Recent trends have shown that, cities of developing countries have been switching from one urban planning approach to another and this trend will continue. The methodology adopted involved a review of scondary data sources, interviews and analysis.The findings of this research present three areas of discourse. First, the demise and resurgence of conventional approaches is a worldwide recurring phenomena. Secondly, the switch/return to master planning approach in Dar es Salaam was premature and largely resulted from a misconception of the theory of paradigm shift. Thirdly, the claim that SUDP is ill-suited to guide the process of urban change, is more of a misleading generalization than a reality. The utility of SUDP has to be examined not only from practice but also from core theoretical and conceptual tenets, laws and procedures governing such an urban planning practice.