The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure
Senior Reporter
DEMOLITION of settlements, scenes of flooded houses, blitz on the land barons and arrest of senior planners and council officials across the country recently demonstrated that urban planning had taken a severe knock warranting urgent remedial action.
In any town there is an illegal structure, incomplete building being used without necessary completion certificates, mushrooming wetland development, blocked drains and roads in state of disrepair.
In city centres, traffic jams have become a common phenomenon and traditional public transport pick up points are no longer respected.
This is a planning problem. Urban planning has failed to develop our towns into smart, inclusive, orderly, convenient, functional and aesthetically pleasing settlements.
Planners have failed the planning system as laid out in the Regional, Town and Country Planning Act. They have dismally failed to meet expected standards.
Urban planning experts who spoke to this publication, said it is high time towns regain their former glory — particularly with the Covid-19 in mind as the virus is here to stay and will influence future settlements.
Persistent water shortages during this pandemic means residents cannot adhere to good hygiene practices.
Households endure weeks without municipal water, while the refuse collection system has collapsed.
In short, local authorities are denying residents an opportunity to combat the virus.
Urban planning is governed by the Regional, Town and Country Planning, as the principal Act and the Urban Councils Act, governing urban planning, among others.
While they lay the legal foundation, implementation of their provisions is the major challenge. Flouting of planning, approval and certification processes and procedures has been exacerbated by malfeasance and involvement of management and councillors in irregular land allocation and developments.
This has brought to the fore the need for Government to enforce strict adherence to set laws controlling spatial developments, including any requisite review and updating to suit current circumstances, but without waiving of systematic physical planning.
An expert in regional and urban development, Professor Joseph Kamuzhanje, said politics, corruption, outdated and inflexible legislation, absence of institutionalised planning systems and lack of civic awareness and knowledge are key challenges confronting urban planning.
“The urban environment belongs to those who stay in that locality. The planner is just one of these people. If residents take the city as theirs and interested in what is happening, then we can start the journey to address the challenges.
“Take any piece of open land in any city — how many residents know what it is supposed to be used for? They only get to know what it is supposed to be used for when certain developments take place on it.
“Even then, how many are interested in finding out whether such developments are in line with the operative plan for the area?
“Unless the residents develop interest to challenge developments before they start — when the structures are being set up — the situation will never change.
“I am aware this will be thrown back at me — how corrupt the system is; how politicians force things; how the legislation is restrictive and how the planners are not behaving professionally.
My point still stands — the city belongs to residents and they have the power to address issues that are afflicting urban development today.
Local authorities must be accountable to the people. Residents taking up planning issues with the local authorities is the missing part of the puzzle,” said Prof Kamuzhanje, adding that planning is politics because it is about making the most appropriate land use choices.
“Planners know this and are aware of the challenges that this brings. Failure of urban development is partly due to failure of planners to infuse politics into their work.
“Politicians look for short term rewards and benefits, knowing they may not be around tomorrow, but there are cases where planners have blamed politics and politicians for their own woes,” said Prof Kamuzhanje.
Corruption is another reason why the planning profession is failing to deliver.
“A picture is painted of a resource-poor planner, who is failing to feed his family and meet other basic needs being approached by a business tycoon who convinces him to go against an approved master plan and accommodate land use that will not be permitted under normal circumstances.
“The planner is just one part of the puzzle; the tycoon also has to corrupt a lot of people on the value chain. It is both systemic and systematic corruption and handling it at one level does not address the issue,” said Prof Kamuzhanje.
He said the Regional, Town and Country Planning Act was crafted in 1933, revised in 1976 and has seen cosmetic changes since.
“To say it is outdated and out of sync with the current environment is an understatement. The legislation has failed to keep pace and some of its provisions present challenges for progressive urban development planning,” he said.
He also cited a disorganised institutional framework for planners.
“I am not convinced that tertiary institutions, Department of Physical Planning and the Zimbabwe Institute of Regional and Urban Planners (ZIRUP) are fully prepared to tackle the challenges that a fledgling planner faces in the office.
“The fact that after years of discussions, ZIRUP still has not made meaningful progress on planner registration. This means “rogue” planners get away with murder. Other professions have provisions for self-regulation, but not in the planning profession.”
Another expert, Dr Percy Toriro, a consultant with the African Centre for Cities, said planning is on a downward spin in Zimbabwe.
“Urban areas must have master plans to guide development. This is the only way development can be harmonious and coordinated. These plans must be periodically reviewed to continuously reflect and respond to societal needs and aspirations.
“All we do is a product of planning, so when planning fails, everything fails. Unfortunately in Zimbabwe, many towns and cities are behind in terms of preparing and reviewing master and local plans.
“This must be addressed because it means they are using outdated tools to manage today’s challenges,” said Dr Toriro, adding that land use must be properly planned and layouts approved.
“Without these, we end up with unapproved and illegal settlements that do not give an opportunity for critical issues such as drainage, environment and traffic management, etc to be carefully considered.
“We will also end up with some of the problems we are currently experiencing like wetlands development, traffic congestion, and unsightly development.”
Dr Toriro said planning should be cognisant of climate change and global warming, while stakeholders like engineers, property developers, citizens, including political leaders must support planners by religiously developing in a sustainable manner.
“Planning provisions must be followed without exception to protect all of us and help create settlements that are pleasant to live in.
“Of late, our urban areas are experiencing development motivated by unscrupulous and unauthorised land barons — selfish speculative individuals who access land illegally and dupe home-seeking citizens.
“They must be ruthlessly dealt with. They should not be protected because they benefit no one,” said Dr Toriro.
