TITLE:
Transforming Urban Policy to Combat Wetland Degradation in Harare
AUTHORS:
Brighton Tapiwa Kudumba
KEYWORDS:
Urbanization, Wetland Degradation, Urban Policy, Land Barons
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.10 No.11,
October
27,
2022
ABSTRACT: The
city of Harare set itself the ambitious goal of being a world-class city by
2025 and vital to this goal is a transformation of the urban policy charting
the way towards a more environmentally sustainable path. Based on the status
quo this is a pipe dream. Tourism and Environment Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu has
given a chilling warning that all wetlands in Zimbabwe’s towns and cities will
disappear within 20 years if municipalities continued on their current model of
development. This paper posits that a radical transformation of Harare’s urban
policy can aid in combatting wetland degradation. Data were derived via a
critical review of legislation, city by-laws, a case study analysis of Harare
and an analysis of a plethora of reports. By arresting rampant corruption
within government and the city’s administrative structures, strengthening
protections on wetland ecosystems through robust legislation, better management
of inter-party contestations (ZANU-PF and MDC) wetlands in Harare can be
utilised sustainably.