On the impact of urban planning in contexts with limited enforcement of building and planning regulations: A study of the urban form of planned and unplanned informal settlements in Maputo, Mozambique.

<h4>Background</h4>More than one billion people live in informal settlements under precarious conditions. Urban planning is considered an important instrument to mitigate compromised living conditions in informal settlements. However, limited studies have investigated the long-term impac...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Johan Mottelson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292045
_version_ 1797662112439336960
author Johan Mottelson
author_facet Johan Mottelson
author_sort Johan Mottelson
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>More than one billion people live in informal settlements under precarious conditions. Urban planning is considered an important instrument to mitigate compromised living conditions in informal settlements. However, limited studies have investigated the long-term impact of urban planning in contexts with limited capacity to enforce building and planning regulations. The purpose of this study is to assess the long-term impact of urban planning on the development of sustainable urban form in contexts characterized by unregulated urban development.<h4>Methods</h4>The study conducted geospatial surveys of three urban areas in Maputo, Mozambique covering adjacent planned and unplanned settlements that were established more than 40 years ago and subsequently developed with limited enforcement of building and planning regulations. High-resolution maps were produced and six urban form metrics were computed for the planned and unplanned areas respectively, providing the basis for quantitative and qualitative comparative analysis.<h4>Results</h4>Although the study found signs of street encroachment and appropriation of the public space in the planned areas, the study found higher levels of built densities, higher proportions of public space, and higher average street widths in all planned areas compared to the respective neighboring unplanned areas. Furthermore, the statistical analysis consistently showed large effect sizes (Cohen's d > 0.8) of urban planning on indicators of compact city development and access conditions.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The results underscore that planning of street fabrics and plot layouts can enhance compact city development, improve transportation conditions, and increase the feasibility of investments in infrastructure in contexts with limited capacity to administer the urban growth.
first_indexed 2024-03-11T18:55:22Z
format Article
id doaj.art-32ad0a45026f434eb64d2fe1cbff4d1b
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1932-6203
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-11T18:55:22Z
publishDate 2023-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj.art-32ad0a45026f434eb64d2fe1cbff4d1b2023-10-11T05:32:05ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-01189e029204510.1371/journal.pone.0292045On the impact of urban planning in contexts with limited enforcement of building and planning regulations: A study of the urban form of planned and unplanned informal settlements in Maputo, Mozambique.Johan Mottelson<h4>Background</h4>More than one billion people live in informal settlements under precarious conditions. Urban planning is considered an important instrument to mitigate compromised living conditions in informal settlements. However, limited studies have investigated the long-term impact of urban planning in contexts with limited capacity to enforce building and planning regulations. The purpose of this study is to assess the long-term impact of urban planning on the development of sustainable urban form in contexts characterized by unregulated urban development.<h4>Methods</h4>The study conducted geospatial surveys of three urban areas in Maputo, Mozambique covering adjacent planned and unplanned settlements that were established more than 40 years ago and subsequently developed with limited enforcement of building and planning regulations. High-resolution maps were produced and six urban form metrics were computed for the planned and unplanned areas respectively, providing the basis for quantitative and qualitative comparative analysis.<h4>Results</h4>Although the study found signs of street encroachment and appropriation of the public space in the planned areas, the study found higher levels of built densities, higher proportions of public space, and higher average street widths in all planned areas compared to the respective neighboring unplanned areas. Furthermore, the statistical analysis consistently showed large effect sizes (Cohen's d > 0.8) of urban planning on indicators of compact city development and access conditions.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The results underscore that planning of street fabrics and plot layouts can enhance compact city development, improve transportation conditions, and increase the feasibility of investments in infrastructure in contexts with limited capacity to administer the urban growth.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292045
spellingShingle Johan Mottelson
On the impact of urban planning in contexts with limited enforcement of building and planning regulations: A study of the urban form of planned and unplanned informal settlements in Maputo, Mozambique.
PLoS ONE
title On the impact of urban planning in contexts with limited enforcement of building and planning regulations: A study of the urban form of planned and unplanned informal settlements in Maputo, Mozambique.
title_full On the impact of urban planning in contexts with limited enforcement of building and planning regulations: A study of the urban form of planned and unplanned informal settlements in Maputo, Mozambique.
title_fullStr On the impact of urban planning in contexts with limited enforcement of building and planning regulations: A study of the urban form of planned and unplanned informal settlements in Maputo, Mozambique.
title_full_unstemmed On the impact of urban planning in contexts with limited enforcement of building and planning regulations: A study of the urban form of planned and unplanned informal settlements in Maputo, Mozambique.
title_short On the impact of urban planning in contexts with limited enforcement of building and planning regulations: A study of the urban form of planned and unplanned informal settlements in Maputo, Mozambique.
title_sort on the impact of urban planning in contexts with limited enforcement of building and planning regulations a study of the urban form of planned and unplanned informal settlements in maputo mozambique
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292045
work_keys_str_mv AT johanmottelson ontheimpactofurbanplanningincontextswithlimitedenforcementofbuildingandplanningregulationsastudyoftheurbanformofplannedandunplannedinformalsettlementsinmaputomozambique