The Sunday News
Qinisani Qali Ndlovu
WHEN one talks of Africa, the mind is quickly filled with terms like urbanisation, high growth rate and very dense settlements. No matter the rate of urbanisation urban green spaces should never be compromised at the expense of accommodating human or economic activity.
One does not have to look at the housing waiting list statistics to determine the desperation of land and home seekers in Bulawayo. Statements like “iSpace lesi ngesani? why bengafaki ama stand?” (what is this space for? why don’t they put housing stands on this open space?) paints a picture of the gravity of desperation for a piece of land.
The spaces being referred to are known as a greenbelt which is a policy and land use zone design used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas.
Green belts serve various useful purposes that are explored below.
Boundary marking
Green belts act as boundaries that separate areas, take for instance Hillside and Burnside, or Emganwini and Nketa. All these areas although close are separated by a greenbelt, yes that bush/vegetation/ground covering no matter big or small demarcates two areas. On a larger scale greenbelt serve the purpose of preventing neighbouring towns from merging with one another.
Promotes urban regeneration
Urban regeneration refers to the act of salvaging a place that is nearing decay, by promoting upgrade of infrastructure and economic activity. Greenbelt zoning policies are put in place to discourage urban sprawl. Urban planners are pushed to redesign an area rather than design in a virgin area, this allows for the regeneration of a place.
Leisure activity
I visited the Hillside Dams with my family two weeks ago, I was particularly taken aback by the sudden sprouting of various activities there. Cycling and walking trails are becoming a major part that fits into the hive of activity of the leisure site. This is yet another benefit of having green spaces in urban areas, they can be used for leisure activities as well as recreation. Not only do residents benefit socially but healthwise, greenspaces can be used for exercise thereby improving the overall health of nearby residents.
Open spaces/Green spaces are critical for public health
One purpose of open spaces and greenbelts that I deem very important is during disasters. A recent example is the Covid-19 pandemic, the media was awash with covid patients receiving treatment at pop up hospitals in parking lots and parks or even sports stadia. Many people took this as a measure of the catastrophe, but in hindsight this was a stroke of urban planning genius.
Open spaces can be used for such purposes in the event of a disaster, particularly given the nature of the infectiousness of the Covid-19 pandemic, this proved to be a master stroke in mitigating the spread of the virus in some countries. Next week’s article dissects the attempts being made by Government to address urban regeneration with focus on Makokoba suburb in Bulawayo.
-Qinisani Ndlovu is the operations director at Copperfield Construction, and an Urban management research consultant at Heinhoff Africa. He holds a degree in Development Studies (Lupane State University), BSc Postgraduate Special Honours in Urban Management Studies(Lupane State University) and a Master of Philosophy Business Leadership and Management in Emerging Economies degree from the University of Johannesburg Business School. He can be contacted on [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]
