The growth of different spaces of middle-classness in Greater Maputo: A methodological approach for assessing processes of this urban transformation

Abstract

In Sub-Saharan Africa, following recent macro-economic expansion, the growth of what was a relatively small middle-class has had a significant effect on urban development. In Mozambique, middle-class growth is still difficult to evaluate, since quantitative data and related research in this domain are limited. However, there have been considerable changes in urban discourse and development praxis in the country: measures directed to middle-class groups have gained more preponderance in housing strategies and land use planning activity; and, in Greater Maputo, urban development related to the growth of middle-class has become more visible.The identification and analysis of ongoing spatial transformation related to such urban discourses and praxis, and their impact on the majority of the population with lower incomes, is hampered by the still vague understanding of the middle-class in this context. This paper reflects on the possibilities and limitations of a methodological approach to identify middle-classness based on a spatial proxy, which was developed to analyse the peri-urban transformations on Greater Maputo associated with the growth of the middle-class (2016–2018). The paper argues that this methodology can potentially provide an understanding of how spatial manifestations of middle-classness can be identified and thus permit evaluation of their influence on urban transformation.