Abstract
This case study of a donor-supported process to revise planning laws in Zambia evaluates the legislative status quo, marked by the colonial-era Town and Country Planning Act and the independence-era Housing (Statutory and Improvement Areas) Act. The former statute was seen to be outdated, inappropriate, and overly controlling while the later provided an exemption from the provisions of the former in specified areas set aside for low-income residential use. From the perspective of a consultant leading the law reform initiative, the wrong assumptions upon which the process was based are identified, and the unpredictable features of the law and policy making context in Zambia are examined. The concluding argument is that in Zambia a comprehensive, all-at-once approach to planning law reform may not be appropriate, with the alternative of a more drawn out process incrementally amending specified problematic provisions in the legislation over time suggested as a less risky and more effective approach.
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Notes
I was the team leader of a six-person, multi-national team hired by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) to carry out the work covered in this article.
Rakodi (2001) describes the main features of the exported 1947 Act as: “an uneasy amalgam of
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A technocratic approach based on a rational planning process (forecasting, analysis and land use allocation), leading to the development of long-term physical blueprint plans
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An approach to implementation based on public and private investment to produce development identified as desirable in the plan and a discretionary approach to development control, in which allocation of land for a particular use in a plan does not imply entitlement to develop, even for proposals complying with the plan.”
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Schlyter (1998) is one example.
A ‘bill’ here refers to a draft law. Once a bill is approved by parliament it becomes an ‘Act’.
Almost all planners in Zambia are in the public service. There is a very small private planning consultancy sector.
Ms Sylvia Masebo was the Minister of Local Government & Housing at the time.
Although the consulting firm was Swedish, the team consisted of three Zambians, two Swedes, and a South African.
Currently the Fifth National Development Plan (2006–2010) is in force. It doubles up as the country’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.
References
Hampwaye, G. (2008). The Limits of Decentralisation in Urban Zambia. Urban Forum, 19, 347–361.
McAuslan, P. (2003). Bringing the law back in: Essays in land, law and development. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Rakodi, C. (1986). Colonial urban policy and planning in Northern Rhodesia and its legacy. Third World Planning Review, 8(3), 193–223.
Rakodi, C. (2001). Forget planning, put politics first? Priorities for urban management in developing countries. JAG, 3(3), 209–223.
Schlyter, A. (1998). Housing Policy in Zambia: Retrospect and Prospect. Habitat International, volume, 22(3), 259–271.
UN-Habitat. (2005). Land tenure, housing rights and gender in Zambia, Nairobi.
Acknowledgments
This article was made possible by funding provided by the Rockefeller Foundation, via the African Centre for Cities, for which I am very grateful. Practical support from the Department of Town and Regional Planning at the University of Sheffield where I was a Visiting Scholar from January to June 2010 was invaluable.
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Berrisford, S. Revising Spatial Planning Legislation in Zambia: A Case Study. Urban Forum 22, 229–245 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-011-9120-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-011-9120-2