Linking Time Use to Implementation of Spatial Plans: What explains the Dysfunctional Urban Landscapes in Zimbabwe?

Innocent CHIRISA1
1 University of Zimbabwe, Department of Rural and  Urban Planning, Harare, ZIMBABWE 

E-mail: chirisa.innocent@gmail.com
Pages: 49-60			    

Abstract. The planning of towns and cities in most developing countries is beset by inertia reflected in the scarcity of implemented plans while they gather dust in office drawers and on the walls. As a result, the development of physical infrastructure lags behind beyond expectations thus leading to the emergence of undesirable outcomes. These outcomes usually feature illegal structures and settlements in the interstitial areas of the built environment. This paper examines the use of time and related resources in spatial planning enquiring on how different types of plans have resulted in dysfunctional urban landscapes. The paper explores the dissimilar perspectives, attitudes and practices of different planners regarding this ‘time-space development gap’. The paper argues that this gap is sometimes widened by the prevalence of conflicting interests, values and priorities between planners (trying as much as possible to be ‘professional’) and politicians driven by populist and selfish agendas. The paper draws on case studies of urban planning experiences in Zimbabwe to illustrate this alarming trend. The case studies are reflected through the in-depth interviews performed to gather information from practicing planners in the public and private sector agencies. The findings of the investigation portray time as a contested concept in spatial planning whose multiple and contrasting variables are the determinants of the so-called ‘planning failure’.

K e y w o r d s: time, inertia, development, urban landscape, politics, Zimbabwe, spatial planning