Re-Thinking Town and Country Planning Practice in Zambia

Abstract

Town and Country Planning is a dynamic professional activity that demands the experts in the field to be globally and locally in tune with the evolving innovative and creative practices as a result of the dictates of changing social and economic development, basically the urbanization problem. As a sensitive dynamic and multi-disciplinary professional activity, its main thrust is not the focus on physical designing of settlements but the total integration and harmonization of social and economic infrastructure development policies manifested in physical forms to provide effective guidance to developments. In Zambia, numerous questions are being raised by the public regarding the status and credibility of town planning vis-à-vis the changing socio-economic investment environment experienced in the urban areas, especially, Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe, Livingstone and Solwezi. With this backdrop, the paper attempted to address the nature of town planning practice by planners that seems to hinder the effectiveness of the activity to guiding and directing social, economic and physical infrastructure development in urban areas in Zambia. The consequence is that, there is no effective town planning practice in Zambia, particularly in the districts and hence, to re-examine the flaws and provide pragmatic but dynamic solutions. This is an assertion that needs to be taken seriously by the experts in the field.

Keywords: Nature of Town Planning Practice, Political Environment, Local government system, Zambia