Having completed my BSc Hons in Rural and Urban Planning in 2013, it was a difficult experience to find planning opportunities. I volunteered at Chegutu Municipality between 2013 and 2014. Between 2014 and 2015, I gained practical experience in property development and management at one of the leading real estate organisations, in Harare.

Damascus moment: Nomadism. I relocated to Namibia and worked at Ritta Khiba Planning Consultants, between June 2015 and December 2017. It was a rewarding experience. The nomadic spirit further took me to South Africa (Cape Town, Durban, Witbank and subsequently to Krugersdorp). A Wits-Tub Urban Lab Scholarship at the University of the Witwatersrand gave me an opportunity to pursue a Masters in Urban Management. As a professional planner in one of the leading planning consulting firms in Gauteng, I have managed to gain practical planning experience in South Africa.

Looking back, what made me thrive and adapt in a different planning context away from my personal comfort zone? The two main ingredients include:

  1. Think outside the box: do not let your geographic location and imaginary borders/boundaries determine who you are. How do you break these imaginary borders/boundaries? Sheer determination, deep passion for learning and reading, being optimistic and love what you do.
  2. As a young planner, there is a need to fully grasp the substantive theories (what) and the normative theories (why) of planning as they transcend diverse planning contexts.

Key Planning Questions: Do diverse planning approaches and procedures, between municipalities, provinces, countries, regions and continents limit young planners from taking up opportunities outside their geographic locations? Will standardisation of planning approaches and procedures between municipalities, provinces and within a country assist young planners to take-up opportunities outside their geographic locations?