Abstract   Purpose: The purpose of the study is to identify why the Tanzanian market for cement blocks have not adapted hollow blocks instead of solid ditto and, if possible, present recommendations for market activities.   Design/methodology/approach: Implemented by action research methodology, this minor field study financed by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency targets issues regarding the relatively poor housing standard in Tanzania through a business development perspective. Furthermore, the study covers what obstacles for new, more sustainable and price-efficient products are to identify in the Tanzanian market.   Findings: An implementation of hollow blocks in the concrete block market surrounding Dar es Salaam would be beneficial from several aspects (e.g. economical, environmental, societal), but there are also factors that hinder such an implementation. The market’s consumers tend to not get the information about new techniques and innovations; hence to this lack of knowledge and awareness of alternatives, they stick to more traditional ways that they know more of. The consumers that do know of the new materials often disbeliefs the producers’ ability to make the quantity or quality demanded. Unawareness and distrust results in that few ask for new alternatives. The producers who put their main focus on supplying what the customers specifically asks for will therefore not start to produce the new alternatives, in this case hollow blocks. Thus, new innovations and the knowledge of the production of it do not spread easily. To implement new innovations some actor(s) to bare the risk is needed - pioneers that either commence producing the material themselves or, at least, encourage/provide incitements for producers and consumers to gain knowledge of them. The ones who have the possibility to carry risks in the concrete market surrounding Dar es Salaam are the large cement producers and the governmental institutions. They are also stakeholders who will benefit the most from taking the pioneer approach.   Originality/value: The study offers insights into the Tanzanian market for cement blocks for building construction by focusing on adaption of a block innovation that can reduce the Co2 emissions due to less raw material use per block.   Keywords: Sustainable Business Development, Innovation, Housing standard, Tanzania.   Type of study: Bachelor Thesis in Enterprising and Business Development, Linnaeus University, Sweden. / Minor Field Study

The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to present a comparison of housing standards between Sweden and China, in terms of the development of design codes and regulations during the last fifteen years. The study focuses mainly on dwelling sizes and accessibility. The Swedish Building Regulations, BBR7:1999 and BBR18:2011-2013, and the Chinese code Design Code for Residential buildings GB1999:2003 and GB2011 were used as a reference frame. It showed that China has improved its regulations on accessibility greatly, whereas standards on dwelling sizes decreased during the last fifteen years. The study also shows Sweden has reached a sufficient level in terms of dwelling size and accessibility, as only minor difference are found between the codes during the last fifteen years. The comparison between Sweden and China shows that Sweden’s regulations are more developed and user-friendly for the disabled. Sweden can be used as an example for China, in the purpose of carry on improving their requirements covering accessibility. On the other hand, Sweden can improve the accessibility by considering certain measures taken in China, e.g. the design of ramps.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:38:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ThyanaFGB_TESE.pdf: 3900803 bytes, checksum: ad536ccaa7f417bf348f03655020dc00 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-04-20 / The intensification of the fear in the city and in the spaces controlled by this feeling has contributed to a growing socio-spatial inequality, and the rapid growth of market protection. The residential condos emerge as a possible solution to the problem. This is a housing typology expanding worldwide which is seen, especially by the urban middle class, as enablers of quality of life and safety. In Brazil, especially in large cities, the quest for quality of life is directly connected with the desire for security translated through space control (use of high walls, gates, entrance hall, security cameras) and people who use it. This thesis aims at investigating how the different categories of inhabitants of an area predominantly occupied by vertical residential condos realize the socio-spatial dimension and the socio-urban space determined by this type of development. It especially takes into consideration the issue of urban insecurity, based on the assumption that, although published and sold by marketing as safe places , synonym of welfare and supporters of community life , the living in these condos, may even inhibits, social relationships, contributing to socio-spatial isolation and consequent social weakness. This is a survey that seeks to meet the assumptions of Environmental Psychology towards the comprehension of person-environment studies, emphasizing the use of different methods (desk research, observations of and group interviews, focus group technique using photographic resources), as well as the focus on current problems of the urban scene and the knowledge gained in Social Psychology / A intensifica??o do medo da cidade e dos espa?os geridos a partir deste sentimento vem contribuindo para uma desigualdade socioespacial cada vez maior, al?m do r?pido crescimento do mercado de prote??o. Os condom?nios residenciais surgem como uma poss?vel solu??o ao problema. Trata-se de uma tipologia habitacional em expans?o em todo mundo e s?o vistos, especialmente pela classe m?dia urbana, como espa?os propiciadores de qualidade de vida e seguran?a. No Brasil, especialmente nas grandes cidades, a busca por qualidade de vida apresenta conex?o direta com o desejo por seguran?a traduzido atrav?s do controle do espa?o (uso de muros altos, port?es, portaria, c?meras de vigil?ncia) e das pessoas que o utilizam. Investigar como as diversas categorias de moradores de uma ?rea predominantemente ocupada por condom?nios residenciais verticais percebem a dimens?o socioespacial e o espa?o urbano determinados por esse tipo de empreendimento, principalmente no tocante a quest?o da (in)seguran?a urbana ? o objetivo dessa tese que fundamenta-se na hip?tese de que, embora divulgados e vendidos pelo marketing como lugares seguros , sin?nimos de bem-estar e incentivadores da vida em comunidade , a moradia nestes condom?nios n?o promove, e at? inibe, as rela??es sociais, contribuindo para o isolamento socioespacial e consequente enfraquecimento social. Trata-se de uma pesquisa que procura atender ?s premissas da psicologia ambiental voltada para a compreens?o dos estudos pessoa-ambiente, valorizando o uso de diferentes m?todos (pesquisa documental, observa??es e entrevistas em grupo - t?cnica de grupo focal com utiliza??o de recursos fotogr?ficos), o foco em problemas atuais da cena urbana e o conhecimento obtido em psicologia social