Privatization and the Reshaping of the Recreational Landscape of the Industrial Zambian Copperbelt

Abstract

The towns on the Zambian Copperbelt, in what is described as the golden era of the 1950s to the 1970s, had much to offer in terms of the residential lifestyle of the employees working for the region's mining companies. Supported by revenues from copper and a paternalistic welfare system, mine employees and their families had the option of sports clubs, libraries and theatres for their leisure. This period also consolidated the spatial order of modernism. Economic decline from the 1980’s spelt the end of the welfare orientation of the Copperbelt mines. As social realities changed, so too, did Copperbelt resident’s recreational activities. The chapter describes the reshaping of the recreational landscape.