Harare: City report

Working Paper 19

George Masimba and Anna Walnycki

August 2024

Abstract

This report pulls together research outputs produced by the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) team in Harare. The report draws insights from domain studies conducted in the capital, namely: land and connectivity; neighbourhood and district economic development; structural transformation; and informal settlement domains. The study presents political settlement and systems lenses as key analytical tools for understanding how domains operate and hence how cities at large function. The report’s key objectives are to synthesise key findings from specific reports on political settlements, city systems and domains; provide an overarching analysis of the political economy of development in Harare; and identify the priorities for future action research and interventions in Harare. The report contends that the City of Harare finds itself in a national context within which the political settlement could be characterised as “narrow concentrated”. Notwithstanding opposition dominance, the report argues that the capital constitutes a complex political terrain inundated with manifold unofficial powerbrokers. The report proceeds to show how this not only produces development challenges but also helps imagine potential pathways towards unlocking transformative progress in the City of Harare. The systems study findings shared in this report have illuminated the contested and contingent nature of urban systems. The report advances that urban systems are arenas for contestation, as parties fight to extract economic and political advantage. A case of the contentious central government-led Pomona Waste Management deal is presented to illustrate this. The example highlights how parallel power structures counter formal city governance arrangements in the pursuit of rents. The report concludes by noting that further inquiry could spotlight specific conditions that catalyse and sustain elite commitment, so as to establish and set the City of Harare on enduring transformative urban pathways.

Keywords

Political settlement, urban systems, reform coalitions, informal settlements, elite commitment, domains