When addressing the Congress of the Southern Rhodesia Municipal Association at the Victoria Falls in May 1944, Sir Evelyn Baring, then Governor of Southern Rhodesia, expressed the view that the historian of the future, when he came to write the story of Southern Rhodesia during the present period, would conclude his survey by remarking that the problem of the urban Native was one of the most vital of those which faced the colony during the 1940's, and that-steps taken then to meet it had a profound effect on future years.

This article is an attempt to assess the importance of certain aspects of this problem and indicate directions in which thought, planning and action are necessary if the problem is to be satisfactorily solved. The implications of urbanization cannot be treated lightly nor can a laissez-faire attitude be adopted.