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in the two provinces of the Copperbelt and
Lusaka. Copper is the country’s major export
mineral. About 46 per cent of Zimbabwe’s
population lived in urban areas as at 2010
(UNE-HABITAT 2010), and this ratio is projected
to increase to about 65 per cent by 2050. The
country’s largest city, Harare, is located in
the basin, while the second city, Bulawayo,
is on the basin’s margins. There are plans to
draw water for the city of Bulawayo from the
Zambezi River
Urbanization comes with a variety of
environmental challenges including air, land and
water pollution; changes to the microclimate
resulting from activities such as quarrying, illegal
developments such as slums; and environmental
degradation, including soil erosion, deforestation
and over-extraction of groundwater (SADC and
SARDC 2008; UN-HABITAT 2007).
that crosses the Zambezi River. The city has grown rapidly in recent times, with the
population growing from about 56 000 in 1986 to almost 156 000 in 2008.
high demand for firewood and land for farming by the growing population. Lilongwe was founded as an agricultural market centre for the
fertile Central Region Plateau of Malawi. The city replaced Zomba as the national capital in 1975.