Architects challenged on secondary cities
The National Planning Commission (NPC)—a government entity mandated to draw and facilitate implementation of long-term national development plans—has called on architects in the country to take a leading role towards creation of ‘smart’ secondary cities.
NPC Director General Thomas Munthali said this in Mangochi District Wednesday at the opening of the 40th Architect’s Annual General Meeting held under the theme ‘Where is the Architect?’
Addressing the gathering, Munthali said creation of secondary cities, in line with the urbanisation pillar in the Malawi 2063 document, would require direct involvement of players from the industry.
“We want to work closely with them [the architects] as we are planning around urbanisation as a nation including in creating the secondary cities’ master plan that we have in place,” Munthali said.
He said the country’s major four cities; Blantyre, Zomba, Lilongwe and Mzuzu, which collectively contribute close to 40 percent to the national gross domestic product, have slammed over the years.
According to Munthali, a review of the cities’ plans and creation of new ones to be aligned with aspirations in the Malawi 2063 would help towards national wealth creation.
He then called on the industry players to consider adopting, designing and effectively developing the cities using international standards.
“Architects should play a proactive role in defining the urbanisation agenda. They don’t have to wait but be proactive in adopting some of the cities including developing a master plan of architectural designs where we can bring in investors towards that,” Munthali said.
Malawi Institute of Architects President Catherine Sani said players in the industry are systematically positioned to contribute toward creation of well-structured cities.
“We have been asking for a space on the table. I suppose by making the statement today, the ball has been thrown back into our courts. We need to regroup and think about how we are going to take up the challenge,” Munthali said.
