Divided City Research Articles

Conflictual translanguaging in the linguistic landscape of a divided city

Abstract Nicosia is a divided European capital; the two major ethnic communities on the island, Greek and Turkish Cypriots, were separated de facto following the war of 1974. The inner-city areas delimited by the UN-controlled buffer zone were long abandoned but recently there have been attempts at gentrification. The landscape is linguistically and textually rich and diverse; walls, fences, doorways, even the walls of the ‘border’ are inscribed with an abundance of texts including political slogans, advertisements for rallies or local festivals, graffiti, posters, stencilled images, etc. In this paper, I focus on the visual and linguistic dialectic of texts that are generated ‘top-down’ and texts generated ‘bottom-up’; the former display normativity and linguistic prescriptivism, as the dominant language is Standard Greek, the ‘H’ variety in the Greek Cypriot diglossic context. In the latter, the linguistic choice de rigueur is translanguaging, involving (i) aspects of the Cypriot Greek dialect, the ‘L’ variety that is still by-and-large banned from the public domain, and code-mixing between Standard and Cypriot Greek, (ii) the use of other languages, mostly English but also French, Turkish, Russian, among others, (iii) ungrammatical structures or ‘nonsensical’ texts and (iv) subversion of orthographic conventions, etc. A micro-level linguistic analysis of individual texts and of particular types of translanguaging and linguistic and orthographic bricolage is proffered and the argument is put forward that the counternormativity of such production is predicated not only upon its content and form but crucially also upon its interdiscursivity and its engagement in an ongoing conflictual dialectic with ‘top-down’ prescriptive production.

ATTITUDE OF GRADE VI PUPILS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ONLINE DISTANCE LEARNING

This study sought to determine the attitude among Grade VI pupils in the implementation of online distance learning of Borongan City Division in school year 2020-2021. Specifically, it aimed to identify their reading abilities and their association with their attitude toward online distance learning. To address the objectives, this study used a correlational design. A total of 217 Grade 6 pupils from the five districts of Borongan City Division served as respondents of this study. A survey questionnaire was adapted to gather necessary data on the reading levels of learners and their attitudes toward the online distance learning modality. Meanwhile, inferential statistics such as Pearson r Coefficient were used to identify the association between the reading levels of pupils and their attitude toward online learning which was found to have a significant relationship. KEYWORD: attitude, online distance learning, correlation

Evaluation of English Self-Learning Modules in the Implementation of Modular Distance Learning

In response to the call that education must continue in the midst of the COVID- 19 pandemic, Self-Learning Modules (SLM) became the Department of Education’s primary learning resource in the implementation of a wide-scale Modular Distance Learning. With the educational landscape being confronted with numerous concerns that questions the quality of its SLMs, their evaluation plays an extremely crucial role in pursuit of quality education. The study evaluated English Self-Learning Modules used by Grade 7 students in the First Quarter and propose an enhanced learning material that will be helpful in their modular distance learning experience. The study sought to answer the following questions: (1) What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Self-Learning Modules in terms of: Intellectual Property Rights Compliance, Learning Competencies, Instructional Design and Organization, Instructional Quality, Assessment, and, Readability?; (2) What are the Alternative Interventions suggested to strengthen the identified weaknesses in the Self-Learning Modules?; and, (3) What Enhanced Self-Learning Modules may be proposed based on the strengths and weaknesses of the evaluated materials?
 
 Using a purposive sampling, the Key Informants of the study included a total of eight (8) English teachers coming from three different secondary school locales from Legazpi City Division namely: Legazpi City National High School, Gogon High School and Cabangan High School. The study used a mixed method using a Descriptive –Evaluative Design where Key Informants answered a Survey Questionnaire and underwent Key Informants Interview to record the strengths and weaknesses of the Self-Learning Modules. Thematic analysis and percentage were used in the study to identify salient themes from qualitative and quantitative responses of the participants, respectively. Relevant findings revealed that the strengths of Self-Learning Modules are (1) accuracy in citations, (2) copyright compliance (3) proper acknowledgement of the references, (4) accuracy in content, (5) appropriate presentation of objectives, (6) logical organization of content, (7) integration of valuable traits, (8) development of 21st century skills, (9) alignment of assessments to lesson objectives and (10) appropriateness of content and vocabulary to the learners’ level. On the other hand, Self-Learning Modules displayed weaknesses on the following areas: (1) rotten links, (2) missing bibliographies and references, (3) unpacking of broad competencies (4) outdated content and information, (5) grammatical errors, (6) development of lessons that allow for review, (7) providing answer keys, (8) unclear presentation of instruction and (9) seamless transitions of lessons.
 
 To strengthen the identified weaknesses, the researchers developed a Guide Book that discusses the alternative interventions suggested by the researchers based on their insights together with the recommendations of educators. The Guide Book aims to empower every module user to become involved in creating an improved Modular Learning experience. Moreover, the Enhanced Self-Learning Modules offshoot retained the revealed strengths and carefully applied the alternative interventions to strengthen the weaknesses. Finally, specific recommendations were suggested aimed towards the improvement of learning experiences.

Womxn's agency in divided cities: mapping marginal actions in Nicosia

Çatışmalı çevrelerde en çok zorluk çeken gruplardan biri, ötekileştirilmiş toplumsal cinsiyetlere sahip bireylerdir. Şehirler ötekileştirilmiş cemiyetlerin kendi failliklerini ve alanlarını genişletme mücadelesi ile şekillenirler. Tasarımcı ve plancılar kesişimsel bakış açıları ile bu ötekileştirilmiş toplulukların ilişkilerini çözümleyebilir ve çatışma içerisindeki kentleşme süreçlerini anlamak adına yeni yaklaşımlar getirebilirler. Bu amaçla kapsayıcı bir bakış açısını benimsemek ve susturulmuş seslere yer açmak önem kazanmaktadır. Sınır durumlarına yakından bakan haritalama pratikleri, bu enformal oluşumların arka planlarını açığa çıkarmak için daha demokratik bir alan açar. Bu makale içinden sınır geçen bir kent olan Lefkoşa’da kadınların barış için seslerini nasıl duyurduklarını incelerken, bunu oluşturan jeopolitik krizin dışına çıkmanın ve kadınların şehirdeki bedenleri ve gündelik hayattaki hareketlerine odaklanmanın yollarını haritalama yöntemi ile araştırmaktadır. Nitelik ve niceliğe dayalı yöntemlerin kullanıldığı bu araştırmada sınırlara dair geleneksel yargılar kırılmakta, bu alanları kullanan sosyal grupların etkisiyle sınır mekanlarının esasen geçirimli, dinamik peyzajlar olduğu açığa çıkmaktadır.

Socio-Cultural Recovery of the Border in Nicosia: Buffer Fringe Festival over Its Boundaries

The reproduction of space along the border in post-conflict divided cities is an important issue in relation to urban resilience. Nicosia, widely known as the last divided capital city in Europe, is the capital city of Turkish Cypriots in the north and Greek Cypriots in the south. The Buffer Zone was formalized in 1974 as an emergency measure against inter-communal clashes. Further, the walled city of Nicosia was bisected, and thus urban and social unity became a relic of the past. In addition, the city center became the edge of the two bisected halves. The Nicosia Master Plan (NMP) was initiated by professionals on both sides. Moreover, it was in the first planning attempt that Nicosia was considered as a whole. The NMP was the first self-reliant quest that was developed for the purpose of finding a solution that could operate without having to wait for a political consensus. The Ledra Palace crossing opened in 2003 as the first opening on the border that ran across the United Nations (UN)-controlled Buffer Zone in Nicosia. Such a crossing possessed a symbolic meaning; the two communities feel as if they are socially united, and it encouraged NGOs and artists to step forward and allow the border to be perceived not as a boundary but as a shared space. The Buffer Fringe Festival is one of the recent cultural organizations that was held along the divide of Nicosia and it is also the festival scrutinized in this paper. This festival was designed to explore the boundary as a phenomenon experienced in daily life; furthermore, discussions were had regarding how the Buffer Fringe actors and artists perceived the festival as a peace-making tool. Together with visual and verbal records, the analysis conducted in this paper is based on qualitative data within a theoretical framework concerning body–space connections. In this paper, the aim is to emphasize how festivals can function beyond the limits of borders, provide an arena for connecting people, and exemplifies how one can interpret the spatial transformation of a space within the context of post-conflict divided cities.

The Effect of Covid-19 on the Academic Performance in Mathematics of the Students at Tugatog National High School in The City Division of Malabon

Learning Mathematics is essential to students, as it can develop them in terms of analyzing and reasoning skills which are fundamental in everyday life. Due to changes like the COVID-19 pandemic that triggered the shift in the learning modality of the students and learning environment, this major shift impacts the teaching-learning process, specifically the students’ academic performance. The purpose of this study is to determine how the students did in the learning of mathematics subject, considering that virtual/online learning became a big challenge during the Covid19 pandemic. The descriptive research design was utilized using the survey questionnaire based on the Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELCs) in Mathematics Grade Eight (8) for School Year 2021-2022. The result of this study showed that the mathematics skills of students in the eighth grade during the pandemic were developed to a moderate extent only. Home factors, as well as the attitude and interest of students toward Mathematics, emerged as the primary problems of the teachers in delivering Math lessons in a remote learning modality. Finally, factors such as poor internet connection or internet access, poor study habits, and distance learning affected the student’s academic performance in mathematics.

The Spatial Pattern of Deprivations and Inequalities: The Case of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Addis Ababa is a metropolitan area faced with the challenges of Ethiopia’s urbanization, such as poverty, unemployment, informal settlements, an acute housing shortage, and environmental hazards. Yet, the non-practicality of area-based policy using the Multiple Deprivation Index (MDI) exacerbates the polarization of poverty and spatial inequality to create a divided city. The study developed the MDI for 2007 and 2016. The study’s objective was to justify the area-based policy by analyzing the overlaps of deprivations based on the relationship of pertinent indicators and components, the spatial pattern of inequality and deprivations, and the relationship of deprivation with population size and density. The findings of the study were triangulated and validated with the deductive theoretical, empirical, and SDG frameworks to replicate external validity. The research design included both descriptive and correlational methods. The inductively derived pattern using PCA (principal component analysis) and LISA (local spatial association index) of MDI components revealed spatial inequality and poverty polarization. The index of concentrated poverty was revealed by global spatial autocorrelation. The statistical and spatial trend analysis revealed concentrated poverty, especially in the inner-city slums and the peri-urban informal settlements. Most of the findings conformed to deductive theoretical and SDG frameworks, while the analysis of MDI indicators and components revealed additional slum indicators and the relevance of integrating other SDG indicators with SDG 11 for realizing sustainable urbanization. Due to spatial inequality, patterns of concentrated poverty, a large, deprived population, and easing future urbanization challenges, the study rationalized area-based policy for reducing inequality and poverty polarization.

Transformation of public spaces as tendency of overcoming fragmentation in divided cities: Case study of Kosovska Mitrovica

The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of public spaces, their transformation in the Kosovska Mitrovica city divided to the southern and northern part and their importance in order to overcome this fragmentation. It is important that the development and transformation of public spaces in this divided city contribute to the materialization of accessible spaces which promote the social integration and tolerance through an inclusive processes. The applied spatial-functional analysis of the mapped public spaces in the city as well as the observation of the social interaction in common public spaces constitute the framework of this paper. Concluding remarks provide an answer to the question of whether and to what extent the transformation of public spaces in the years after the war in Northern and Southern Kosovska Mitrovica affect the interaction of different ethnic groups, as well as the tendency to overcome fragmentation in this divided city.

Sarajevo u Prokrustovoj postelji - "opsada" podeljenog grada

In this paper author aims to explain how constructed narratives condition the use of certain notions examining the (mis)use of the notion "siege" in the case of Sarajevo during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995. Conceptual analysis of the notion "siege" enables identification of essential features of this notion, which then in effect determine its logical scope and reach of usage. By analyzing the case of Sarajevo, the author proves that events in this city did not reflect essential features of the notion "siege." Therefore war-time Sarajevo does not fall in the logical reach of that notion, but rather of a "divided city." In conclusion, the author explains that mainstream media, academia, and many officials have been insisting on using the notion "siege." It is the only notion that fits the preconstructed narrative aiming to explain the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Regional dimension of socio-cultural modernization of the population: results of expeditionary research in Uzbekistan and southern Kyrgyzstan

The article attempts a regional measurement of the socio-cultural modernization of the population based on field observations and the results of in-depth interviews with the local population in Uzbekistan and southern Kyrgyzstan. Expedition research route: Osh — Kokand — Tashkent — Samarkand — Bukhara. For the regional measurement of population modernization, the following groups of indicators were used: “characteristics of the cultural landscape” (for example, the layout of settlements, home and space arrangement, land use, etc.) and “social portrait of local residents” (for example, clothing, food preferences, behavior in space, time budget and attitudes of the population). It was revealed that the most conservative and traditional population lives in the regions of the Fergana Valley, the less modernized — in Osh, Samarkand and Bukhara, the most modernized population — in Tashkent, Chirchik and Angren. It is found that regional differences in the socio-cultural modernization of the population correlate with the main provisions of the center-peripheral model. Deviations from it are determined by the nature of settlement, the ethnic structure of the population, the involvement of the population in labor migration, the measure of centrality and the absolute height of the settlement above sea level, etc. Thus, the intra-urban division of most cities into mahalla contributes to the preservation of the traditional community in the east and acts as a barrier to the socio-cultural modernization of the population. In the final part of the article, the national features of the socio-cultural modernization of the population of the studied countries are outlined (for example, the high stability of the national socio-cultural tradition, the multidirectional nature of modernization processes), and brief recommendations are given on the use of the research results in managing the socio-economic development of different regions.

Public Defenders in a Homicide Division: The Courtroom Workgroup, Plea Bargaining, Career Motivations, Views on the Causes of Crime, Perceptions of Prosecutors’ Views of Crime, and Dealing with Occupational Stress in Their Daily Lives

This study examines the courtroom workgroup, focusing on the plea-bargaining process for public defenders and their relationships with prosecutors in their courtroom workgroup. Using grounded theory method, this research examines semi-structured interviews of public defenders (N = 6) in the homicide division of a large East Coast American city. Qualitative analysis of the interviews reveals themes of disconnect in this jurisdiction’s courtroom workgroup. Public defenders of this jurisdiction perceive a stark contrast between their views on the causes of crime when compared to their perception of prosecutor’s views. Results further show that there is limited constructive communication between the defense and prosecuting attorneys in this courtroom workgroup. Interviews also revealed that the public defenders mostly saw structural societal issues as the causes of crime, whereas their perception of prosecutor’s views on crime was starkly different. A symbolic interactionist perspective of these results suggests that workgroup disconnect between the public defenders and prosecutors of this jurisdiction inhibits the plea bargain process, thus enhancing occupational stress and frustrations for the public defenders, who dealt with that stress in many unique ways in each of their personal lives.

Parallel Economies in Syria: A New Interpretation of the Notion

The war of sanctions initiated by the West against Russia has highlighted importance of concepts related to parallel economic processes which includes an imperative of broadening definition of the parallel economy beyond “shadow economy” and “local economy” approaches. The 11-yearlong Syrian conflict constitutes an example of genesis of parallel economies as products of warfare, foreign interventions, and terrorist assaults by the “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria” (ISIS). Those economies encompass the “ISIS caliphate,” “Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria,” “Syrian Interim Government,” and “Syrian Salvation Government” – all non-controlled by the Syrian authorities [Matveev, 2022, p. 108]. Their features imply unequal economic potential along with high dependence on neighboring Turkey and Iraq. Reviewing siege economies and divided cities emerging on the Syrian soil together with comparative analysis of Syria and other Arab countries enables us to define conditions required for the genesis of a parallel economy. Among them deeply divided societies and/or armed conflicts on vast territories with deep fragmentation or in geographically isolated regions coinciding with large-scale foreign interventions, original diversification of income, and capabilities for foreign trade. In conclusion, the author defines the parallel economy as a system of economic relations grown within a state in coexistence with its official economy characterized by generating income, administrating economic affairs, and conducting foreign trade independently from the center. The Syrian experience of overcoming sanctions could become valuable for Russia which, in turn, using her political-military presence could assist in economic reunification of this country on the way to restoration of its territorial integrity.

The Extent of Implementation of Printed Modules as a Learning Modality under the New Normal: Input to the Existing Learning Continuity Plan

This study focused on assessing the extent of implementation of the printed module as a learning modality under the new normal as perceived by the social science teachers of the public secondary schools in Borongan City division. This study used a descriptive and comparative design through a survey questionnaire administered to 50 respondents. Indicators were descriptively summarized using mode as a central tendency measure. By and large, majority of the indicators on implementation are only slightly implemented; this includes the implementation of parent support, personal relevance, authentic learning, students' autonomy, and active learning. In addition, school support was perceived as not implemented at all, while teachers' support was moderately implemented. On the significant difference in the implementation of the printed module between autonomous and non-autonomous school, a test of difference indicated that the extent to which indicators are implemented do not necessarily vary by type of school. Based on the result of the study, a proposed additional input on the existing learning continuity plan of the Borongan City division was crafted.

Management Support Practices on the Department of Education Reading Program

This case study explores the management support practices of the Department of Education Reading Program in Panabo City Division, Davao Del Norte, Philippines. Seven (7) school principals were interviewed using Key Informants Interview, and another seven (7) school reading teachers were invited to the Focus Group Discussion using the same enhanced researcher–made interview guide. Findings revealed that the Department of Education manifested management support practices on the reading program, such as policies, teachers, external stakeholders, learning spaces, and learning resources, which were perceived to be consistent with general system theory of Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1928). Each input has a unique process, output, and outcome in this study. This paper provided implications for practice and further research on management support in a reading program.

Gender, Problems Encountered and Counseling Techniques of High School Guidance Counselors in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, Philippines

This study dealt on the gender, problems encountered, and counseling techniques of high school guidance counselors in Marawi City Lanao del Sur, Philippines. There were 42 respondents from Department of Education Marawi City Division and from MSU External High Schools: MSU-ILS, MSU-UTC and ISED-SHS designated or appointed as guidance counselors of the respective schools included in this study. The study aimed to determine the gender of the guidance counselors, determine the problems encountered in counseling by the guidance counselors, and find out the counseling techniques of guidance counselors. The study used a descriptive method aided by validated questionnaires in gathering the needed data for the study. The data were tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted using frequency count, percentage, weighted mean and ranking. Result revealed that majority of the respondents were females. Most of the problems encountered by the guidance counselors were from the students such as coming to class late or habitual absences, limited resources of the guidance room, availability of guidance room, not comprehensive guidance program, and moral support from the administration were found problems encountered by counselors. In terms of techniques used, individual counseling technique was employed to cater the needs of the students. This study concluded that moral support from the administration, teachers and parents were in need to inspire the counselors to do their tasks. It is recommended that similar studies be conducted with more on concerns and issues drawn from the students and administrators.

Connecting cities across infrastructural divides

This paper investigates opportunities to connect divided cities by analysing ways in which occupation practices operate alongside, subvert and potentially transform historic, and presently developing urban infrastructure divisions in Tshwane’s eastern urban region. Through a critical theory lens existing and perpetuating conditions of infrastructural segregation are examined in order to understand scenarios through which built environments, as assemblages, maintain conditions of extreme inequality and power. In this respect, urban spatial research projects, analysing formal and informal settlement patterns are presented. The projects form part of an architecture design lead research studio that focuses on discovering alternative scenarios for urban environments by examining existing infrastructure barriers, and unpacking methods for the transformation of segregative systemic forms. Extracts of the projects are presented as case studies with a focus on areas around Mamelodi east and Moreleta Park in rapidly growing parts of Tshwane. These projects demonstrate conditions through which urban divisions of scarcity are established and constructed along infrastructure development zones in the region. They also raise key spatial questions pertaining to inequality and the role of capital investment in its perpetuation. 
 The second part of the project involves socio-spatial methods of mapping self-build situations occurring alongside hard infrastructure zones in the region. The studies focus on the composition of building fabrics that actively attempt to circumvent issues of scarcity and unequal access to material and social infrastructures. Through the establishment of physical interfaces, people form modes of operation despite extreme resource limitations. The project aims to identify alternative ways of reading territorialised urban infrastructure assemblages by examining critical zones of urban occupation. While the examples expose many of the volatile situations that the urban majority experience on a perpetual basis, the primary aim is to reveal - from the everyday – urban spatial emergence and methods of coding and mapping these emergences towards an adaptive, reparative and transformative approach to divided cities.

THE RESIDUAL INFLUENCE OF COLONIAL PLANNING ORDINANCES ON THE DIVIDED CITY CONUNDRUM IN NIGERIA

Spatial inequalities permeate cityscapes across the world with varying magnitudes. Deeply entrenched fault lines of inequality manifest in the divided city conundrum witnessed in prominent cities in Nigeria. Cityscapes are inundated with pockets of isolated sectorial neighbourhoods for the rich and poor within the same municipal boundary. Although, segregation is typified by economic and social class, the foundations of these fault lines were engrained by colonial planning ordinances which abrogated different standards for European and Native areas. A synopsis of colonial planning ordinances in Nigeria with the searchlight upon the segregatory enactments embellished and propelled by these promulgations was corroborated with key informant interview of town planning administrators. This brought to the fore the discriminatory approach of colonial planning standards and its creation of divided cities with distinct European and Native areas. Analytical review of post-colonial planning regulations indicate a futile non-departure from the segregatory nuances of colonial ordinances. In place of racial segregation imposed by colonial ordinances, reinforcement of spatial inequalities along socio-economic dimensions has been entrenched post-independence. Moving forward, this paper advocates a strategic trajectory towards inclusivity through a review of extant physical planning and land use laws to address the multifarious constructs of spatial inequalities inherent in Nigerian cityscapes.

PHILIPPINE LEARNING CONTINUITY PLAN: A POLICY ANALYSIS IN TIMES OF PANDEMICPHILIPPINE LEARNING CONTINUITY PLAN: A POLICY ANALYSIS IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC

This paper investigates the adoption of the DepEd Order No. 12, s. 2020 Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP) for Grade three students in a School District of a Schools City Division situated in the Southern part of the Philippines, utilizing the UNESCO analytical framework in policy analysis in education. A qualitative research design using case study method was employed to elucidate the experiences and challenges of teachers and administrators in this time of pandemic, particularly for School Years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. Results showed an increasing enrollment rate, 100% promotion rate, and no manifestations of students at-risk of dropping out. Although the Proficiency Level is increasing, some students still have low reading performance. Regarding education sector management, the school district created curriculum adjustments, re-aligned learning materials, deployed various learning delivery modalities, and provided training to teachers and school leaders. Similarly, all schools utilized the provision of financial resources efficiently since the budget utilization rate is 100%. Also, the monitoring and evaluation mechanism was operationalized in the said district. It is recommended that the Department of Education must optimize access and equity in this new normal education and establish more educational infrastructures for there is a need for more learning spaces; likewise, to ensure the delivery of quality education, interventions must be conducted to address the learning gaps such as intensifying the reading program; correspondingly, the district should conduct BE-LCP review and adjustments for continuous improvement; lastly, similar studies may be conducted focusing on plans for post-pandemic scenarios.

Inspector Gowda’s Divided City: Space, Inequality, and Crime in Anita Nair’s Bangalore Novels

Abstract Bengaluru/Bangalore, the capital city of the Indian state of Karnataka, has played a vital role in the advancement of communication and technology across the globe. Following the progressivist logic of neoliberal urbanism, the city evolved from the quiet, placid ‘Pensioners’ Paradise’ into the bustling ‘Silicon Valley of India’ at an accelerated pace. Bangalore’s sudden growth into a global cyberpolis has motivated its recent entry into the realm of crime fiction in English. The current paper draws on this connection and proposes to offer a spatial critique of the crime novels in Anita Nair’s Inspector Gowda series, Cut like Wound (2012) and Chain of Custody (2016), set in Bangalore. To map the transitions in the spatial structures and social relations of this rapidly changing city, it uses interdisciplinary approaches of geocriticism and the postmodern social theories of space. Also, by analysing the representations of residential segregation in Nair’s novels, the paper intends to foreground how social inequalities, gentrification, and ghettoization have contributed to the raging scenario of crime and violence in Bangalore.

Maputo, the divided city: fragmentation and (re)qualification

Maputo - the Mozambican capital - has expanded itself vertiginously in the midst of the late independence process (1975). Its population has been multiplied about twelve times during the decades from 1950 to 2020, reaching more than 1.1 million inhabitants. The political, commercial, and financial center of the country, the urban fabric of the capital is the stage for complex processes of economic growth and spatial segregation triggered in recent decades. The central region, known locally as the "cement city", concentrates on modern and widely diversified infrastructures. Squares and parks, luxury condos surrounded by modern offices, international standard hotels, shopping, and a set of pharaonic constructions - built at a cost of billions - set the landscape tone of progress induced and concentrated in favor of a small elite. However, beyond this "stronghold", around 92% of the population lives in the peripheral part of Maputo, popularly known as the "reed city". These, however, are located in very precarious housing, produced informally by the residents themselves, and subjected to the complete absence of infrastructure and public services. These issues contribute directly to the fact that Mozambique has the ninth-worst Human Development Index (HDI) on the planet. In this way, the present article - elaborated from fieldwork, interdisciplinary discussions and dialogues undertaken within the scope of an international scientific project between universities in Brazil and Mozambique - seeks to present and interpret the set of urban connections that make Maputo a fragmented and complex city, full of continuous socio-territorial transformations in which multiple clashes emerge linked to segregation, gentrification, real estate speculation, among others.