Restrictive Control of Urban High-density Housing in Zimbabwe: Deregulation, Challenges and Implications for Urban Design

Abstract

The urban land use planning system in Zimbabwe thrives on controls and restrictions. Over the decades these controls have been moulded into laws that prior to 1994 managed to outlaw all non-residential activities from residential areas. The built environment professions have been used to ensure that residential areas are designed exclusively as living environments. Statutory Instrument 216 of 1994 partially deregulated industrial activities in residential areas. It recognized what had been known all the time, namely, that housing is not simply ?reproductive space?. This legal recognition of a home as both shelter and workplace has some fundamental design implications. This poses a new challenge to urban design, in terms of layout and building design, to satisfy the important aspects of health, safety and convenience, as well as function, economy, efficiency, compatibility and aesthetics. This paper reviews Zimbabwe's urban land use controls and the role of the built environment professions. It examines th...