Institutional spatial and mobility constraints limiting bus rapid transit progression in Harare Zimbabwe

Abstract Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has been widely promoted as an instrument of urban transport modernisation, yet the translation of internationally circulating BRT models into local transport systems remains uneven. This paper examines why the proposed BRT initiative in Harare, Zimbabwe, did not progress to full operationalisation. Drawing on documentary analysis and non-participant field observations, the study applies ordinary mobility as a transport-specific analytical lens linking everyday movement practices to transport planning and governance. The findings identify four interrelated constraints: spatial misalignment between the proposed corridor and decentralised mobility patterns; fragmented institutional responsibility; financial and operational capacity limitations; and challenges of establishing social legitimacy within a transport system strongly dependent on flexible informal services. The analysis further shows that the limited progression of the proposed BRT cannot be understood solely as a technical or financial problem, but rather as the outcome of interactions among policy transfer, institutional capacity, spatial organisation, and existing mobility practices. These relationships are synthesised through a Harare-grounded Failure Pathway of Planned Modernity, which conceptualises how insufficient policy learning may reproduce implementation stagnation while also identifying contextual adaptation and hybrid governance as a possible alternative pathway. The paper argues that future mass-transit reform in Harare would benefit from incremental and context-sensitive governance arrangements that combine formal public oversight with the participation and operational knowledge of existing transport actors. The framework’s wider applicability requires comparative testing in other urban contexts.