Managing the decolonizing city in Southern Africa

A comparative study is pursued of key aspects of urban management in decolonizing Southern Africa, using case study material from Harare, Lusaka and Windhoek. Because of their origins as colonial cities, South African urban policy‐makers potentially can draw from the policy record of decolonization in Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe in smoothing the transition from apartheid city to post‐apartheid urban future. Issues of concern are the evolution and dismantling of closed city policies, the role of urban centres in national development planning, the provision of shelter and productive income opportunities for the urban poor.