Online Reporter
Rutendo Nyeve, Victoria Falls Reporter
THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has begun benchmarking sustainable urban development models in Victoria Falls, as the city steps up efforts to reposition itself as a smart and environmentally conscious metropolis.
The council’s Town, Lands and Planning Committee last week conducted a two-day Look and Learn visit to the resort city, focusing on how rapid infrastructure development can be balanced with environmental preservation.
Victoria Falls has in recent years experienced a construction boom, particularly in the hospitality and housing sectors, while managing to avoid the unchecked urban sprawl that afflicts many growing cities.
Instead, development has been guided by strict planning controls that prioritise densification, renewable energy use and the protection of existing natural features.
Bulawayo councillors toured several developments, including hotels and cluster housing projects, to observe how sustainability policies are implemented on the ground.
Victoria Falls City Council public relations officer Mr Leonard Ncube, who led the tour, said the visit centred on development control systems that deliberately integrate environmental considerations.
“What fascinated the team from Bulawayo is how development control is done in Victoria Falls, where the environment is incorporated into the developments,” said Mr Ncube.
“The city has a deliberate policy that when a property is being constructed, trees should not be cut. Where cutting is unavoidable, three trees must be planted to replace each one removed.”
Mr Ncube said new developments are also required to use natural colour tones that blend with the surrounding environment, while reducing reliance on conventional electricity.
“At places like Miombo cluster houses, solar energy is used for lighting, solar geysers for hot water and gas for cooking, with electricity only as a backup. This is what we define as sustainable development in Victoria Falls,” Mr Ncube said.
The approach has become critical for the resort city, which is constrained by limited land for expansion and Unesco-related regulations that cap building heights at 11 metres to protect the natural skyline.
“The current council no longer has land for expansion. On the available land, we are encouraging vertical development within set limits and densification so that more people can be accommodated on the same footprint,” said Mr Ncube.
This strategy has seen the growth of cluster housing and low-rise flats aimed at reducing a housing waiting list estimated at about 18 000 people.
Bulawayo Deputy Mayor Councillor Edwin Ndlovu said the visit offered practical lessons that align with Bulawayo’s long-term development goals.
“From the briefing and what we have seen, it resonates well with our vision as the City of Kings to become a smart and sustainable city by 2030,” he said.
Clr Ndlovu said Victoria Falls demonstrated that development and environmental protection are not mutually exclusive.
“We visited some of the hotels which are sustaining the environment, which speaks directly to our vision. They do not destabilise the environment, they do not uproot trees and any ecosystem which is there, they maintain it but you go on to build,” he said.
Clr Ndlovu added that the innovative housing models observed in Victoria Falls were particularly relevant as Bulawayo grapples with its own accommodation challenges.
The council is expected to assess how aspects of the Victoria Falls model can be adapted to Bulawayo’s local context as it reviews its urban planning and development policies.
