ACRC has published a new report exploring the political dimensions of urban development in Harare, Zimbabwe. Authored by George Masimba and Anna Walnycki, the paper synthesises key findings from research undertaken by in-city researchers, analysing how Harare’s political settlement and city systems shape its urban development domains. It aims to provide an overview of the political economy of development in Harare and identify priorities for future action research and interventions.
Harare’s political terrain is highly complex, providing both challenges and opportunities for transformative urban progress in the city. Post-colonial decentralisation in Zimbabwe has led to de-racialisation but not democratisation, with local government institutions having little autonomy and enduring significant interference from central government.
Over the last two decades, Harare’s infrastructure has largely collapsed – connected to national-level macro-socioeconomic and political developments. With reconstruction requiring an estimated $10 billion, Zimbabwe’s political isolation at the international level has left the city unable to secure funding to address critical systems failures. The research findings show the contested and contingent nature of urban systems in Harare, with hyperinflation, exclusionary regulatory frameworks and a growing population only compounding these difficulties.
Against this backdrop, the report explores findings from four urban development domains: informal settlements, land and connectivity, neighbourhood and district economic development, and structural transformation. Within every domain, informality was cited as a binding constraint, with the recommendations made in this study highlighting the need for council-led integration, regulation and institutionalisation of informal practices.
Informal settlements
The nexus between informal settlements and politics in Harare is much debated. Low-income areas are sites of political contestation, with elites making critical decisions and ordinary residents facing the consequences. As well as dealing with inadequate basic services, low-income urban residents have to cope with everyday challenges of land tenure precarity – including evictions and demolitions.
There are more than 60 informal settlements in Harare. Despite strong ties with political elites, grassroots political structures are often not recognised at higher levels of government. As a result, politically connected local actors have become adept at navigating formal authorities in their struggle for land tenure security. While many upgrading and regularisation processes have been led by politically aligned groups in informal settlements, other actors – including central government – have also been involved and there are examples of successful participatory initiatives.
Land and connectivity
Areas of high-density housing – mainly for low-income residents – have grown significantly over the last two decades in Harare.
The research finds the land and connectivity domain in Harare to be characterised by competitive land authorities, stressed physical planning systems, strategic infrastructure gaps and fragile urban land management. These difficulties have driven the city’s failure to optimise land for development and led to a struggle with policy and administrative structures.
The authors argue that joint action between the city council and national government is key to resolving strategic land conflicts and regularising settlements legally within Harare’s jurisdiction. This has the potential to open pathways to secure tenure and formal urban land administration in the city.
Structural transformation
Harare has witnessed rapid urbanisation, but little growth. Deindustrialisation and informalisation of the economy, originating from massive GDP loss between 1999 and 2000, have been worsened by disruption arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. Many workers lost their jobs and incomes, and more than 76% are now employed informally.
The city is in a precarious financial situation, due to national macroeconomic challenges and inconsistent fiscal transfers from central government over the last 20 years. New avenues to finance social services and critical infrastructure are urgently needed to drive an economic agenda that in turn catalyses growth-enhancing structural transformation.
Yet, while the situation seems bleak, the research highlights myriad opportunities to recapture development and push for change. By working closely with city authorities and national government, there is scope to take advantage of “low-hanging fruit” – such as creating a new vision for the city by developing a new spatial transformation programme to guide urban development. Support will be needed if Harare is to develop an overarching vision – but discussions are already underway.
Neighbourhood and district economic development
With 37% of the nation’s urban population living below the poverty line, Zimbabwe’s informal economy plays a significant role in poverty reduction, job creation, income, livelihoods and food security enhancement. As Zimbabwe’s primary economic and commercial hub, Harare attracts residents from surrounding areas, who contribute to an informal sector accounting for 58% of employment in the city.
Household microenterprises (HMEs) are a prominent fixture in Harare’s informal sector, but there is little research into the challenges they face. Reliable information around the scale, magnitude, character and spatial distribution of the informal economy is limited by a lack of coordination across government ministries, public bodies and local authorities. HMEs also face obstacles in the form of inadequate labour protection and social security provisions for informal workers, along with weak collective bargaining and representation of rights.
A number of current reforms are identified in the report – some taking place already, as well as potential interventions. These include the launch of the Informal Sector Policy (SME) in 2023, the opportunity afforded by membership associations to inclusively reshape the informal sector, and the growth in grassroots collective savings as an instrument for informal traders to access funding.
The research highlights that development processes in Harare are inseparable from politics, meaning that politically nuanced approaches and sustained commitment from elites are critical to confront urban challenges.
Header photo credit: VV Shots / iStock. Busy traffic on Samora Machel Avenue in Harare, Zimbabwe.
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