Zimbabwe’s changing urban landscape

Analysis of ZIMSTAT census data indicates a trend of de-urbanisation in Zimbabwe, with the urban population proportion decreasing from 35% to 33% between 2002 and 2012, although the total urban population grew slowly at 0.6% per annum. These movements are influenced by macroeconomic instability, climate pressure, and mining dynamics, though the briefing cautions that changes in census bases and a lack of disaggregated data may affect the accuracy of the de-urbanisation conclusion.

• Official census data from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) indicates a trend of de-urbanisation, as the percentage of the population in urban centres decreased from 35% to 33% between 2002 and 2012.
• While the country shows signs of de-urbanisation, the total urban population grew from 4,029,707 to 4,284,145 at an annual rate of 0.6%, which is significantly lower than the sub-Saharan African average of 4.2%.
• Population movements at the local level are driven by a variety of factors, including climate pressure, mining industry dynamics, cross-border trade linkages, urban economic downturn, and macroeconomic instability.

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (2017). Zimbabwe’s changing urban landscape. https://cdkn.org/resource/zimbabwes-changing-urban-landscape

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. Zimbabwe’s changing urban landscape. 2017. https://cdkn.org/resource/zimbabwes-changing-urban-landscape.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=Zimbabwe’s changing urban landscape |date=3 July 2017 |url=https://cdkn.org/resource/zimbabwes-changing-urban-landscape |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetwork2017zimbabwes, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{Zimbabwe’s changing urban landscape}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2017}, month = jul, url = {https://cdkn.org/resource/zimbabwes-changing-urban-landscape}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }