This research investigates the spatial-temporal dynamics of peri-urban sprawl and associated ecosystem degradation in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It adopts an integrated mixed-methods approach combining geospatial analysis, Earth observation, ecosystem service assessment and qualitative governance analysis. First, the study analyses patterns, drivers and uncertainties of peri-urban expansion using multi-temporal satellite imagery and spatial modelling. Second, it assesses how land-use transformations affect selected provisioning and regulating ecosystem services, including their spatial trade-offs and potential ecosystem disservices. Third, it examines the governance mechanisms, planning practices and actors shaping peri-urban development, with particular attention to informality, land regularisation and the interaction between planned and unplanned urban growth.
Building on these components, the research will develop an adaptive planning framework that integrates geospatial evidence, ecosystem service assessment, governance analysis and stakeholder knowledge. The framework will also consider wider urban–peri-urban–rural interdependencies and the flows of resources and environmental functions connecting these spaces. By linking spatial patterns of urban expansion with ecological consequences and institutional processes, the research seeks to provide evidence for more adaptive and context-sensitive approaches to managing peri-urban growth in Dar es Salaam, with broader relevance for rapidly urbanising African cities.