Built on Expectations: Angolan and Mozambican Emergent and Stagnant Rural Towns (Special Topic “Rethinking Localities of Rural Development in Angola”)

Abstract

Both private and public investors in Angola and Mozambique have been responsible for the growth and consolidation of major cities. In the countryside, recent private economic investments and new opportunities attracting population and settlement have contributed to the emergence and growth of smaller towns in rural areas. Emergent towns foster expectations of access to better urban living for migrants, who anticipate the transformation of new settlement areas with infrastructure and services being introduced over time; migrants tend to invest more in their permanence there. In both Angola and Mozambique, however, the expectations around emergent cities have been recently challenged by the economic crises, which began in 2014. The implications for residents include not only a reduction or cessation of access to revenues, but also the frustration of their expectations. Based on qualitative research conducted in Angola and Mozambique between 2015 and 2018, in a post-war, post-economic-boom context, this analysis describes the shifting trends of urban formation and consolidation in four towns and the changing perceptions of urbanism. The conclusion proposes that the state and its investments into the urbanisation of places constitute a key element for the consolidation and permanence of these settlements.