Locating Harare in the Zimbabwean mantra of economic challenges: Trends, reality and implications in service delivery

Abstract

This paper is an expose, a review and explanation of the current situation of Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe. Harare is characterised by the problem of urban primacy amid stunted economic growth. The paper observes how, generally and notwithstanding a raft of planning and policy interventions targeting unprecedented forces of rapid urbanisation and population growth, Harare continues to defy moiete of technocracy, which is scientific-based town planning practice and expectations. Drawing heavily from various scholarship, census reports and economic growth data, we argue that the current urbanisation trend is unsustainable. This confounds the conventional wisdom in developed countries where urban growth has been appropriately synchronised with economic performance to meet the social and economic expectations of the population. To the contrary, Harare's urban growth is in complete antagonism to the expected norm. We pose that for Harare, this situation has reduced it to nothing but a 'parasitic city', drawing life from sectors it is not fending.

Keywords: Harare, economic performance, service delivery, urbanisation