Story by Stanley James, Business Editor
ZIMBABWE says its participation at the 13th Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku, Azerbaijan, has strengthened the country’s drive towards sustainable urban development, modern housing delivery and smart infrastructure planning.
VICE President General Retired Dr Constantino Chiwenga, who led the Zimbabwean delegation to the global forum, said the conference provided valuable insights into addressing growing urbanisation challenges through integrated planning and public-private partnerships.
Speaking to ZBC News at the conclusion of the summit, the Vice President described the discussions at the forum as significant for Zimbabwe’s infrastructure and housing development agenda.
“Zimbabwe greatly benefitted from this conference, as you are aware this is a conference that brings together the entire world to look at the challenges that are affecting our people across the globe. We are looking at close to three billion people in need of accommodation, close to a billion are homeless completely and people are sleeping in slums and we are now saying in the programme UN Habitat what should be done to these people,” he said.
He said delegates agreed that urban housing development must go beyond the construction of accommodation and focus on comprehensive planning that improves livelihoods and economic productivity.
“One thing which was quite clear was that we should never look at accommodation alone, but we should also look at the proper planning which will encompass everything that will make the lives of those people better,” Vice President Chiwenga said.
The Vice President noted that discussions at the forum consistently emphasised the importance of employment creation, sustainable infrastructure and inclusive urban systems as key pillars in addressing housing deficits worldwide.
“Speaker after speaker focused on proper planning, the creation of jobs for those people facing accommodation challenges, so that they become useful citizens. Some of them work from slums, but shelter is a basic human right,” he added.
Vice President Chiwenga said one of the major takeaways from the forum was the need for governments to work closely with the private sector in addressing urban housing challenges.
“The most important message that we got from here is that the initiative must be taken by individual countries and in our country, Government alone cannot take this issue of accommodation, it must be a Government-private sector partnership,” he said.
The 13th Session of the World Urban Forum brought together global leaders, policymakers, urban planners and development experts to exchange ideas on sustainable cities, climate resilience, housing delivery and smart urban systems.
Zimbabwe’s participation comes as the country intensifies infrastructure modernisation and housing development initiatives under Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy framework.
