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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:A Tale of Two Cities: The Evolution of the City of Bulawayo and Makokoba Township under Conditions of Water Scarcity, 1894-1953
Author:Musemwa, MuchapararaISNI
Year:2006
Periodical:South African Historical Journal
Issue:55
Pages:186-209
Language:English
Geographic term:Zimbabwe
Subjects:segregation
water supply
townships
towns
1900-1949
History and Exploration
Urbanization and Migration
Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment
colonialism
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02582470609464937
Abstract:Focusing on the dual nature of the colonial city - coexistence between the 'European' town and the African township - this paper examines how the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) mobilized and distributed water to the colonial city and to the township of Makokoba under conditions of scarcity from the time both were founded in 1894 until 1953, the year in which the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was established. The paper advances two central arguments. First, it suggests that the colonial municipality's water policies and practices were designed to create a luxurious, green, and prosperous city, while the same policies did not apply to the segregated Makokoba township. Second, it contends that water scarcity, as it affected the residents of Makokoba, was a product of the intersection between ecological and climatic factors on the one hand and power relationships on the other. The paper demonstrates that political and economic power concentrated in the hands of the white settler State officials shaped the distribution of water supplies to Makokoba. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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