Chronicle Editor
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
BIG ideas can forever alter the fate of cities when they are written into cement, steel, brick, stone and paint.
Urban innovation experts Anne Maassen and Madeleine Galvin observed that when St Petersburg, Russia, was created in 1703 by Peter the Great, he envisioned the new capital as an emblem of a modern Russian empire, inspired by Western European trade hubs, such as Amsterdam. The duo further observed that in the 20th century, Chandirgarh, India, was modeled on English “Garden Cities” in order to make a statement about progress and aspirations of prosperity in post-partition India.
Half a world away in the United States, Detroit transformed itself into one of the world’s industrial megacities, shaped by the ideals of the American Dream and Henry Ford’s visionary manufacturing.
These big ideas challenged existing perceptions, values and paradigms about the meaning of progress, modernity and success. They embodied the audacious visions of their creators and challenged prevailing perceptions about urban life. Sometimes, as in the case of the resort town of Victoria Falls, this lofty envisioning coupled by an inspiration of a flourishing tourism industry led to both the city’s rise and development.
The city witnessed a decade where it retained its magnetism and evolved, even setting new trends and fashions that saw record breaking arrivals in 2019 and tourism boom being recorded.
Traditional ideals of urban life are changing as environmental and economic pressures on cities grow. Inspired in part by the transformative growth observed in the resort town over the past decade, Sundays News explores some of the latest outstanding infrastructural developments that have transformed the resort City.
Transport network development
The resort town, now a city, was to be ushered into the decade of reference in style as it hosted the 20th session of the UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organisation) General Assembly. This marked the transition of the resort town by then into a transformative trajectory. The first port of call in major development was the rehabilitation of the Victoria Falls International Airport.
The airport started operations in 1967 providing mostly domestic flights from Harare, as well as international services. It is located 21 kilometres southeast of Victoria Falls. In 2013, the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (Caaz) embarked on a project to upgrade the airport at a cost of $150 million.
The project was completed and commissioned in November 2016. The airport now boasts of a 4 000 metre-long, 60-metre -wide runway, a parallel taxiway and associated taxiway links, a category two instrument landing system and airfield ground lighting system, expanded aircraft parking area with a capacity to park 10 wide-body aircraft and 18 light aircraft at any given time.
A state-of-the-art international passenger terminal building and a refurbished domestic passenger terminal building with a combined capacity to handle 1,5 million passengers a year and a cutting-edge ATC tower were also built. A new station equipped with a training tower offering category seven cover docking for three aircraft on aerobridges at any given time completes some of the notable features of the airport that were refurbished and installed. The airport can now handle long-haul flights from around the globe.
The 20-kilometre stretch from the airport is arguably one of the best strips the nation boasts of. The hosting of the UNWTO further saw the resort town being the first to install international road signage which other cities and towns have since followed suit. This was the genesis of a new Victoria Falls.
The ship changes the captain
2017 will forever remain a unique year for Zimbabweans. It is the year which ushered in the Second Republic that has set a footprint in development work and driven the ship towards an upward trajectory. It is also the same year in which Victoria Falls saw the coming in of a new captain who has driven the ship into the transformation which has been witnessed in the resort city. It seemed to be a Dube relay as Mr Christopher Dube handed over the button to Mr Ronnie Dube who assumed the town clerk position. In an interview with the Sunday News, Mr Ronnie Dube spoke of some of the developments that have heralded the resort town over the past few years.
Infrastructure development
Commercial entities, housing units and hospitality facilities were to blossom like a flower within a period of five years. The lofty envisioning by the Second Republic coupled by an inspiration of a flourishing tourism industry, Victoria Falls saw investment pouring in and fuelling massive development.
“We have witnessed the coming up of a number of commercial entities. In 2018, the town witnessed the construction of the Sawanga Shopping Mall. We also saw the addition of two service stations which include Glow Petroleum and Engen garage. Both are owned by locals in partnership with the respective companies. The garages came as a response to the growing traffic in the town as well as the population,” said Mr Dube.
Zimre Property Investments (ZPI)’s $13 million Sawanga shopping mall attracted a string of the country’s big brands. Sawanga experienced a completely opposite response to Covid-19 after attracting fast food outlet giant Nandos, NMB Bank, TM Pick ‘n’ Pay supermarkets, Ethiopian Airways, Nedbank, FBC Bank, First Mutual and Liquid Telecom are some of the brands that have since occupied the mall. Aurex Jewellery, Trinity Pharmacy, Adidas Sportswear, RocoMamas and TV Sales & Home have also taken up space at the top end real estate gem.
“We developed 110 low density housing units under the BB7. The properties were fully serviced with roads, water, sewer and other facilities. 500 stands were given to CBZ which were developed into medium density stands and these were also fully serviced.
“Our hospitality industry also witnessed expansion and growth. Palm River Lodge with about 72 rooms, Mbano Manor Hotel, Zambezi Boutique, Pioneer Lodge, Shearwater Village are some of the facilities that were constructed recently,” said Mr Dube.
The construction of the 500 CBZ housing units continue to be one of the key highlights of the resort city’s transformation. A drive into the city presents one with the state of the art architecture that Victorians have erected as you enter the town.
However, all this has been done in compliance with the city’s local development plan and Unesco regulations.
“You will realise that in all this development, we have remained compliant with the Unesco regulations in terms of heights and other regulations. We have kept the earthly theme or colors. In order to cut a tree even when building you need to ask for council approval. That is why you see most houses being built around trees.
“We are also in compliance with our local development plan,” said Mr Dube.
The City status
The ultimate transformation came in December 2020 when Victoria Falls was conferred with the City status by President Mnangagwa. It also became the first City to grant the Freedom of the City to President Mnangagwa. This is the highest civic honour in recognition of his contribution to the town’s growth.
Mr Ronnie Dube said the status was an early achievement as it was part of the five-year plan that was set by the municipality in 2018. He attributes all this transformation to the confidence that investors have in tourism as an industry and Victoria Falls as a destination. The City has also witnessed a clean bill in an external audit report which has also been cited as an investment driver.
With such a transformation, it is in no doubt that the Second Republic’s Vision 2030 prospectively places the resort city of Victoria Falls among the likes of Detroit, St Petersburg and Cape Town, just to mention a few. – @nyeve14
Online Reporter