structural:expansion, linguistic:paraphrasing, stylistic:style_transfer
Post-independence years

The city initially boomed under a wave of optimism and investment that followed the country's independence in 1980. The name of the city was changed to Harare on 18 April 1982, the second anniversary of Zimbabwean independence, taking its name from the village near Harare Kopje of the Shona chief Neharawa, whose nickname was "he who does not sleep". Before independence, "Harare" was the name of the black residential area now known as Mbare.

Significant investment in education and healthcare produced a confident and growing middle class, evidenced by the rise of firms such as Econet Global and innovative design and architecture, exemplified by the Eastgate Centre. A notable symbol of this era in Harare's history is the New Reserve Bank Tower, one of the city's major landmarks.

Harare was the location of several international summits during this period, such as the 8th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in September 1986 and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1991. The latter produced the Harare Declaration, dictating the membership criteria of the Commonwealth. In 1998, Harare was the host city of the 8th Assembly of the World Council of Churches.

However, by 1992, Harare began to experience an economic downturn and the government responded by enacting neoliberal reforms. These policies provoked a boom in banking, finance and agriculture, but also led to significant job losses in manufacturing, thereby greatly increasing unemployment and income inequality. Domestic firms struggled to compete with foreign imports, leading to the collapse of several institutions, particularly in the textile industry.