Urban infrastructure and displacement: two sides of the sustainability coin

Abstract

Murtah Shannon focuses on the emergence of ‘donorcities’, focusing on the case of Beira (Mozambique), one of the hotspot of donor-supported infrastructure investments and widely regarded as an example of successful urban development The urban turn in international development policy has triggered a surge in global infrastructure investments in African cities. Although infrastructure development is widely recognized as being crucial to sustainable urban development, it is also fundamentally dependent on the availability of land. So far however, debates on sustainable urban development largely overlooked these land-related impacts, focussing narrowly on the utility of new infrastructure. Building on growing concerns surrounding the broader impacts of infrastructure development, this chapter focuses on the consequences of three high profile donor interventions in Beira city, exploring how global investments have instigated chains of displacement, with far reaching implications for urban sustainability which have been excluded from the city’s development narrative. Although investments in infrastructure development is widely recognized as being crucial to sustainable urban development, it is also coming with contra-productive types of development, for examples development-induced displacement. Global investments have instigated chains of displacement, with far reaching implications for urban sustainability which have been excluded from the city’s development narrative.