Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in an Environmentally Sustainable Way – Some Perspectives Relevant For Zimbabwean Planners

The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) constitute an international declaration, which dictates the involvement of every member of the human race. Comprehensive development plans at various institutional levels are a prerequisite in order to make the goals achievable. It is without dought therefore that the Regional, Country and Town Planning profession has got a special place in this endeavor. Historically, development in space was more often a haphazard and incremental process, whereby planning was mainly based on military defense, economic and other civil convenience considerations. There was little consideration for the potential present and future ecological, social and public health costs arising from development programmes and projects. The fact that more than 82 percent of the world population is living in developing countries implies a challenging task to third world regional and urban planners, in making sure that land use and other spatial development issues yield the best possible results, that are socially, economically and most importantly, environmentally sustainable. This paper looks at the challenges faced by planners in their planning process and plan implementation, to satisfy the Millennium Development Goal number seven. The paper also puts forward a number of proposals for environmentally sound planning as a vital contribution towards the possible achievement of the MDGs in Zimbabwe