From a Settler History to an African Present: Housing Markets in Harare, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The economies, politics, and sociology of a settler society are shown to have shaped the urban built environment in Harare in enduring ways. The postindependence period has been marked by limited changes but greater continuities. Although the public sector accepts responsibility for satisfying low-income housing needs by supplying serviced plots, this bureaucratic supply is quantitatively inadequate and not affordable by many. The analysis reveals penetration of market forces into public housing areas through the large-scale provision of rooms for rent and limited exchange of houses. Even in the middle-income and high-income residential areas, where the market has been assigned responsibility for meeting demand for land and housing, extensive state intervention has helped to shape the pattern of urban development. Trends in property markets are shown to reflect broader political changes and their economic impacts; the pursuit of their interests by various social groups; land, planning, and rent-control policies; and programmes for the provision of serviced plots and housing finance. Explanations for trends in property development and prices, including the boom and slump which occurred around the turn of the decade, are sought.