Abraham Matamanda

University of the Free State | ufs · Department of Urban and Regional Planning

This paper critically examines how urban planning influences food security in the rapidly urbanizing landscapes of Africa, focusing on Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. These countries, with their distinct urban challenges and developmental contexts , provide a comparative framework for understanding the pivotal role of urban planning in address...

This paper critically examines how urban planning influences food security in the rapidly urbanizing landscapes of Africa, focusing on Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. These countries, with their distinct urban challenges and developmental contexts , provide a comparative framework for understanding the pivotal role of urban planning in address...

This ethnographic study investigates the perceptions of place and migration aspirations among young migrants within the Malawian diaspora in Lydiate, an informal settlement in Zimbabwe. Unlike traditional conceptions of diaspora that emphasize long-term settlement and place attachment, this study introduces the concept of a ‘radical sense of place,...

Covid-19 posed little danger to children. Nevertheless, the South African government imposed lockdown measures that impeded children's education, play and food. Schools were closed, feeding schemes were halted and organised sports were banned. In this study of South African children's experience during the 2020-22 pandemic, we use the capabilities...

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented global moment when the core needs of children and young people (rights for education, food, play and leisure) were not adequately addressed, recognised from a policy perspective and to varying extents, ignored. This paper, by bringing scholarship and grey literature together, provides an integrative, in...

The provision and management of urban green infrastructure (UGI) provides multiple benefits to the wellbeing of urban residents. A crucial, yet underexplored benefit, is the role that UGI can play in poverty alleviation. Acknowledging this role raises questions as to how UGI design and management can better provide opportunities for poverty allevia...

With the rapid urbanisation characterising Global South cities, cities are confronted with a myriad of socio-economic and environmental challenges that are increasing in intensity and frequency. There are mounting protests by communities over the lack of service delivery, cases of misgovernance and corruption in public and private institutions, cli...

Urban food systems in Africa are confronted with three major challenges, providing nutrition and food security for a rapidly expanding urban population, assisting urban farmers and other food chain members, and accomplishing all of this in an environmentally sustainable manner. The situation is particularly dire for the urban poor, who appear to be...

This chapter addresses several issues pertinent to health governance and health inequalities. To attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), peaceful, just, and inclusive societies are required. Effective and inclusive governmental institutions can help to deliver quality healthcare, fair economic policies, and inclusive environmental protecti...

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 on climate action greatly relates with urban health. The focus of this chapter is to consider community health in the context of climate change regarding those living in precarious housing conditions in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. The chapter used two gridded datasets, the Climate Hazards Group Intr...

As the aviation industry recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability of African airports to adapt and innovate has become even more critical. This chapter presents the travellers’ airport experiences in the post-COVID-19 pandemic period. It also presents practical solutions to improve passengers’ airport experiences in the post-COVID-19 pandem...

This paper presents insights on conducting urban research amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the adoption of digital ethnography as an innovative and flexible approach. Drawing from an expanding body of literature on fieldwork among 'hard-to-reach' populations during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, we share our experiences from a study...

Zimbabwe implemented the Fast-Track Land Reform Program (FTLRP) in the year 2000. This program has had far-reaching implications on urban development, especially on urban land markets in cities and towns. This paper highlights the implications of the land reform program on urban land markets, using Harare as a case study. The paper is based on docu...

South Africa is a major destination for migrants and refugees from various African countries seeking better economic opportunities, safety and stability. Migrants often face numerous challenges, including poor working conditions, limited access to social services and food insecurity. Access to adequate and nutritious food is a fundamental human rig...

Extreme weather events are expected to become more frequent and intense due to climate change, posing significant risks to public health. This chapter focuses on the vulnerability and resilience of marginalised communities to extreme weather events and related health inequalities. Based on a desktop review study, the chapter explores the factors co...

The ideals and fundamentals of urban planning are largely to ensure habitable and liveable environments for the citizens. However, while planning is an apolitical profession that is supposed to advance human well-being and urban liveability, we argue that the planning process has been compromised by political interference that jeorpadises the reali...

The African continent is confronted with interconnected challenges of water, energy, and food insecurity, particularly affecting marginalized urban residents. Decentralized Water-Energy-Food (WEF) systems have emerged as potential solutions to alleviate these issues exacerbated by climate change. Despite scholarly acknowledgment of constraints rela...

Fieldwork challenges involving hard-to-reach populations and with which many novice researchers grapple are apparent. However, literature on the issues related to female researchers’ experiences with hard-to-reach populations like undocumented foreign migrants is scarce. This article reflects on local female researchers’ fieldwork experiences durin...

Applying an exploratory case study design, the study analyses urban mobility along the Main North 1 Road. We argue that urban mobility in Maseru, Lesotho is compromised by a complex web of issues including inconsistent urban transport policies, inadequate road infrastructure, and land use activities along some roads. Data were collected from primar...

This study analyses factors undermining the use and value of savanna ecosystem services. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with community leaders and community members, focus group discussions and observations. Findings reveal that TEK has witnessed decline in utility and esteem. This decline is attributed to the encroachment of modern...

This policy paper presents the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrants in the informal economy of Bloemfontein downtown area, South Africa. Data was collected using qualitative rapid ethnographic methods in the Bloemfontein downtown area. In the context of this study, the term migrants pertains to individuals of international ori...

This policy paper presents the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrants in the informal economy of Bloemfontein downtown area, South Africa. Data was collected using qualitative rapid ethnographic methods in the Bloemfontein downtown area. In the context of this study, the term migrants pertains to individuals of international ori...

Infrastructure in developing countries, and in particular that of Zimbabwe, is starved of new investments and plagued by inefficiencies. There has been lack of investment to expand its generation of infrastructure. Infrastructure has also failed because of lack of proper maintenance. The cost of infrastructure development in developing nations is o...

Food is a critical basic human need affecting different urban life facets. Its contribution to urban health cannot be understated, especially considering food quality. Food access is also a measure of poverty levels, and this is a critical indicator that relates to sustainable development goal (SDG) 1. Overall, the availability of food in cities is...

Sasolburg is one of the ‘new towns’ in South Africa developed during the 1940s and 1950s to house employees at nascent industrial and mining locations as part of South Africa’s industrialisation drive. It is linked to the petrochemical industry, specifically the development of Sasol, which refined the coal-to-oil process and is now the leading petr...

Climate change is no longer a myth but a reality that requires urgent mitigation and adaptation strategies to curtail its devastating impacts. In urban areas, land use planning plays a critical role in shaping the future of towns and cities, and the same applies with regard to integrating climate change strategies to create inclusive, sustainable,...

Since colonial times, secondary cities in southern Africa have been in a state of flux yet have been central in promoting and stabilising local governance. They balance and filter centre-local relations differently from capital and metropolitan cities, creating unique spatial and economic efficiencies as well as problems. Their realities, pressures...

This chapter explores, documents, and analyses the impacts and implications of by the absence of a robust package for low-income housing finance in Zimbabwe, using case study and document review (with thematic content analysis). The current operation system for low-income housing finance is through a multilateral partnership of the public, communit...

The decline of the city centre and a surge in demand for affordable commercial space has led to the expansion of the city centre of Harare into surrounding residential areas. However, as the market forces of supply and demand drove the expansion, no comprehensive study or planning has been conducted to ensure harmonious co-existence of commercial a...

This chapter is premised on the idea that if the bachelor hostels in Zimbabwe had been “familised”, the decadent situation characterising them now could have been avoided. Apparently, South Africa has made significant strides in providing decent housing and habitats to its citizens since democracy in 1994; it converted the male-only flats into fami...

This chapter examines the dual burden of health risks associated with food and housing insecurity and explores strategies to address these challenges. Drawing on a review of the literature, the chapter identifies the mechanisms through which food insecurity and housing insecurity impact health outcomes, including chronic stress, poor nutrition, and...

This book analyses urban planning in Anglophone, Francophone, and Lusophone Africa, exploring its history and advocating for new approaches. In a climate changing world, cities need to be reimagined and designed to be more sustainable, but despite being one of the fastest urbanising continents, Africa has generally weak urban planning systems. The...

This book focuses on the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns on the welfare of the urban poor in the city of Harare, Zimbabwe. The authors look through the lenses of the urban health penalty, the right to the city, complexity theory, and distributive justice theory. These four theories help situate the COVID-19...

The aim and scope of the book are introduced in this chapter. This chapter provides an introductory and synopsis of the COVID-19 pandemic and how the global responses, especially lockdowns, have affected the urban poor. The central argument and broad theme guiding this book are that the policy interventions implemented to curb the COVID-19 pandemic...

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant impact on global public health and the world’s economies. Across the globe, governments imposed mandatory lockdowns as a containment measure against the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, mandatory lockdowns negatively influenced the lived experiences of the most vulnerable in the citie...

This paper examines the complex dynamics of women and girls as primary custodians of household water supply, sanitation, and health in the face of escalating water stress in low-income regions, with a specific focus on Chegutu, Zimbabwe, a secondary urban area grappling with water scarcity. Employing the innovative Participatory Action Research (PA...

This article presents insights on conducting urban research during the COVID-19 pandemic, embracing new and agile directions in research - digital ethnography. The paper builds on a growing body of literature on conducting fieldwork among ‘hard-to-reach’ populations during difficult times of the extended COVID-19 pandemic. We narrated our digital e...

The rapid urbanisation and population growth in African cities pose significant challenges to food security and sustainable development. Urban planning and urban food systems can play a crucial role in addressing these challenges and promoting sustainable development. The circular economy presents an opportunity to enhance the sustainability of urb...

Drawing on the case study of Caledonia peri-urban settlement in Zimbabwe, this study presents the complex struggles and responses undertaken by settlers to assert their access, utilization, and rights to land for settlement. Employing qualitative methodologies including 50 in-depth interviews, participant observations, key informant interviews, and...

Overview Lesotho is a lower-middle-income country in South Africa with limited arable land that constitutes approximately 10% of the country’s rugged and mountainous terrain. The limited arable land has also meant that there are contestations and conflicts regarding agriculture activities and housing development, intensifying land and housing short...

The African continent faces three distinct yet kindred problems: water, energy, and food security. Among the most vulnerable to water, energy, and food security are African cities’ poorest and most marginalised residents. Decentralised Water-Energy-Food (WEF) systems have been proposed to mitigate some of the damaging effects of climate change on e...

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) aids ecosystem conservation and management. While recognising the importance of Western science and knowledge, we argue that TEK practices are not appreciated resulting in continued and accelerated degradation of ecosystem services. This is prevalent among rural communities who are disadvantaged as their livel...

Photo credits: All photos were taken by members of the PANEX team in the UK, South Africa and Brazil.

The report explains the impact of COVID-19 on children.

This article analyses how politics and livelihoods are challenged and affected by global climate change while paying particular attention to how traditionally formed, non-climatic factors are manipulated within Zimbabwe's climate change policy framework. In this context, the article will proffer legislation and laws as tools of governance that enab...

This article explores the lived daily experiences of street vendors operating along the Main North 1 Road in the CBD of Maseru, Lesotho. This exploration considers how street vendors access and negotiate a claim for the right to the street. The challenges confronting these vendors in their daily hustling, including COVID-19 restrictions, are also e...

This book is on sustainable tourism and hospitality. It explains key debates on green tourism and its influence on the environment. The book also highlights how aesthetic values need to be interwoven into the whole process of tourism planning and development to achieve sustainability without compromising the ability of future generations to mee...

This chapter seeks to make a contribution by assessing how informal settlements are embracing rainwater harvesting for water security across the globe. Despite physical access to a sufficient, safe, and affordable water supply being a basic human right, water woes have continued to persist in informal settlements. It is therefore critical to identi...

This chapter explores the importance of computational models and techniques in urban planning and unravels how it has been applied in other continents. It explores the efforts that have been made in Africa and analyzes the challenges in trying to use computational planning methods. It explores possible benefits that can result from using computatio...

The final chapter, From Crisis to Action: Emerging Perspectives and the Morphing of a Sustainable Urban Future post-COVID-19 Pandemic, concludes the book, exploring the changing landscape of urban sustainability in the wake of the pandemic. The chapter presents how the pandemic affected urban systems, particularly the urban poor, and highlights inn...

This chapter presents the theoretical underpinnings of this book. The discussion presented in the chapter focuses on the urban health penalty, right to the city, complexity theory, and distributive justice theory. These four theories situate the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on the urban poor in the theoretical foundations, which raise issues o...

This chapter focuses on the Government of Zimbabwe’s policy interventions to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter acknowledges that the COVID-19 pandemic was a complex issue that required a concerted effort from different stakeholders to curb the impacts and reduce the vulnerabilities, especially among the urban poor. In this chapter, we perc...

This chapter provides a comprehensive analysis of the socioeconomic profile of Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, highlighting vulnerabilities of the urban poor over time. The chapter begins by exploring the geohistorical background of Harare and how, like other cities in the Global South and southern Africa in particular, it is an outcome of co...

Chinhoyi in Zimbabwe is used as a case study to explore the potential of secondary cities in addressing urban challenges. This study is significant considering that while African cities are rapidly urbanizing, narratives in African urbanism focus more on large cities and metros. Adopting a qualitative research approach, data for this study were col...

The world we live in is ever-changing, and if housingHousing is to remain relevant in providing for the needs of consumers, it is essential that the housingHousing sector remains adaptable. Adequately adapting to and adopting technological advancements is the best way to ensure that housingHousing remains relevant. New technologies need to be explo...

Housing looks and functions differently in different households, societies, locations, and economies; these factors greatly influence the technologies applied to housingHousing. One cannot expect a millionaire's house to have the same function as a low-income citizen’s house, yet both need to benefit from the innovationsInnovations and developments...

This chapter examines the context in which housingHousing is viewed in ZimbabweZimbabwe. This is vital in providing a localised understanding of Zimbabwe’s housingHousing, which thus enables the establishment of localised solutions. The initial focus is on ZimbabweZimbabwe’s housingHousing timeline, exploring what housingHousing looked like in pre-...

Housing is a critical resource that has been on the top of government agendas worldwide. The increasing focus on housingHousing results from multiple factors, including globalization and urbanization, which have increased the need for adequate housingHousing among global citizens. Meeting this growing housingHousing demand is not always easy, as se...

This chapter focuses on the housing delivery and management process in light of different typologies of technology that can be applied at various stages of the housing development process. The key issue for the chapter is the conceptualization of housing as a process. Five stages in the housing delivery process guide the chapter, viz. preparation,...

This chapter concludes the debates and discussions in this book, A Housing and Technology Nexus for Zimbabwe. The discussion in the chapter focuses on the way forward regarding policy formulation and implementation to guide housing development, and the introduction of technology in such. Case studies are provided, showing the best practices that ha...

This article examines the urban (in) security landscape in a postcolonial emerging human settlement in Africa. Hopley Farm Settlement is used as a case study focusing on the perspectives of this urban (in) security on spatial justice. This study contributes to the emerging scholarship on African cities that focuses on urban security, which is incre...

The study uses the case of Hopley, Harare, to reflect on the challenges of accessing water in the area and how this affects women and children regarding gender inequality. We argue that there is an intricate interplay between water, gender and public health as water takes on a gendered dimension. Through the lens of the Moser gender analytical fram...

This chapter seeks to make a contribution by assessing how informal settlements are embracing rainwater harvesting for water security across the globe. Despite physical access to a sufficient, safe, and affordable water supply being a basic human right, water woes have continued to persist in informal settlements. It is therefore critical to identi...

Urban agriculture continues to play a key role in addressing food insecurity and poverty across developing countries. This study used Landsat 5 imagery to map the spatial and temporal distribution of cropland in Harare Metropolitan in Zimbabwe using the Random Forest classifier in Google Earth Engine. Results show that the area under cultivation fl...

This article interrogates the nuances of risk communication in a poor neighbourhood of South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that risk communication had multifaceted implications for managing and governing the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic has coincided with the information age, where multiple communication channels affect the succ...

Conventional studies on informal urbanism in Zimbabwe focused more on efforts in upgrading informal settlements but did not address their genesis. I argue that finding sustainable solutions to addressing informal settlements challenges and enhancing their liveability must be premised on exploring the factors influencing their genesis and temporal c...

Purpose The interconnections between climate change and health are well studied. However, there is a perceived need for studies that examine how responses to health hazards (e.g. cardiovascular diseases, ozone layer effects, allergens, mental health and vector-borne diseases) may assist in reducing their impacts. The purpose of this paper is to rev...

Urban planning research usually requires researchers to undertake fieldwork. This fieldwork is frustrated or enabled by gatekeepers who can influence effective data collection. Traditionally, gatekeepers are perceived as monolithic, neutral, and static individuals, yet they are complex individuals with varying needs and expectations from the resear...

The housing and human settlement sector is fast changing, and technology is making it more complex than ever before. With reference to Zimbabwe, a developing country in Southern Africa, the essence of this book is to bring out housing as an issue within the technology debate and practice. The following themes emerge from the 6 chapters in the boo...

Built on the notion of 'cities as forces for good' (CFG), the purpose of this chapter is to dissect the problematique of reclaiming and greening degraded spaces in Africa's drylands for urban development. The focus of the chapter is on the Sahara and the Kalahari deserts. The chapter adopts a critical literature review anchored in case study analys...

Pandemics occur in political spaces usually defined by contestations and conflicts. These conflicts influence governments’ responses to address pandemics. We argue that responses to curb COVID-19 are nested in politics best articulated through political economy theory as there are individuals who appear to advance their interests through decisions...

Exploring Climate Change Impacts on Smallholder Farmers in Mhondoro-Ngezi District, Zimbabwe • Munyaradzi Admire Dzvimbo, • Abraham Rajab Matamanda, • Albert Mawonde & • Freddy Magijani • Chapter • First Online: 22 April 2022 Part of the Climate Change Management book series (CCM) Abstract Africa is among the global continents that are more vul...

The paper contributes towards deciphering and decoding the misery of the urban poor in light of the COVID-19 scourge. The paper unpacks urban poverty in light of the corona virus. The emergence of the COVID-19 and the lack of any vaccines requires physical distancing as preventative measures to contain and reduce the spread of the virus. Government...

A R T I C L E I N F O Keywords: spatial justice urban agriculture land use planning Harare A B S T R A C T The debate on urban agriculture in African cities has focused on the environmental consequences and the livelihood support to the urban poor. These debates are primarily centered on the urban policies and plans that largely fail to integrate u...

The increasing informal urbanism in Africa exposes its residents to multiple shocks, including urban public health pandemics. South Africa is not an exception due to the squalid living conditions, lack of essential services and amenities, and overcrowding characterizing informal settlements. We argue that such conditions compromise the liveability...

This chapter describes and explains the role of science communication to advance environmental education on climate change with a special reference on Africa being one of the regions suffering from the effects of climate-induced disasters and risks in the increased anthropogenic effects of modern development. It is argued that scientists are poor c...

This chapter seeks to assess the trends in rights-based development (RBD) and citizenship in Zimbabwe based on constitutional knowledge to proffer options on how the public can become constitutionally knowledgeable towards developing the nation. The chapter is informed by constitutional knowledge gathered through qualitative data from document anal...

Cities in Southern Africa are experiencing a rapid rate of urbanisation, which exacerbates the impacts of climate change on cities. The recent droughts and water stress in Cape Town, South Africa and Windhoek, Namibia, impacts of Cyclone Idai that destroyed 90% of Beira city, and recurrent heatwaves are evidence of the impacts of climate change on...

This paper is grounded in the concept of liveability, with the foundation that liveability considers the conditions of a decent life, including city inhabitants' physical and mental well-being. We argue that understanding and connecting with the meaning of city place names and finding representation in them instils a sense of place and identity amo...

The volatile development arena has not spared urban planning from the impacts it has wrought. With many changes toward modernity, sustainability , and smart growth, urban planning has seen more changes resulting in rising complexity that has made it difficult to proffer long-lasting solutions to development challenges (Healey 2007). Whereas urban p...