Genesis of Hopley Farm informal settlement in independent Harare, Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT

Conventional studies on informal urbanism in Zimbabwe focused more on efforts in upgrading informal settlements but did not address their genesis. I argue that finding sustainable solutions to addressing informal settlements challenges and enhancing their liveability must be premised on exploring the factors influencing their genesis and temporal changes. Data were collected from Hopley Settlement, Harare, through interviews with 20 household heads and purposively selected key informants with a stake in human settlement planning. Findings suggest that the genesis of informal settlements in post-independent cities is complex and is influenced by politics, segregating the poor, constrained municipalities, and poor planning.

KEYWORDS:

• Informal settlement
• Hopley
• state of exception
• production of urban space

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

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/19376812.2022.2117216

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Abraham R Matamanda

Abraham R Matamanda (PhD) is an Urban and Regional Planner who has also been trained as a social ecologist. Abraham is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Geography, University of Free State. His current research focus on climate change adaptation, informal urbanism in the Global South, medical geography, planning for urban food systems and urban political economy. Abraham has published at least 30 articles, 20 book chapters, 1 co-edited book titled Urban Geography in Postcolonial Zimbabwe: Paradigms and perspectives for sustainable urban planning and governance published with Springer Nature in 2021. His recent publication is a book he coauthored titled Housing and technology: Special focus on Zimbabwe published with Springer Nature in 2022.