Producing Adaptive Urban Space in Informal Settlements: Evidence from Maputo

Research on climate adaptation in informal settlements has largely examined responses to individual climate hazards or isolated adaptation initiatives, providing limited understanding of how climate-relevant practices are configured across the urban fabric. This study examines the adaptive relevance and modes of production of socio-spatial practices across housing, public space and road infrastructure in Maputo, Mozambique, and develops adaptive urban space as a socio-spatial analytical concept. The study adopts an embedded mixed-methods case-study design based on six purposively selected blocks in six informal neighbourhoods, combining 169 paired household surveys and technical housing assessments, semi-structured interviews, field observations, public-space mapping and documentary evidence. The empirical analysis focuses on flooding and intense rainfall, heat stress and erosion. The findings show that incremental housing transformation was mainly household-led, while basic urban services were predominantly institutionally or commercially provided. Documented co-production was clearest in selected public-space and road-upgrading initiatives where residents participated meaningfully in planning or implementation. The adaptive relevance of observed practices varied across domains, ranging from directly evidenced climate-related interventions to practices with potential adaptive functions and wider enabling conditions. The proposed framework uses adaptive urban space as an integrative socio-spatial lens connecting adaptive relevance, mode of production and spatial domain, without treating adaptive capacity or adaptation effectiveness as directly measured outcomes.