Exploring the rationalization, functional integration and socio-spatial implications of Zimbabwe’s New Capital City (NCC)

ABSTRACT

The development of new master-planned cities is a popular approach to decongest major metropolitan areas in different African countries, including Zimbabwe. This paper is an exploratory analysis of Zimbabwe’s New Capital City (NCC), being created roughly 20 kilometers outside Harare. Specifically, the paper analyzes the design of the NCC, the principles underpinning its production, the different rationalities used by policymakers for its legitimation, as well as the socioeconomic and spatial implications. Based on review of secondary literature, plans, and interviews with city planners and other professionals, the paper finds that the creation of Zimbabwe’s NCC represents urban boosterism, an active promotion of a city through development of large-scale urban development schemes and creating a new image for the city. The production of the new city is also underpinned by neoliberal motivations and imported ideas of urban planning which disregard the local planning urban context, where poverty and informality are prevalent. The creation of new master-planned cities must therefore strive to address these contemporary urban challenges rather than exacerbating them. The paper contributes to scholarly debate on the production of new master-planned cities in Africa and the Global South more broadly.

KEYWORDS:

• Harare
• New Capital City (NCC)
• neo-liberal planning
• master-planned cities
• urban boosterism

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the four anonymous reviewers and the guest editor of the special issue, Dr. Patrick Brandful Cobbinah from the University of Melbourne, for their critical comments on the paper. We would also want to thank the interviewees who shared their valuable perspectives, thereby enriching our empirical contributions. We also appreciate the help of Karen Vankerkoerle (Department of Geography and Environment, University of Western Ontario) in producing Figure 3 in the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elmond Bandauko

Elmond Bandauko is currently a PhD candidate and SSHRC Vanier Scholar in the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Western Ontario. He is also a Graduate Fellow with the Center for Urban Policy and Local Governance at the University of Western Ontario. Elmond’s research interests span areas such as urban transformation in Global South cities (gated communities and new cities), urban informality, urban governance and the micropolitics of the urban poor, residential satisfaction, and place attachment among others. His doctoral research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Elmond has also awarded the 2022–2023 PhD studentship from the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research (IJURR) foundation for his doctoral study on urban governance and the spatial politics of street traders in Harare, Zimbabwe. Elmond’s work has been published in journals such as Cities, Urban Research and Practice, The Canadian Geographer, African Geographical Review, Housing Studies, and International Planning Studies among others.

Robert Nutifafa Arku

Robert Nutifafa Arku is currently a PhD student in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto, Canada. He earned his bachelor’s degree (First Class Honors) in Land Economy from the University of Science and Technology. Robert obtained his master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of Waterloo, and is interested in a range of urban planning and real estate issues. Specifically, he is passionate about city growth and urban development via the lens of data science and spatio-econometric techniques. This includes urban land economics, land/property value uplift from transit infrastructure and transit-oriented developments, and urban policy and planning. His evidence-based equity research examines the role and influence of public actions on neighborhood outcomes, specifically, when and where do transit-oriented developments induce gentrification and displacement.