Malls, markets and malnutrition : food in/sensitive planning in African cities

Abstract

The presentation promotes the integration of local food into city planning. It illustrates how city planners and local governments have no clear planning provisions for food markets/traders, which results in food insecurity and malnutrition. The Chisokone food market in urban Kitwe (Zambia) provides an example. Chisokone occupied zoned land that could be used for a mall and was relocated to make way for “development.” Anti-informality is entrenched through Master Plans and zoning schemes; conflicting practices reflect unclear mandates for local governments, with decisions about markets informed by a set of actors made powerful by historic planning frameworks (marketeers, large scale private sector, donor agencies).