Two Sides of a Border Town: Urban Inequalities in the Face of Extreme Heat in Beitbridge, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Extreme weather patterns have become an inconvenient reality in contemporary times and coping strategies reveal entrenched social inequalities. This article focuses on how extreme heat impacts different populations located in different socio-economic spaces in the border town of Beitbridge in Zimbabwe. The study is based on qualitative data drawn from key informant interviews, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions in Beitbridge. The structural violence lens is used to analyse how social inequalities disproportionately affect exposure and adaptation to extreme heat among different residents in a single town. Findings reveal that structural factors including unequal income, water and energy distribution across different socio-economic spaces condition people's (in)ability to cope with extreme heat. The study further revealed a lack of significant attention to extreme heat at the institutional level. Therefore, the article proposes for earnest political will and policies to address extreme heat.