De-industrialisation, Urban Governance Challenges and Deteriorating Urban Infrastructure in Norton, Zimbabwe: Is the Town Ruralising?

This chapter is based on a medium-sized Zimbabwean town that is under rapid urbanisation and experiencing numerous urban challenges. It explores how a collapsed manufacturing industry and economy compromised local government functions in the town. It documents how the town is in a financial crisis due to revenue challenges, which, in turn, led to the deterioration of critical infrastructure and service delivery at a time when it is recording rapid urban growth. Confronted by these numerous urban challenges, the local authority and residents devised some interventions, most of which, however, fall short of meeting what is largely regarded as ‘proper’ urban standards. Thus, the town witnessed a rise in predominantly rural practices, which raises the question of whether it is losing its urbanity and experiencing ruralisation. While the findings speak to what some existing literature has framed as the ruralisation of urban spaces, this chapter argues that these urban local government challenges are not a new phenomenon in Global South secondary cities. It introduces a new perspective on the hypothesised ruralisation and argues that while it is largely portrayed as a result of urban governance and development failures, the proliferation of rural-like practices in a city also demonstrates the innovative and resilient character of the African secondary city in the face of many challenges.