Harare: from a European settler-colonial ‘sunshine city’ to a ‘zhing-zhong’ African city

Mbiba, Beacon

International Development Planning Review (2017), 39, (4), 375–398.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3828/idpr.2017.13
Language: English
Pages: 24

Abstract

Fifteen years after Zimbabwe’s political independence and Black majority rule, Rakodi (1995) concluded that Harare, the capital city, remained quintessentially a settler-colonial city. Then, Harare had not yet experienced the full impacts of ‘neo-liberalism’ as in Nairobi or the suburbanisation of office and commercial development as in Johannesburg. In view of significant political economy transformations since the 1990s, this paper aims to provide a systematic interpretation of ongoing transitions that characterise the city. Informed by a systemic spatio-temporal and historical analysis it illustrates how ongoing post-1990s foundational restructuring of the economy centred on jambanja has transformed Harare from a settler-colonial city to a highly informalised ‘zhing-zhong’ African city.

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