Reflexão sobre os critérios de urbanização a formação do lugar central na cidade de Maputo

Abstract

This paper reflects on the criteria of urbanisation to examine the formation of the of the central place in Maputo City. These criteria formulated on the basis of archaeological evidence archaeological evidence since the twentieth century have not changed much, but rather evolved, as is the case of long distance trade. This criterion is dynamically presented in this study. The study of the urbanisation criteria, which gave rise to the formation of the central place in the city of Maputo comprised two complementary phases: the first phase was the observation and analysis of the The first phase was the observation and analysis of the archaeological and geographical context for contextualisation. To elucidate this issue, the the closest example found from archaeological sources was the Manyikeni walled town in association with the trading post of Chibuene, as testimony to urban origins in Mozambique, being located in Inhambane Province. In a second phase interviews were conducted with residents of the neighbourhood which, during the colonial In the colonial period, it was called "Bairro indígena" (Indigenous quarter), but after the independence it was renamed Munhuana. The data from the study allowed us to identify the main characteristics of the neighbourhood. The data from the study allowed information related to the form of occupation of its space. It was also verified that the colonial regime's lack of interest in recording the history of some regions or neighbourhoods, which It was also found that the colonial regime's lack of interest in recording the history of some regions or neighbourhoods, which were illegitimate, is reflected today by the difficulty in obtaining this information through written sources, as far as local communities are concerned. These communities were These communities were referred to as "indigenous", as opposed to the favoured classes of assimilated urbanisation of the city of Maputo and the formation of the Lugar Central as opposed to its periphery. By This type of information was therefore only possible using oral sources handed down from generation to generation, although these are insufficient. Archaeologically, this study explores the concept of cultural landscape, as an enlightening source about the past, through the interpretation of place as an object of human intervention.