By Correspondent
President Mnangagwa has directed Local Authorities to have operative Master Plans by 30 June under the Call To Action blueprint.
The move is aimed at, among other things, curbing sprouting chaotic and haphazard settlements.
Councils like Harare are currently using an outdated 1993 masterplan.
This has resulted in the parcelling out of land in areas like wetlands and communal areas.
What Is A Master Plan?
Councils have a strategic plan that outlines where their city wants to be in the future, as well as the steps it will take to get there.
However, a strategic plan isn’t the only aspect needed for future growth.
A master plan is the valuable resource that gets the city where it wants to go.
Master planning is a type of urban planning that pertains to the physical development of a city or town over the long term.
It normally covers a time frame of about 10 to 15 years into the future.
It is intended to guide a community’s growth from a high-level perspective, focusing on ways to.
The main types of master plan are:
Development led – focussing on the creation of new commercial/ residential spaces.
Landscape led – providing improved biodiversity/ habitat, creating new parkland and open spaces (for example by repairing and restoring former open-cast mining areas).
Socially led – creating entirely new settlements through urban regeneration that targets areas experiencing deprivation.
Master planning is important because it creates a coherent route map to delivering a final goal.
However, in coming up with a Masterplan there is need to balance multiple factors through phased delivery.
This is done whilecreatively producing an environment that satisfies the brief and delivers on viability.
It is inevitable that there will be need to compromise in order to ensure all aspects of the brief can be addressed.
However, these should be kept to a minimum and within the agreed terms of all stakeholder parties involved.
