A fellow of the Real Estate Institute of Zimbabwe, Amos Mazarire said that there is no doubt that local authorities have failed to police the Central Business Districts (CBDs) during the ZimReal workshop in Harare last week.
Mazarire was answering the question what and how the local authorities must do to enforce town planning regulations in order to bring sanity to the CBDs in Zimbabwe.
“Informal trading, including on city roadways, has now become a culture to the extent that the authorities are finding it difficult to reverse,”Mazarire said.
“Over the last 35 years or so, the city centres have experienced significant decay. They (city centres) are now characterised by informal trade on both the street pavements and roadways, congestion, illegal public transportation and uncleanliness.”
The Real Estate Institute of Zimbabwe fellow went on to say that the enforcement of current by laws which prohibits some of the illegal activities should be the starting point in bringing sanity to the CBDs.
“It might initially prove difficult to change the culture but it is imperative that the laws are applied, if the city centres are to revert to normalcy,” Mazarire said.
“Activities like informal trading, illegal transport operators and the flouting of traffic regulations must be stopped.”
“Efforts need to be made to formalise street vendors e.g. as the Old Mutual has set out to do at their SME Centre along Robert Mugabe Road in Harare,” the Knight Frank Zimbabwe senior partner said.
The central business districts of Zimbabwe’s towns used to be the marvel of the world about
38 years ago according to Mazarire.
“They were known for cleanliness and order,” the Knight Frank senior said. “Granted, that originally the cities were designed to cater for a small privileged population.”
