The Case for Planning in Mazabuka
on Andrew Sacret (Zambia), 15/Feb/2011 15:33, 34 days ago
The following is a second article for the Mazabuka Times on the IDP:***In the January issue of the Mazabuka Times, we reported on the walking tours that were held with each of the Residential Development Committees (RDC) and Market Committees in the urban area of Mazabuka. The walking tours were popular among committee members, and they provided important insights into how residents live, work and move within their community. These“universal priorities” were: roads and drainage, markets, water service and waste management.A follow up meeting was held with the RDCs on December 16, 2010 to formulate actions regarding the universal priorities. The discussion was intense and productive; the results of this meeting will be key in developing the policies and strategies to include in the final Integrated Development Plan for Mazabuka.While stakeholders need to work towards improvements on each of these priorities, there are a number of higher-level, strategic issues that need attention for the IDP to succeed over its ten-year planning horizon. The purpose of this article is to highlight a few of these issues:Keeping pace with population growth and service demandsMazabuka is a thriving and growing community. In the previous Census (2000), the population of Mazabuka district was estimated at about 240,000 people, with over 80,000 people residing in the built-up urban area of the community. Annual population growth at that time was estimated in the range of 4%. However, a more recent estimate stated that the population was 280,000 in the year 2008. The change between 2000 and 2008 implies that the population might only have grown at an average of 2% per year in that time.If the population of Mazabuka continues to expand at a rate of 2% per year, the population of Mazabuka district will reach over 360,000 by the year 2021, with more than 125,000 people living in the urban area. However, if population growth accelerates to 4% per year, the overall results will be far more dramatic. Under the second scenario, the district population would approach 550,000 with nearly 200,000 people living in town.Population projections can never fully capture what will happen in the future, mainly because we can never“know” the future. The importance of projections is that they can guide decision makers as they plan for future housing developments, new and upgraded infrastructure and expansion of community services. Population projections require regular monitoring to ensure that development keeps pace with the “new arrivals”, which consist of newborn babies or migrants from other parts of Zambia.Economic opportunity and secure livelihoodsAs the local population continues to grow, it is essential to create and foster the conditions which will provide opportunities for women, men and youth to create secure livelihoods for themselves. Secure livelihoods can mean many things but according to Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO),“A secure livelihood means having access to the income and resources necessary to meet basic needs and survive shocks. It also means having more control over how [one's] living is made.”The concept of secure livelihoods is central to the work that VSO and other organizations are doing in Zambia, and is fundamental to the practice of town planning. Vibrant and healthy communities depend on the success of local business ventures which are supported by a qualified and adequately paid workforce. Mazabuka is fortunate to host some major employers such as Zambia Sugar, Albidon Mine and several commercial farms, which provide jobs to many. However, it is also important to remember that the community survey for the IDP, which was completed in 2008, revealed that nearly 30% of the respondents are self-employed (e.g. operating a market stall, consulting, running a restaurant). A further 34% of survey respondents said that they are unemployed, which is a rather alarming figure. Mazabuka's future prosperity will therefore depend on creating economic opportunities to reduce such high rates of unemployment.Protecting the environmentIt is often easy to ignore the fact that humans are as much a part of the environment as are the trees, grass, birds and insects that surround us. But we can only ignore this fact at our own peril.Town planning has much to do with environmental protection. For instance, it is generally good practice to set developments well back (e.g. 30 metres) from the high water mark of streams and rivers to avoid seasonal flooding to homes. Setting development back from the water's edge also benefits the stream, since pollutants from everyday human activities (e.g. using the toilet, washing laundry, disposing garbage) can be released into the water. These pollutants change the chemistry of the water, which can harm aquatic plants and animals. Since many among us eat fish and take water from the Kafue River, these pollutants can eventually harm us too!Another example is that as we continue to buy manufactured goods, plastic-based packaging such as bags, bottles and wrapping makes its way into the community. Usually, these packages are designed to be strong and durable, which is great for transporting the manufactured item over a long distance. The downside is that these products don't easily break down once they've been used and later become waste. In Mazabuka, where many households either burn or bury their wastes in the yard, it means that we risk exposing ourselves directly to the chemicals that are released into the air, water and land. For these reasons, the Council is already working on new programs to collect waste from town, after which it can be dumped in a safe and properly designed waste disposal site.ConclusionWithout doubt, town planning is an exciting and rewarding profession. However, it is no small challenge to integrate the needs of residents into one plan which addresses so many themes! There are many more to include in the eventual plan– the ones mentioned here are but a few issues to think about when planning the future growth and development of Mazabuka.