30 July 2012Last updated at 12:46

In pictures: Building Dar es Salaam

Dar es Salaam in Tanzania is one of the world's fastest growing cities. Its skyline is changing rapidly, with high-rises being constructed all over central areas. Big firms are keen to move to the latest office blocks, often leaving older buildings almost empty.

Throughout the city centre, brash new offices and apartment blocks are juxtaposed with art deco and neo-classical structures that reflect the city's heyday as a wealthy port in the mid-20th Century.

Wealthy merchants were prolific builders from the 1930s to the 1950s, and many structures still bear their names.

The Kariakoo area, west of the city centre, is the most lively and crowded part of town. It was once dominated by single-storey Swahili-style houses, but now every street is pockmarked with building sites.

In northern suburbs like Oyster Bay, the clutter of the downtown gives way to deserted beaches and $1m mansions.

However, most of the urban poor live in shacks and unplanned settlements that line major roads into the city. A UN report estimated 70% of the city is unplanned, and much of it is regarded as slum conditions.

Planners hope to create a city that resembles Singapore, with satellite towns, ring roads and efficient public transport. But pessimists fear the Dar es Salaam of the future will have more in common with Lagos or Nairobi than Singapore.

Africa

In pictures: Building Dar es Salaam

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