The Problem of Overcrowded Cities

By Mr. Henry Kyambalesa

In modern Zambia, municipal authori­ties are, by and large, faced with the problem of con­ges­tion in major urban centers. The problem has particu­larly become more pro­found and mind-bogg­ling due to the lack of ade­quate resou­rces to provide decent social services and amenities to unprece­dented num­bers of people who congregate in such centers to engage in various kinds of social and economic activities.

Lusaka city center provides a good example in this regard.

By and large, the problem is a result of what deve­lopment econo­mists have referred to as the “dual econo­my”—that is, un­even develop­ment in the national eco­nomy betw­een the agricul­ture-based rural sector and the urban sector that is largely based on manufac­tur­ing and the provision of various kinds of services, where­by the latter sector is relative­ly more developed than the former.

There are several situa­tions which can lead to such uneven develop­ment in a cou­ntry’s economy; they include the following:

(a) The general lack of trans­portation, decent housing, healthcare facilities, educa­tional institu­tions, recrea­tional facili­ties, and other basic facilities and services in the agriculture-based rural sector causes a drift of people to the relatively more devel­oped urban sect­or;

(b) Distorted govern­ment policies and incen­tives which are largely and deliberately intended to promote economic activities in urban areas and less designed to promote agri­cultural activities or any other kinds of economic activities in the rural sector; and

(c) Rela­tive­ly higher wages in the urban sector facilitated lar­gely by colle­ctive bargaining, which attract skilled people away from the gene­rally non-unio­nized and low-wage agricul­tural sec­tor.

Larger populations in urban areas overwhelm exis­ting public facili­ties in such areas, as well as diminish munici­pal au­thoriti­es’ ability to cater for the basic needs of communi­ties in their areas of jurisdic­tion. Besides, the rural-to-urban emigration of citizens has made the rural areas even more unat­tractive to private invest­ment, and has resulted in diminished provision for educa­tional, recreation­al, healthcare, and other essential public services and faci­lities in the sparsely populated rural sector.

The unsavory symp­toms of uneven development in countries with low population densities like Zambia are easy to not­ice. They include wi­despread unemployment, fre­quent outbreaks of com­muni­ca­ble disea­ses, an increase in crime and other social vices, and a mush­rooming of spon­tane­ously crea­ted shanty town­ships in and/or arou­nd towns and cities.

Uneven development needs to be redressed by the national government thr­ough special incen­tives designed to lure investors and job seek­ers from urban centers to rural and sub-urban areas. Moreover, municipal authorities and the national government need to work hand in hand in providing essent­ial public services and faci­lities in both rural and sub-urban areas if investors and job seekers are to be enticed to move to such areas.

Examples of public services and facilities which need to be provided for in both rural and sub-urban areas include police protec­tion, an inter-modal transportation network, fire protec­tion, low-cost public hou­sing, and adequate education­al, voca­tional, recre­ational, and healthcare faci­lities.

There are, of course, no quick fixes to any of the numerous socioeconomic ills and challenges currently facing our beloved country, but we still need to make an earnest effort to seek and pursue viable ways and means of addressing such predicaments.

The author, Mr. Henry Kyambalesa, is a retired Zambian academic currently residing in the City and County of Denver, Colorado, in the United States of America.