He told a policy dialogue forum in Harare recently that services in Zimbabwe’s urban areas had collapsed as a result of economic hardships, poor governance and political and social instability.
The urban centres, previously drawing people from rural areas, had lost their attraction. Though services in the cities slightly improved during the term of the Government of National Unity, local authorities continued to struggle to fulfil their obligations.
Some residential areas had been without safe tap water for nearly a decade, while rural communities could draw water from protected wells.
Flowing raw sewage was a common sight, roads were full of potholes and mountains of uncollected waste continued to pile up each day.
Scarnecchia said government policies aimed at developing rural areas would help improve livelihoods in areas people had previously shunned.
“Given the daunting task of service delivery in urban areas, partly as a result of aged infrastructure, rural growth points and homesteads could be developed to conveniently provide for communities,” said Scarnecchia.
Speaking on the future history and economics of urban Zimbabwe, Scarnecchia said population growth in urban high-density residential areas would be unavoidable.
Post published in: News
Thanks to Nelson Sibanda for writing this piece based on a discussion at a SAPES Policy Dialogue last week in Harare.
I do, however, have to say that this article does not represent my voiced opinion on this issue. There was a good discussion from the audience on the rural versus urban “push and pull” factors. My point was that no matter how bad services become in urban areas, it is impossible to stop in migration and continued urban population growth just by arguing for better services in rural areas and growth points. The latter argument ascribed to me by Sibanda in the above article was made by members of the audience but not by me.
In fact, I cited evidence from elsewhere in Africa and India that demonstrates parents are willing to put up with poor service delivery in urban informal settlements because they see urban life as offering a better future for their children.
This was all said in the context of a larger theme that night, that destruction of urban informal settlements will not stop people from creating them again. A point well made by panelist Beth Chitekwe-Biti that evening.
A fascinating report. But what a sad indictment about the way urban areas are managed. We’re going backwards, it seems. Zanu PF has had a ‘policy’ of developing the rural areas for 33 years but has achieved little or nothing in most areas.
That was great nice knowing