Meanings and perceptions of the built environment in peri-urban areas of Maputo, Mozambique

Abstract

This research project aims to explore practices through which residents in informal settlements in Maputo, create their home-space and how these practices underpin urban development. At the centre of the research are the residents’ notions of the home. The study focuses on the socio-cultural values with which people imbue their living environments and the architectural notions of these. Informal settlements are receives limited concern from governments, and if so, it relates to infrastructure rather than to homes. This marginal position is true further among architects, whether from the developing or developed world. Albeit there is an interest in ‘architecture without architects’, this focuses on vernacular architecture and not on the mundane and contemporary ‘everyday architecture’ of simple homes developed by the urban poor. The quest is to establish a scientific based knowledge on how communities are ‘resourcing themselves’, and ‘being resourced’ by initiatives from local and national governments, NGO’s and the international community.