From Forced Displacement to a Good City: The Case of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique

This project examines concepts of a ‘good city’ in a least-developed country and within the context of urban crises. This is an extreme case in which to explore ‘good city’ visions.

By addressing a radical situation, the research contributes knowledge to improve the lives of the most impoverished urban dwellers, with widespread replicability. The research examines internal displacement in multi-dimensional crises arising from intersecting natural/human disasters and conflict. It focuses on Pemba City in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, where natural disasters, extremism, inequality protests and COVID-19 have displaced over 732,000 people.

The multidisciplinary project draws on humanitarian and urban development studies (disaster/conflict response, forced displacement), space/place and cultural geography, and mental and public health, addressing important knowledge gaps on the cultural dimensions of displacement.

Key elements include the impacts of place/space and cultural identity on displacement on durable solution debates and how these impact on the making of a ‘good city’.

Principal Investigator: Dr Edmundo Werna, London South Bank University