By Chipo Gudhe
Redcliff Municipality has dismissed reports that it is planning to move its Central Business District (CBD) to the Harare-Bulawayo highway turn-off, clarifying that the move is part of a broader development strategy rather than a full relocation.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Acting Director of Housing and Community Services, Ernest Chigwagwa, explained that the municipality’s plan is to establish a commercial hub at the turn-off while retaining the current CBD.
“We are not moving the Central Business District. We no longer have space where the current Central Business District is,” said Chigwagwa.
He emphasized that Redcliff’s vision of becoming a city requires expanded commercial space to accommodate future growth. “Now with our vision of being a city, there is no way we can be a city with this small space for central commercial activities. So what we are doing is we want to establish a commercial node at the turn-off where we are saying all commercial activities will now be concentrated. We are not moving the CBD; the CBD will still be here, but all commercial activities will be concentrated at the turn-off,” he said.
Chigwagwa further explained that the municipality is currently working on a master plan that will guide its urban development strategy. “There are a lot of planning issues which are taking place. Like you understand, we are mandated to do our master plan. So now we are doing our master plan. The master plan becomes the mother plan of how we want to move,” he said.
According to Chigwagwa, once the master plan is finalized and approved, the municipality will implement its development projects65. “With this new master plan now, we have now included all those things that we want to do in that master plan. So we now want to have it approved, then we can move with speed,” he said.
Redcliff’s urban expansion plans align with a directive from the central government, which has ordered all local authorities in Zimbabwe to formulate master plans to guide their long-term development. These master plans are expected to provide clear frameworks for infrastructure expansion, land use planning, and economic growth strategies to ensure sustainable urbanization across the country.
