On the 6th of June, 2020, a discussion was held on the review of the Master Plan of the Town of Norton. In the development of cities and towns, a master plan is one of the most important instruments of planning. It is a long-term plan that guides and determines any development to be done in a city or town particularly in spatial terms. To be operational for 20 years (2017 – 2037), the review of the master plan of Norton was a huge stride which was also overdue for review. Previously, the master plan had been operational from 1995 to 2006. Across the country, most cities and towns struggle to review their master plans on time. The master plan of Norton (2017– 2037) was prepared by a town planning firm for the town of Norton.
As the master plan was reviewed and the review was discussed now waiting to be operationalized, questions still remain. Does the plan reflect the aspirations of the town of Norton? How far is it a response of formalisation to the development trajectory of the town? The assumption is that a master plan guides development more than development guides the plan. In case of the latter the master plan becomes more of a document that merely gives consent to the ongoing and projected development. Therefore, the right balance between the facilitatory role and regulatory role to development is crucial to the making of a master plan that creates great cities and towns.
The Economic Context
The town of Norton emerged as a settlement from a railway siding along the Harare – Bulawayo railway line. In the 1950s, the post-World War II – decades known as the golden years of industrial boom globally – was characterized by an influx of industrial development in Norton, industries that were moving from Salisbury (now Harare). Norton became an industrial town with major industries such as Hunyani Paper Company and Hurst. Most of the residential areas were developed for employees of the major companies in Norton. Now, the state of industrial development across the country has declined. Norton was not spared in the decline. As industrial development declined, however, Norton also proved to have a vibrant agricultural sector. Nearby farms were agriculturally productive as evidenced by establishment of silos of the Grain Marketing Board to store grain produce. Because of the closure of most industries in Norton and decline in agricultural productivity there has been a significantly high unemployment. The town’s residents as a result have been relying on the informal economy or working in Harare’s informal and tertiary service sectors. As a result, Norton has become very much a dormitory town.
The Residential Dominance
Ever since the beginning of industrial decline in Norton, residential development increased. This increase did not match the rate of economic growth in the town. The phenomenon of an increase in urban population without economic growth is common across the country. Norton’s residential development is different, however. Its urban population growth is not mainly from rural to urban migration as in other urban areas. Residents from Harare are moving to Norton as a place of residence while they maintain Harare as a place of work. This trend is turning Norton into more of dormitory town. In a survey that was conducted by the planning firm that prepared the Master Plan of Norton, Green Plan, it found that since 1995, 54 percent of the population that moved to Norton was from Harare. In comparison, 25 percent of the population was from the rural areas. This increasingly dormitory nature of Norton is also evidenced in the same survey. Of the surveyed population, 31 percent live in Norton and commute to Harare for work. What has been attracting most residents in Harare to move to Norton is the low cost of living particularly low rentals compared to Harare.
The increasing residential development in Norton has been of suburban sprawl. In reviewing the master plan, the town planning firm acknowledged the sprawling nature of housing in Norton. The survey by the firm found that 89.1 percent of the housing was detached housing of suburban sprawl type. One of the objectives of the master plan was to promote sustainable housing by encouraging densification such as the development of flats instead of detached houses. In this well-intentioned efforts however, the challenge with the master plan came on the proposed urban boundary for the planning area. It based on the previous population growth to determine the extent of expansion of the urban boundary.
From 2002 to 2012, the population of Norton increased by 4.29 percent (from 44 397 to 67 591) according to the 2012 census conducted by ZimStat. The town planning firm that reviewed the master plan used the same growth rate of 4.29 percent to assume the same increase in population between 2012 and 2017 leading to 83 398 as the estimated population of Norton in 2017. It then projected that if the same growth rate applies for the following 20 years that the master plan will be operational, by 2037 the population of Norton would have increased by 131 percent making the population 192 886. Basing on this 131 percent increase in population, the planning boundary of Norton was increased by more than the current size of Norton. A total of 25 farms mostly west of Norton were designated for urban expansion.
The problem is that by increasing the physical size of a city by more than the projected increase in population, the increase inadvertently endorse the current form of residential living, that of sprawl. When such huge piece land is made available there is less incentive for densification because of availability of cheaper land to continue developing detached housing. Such an urban boundary and a master plan will be a case of planned expansion rather than controlled expansion. The latter ensures a certain level of density has been achieved before another expansion can be made. The suburban expansion of residential development has been on prime agricultural land. Given that Norton is in a region that receives reliable rainfall and has very fertile soils for intensive agricultural production, its agriculture sets basis for a prospective vibrant agroprocessing industry. Prime agricultural land is being traded for suburban housing development, however. This trend shortchanges the productive agricultural sector significantly. A total of 25 farms, agriculturally productive farms were designated for urban expansion by being incorporated into the boundary of the planning area. In this expansion, the consideration is the suitability of the land for urban development. There is no regard of evaluating what is being foregone by taking such agricultural land for urban expansion; there are no effective mechanisms to protect prime agricultural land from urban expansion. What has been more worrying in Norton is the designation of huge parts of land as ‘residential agriculture’ which is very much peri-urban agricultural land. By this designation the urban boundary has flexibility to expand as need be for suburban housing development until it reaches the newly proposed urban boundary which increases the current size of Norton by more than 100 percent. This form of urban expansion risks weakening the agricultural productivity of Norton significantly.
The Industrial Neglect
The vibrant manufacturing industry that shaped Norton is in dire need of revival. This revival however is not supported by the required instruments and planning. Instead, there has been planning practice that is incapacitated and in some cases trampling the very prospects of industrial revival and growth.
a) The Lack of Economic Growth Strategy
Norton being known as an industrial town that used to be very vibrant in industrial productivity, it is one town that requires an economic recovery and growth strategy desperately. But it does not have one. As I discussed in another Viewpoint on the need for economic growth strategy for cities and towns, the lack of such a strategy weakened the strength of the master planning process. The town planners who reviewed the master plan did not have a growth strategy to base on. Such a growth strategy should have been produced by the town council. As a result, the reviewed master plan (2017 – 2037) lacked solid conversion of economic aspirations into spatial realisations. In some cases, the strategies for economic growth were being proposed in the master plan, an instrument that is supposed to lay out how those strategies will be realized in spatial terms.
For example, the industrial zone in Norton is currently underutilized. There is no clarity from council on what can be done with it. There is no clarity if attracting back the large industries that formerly occupied these industrial stands is the objective. There is no clarity if Norton is going to build on the growing small to medium enterprises (SMEs). The data on SMEs such as types, composition, growth rates, contribution to economy are not available to inform planning and policymaking. This inadequacy of data and the strategy weakened the master planning of Norton. The plan ended up only suggesting the need to adjust the sizes of current industrial stands that are underutilized so that they suit SMEs. After subdividing large industrial stands for SMEs, there is no clarity of what will happen when large industries flock back to Norton. The newly designated land for industrial development was done without adequate data and policy direction that could have come from an economic growth strategy. There was no projection of prospective type of industries, no strategy on what industries Norton is going to attract and how to tailor the needs for such industries in the service provision by the town.
b) The New Town Centre Dilemma
In the (2017 – 2037) master plan of Norton, major changes were made regarding the location of some land uses. One of the biggest changes was moving of the Town Centre from the current location (a place popularly known as Govans). The town centre was proposed to be located at the area south of Bulawayo Road under Knockmalloch Estate which was acquired by Urban Development Corporation (UDCORP). The land for the town centre was donated by UDCORP aligning the new location of the town centre with the mixed use residential area that it planned on the land.
If one is to visit Norton, the location of the proposed new town centre can make good sense. It is strategically located, along a major highway, the Harare-Bulawayo national highway. There are a number of key services such as the railway station. This relocation of the town centre to Harare-Bulawayo road, however, is not a new discovery. Initially, it was the location of the town centre when Norton was established. This is the reason the Post Office (a key marker of the centre of a town or city) is located there, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) station is located there. So is the railway station. In relocating the town centre to the proposed new town centre, the justification has been that the current location of the town centre does not have enough land for expansion. So, by moving the town centre to the new location, the current town centre is downgraded to a district shopping centre. This justification, however, is not compelling enough to counter the very reason the town centre was moved from Knockmalloch Estate initially to where it is currently. When the early planners of Norton relocated the town centre from the Knockmalloch Estate area to the current location, gold deposits had been discovered in the area where the town centre was being developed. The deposits were significant enough to warrant the moving of the town centre northwards. By doing so, the key infrastructure of the town centre was left which was developed already.
Now, in preparing the master plan of Norton (2017 – 2037), the officials and the planning consultants might not have considered the significance of developing a mining industry from the gold deposits, a mining industry that can resuscitate the economy of Norton. Perhaps in allocating the three farms that have mining claims (Hunyani Estate, Railway Farm, and Knockmalloch Estate) as planning area, there was no consideration of how much worth is the mining industry that can be developed in relation to the prospective use of the land for urban development. Nonetheless, the designation of the three farms with mining claims for urban expansion still awaits approval of the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development. It will be now the discretion of the Ministry to determine the tradeoff between urban development and development of a mining industry for the town of Norton. In reflection, however, the relocation of the town centre to the new location might serve well in the interest of the UDCORP mixed use development on Knockmalloch Estate. The planned mixed-use development comprises of many residential stands, some industrial stands and supporting social amenities. Nonetheless, there have not been considerations that Norton, as an industrial town, could be polycentric by having many centres rather than one big central commercial district. Already, Norton has two vibrant commercial centres; Katanga and Norton Town Centre (Govans) as well as other several neighborhood shopping centres. If a new town centre and new residential areas are to be located on farms that have mining claims, compelling reasons are required demonstrating the worthiness of proposed urban development compared to the prospective mining industry that can be developed from the minerals.
There is need for rationale that the farms with mining claims are the only viable land available for urban expansion. Without such rationales there is risk of perpetuating the dormitory nature of the town of Norton. Town planning as a profession can be accused of promoting dormitory nature of Norton. As a profession, town planners will need to take responsibility of such promotion if they are to draw any lessons for future urban development; a high degree of professional responsibility.
Rethinking the Future of Norton
Norton is unlike Chitungwiza. Compared to Chitungizwa which was developed as a dormitory town and is now seeking to build the economic base, Norton was developed as a vibrant industrial town. If it ever becomes a dormitory town it is significantly due to industrial decline caused by poor economic performance at national level. However, in such a decline, the planning of the town can take credit for contributing the making of dormitory Norton. Because Norton is also not a typical industrial town that sorely depended on manufacturing industry; that when the manufacturing industry collapsed the town turns into a ghost town. Norton has other prospective vibrant economic activities that need to be unlocked through effective planning and strategies. The emerging SMEs in Norton need to be supported effectively to promote their growth. Mining is also another prospective industry that can be developed and sustain a significant part of the working class population. Agroprocessing industry is also a prospective vibrant industry for Norton. Vibrant fish harvesting that need technical support exist, the agricultural productivity of surrounding farms prove to be capable of supporting a vibrant agroprocessing industry as evidenced by the presence of GMB silos in the town.
If the town of Norton is to realize the economic growth potential that will save it from becoming more dormitory, it needs to adopt Economic Recovery and Growth Strategies that guide the town towards such realization. When it realizes the path it needs to take, resources can be deployed better, and land can be planned better. The review of the 20-year master plan without an economic growth strategy in place has shown the shortcoming of such an important review. To realize these important steps however, the town of Norton needs to have municipal status. This will enable the town to make critical decisions on the development of the town and operationalization of its plan.
