Abstract
African cities are experiencing a rapid urbanisation rate, as evidenced by substantial urban population increases and the spatial expansion of urban areas. This significant urbanisation rate has, however, failed to match the slower industrialisation rate in most African countries, leading to the growth of the informal sector. While the informal sector of African cities is prominent among scholars and practitioners, a new urban pattern is emerging in African urban fabric: retail-led urban development. This paper explores the nature and scope of retail-led urban development in three selected Southern African cities: Johannesburg, Gaborone, and Harare. The case-narratology approach reviews literature on urban development in case areas, documentary analysis of urban development instruments and observations to explore the nature and scope of the phenomenon. It asserts that the slow industrialisation mismatched to urbanisation has culminated in the rise of retail-led urban development in two forms. One is the retail dominated renewal of decaying inner cities, and the other is development of retail-centric suburban areas. Drawing on the case studies, the paper finds an urban fabric dominated by retail development in a land-use up-zoning process where commercial uses, displaced by inner-city urban decay, have created more demand for suburban retail services, while inner-city retail-led regeneration seeks to serve the middle class and lower class that occupy the inner city. This urban form is predominantly dominated by the consumption nature of the selected cities as industrial development grows slowly and some cities leapfrog into post-industrial cities. The rise of retail-led urban development, however, emerges with consequences of suburban sprawl and automobile-centric development at the detriment of urban sustainability.
