Urban Development in a Metropolitan-Dominated System. Assessing the Role of Angola’s National Government in the Capital and Secondary Cities

Abstract

Since the dawn of the peace period in 2002, Angola’s central government has adopted a twofold approach to urban governance. On the one hand, and in line with the growing importance attached to national-level action in the developmental discourse, urban issues have enjoyed increasing prominence on the government’s agenda. This is evident, for example, in the resurgence of a centrally conceived “urban growth pole agenda” and the attempted development of a National Urban Policy (NUP). On the other hand, political pronouncements and strategies have, over the years, doubled down on the relevance of local agency and capacity building under the slogan that “a vida faz-se nos municípios” [life is made in the municipalities]. Notwithstanding these claims, the common narrative holds that Angola’s urban development is strongly dependent on the national government and, in particular, on an omnipotent presidency. Adopting a system of cities perspective, I contest this assessment and argue that urban scholarship has reproduced the dominance of Angola’s capital city, Luanda, and thereby distorted the analysis of the central government’s role. Its conduct and power in the capital should not be confused with the dynamics that shape cities in the rest of the country. To reveal governmental discrepancies across the urban system, I compare urban policy, finance, and planning in Luanda with the secondary cities of Benguela and Lubango. My analysis suggests that central government authority is less assertive outside the capital, where a certain degree of neglect produces distinct urban dynamics and a continuous negotiation of state authority.