The MUDAR Project. Mozambique Integrated Urban Development by Actions and Relationships: Empowering Local Governance. Descriptive Report

The present report describes the results of the key actions foreseen within Pillar 2 of the MUDAR project, namely the conception and drafting of an urban project aimed at improving the unplanned neighbourhood of Macuti in Beira, Mozambique. Therefore, this report embodies the process that has brought the University of Trento, in charge of the action, to design a preliminary project that meets the needs and constraints of the population through a multi-stakeholder participatory process. The Municipality of Beira, which oriented the drafting of the project, is responsible for what will become executive. Extensive data collection on the neighbourhood and its administrative functioning made it possible to outline an order of priorities that has led to defining a neighbourhood-scale project. Crucial issues for improving the spontaneous settlement have thus been addressed, namely the limited mobility within the settlement, the flooding to which it is subject, the lack of green and public spaces, and the absence of waste collection. Compatible with MUDAR’s funds, some of the interventions proposed at the neighbourhood scale are about to be implemented after receiving the official approval of the Municipal Committee, which happened last August 2023. These interventions, included in the Pilot Project, hold a strategic position in Macuti and are believed to address multiple criticalities simultaneously. They are also meant to form a replicable module within the neighbourhood itself, according to the priorities indicated in the preliminary project, or perhaps in the whole of Beira. This is made possible thanks to their easy and cost-effective reproducibility characteristics. In addition, they provide a training ground for the local administration, not only in the design phase of the interventions but also in their implementation and maintenance.