Housing and ‘Inverse Governmentality’ inMaputo, Mozambique

\Presentation at the WB Symposium«Rethinking Cities: Framing the Future»

Barcelona 8-10 October 2012

Dr. Inge Tvedten, CMI

Maputo City Space

• Capital of Mozambique with 1.1 (1.8) million inhabitants

• City space historically divided into ‘cidade cemento’ and ‘cidade caniço’ – with ref. to housing

• Post-independence planning increasing discrepancy between policies and realities

• Poverty rate from 53 % (2003) to 37% (2010) primarily due to a construction and housing boom

• A brick house is a key aspect of being urban – and building one is often a life-long process

Housing as a Process

• 70% of Maputo shantytowns with slum-like characteristics and inadequate services

• Rapidly changing urban-scape with liberalisation of land and housing market

• Sites and service areas over-taken by the better-off with the poor pushed out

• Land- and housing rights through an elaborate community-based [political] hierarchy

• Housebuilders imitate urban norms which the state and muni-cipality are unable to implement for security

Incremental Housing from Below

• The processes of ‘inverse governmentality’ in poor bairros should be protected and sup-ported

• Urban services (roads, water, electricity, waste collection) through strategic planning to support on-going processes

• Policy implementation by selecting ‘test-bairros’ for implementation

• Enforcing a formalisation of land parcelling and house construction are likely to lead to more urban uprisings