Planning in Malawi: A Historical
Perspective
By John Chome
Outline
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Pre and post independence periods
Policy successes and failures
Lilongwe and Blantyre
Challenges and the what and how?
Planning trends – Pre independence
Exclusive planning
• Concerned with the interests of the (white) settler
community and their business interests (commercial
and farming).
• Some focus on laying out basic infrastructure – roads,
water and sewerage largely to serve these interests.
• Spatial planning and standards based on racial lines.
• Later planning schemes to accommodate African civil
servants housing.
• Otherwise Africans allowed in the city only during the
daytime.
Post independence planning trends
Decentralised urbanisation
Key Policy actions
• Moving the capital from Zomba to Lilongwe
(1969-1975)
• Rural Growth Centres (1980s)
• Development of secondary towns (1980s – 2010)
• Integrated Rural Development – Infrastructure
Services Programme (current)
Factors underpinning the post
independence planning approach
• Improving efficiency of Government by
concentrating central government administration
in one city (the case of Lilongwe).
• Stimulate development in underdeveloped areas.
• To support rural agricultural development.
• To reduce rural urban migration.
• Political – to encourage national unity through
widely shared development.
Policy successes and failures
Successes
• There is no primate city in Malawi
• Secondary towns have attracted sizeable investments and
growth
Failures
• Rural urban migration not tamed
• Management of these planning interventions ‘after the
project period’ has largely been a failure.
• Much of growth in secondary towns is in trading as
opposed to investment in manufacturing/industrialization.
• Rural Growth Centres tried to orchestrate an outcome
rather than invest in the areas growing naturally.
Other significant planning
interventions
• Traditional Housing Areas developed on a ‘site and service’ basis is
the most significant and successful housing intervention ever
undertaken in Malawi.
• They significantly reduced slum formation and enabled the urban
poor access land and build own houses with lowered standards.
• Malawi pioneered these from the 1960s but for various reasons
largely discontinued in the 1980s.
• Housing estates developed by Malawi Housing Cooperation, city
councils but nowhere near the demand.
• Less successful urban housing projects (World Bank) especially in
Blantyre.
• Slum upgrading carried out on piecemeal fashion over the years
with no tangible impact.
• Current initiatives for slum upgrading seek to address citywide and
nationwide slum upgrading.
Planning frameworks
• British Planning Act 1948 – guided planning in Malawi
pre-independence and in the years after
independence.
• Town and Country Planning Act revised and enacted in
1987 and revised again in 2012 but not yet enacted.
• Building code and bylaws also dating back to colonial
times. Attempts made in recent times to revise these.
• At the micro level the Town Planning Guidelines and
Standards of 1987 and currently being revised.
• At the municipal level - urban structure plans and
lower level plans.
Planning in Lilongwe
• Moving capital from Zomba had been a point of argument
since 1922.
• In 1946 Zomba was devastated by a cyclone.
• Post cyclone committee recommended to move the capital
to Blantyre.
• Legislative Council considered report in 1947 but move
never took place.
• Lilongwe became township in 1947.
• 1965 British firm Brian Colquhoun and Partners appointed
to consider capital remaining in Zomba or moving to
Lilongwe.
• They recommended capital move to Lilongwe.
Planning in Lilongwe cont’d
• Imex (Pty) of Jo’burg appointed to do a master plan of Lilongwe in
1965.
• Critical comments on plan induced Govt to have Ministry of Works
and Supplies which had a Town Planning Department to be Capital
City Project ‘Consultants’.
• This marked the rise of the Department of Town and Country
Planning in the country.
• Capital City Plan formulation completed in 1969. Implementation
begun in 1969 and in 1975 Lilongwe attained city status.
• In 1992 Govt mandated city councils to form city planning
departments.
• Second Lilongwe Urban Structure Plan formulated in 1986.
• Third Lilongwe Urban Structure Plan formulated in 2010.
• A city development strategy formulated in 2011.
Planning in Blantyre
• In 1892, Govt bought land from local chief in Blantyre for 115
Pounds where the Boma was planned and built.
• In 1894, 20 landowners decided to establish a township and
prepared a plan for Blantyre.
• In 1895 the township of Blantyre was founded and a Town Council
established which begun to implement the plan.
• Limbe town council founded in 1909 and its first plan formulated.
• Blantyre and Limbe declared a planning area in 1949 and outline
zoning scheme prepared in 1951.
• 1956 Blantyre and Limbe Township amalgamated.
• 1959 Municipality of Blantyre and Limbe.
• 1966 City of Blantyre declared – first city in Malawi.
• 1971 First Blantyre Structure Plan formulated.
• 1999 Second Blantyre Urban Structure Plan formulated.
Challenges
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Post independence city development plans have faced implementation challenges.
As opposed to ‘planning projects’ which are based on political and funding
commitments, city development plans have not been able to mobilise resources
for implementation.
Planning has been of the 10-20 year master plan style – too ambitious, not backed
by resources and inflexible to responding to rapid urban changes.
Strategic planning has been almost non existent in recent times– city councils have
focused on microplanning – concerned largely with details of building plans as
opposed to strategic issues such as how to address land and housing issues in the
face of rapid urbanisation.
Insufficient capacity for plan formulation and implementation and generally how
to manage rapidly urbanising cities and towns.
City planning departments confined to serving the interests of a diminishing
formal city.
strong anti-urbanization political sentiments resulting in a lack of support for
developing functional networks of systems of cities and towns.
Urbanisation outside planning
• What should planning in Malawi be
addressing?
– Is planning addressing the real issues facing
Malawi? (the what)
– Are we using appropriate models to address
these? (the how)