Casas Melhoradas is an applied research project on housing for low income groups in the informal settlements of Maputo, Mozambique with a three-fold focus: 1) developing alternative construction methods to improve the quality and decrease the cost of housing; 2) developing housing typologies that utilize space and infrastructure more economically to initiate a more sustainable […]

Mafalala Baraza is a small-scale public space project in the historical informal settlement Mafalala in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. The project seeks to counter problems with street encroachment caused by lack of enforcement of urban regulation in the neighborhood. Situated in a context characterized by corrugated iron sheet houses dating back to the 1930s, […]

Casas Melhoradas is an applied research project on housing for low income groups in the informal settlements of Maputo, Mozambique with a three-fold focus: 1) developing alternative construction methods to improve the quality and decrease the cost of housing; 2) developing housing typologies that utilize space and infrastructure more economically to initiate a more sustainable […]

Belhi Community Center was built in 2017 in Southern Nepal. The project is part of an ongoing effort to create income generating sustainable development, particularly for women. The community center features training facilities and workspaces for textile production utilizing locally produced wool. The building was constructed using locally produced compressed earth blocks, impregnated bamboo and […]

School toilets provide the only opportunity for accessing adequate sanitation for many children in impoverished urban areas in Madagascar. Consequently, school toilets play a crucial role for the hygiene conditions among children in such urban areas. However, lack of appropriate design solutions and resources for maintenance of the school toilets decrease the usability and ultimately […]

Casas Melhoradas is an applied research project on housing for low income groups in the informal settlements of Maputo, Mozambique with a three-fold focus: 1) developing alternative construction methods to improve the quality and decrease the cost of housing; 2) developing housing typologies that utilize space and infrastructure more economically to initiate a more sustainable […]

The Land Rights in Maputo project seeks to support communities of informal settlements in Maputo, Mozambique in formalizing their land ownership through urban planning, urban interventions, capacity building, and advocacy. The project is carried out in collaboration with Architects without Borders – Denmark, the Mozambican NGO Estamos, and the Maputo-based architectural office Bulande Arquitectos. The […]

In 2008, the Tanzanian government announced plans to redevelop five wards in Kigamboni into a satellite city accommodating 500,000 residents, including a new central business district, educational institutions, and recreational areas. A development moratorium was imposed on the affected wards, and the Kigamboni New City Master Plan was approved in 2010. Developed primarily by Korean […]

CAMP+ (Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Project) is a multi-stakeholder innovation project managed by CARE. The project seeks to create the world’s most sustainable refugee settlement in Uganda. The project seeks to pilot new solutions for natural resource management, sustainable cooking, plastic waste recycling, sustainable food production and improved spatial planning. The project collaborates with companies […]

Beira Affordable Housing Project was developed in 2017 in collaboration with Reall in relation to their pilot project in Beira for their Mozambican affordable housing program. The project proposes a dense settlement structure, with numerous public spaces, active social zones adjacent to the streets, small plot sizes, and houses that share walls and installations with […]

Modern Vernacular is an exhibition showcasing examples of contemporary informal housing in Africa, Asia, and Latin America designed and built without the involvement of architects. The exhibition is titled Modern Vernacular, as the exhibited houses and urban areas are characterized by the use of modern industrial construction materials utilized across different contexts according to local […]

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 […]

Land use restrictions can curtail housing supply and lead to increased costs of accommodation, which can have adverse effects on livelihood among low-income groups and thereby compromise sustainable development. However, limited studies have investigated housing supply restrictions in informal housing markets. To address this knowledge-gap, this article analyzes a range of indicators of livelihood among […]

Most of the ongoing extensive urbanization in East Africa is informal and occurs beyond the limits of state control and regulatory systems. The urban majority in the region resides in informal settlements characterized by limited urban planning, construction without formal permits, and lack of formal land titles. Issues with substandard housing, overcrowding, insecure tenure as […]

The majority of the ongoing extensive urbanization of East Africa is informal and occurs beyond the limits of state control and regulatory systems. This development is characterized by lack of urban planning, infrastructure provision, and formal rights to the land. Lack of land rights constitutes a major issue within urban development in East Africa, as […]

The majority of the ongoing extensive urbanization of East Africa is informal and occurs beyond the limits of state control and regulatory systems. This development is characterized by lack of urban planning, infrastructure provision, and formal rights to the land. Lack of land rights constitute a major issue within urban development in East Africa, as […]

Casas Melhoradas is an applied research project on housing for low-income groups in the informal settlements of Maputo, Mozambique with a three-fold focus: 1) Improve the quality and reduce the cost of housing through development of alternative construction methods. 2) Initiate sustainable urban development by curtailing urban sprawl and utilizing space and infrastructure more economically […]

This publication contains the works of 3rd year architecture students attending KADK – The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation – Institute of Architecture, Urbanism and Landscape. The students produced the presented material while developing their individual bachelor thesis projects, comprising community center designs in the informal settlement Mafalala, […]

Mafalala Futures is an architectural debate project that seeks to discuss the future development of informal settlements in Maputo, Mozambique and the wider African context. The project outlines three possible future urban development scenarios for the same area in Maputo based on different positions in urban planning discourse. Thereby the project discusses spatial qualities and […]

Mafalala Futures is an architectural debate project that seeks to discuss the future development of informal settlements in Maputo, Mozambique and the wider African context. The project outlines three possible future urban development scenarios for the same area in Maputo based on different positions in urban planning discourse. Thereby the project discusses spatial qualities and […]

Mafalala Futures is an architectural debate project that seeks to discuss the future development of informal settlements in Maputo, Mozambique and the wider African context. The project outlines three possible future urban development scenarios for the same area in Maputo based on different positions in urban planning discourse. Thereby the project discusses spatial qualities and […]

Born and Raised in the Ghetto is a three-part documentary mini-series about urban life in African slums. Each film portrays a slum neighborhood, focusing on urban characteristics, architecture, culture, everyday life as well as some of the problems that are emblematic of African slums. The films follow a young local man in each location who […]

The exhibition “Urban Informality” at Folkemødet in Allinge 2025 focused on contemporary urban development and housing conditions in Tanzania and Mozambique. In sub-Saharan Africa, more than half of the urban population lives in areas that are developing with limited planning and enforcement of regulations, a phenomenon often referred to as “urban informality”. Although informal urban […]