Gaborone – Growing from hard learned lessons: Locals like to think of Gaborone as a small town posing as a big city – Certainly, this metropolis is dwarfed in comparison to many other cities in the region, the likes of Pretoria and Johannesburg. However, it may come as a surprise to many of the residents that this seemingly undersized town has exceeded all initial expectations of its growth potential. In 1964, when the first development plan for the city was drafted, the assumption was that its population would never exceed 15, 000 people. Within six years, the population had mushroomed to 75, ooo and today, it stands at around 300, 000. This seems to be the source of many of Gaborone’s development problems – The city’s potential for growth was underestimated from the outset and subsequent development plans failed to readjust this point of view. Kibo Ngowi

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