Unregulated development of planned settlements: From plan to reality in Laulane, Maputo, Mozambique

Abstract

This paper focuses on unregulated development of planned urban areas, using the Laulane neighbourhood in Maputo, Mozambique as a case study. The neighbourhood was established in the 1980s via a simplified form of urban planning and subsequently developed without enforcement of planning regulations. The study combines quantitative and qualitative analysis of street and plot structures of the original plan and recent satellite imagery of the neighbourhood to investigate the long-term urban development dynamics. The findings highlight that the neighbourhood retained a high proportion of public space and high access porosity compared to recently studied unplanned settlements in the same city. As such, the study argues that minimal urban planning can enhance mobility and increase feasibility of investments in infrastructure even if subsequent development is unregulated by the state. With this background, the study discusses the mechanisms that made the plan successful despite the limited local institutional capacity, including community participation as well as establishment of adequate space for mobility systems and land reserves for future urban development. Finally, the study argues that such measures are increasingly relevant for supporting sustainable urban development in contexts characterized by rapid urbanisation and constrained state capacity to administer the urban development, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.