BOOK REVIEWSThe research theme is followed by a summary of the theoreticalapproaches that have so far informed development. Most of thesetheoretical approaches are not related to the textual data and it is difficultto see why the separate theoretical chapter is necessary.Central to the book is the issue of co-operatives and political control.The author argues throughout the text that national level politicians whoclaim to support co-operatives are in fact wanting to create patronagerelationships. Mararike's analysis of the politics of development providesan important contribution to our understanding of development processesin Zimbabwe.A subsidiary theme in the book is that people and communities atgrassroots levels use symbols to control each other's behaviour. Thesesymbols, which include proverbs, slogans and prayers, are often used bylocal leaders to control followers.Another point made in the book is that local communities shundevelopment efforts in which they do not benefit. When they find thatthey do not benefit from a development project such as a co-operative,local people tend to withdraw from it.The book refers to development practitioners and their institutions asexploiting the local people. This leaves readers with a misleading pictureof passive peasants. The shortcoming of this book lies in the fact that itdoes not explore the ways and means peasants may devise in order toexploit 'patrons'.The book can also be faulted on points of data. Its data are incompleteand in many cases do not support the bold conclusions made. There is, forexample, the unsupported conclusion that rural people withdraw theirmembership in cases where they are dissatisfied with developmentinitiative. Similarly there is the frequent claim that people tactically useslogans and prayers to control behaviour even though the textual data donot illustrate the point.Notwithstanding this, Grassroots Leadership remains an important bookthat among other things seriously questions the motives of those whocome in the name of development. The book makes useful reading tostudents of rural development and development anthropology.University of Zimbabwe V. DziNGIRAIHarare: The Growth and Problems of the City Edited by L. Zinyama, D.Tevera and S. Cumming. Harare, University of Zimbabwe Publications,1993, xii, 186 pp., ISBN 0-908307-30-6, Z$45.Planning Suburban Service Centres in Harare, Zimbabwe By N. D.Mutizwa-Mangiza. Harare, University of Zimbabwe Publications, 1991, viii,169 pp., ISBN 0-908307-21-7, Z$45.The first of these books comprises the proceedings of a conference held atthe University of Zimbabwe in September 1989, to coincide with thecentenary of the founding of Harare in 1890. The conference examined the112 BOOK REVIEWSevolution of the city over the last 100 years with particular reference tosome of the major problems confronting its residents, planners,administrators and political leaders.Contributors range from Enos Chikowore, the then Minister of LocalGovernment, Rural and Urban Development, to city councillors, city councilofficials and university lecturers. This wide range of contributors wasdeliberately chosen in order to provide a 'sufficiently comprehensive viewof the multi-faceted and complex processes and problems of urban growthand urbanization in a third world country such as Zimbabwe' (p. ix).The topics covered by this book include the early history and evolutionof the city, city administration, low cost housing problems, municipalservices and urban conservation. The book is well presented withphotographs and illustrations, making for pleasurable browsing; but italso contains serious and informative discussions by experts in theirfields. Most chapters have extensive references and there is a consolidatedbibliography at the end of the book.Many of the chapters deal with urgent and pressing problems andissues faced by the citizens of Harare today such as the changing demandsplaced on the City Council, how it should be best organized to tackle theseproblems and its relationship with central government; the housing backlog;extending health care to all sectors of the community; and how peopletravel to work.Other chapters, however, are concerned with quite obscure aspectsof important issues. For example, the detailed study of the plight of thescavengers at refuse dumps does highlight a particular problem. But thereare much greater concerns related to both refuse disposal and the informalemployment sector. The disposal of Harare's refuse is in itself aconsiderable problem. The growth of the city has resulted in the closureof refuse dumps, one by court order, and the cost of disposal is constantlyrising in real terms. Recycling of refuse is one option often used to reducethe costs of disposal, and this could be organized in a formal way, employingthe scavengers in a much safer work environment. The role that informalemployment has to play in the city's economy is a sufficiently importantsubject to have deserved a paper at the conference, in preference to therather minor aspect of scavengers.There is no reference to discussions at the conference, and somecritical comment from the editors would have been helpful. For examplethe chapters on housing seem to accept and are written within the officiallyapproved framework for the provision of housing: minimum stand sizesand minimum standards of infrastructure provision. Is it not appropriatenow to reconsider housing provision in terms of what people can afford,so that the funds available determine the standards of the development?The second book, Planning Suburban Service Centres in Harare, couldeasily have been the basis for a contribution to the first, dealing as it doeswith one particular aspect of the development of Harare, namely shops.The book achieves its stated purposes, which are, to update the work ofM. A. H. Smout on suburban shopping centres in the low density residentialareas and extend it to the high density residential areas (HDRAs), thuscovering the whole city; to examine the shopping behaviour of the peopleBOOK REVIEWS 113living in the HDRAs; and to determine the perceptions related to shoppingactivities held by residents of HDRAs. Most of the book is concerned withHDRAs on which there is little previous writing.The book presents a detailed study, conclusions and recommendations,with each point carefully analysed and thorough referencing. It is not lightreading, but well worth the required effort.The book begins with an evaluation of possible theoretical frameworksand a description of Harare, the area of study. All 108 shopping centres areranked, using an index based on commercial facilities they provide.Surprisingly, Machipisa, in a high density residential area, ranks the highestin Harare.Patterns of shopping trips in the HDRAs are investigated. Peopletravel longer distances for higher order goods. The poorer HDRAs dependmore on the Central Business District than do the more affluent HDRAs.Mangiza investigated the perceived needs of the residents of theHDRAs, in particular factors considered to influence shopping patterns.This work found that: the range of goods available is unsatisfactory; thereare insufficient convenience shops; and the cost of travel to the centralbusiness district of Harare is too high. HDRA residents are more sensitiveto the cost of goods than to the distance to be travelled and Mangizaconcludes therefore that there is an urgent need for small and largesupermarkets in the HDRAs.A hierarchy of shopping centres is proposed based on the frequencyof trips for different types of goods and services.The overall tone of the proposals made in the book is plannedintervention. Planners and local authorities should make better provisionfor shopping in the HDRAs. Mangiza suggests that planners havetraditionally dwelt on 'negative/reactive' planning through policy-makingand regulatory functions. He proposes that planning authorities shouldbecome more involved in the development of shops. Although this type ofpublic intervention was in favour at the time of the study, economicinitiatives are now expected to be led more by market forces and thereasons why the HDRAs lack shopping facilities need to be examined fromthis angle.There has been some large and significant commercial developmentin the HDRAs, such as the Chitungwiza Town Centre, financed by OldMutual. The construction of new shopping facilities or improvements toexisting shopping facilities, is very much dependent on private initiative.Banks and building societies are beginning to open branches in HDRAs.Some national supermarket chains are also looking to expand in theseareas. For the most part, however, there has not been much improvementin the HDRAs, and this must be seen as a reflection of the spending powerof the residents of these areas. Even though Machipisa ranks the highestshopping centre in this study, one wonders whether its total turnover isgreater than that of some centres in the low density residential areas suchas Avondale (second highest), Newlands, or even Chisipite.The study is intended to provide information for use in the planning ofsuburban shopping centres and also to help retail entrepreneurs decidewhere to establish retail outlets. The advice given to local planningH4 BOOK REVIEWSauthorities in the last chapter is sound and logical and is certainly useful.However, the book seems to place little importance on the 'real world' ofdevelopers and entrepreneurs, who tend to view shopping as adevelopment opportunity, with the profit motive being fairly important.Shopping can be a subjective, fashionable activity and opportunitiesfor shopping developments may defy the logical approach. Avondale andthe new Borrowdale shops are instances of successful commerce-ledshopping developments, which if left solely to planners, would not havebeen allowed to develop when they did. Despite the prediction that littlegrowth in service centres in low density residential areas can be expected(p. 122), there has been quite a lot of development in these areas. This hasto be explained in terms of the higher spending power of residents in thelow density areas and in terms of the creation of a demand for shopping inthese areas by the development of fashionable shopping environments.These factors are jokers in the pack which do not go along with thetheories set out in the book.The new shopping developments that have occurred in the HDRAs(Chitungwiza Town Centre excluded) tend to be fairly small shops whichperpetuate the existing pattern of shopping provision in these areas. IfMangiza's recommendations in this regard are to be followed, then theCity Council will have to rethink its approach and allow larger shop chainsto establish shops in the HDRAs at the expense of the smaller businessman,in order to provide the local residents with a greater choice in the variety,quality and cost of goods.Mount Pleasant T.G.LEWIS