The political economy of public participation in planning in pluralist societies: the case of Zimbabwe

Abstract

This paper traces the rationale underlying public participation in urban and regional planning in Zimbabwe. It attempts to do so by examining the theoretical bases surrounding public participation practices in general, the political models of planning, planner roles and public participation opportunities in Zimbabwe within the framework of a pluralist political economy. The Zimbabwean administration is found in practice to entertain the political ideology characteristic of liberal incrementalism, although in rhetoric the administration professes to adhere to a socialist egalitarian political philosophy. The liberal democratic ideology has been entrenched in the institutional framework developed in the colonial period, which post-independence Zimbabwe has not been able to replace by any other discernible alternative political model. The result of this failure to replace or adequately reform the colonial political model has been the continuation of functional planning procedures, which inevitably allow for representative, élitist and institutional participation opportunities rather than the hoped for and cherished mass participation.