Abstract
Towards Sustainable City: Assessing the Safety and Liveability of Spaces used by the Informal sector in Cities of Zimbabwe: The Case of city of Masvingo Chigwenya Average email: chigwenyaaver@gmail.com cell: +263773900473 Abstract Informal activities have been growing at a very unprecedented fate especially in cities of the Global South. The growing urbanisation of poverty in these cities has seen an unprecedented growth livelihood of the poor. However the integration of livelihoods of the poor in the mainstream development thrust of cities has not been fully embraced by city authorities. Urban local authorities have been just doing business as usual but the growth of informal activities demands cities think outside their boxes so that they are going to cater for the informal sector and plan for them for sustainable cities. Cities that embrace informal activities are geared for sustainable development because their development is catering for the vulnerable and the marginalised and such developments are in line with the dictated of new urbanism and inclusive cities. The government of Zimbabwe has adopted a national policy to support the growth and development of informal activities and urban local authorities are key stakeholder in that intervention. However most cities in the country have remained driven by neo-liberal urbanisation policies and as such they are doing very little to integrate the informal sector in their development initiatives. Informal activities have been growing without corresponding growth in service provision in the sector and this is not good for sustainable cities. Cities need to have development initiatives that are geared to uplift the living conditions of the vulnerable and marginalised groups in the society. The research utilised a mixed method approach to data collection where both qualitative and quantitative methods were utilised. The questionnaire was the major quantitative method used and in-depth interviews and observation were the qualitative methods used. The research found out that Masvingo as a city is still trailing behind in terms of creating a sustainable city especially in the areas of sustainable environmental management in the informal sector. The people in the informal sector are still operating in environmentally hazardous environment and potentially catastrophic environments. This is not good for sustainable development and sustainable cities. Cities of the 21st century need to embrace city diversity and work towards multi-cultural and inclusive cities.
