Michenzani is a large neighbourhood of Ng'ambo, the more modern part of

Zanzibar City Zanzibar City or Mjini District, often simply referred to as Zanzibar (''Wilaya ya Zanzibar Mjini'' or ''Jiji la Zanzibar'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of two administrative districts of Mjini Magharibi Region in Tanzania. The district co ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. It is located just across Creek Road, that separates the historical part of the city,

Stone Town Stonetown of Zanzibar (), also known as , is the old part of Zanzibar City, the main city of Zanzibar, in Tanzania. The newer portion of the city is known as Ng'ambo, Swahili for 'the other side'. Stone Town is located on the western coast of Un ...

(to the west) and Ng'ambo (to the east). The place is mostly known for the '' Plattenbauten'', i.e., the large

apartment block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. ...

s that were built here in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the aid of

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

History

The Michenzani neighbourhood gained its fame during the 1970s, when an

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

plan was started in Ng'ambo by Zanzibari revolutionary government, with the aid of

. A complex of " Plattenbauten" (apartment blocks constructed from large, prefabricated concrete slabs) was built in Michenzani as well as other areas of suburban and rural Zanzibar. The buildings are different sizes, with the tallest having seven floors and the shortest four floors. As a consequence of the construction process, some buildings comprise different parts with a different number of floors each: for example, block #7 is partly five floors and partly seven floors high. Despite being the tallest public buildings in Zanzibar, no lifts were installed and all the flats are only accessible by stairs. The Michenzani apartment blocks used to be the pride of revolutionary

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

; despite this, virtually no maintenance has been made after the 1970s, so the buildings are now in a state of decay. Lack of water pressure makes water services unavailable from the second floors up. As a result, many residents have installed their own water pumps, which are not in keeping with the original style of the buildings. Some of the apartments were renovated in 2010, giving them a fresh coat of paint.

References

{{coord, 6.16526, S, 39.19880, E, type:landmark_region:TZ-15, display=title Zanzibar City Geography of Mjini Magharibi Region