Urban dynamics in Maputo, Mozambique

• Maputo city displays a dualist structure.
• The dualist structure is characterized by a rich city and a belt of poor city.
• The dualist structure is resilient.
• There is also architectural resilience in Maputo.
• City housing policy that is reliant on the private market and without any anti poverty policy explains the persistence of the dualistic structure of the city.

This paper analyses urban development in Maputo, comparing colonial and post-colonial development in the city. The focus is on the city’s dualistic structure, as determined physically, socially and economically by Jenkins (2000a). This structure is identified as consisting of a poor belt (characterised by poverty, the absence of property rights, deficient sanitation conditions and a process of gentrification) and a rich area, in which the architectural resilience that Maputo displays over time is considered. The paper discusses the resilience of this dualistic structure, and policy implications are derived.