9. Managing Urban Crime and Insecurity in Zimbabwe

This chapter examines the role of urban planning and design in managing crime and insecurity. The chapter further addresses the question: How can urban crime and insecurity be managed through urban planning and design in Zimbabwe’s postcolonial era, which is characterised by an exponential urban population increase? Informed by the Defensible Space theory and the theory of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), the study adopted the pragmatist research paradigm and the mixed methods approach with questionnaires, interviews, observations and document analysis as the instruments of data collection. Data was gathered from residents of Hatcliffe suburb in Harare, which is among the neighbourhoods characterised by a high prevalence of crime, with the help of key informants to get insight into the types and nature of crimes and the role of urban planning and design in managing crime and insecurity. The key findings were that crime is prevalent in certain spots in the neighbourhood that provide conducive environments for crime to occur, which then increases insecurity. The recommendations are that disciplines for urban planning and design should play a more central role in the management of places to make them safer and less conducive to criminal activities.