Informality and right to the city: Contestations for safe and liveable spaces in Masvingo City, Zimbabwe
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Date
2019
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of the Western Cape
Abstract
Informal sector operators in many cities of the global South face extensive harassment,
criminalization and restricted access to public spaces despite the important role the sector is
playing in urban development.
Using Lefebvre�s theory of right to the city the study aimed to investigate how the city of
Masvingo has embraced urban informality. The study also examined how informal sector
operators in the city of Masvingo have been accessing �urban space and creating
opportunities for the informal sector to access such space. The study also examined how the
provision of essential services in the city has been extended to the people in the informal
sector as a way of granting them their right to urban social and infrastructural services.
The research took a survey design where a cross section of Masvingo city, including the city
centre, residential areas and industrial areas, was sampled for the study. Methodologically the
research used a mixed method approach to data collection and analysis, where both
qualitative and quantitative methods were used. A questionnaire survey constituted the
quantitative component of the study and it was administered to the informal sector operators,
In-depth interviews and field observations were at the core of the qualitative methods that
were used in the research. In-depth interviews were done with key informants in the city and
these included officials in the city council, government ministries, and leaders of informal
sector associations and civic groups in the city. Field observations were done in areas where
the informal activities were carried out to assess the provision of services and the
environment in which informal activities were operating. Data collected through interviews
and field observations was analysed qualitatively and the SPSS was used for quantitative data
analysis.
The research found that informal operators in the city of Masvingo are being disenfranchised
of their right to the city in various ways. They are not afforded the right to express their lives
in the city centre as the city authorities are determined to flush out all informal structures and
activities from the city centre in line with their modern city goals. The planning system in the
city does not recognise informal activities as approved land user in the city centre and they do
not plan for them in new spatial development projects. However, informal activities continue
to occupy contested spaces, where they are in direct contravention of existing regulatory
framework and this has been used to marginalise them and deny them of their right to the
city. Right to the city calls for all urban residents to have access to the city centre and that access to city space should be based on use values rather than exchange values (Lefebvre
1996). Also, informal sector operators based at various sites in the city are generally denied
access to essential services such as waste collection, provision of water and sewer services.
Description
Philosophiae Doctor - PhD
Keywords
Zimbabwe, Masvingo city, Informal sector, Public spaces, Disenfranchised, Essential services