Urban Water Governance in Postcolonial Zimbabwe

This book focuses on urban water supply and governance in the Global South using urban Zimbabwe as a case study to provide insights and perspectives into the realities of the water governance. Applying a resilience and sustainability perspective, we argue that fragmentation of responsibilities between various institutions, the difficulty of coordination at various levels, and the politics centered on water supply constrain effective water governance in Zimbabwe. This has resulted in a downward spiral in urban water services in Zimbabwe’s urban centers. Additionally, the innovative nature of this study is to draw from an often-neglected dimension in urban water governance, which is the political ecology which brings into perspective the varying int1erests associated with environmental contests and conflicts that influence water allocation and sharing among urban areas by the public sector. Therefore, this book dwells on understanding the politics, economic and ecology of water governance through an interdisciplinary lens. This analysis is critical for this study because Zimbabwe’s current state of obsolete water infrastructure has also had a negative impact on the supply of high-quality portable water services to the public in urban areas. This book will be a critical read for academic and professionals in the fields of urban geographers, planners, sociologists and water experts. It will also be useful for undergraduate and postgraduate students from Geography, Urban and regional Planning, Political Science, Development Studies and Economics.

Abraham R Matamanda is an Urban and Regional Planner who has also been trained as a social ecologist. Abraham currently lectures in the Department of Geography, University of Free State. His research focus on urban governance and planning, climate change adaptation, informal urbanism in the Global South, urban food systems and medical geography. Abraham is currently the editor of the Town and Regional Planning Journal Published with the University of the Free State. He is the co-editor of the book titled Urban Geography in Postcolonial Zimbabwe: Paradigms and perspectives for sustainable urban planning and governance published with Springer Nature in 2021. In 2022, he co-authored a book titled Housing and Technology: a special focus on Zimbabwe published with Springer Nature.

Tazviona R Gambe has over 15 years of experience in urban planning & development and has training in urban and regional planning, real estate management, and monitoring and evaluation. Tazviona has over ten years of experience in university lectureship and research. His research interests include African urbanisation dynamics, regional economic resilience, urban water supply, and inclusive cities.

Johannes I Bhanye is an emerging researcher and academic in migration and urban planning studies in the Global South. He is currently a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow with the University of the Free State, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, where he teaches a course in Research Methodologies for Urban Planners. He hold a Ph.D. in Migration and Land Settlement with the University of Zimbabwe, Center for Applied Social Sciences, under the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Ph.D. Fellowship on ’Mobility and Sociality in Africa’s Emerging Urban.’ He also hold a B.Sc. (honors) degree in Rural and Urban Planning and M.Sc. in Social Ecology both from the University of Zimbabwe. His research interests cut across peri-urban land governance, urban agriculture, migration, human settlements, urban informality, cities and social change, rural development, among other development related topics in Africa.

Tafadzwa C Maramura graduated with her PhD in Public Management and Water Governance from North-West University in South Africa and is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of the Free State. Her research interests span across sustainable service delivery, water governance, solid waste management and green economies. She has published over 40 peer-reviewed research articles in locally and internationally accredited journals, with findings that have been recommended to countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda. She is a Brightest Young Minds in Africa Alumni (BYM- 2017) where she enjoys engaging with like-minded African think tanks.

Oratilwe Khoza is a junior lecturer in the department of Public Administration and Management, at the Qwaqwa Campus, University of the Free State. Her research focuses on urban water governance.