A local vision of climate adaptation: Participatory urban planning in Mozambique

Abstract

With an estimated population of 1.1 million, Maputo is the most densely populated city in Mozambique. The city is sharply divided into two areas: ’the cement city’, or the old colonial centre with paved roads and high-rise buildings, and the bairros – largely underserved, congested areas that house the majority of the city’s population. Situated on the Indian Ocean, the city is highly vulnerable to climate change impacts such as cyclones, flooding and sea level rise. Poverty and inequality, which are concentrated in the bairros, further exacerbate climate change vulnerabilities in the city. This report looks at the outcomes of the project, Public Private People Partnerships for Climate Compatible Development (4PCCD). It ran from 2011 to 2013 and asked: can local views be represented fairly in national and municipal planning processes through a partnership approach? Answering this question required: (i) understanding what makes a successful partnership among relevant actors; (ii) providing a platform to support such a partnership; (iii) developing formal outputs, such as local development and climate change action plans; and (iv) disseminating the lessons widely to bring new partners into the process. By experimenting with different forms of participatory planning, 4PCCD aimed to identify local priorities for climate-related action, along with the key actors and resources needed to make it happen