Urban Development, African Housing, and the Spatiality of Lodging in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe

This chapter begins with a brief look at early precolonial city states and the physical and social organization of Shona and Ndebele homesteads. Chapter 2 establishes the susceptibility of indigenous populations to colonial conquest and the subsequent decimation of indigenous economies through land alienation, segregation, and taxation, which forced them into labor migration. Rhodesian—and later UDI—urbanization is traced from 1890 through to Independence in 1980. Restrictive laws reinforced segregation, enforced expulsion back to Reserves once employment was finished, and prohibited urban family migration. African urban housing was underfunded, overcrowded, unhealthy, and geared to “single males.” Contestation between municipalities and Government over responsibility for African housing and welfare lead to woefully inadequate conditions. Once family migration was allowed in the 1960s, “married” housing consisted of converted singles’ quarters. Even after married housing projects were started, accelerated urban influx meant demand far outweighed supply. Within this context, this chapter traces the prevalence of lodging (or informal renting) from the early 1900s on, and establishes its importance as a critical source of low-income housing.