Urban Planning and Policy in Zimbabwe: Change with Continuity

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to diagnose the relationship between the planning of urban areas and the policies on the ground concerning Zimbabwe, a country that has gone through a full cycle of policies—colonial and postcolonial, capitalism and socialism, and chaotic and orderly. The urban–regional space is one that stresses the interconnections between rural space that largely constitutes the hinterland and the urban cores; hence, core–periphery interactions. Seen in the light of these symbiotic relations, this chapter studies the colonial ideology introduced in the country in 1890, which defined rural areas as predominantly occupied by the majority of black African populations serving as labour reserves on land that the capitalist society relied on for workers on its farms, mines and urban areas. The black government after 1980, has always tried to paint a picture of rural areas that are more populous than urban areas for political and election purposes. In addition to political marginalisation, however, the major towns and cities are facing increasing difficulties as the shrinking economy over the years, with limited employment and a fragile taxation base, has rendered planning a useless tool in the hands of a weak state. If the planning is to meet the twenty-first-century demands in Zimbabwe, the policy environment and goals must become clearer, more specific and pragmatic than now.