Slums
In the urban nucleus there are three main types of urbanization according to how the land was occupied, the patterns of occupation, population densities, and the level of housing and infrastructure standards: • Urbanized areas: the high city and the low city. • Semi-urbanized areas: plots in neighbourhoods and expansion zones.
communal
• Informal settlements. According to the 1997 census, 4,309 housing units in Nacala were built with modern materials and 32,335 houses with traditional materials, accounting for 12 and 88 percent of the houses respectively, including both rural and urban areas. The great majority of the conventional houses are concentrated in the main urban core.
The proportion of houses built out of conventional material has declined in the past 20 years from 15 percent to 12 percent (data from the 1980 and 1991 census) due to the rapid growth in the number of informal settlements. The greatest gradual consolidation of housing is seen in the older and more central semi-urbanized settlements, particularly along or near the main roads. Gradual consolidation occurs either through owners improving their houses or through the purchase of a plot on which a traditional house stands and subsequent construction of a conventional house. Thus, all semi-urbanized settlements display a pattern of mixed construction, although more homogenous zones exist, depending on their location. The great majority of the houses are owner-occupied. Through the process of selling off state buildings, 887 units were disposed of by 2002, of which 346 were residential and 146 commercial, which left 492 units still managed by APIE. Most state-owned buildings are in the urbanized zones and beach areas.
MOZAMBIQUE CITIES profile - slums
The poverty of the local population is demonstrated by precarious housing conditions and difficulties in improving basic living conditions. The main urban nucleus of Nacala now covers an area of about 2,400 hectares. This includes housing, central urban facilities, and the rail, port, and industrial complex. The most densely populated areas are located in a strip around the rail and port area and are generally unplanned settlements. Next follows an area of medium-density occupation, covering the higher parts of the slopes and the north-south plateau, about 120 metres high.
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