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Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa (Volume 13, No.4, 2011) ISSN: 1520-5509 Clarion University of Pennsylvania, Clarion, Pennsylvania

A THEORETICAL OVERVIEW OF THE GROWTH CENTRE STRATEGY: PERSPECTIVES FOR REENGINEERING THE CONCEPT IN ZIMBABWE

I.O. Manyanhaire1, R.Rwafa1 and J. Mutangadura2 1. Geography and Environmental Studies, Zimbabwe Open University. 2. English and Communication, University of Zimbabwe ABSTRACT Growth points (GPs), growth poles (GPs), small towns (STs) or growth centres (GCs) as they are variously named in literature are defined as centres with strong resource base that can initiate a cumulative causation process that culminate in continuous and sustainable development. This paper reviews the definition of the concept and provides a critique of the constraints to the development of growth centres. It is the premise of this theoretical paper that it is possible to reengineer the strategy with a view to achieve sustainable development at these growth poles. Despite its widespread application most of the growth poles have never been successful because of natural-soico-economic complex of factors that have not been adequately conceptualized by the responsible governments.

INTRODUCTION AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The analytical framework for this papers centres on four major aspects. Firstly, the introduction and the meaning of the growth centre as perceived from a simple linguistic perspective and as derived by regional planners and theorists of the quantitative approaches. The paper also to gives a more simplified and operational definition relevant to Zimbabwe. In the second and third sections the paper addresses the limitations of the growth centre strategy and the strategies adopted to propel growth respectively. The last component focuses on the possibility for reengineering the concept in the Zimbabwean context. The concept of reengineering in this paper implies modification of planning and implementation of the model based on

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