Africa-Press – Botswana. For planners to achieve the national development goals, it is essential that urban planning retains its place at the apex of national development planning, says Pula Institute of Town Planners (PITP) president, Mr Nyaladzi Tema.
Speaking at the recent planners meeting in Maun, Mr Tema said the evolving demands of urban & rural development called for reforms in the national planning frameworks.
As such, he appealed to government to consider placing urban planning at the apex of national development planning.
“It is essential that urban planning be integrated into the highest levels of governmental decision-making, with a dedicated office at the top tiers of national planning structures. Efforts should also be about strengthening the institutional set-up to ensure that urban planning is fully embedded in all development planning processes and decision-making frameworks,” he said when talking about institutional set-up reforms.
He said effective planning required more than just vision but efficient systems that supported and streamlined planning activities across all levels.
As such PITP, he said, called for the establishment of more robust processes that enhanced collaboration across sectors and made it easier to engage all stakeholders, including local communities, in shaping the urban environments.
He said planners sought reforms that encouraged faster approval processes for development proposals with the aim to accelerate the delivery of affordable housing and urban infrastructure.
Another reform Mr Tema called for was the promulgation of the Urban Planners Regulatory Act saying it would assist in the formalisation and regulation of urban planning in Botswana.
“We call for the expeditious promulgation of the Urban Planners Regulatory Act, which will allow us to independently regulate the practice of urban planning in the country. Such regulation will not only safeguard the integrity of the profession but also enhance public confidence in the quality of planning and the plans we produce for the future of Botswana,” he said.
For Botswana’s planning ecosystem to be more efficient and effective, Mr Tema said, it was essential for the department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) to focus its mandate on providing national planning policy guidance rather than placing focus on trying to supervise and control local government planning.
He also said DTCP should prioritise setting clear, comprehensive national planning policies that aligned with the country’s Vision 2036. The policies, he said, would guide the direction of urban and rural development, ensuring consistency and cohesion across regions, while still allowing for local government autonomy.
He said shifting focus of the DTCP to national policy would empower local authorities to take ownership of their planning processes, making them more responsive and tailored to local contexts.
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