Debunking the Rural-Urban Dichotomy: Framework towards a Single Legislation that Enables Integration of Rural and Urban Local Authorities in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The governance landscape in Zimbabwe is beset by profound issues of rapidly growing urbanisation and peri-urban growth that blur traditional rural-urban boundaries and expose the shortcomings of separate legislative frameworks such as the Rural District Councils Act and Urban Councils Act. Although the current dual systems boast of administrative efficiencies, they are increasingly failing to meet the hybrid settlements where agricultural livelihoods are intertwined with urban pressures to create fragmented service delivery, land tenure conflicts and institutional overlaps as witnessed in areas such as Epworth and hinterlands of Harare. Based on the analysis of the text in scholarly references, case studies, policy frameworks, this research identifies three key findings. First, peri-urban areas cannot be categorised as either rural or urban areas, but rather lie at a continuum between rural and urban areas that require integrated planning approaches. Second, fragmentation of governance through dichotomous laws contributes to inefficiencies in infrastructure, food systems, climate mitigation capabilities. Third, theories of multi-level cooperation highlight that unified structures can be used to develop synergies across jurisdictions. This analysis exposes that entrenched divisions reinforce inequalities and impede adaptive development that is consistent with the global discontent over outmoded dichotomies. The results indicate that the adoption of a single legal framework, including legal integration, institutional harmonisation, spatial planning and socio-economic alignment, would allow coherent management of emerging spatial realities, encouraging the delivery of services equitably and the sustainable urbanisation. The study recommends that policymakers should consider adopting a single Local Government Act that amalgamates rural and urban authorities with flexible classifications based on the properties of functional continuum to eliminate the jurisdictional overlaps and to have a single planning of the peri-urban areas.