Much research on the importance of climate-smart and sustainable shelters and spaces for street-involved exists globally, though little has been done in Africa and Zimbabwe. More importantly, there is limited research evidence and policy dialogues on the importance of planning for street-involved children in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is a country of plenty but also of glaring inequity, with the population of vulnerable children lacking food, parental guardianship and housing whilst staying on the streets increasing exponentially. Zimbabwe does not have temporary shelters for these street-involved children in urban areas. The main objective of the current paper is to explore the challenges and policy implications for designing shelters and spaces for street-involved children in Zimbabwe. The study employs a literature review approach and reviews relevant studies from 1980 to 2023. The main challenges discussed include the increase in the population of street-involved children in Zimbabwe, their increased exposure to climate hazards, the phenomenon of rapid urbanisation without development, less research, negative attitudes on street-involved children, ambivalent policy and legal framework, politics of urban planning, invasions of play and recreational spaces and lack of scientific knowledge on the importance of physical activities. The conclusion is that there is a dearth of public policies on promoting children’s play and recreational opportunities, with the situation in communities compounded by the weak public capacity to plan, implement and enforce the promotion of recreational and play facilities. The article recommends a change in policy and practice to create spaces in urban built environments for children’s play in Zimbabwe.
[1] Department of Applied Psychology, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe; Future Africa Research Leadership Fellowship at Future Africa, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa. ORCID ID: 0000-0002-5958-0834
[2] Department of Applied Psychology, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
[3] School of Architecture and the Built Environment, University of Rwanda, Rwanda. ORCID ID: 0000-0001-7918-7207
