page_title: Maputo
section_title: Infrastructure
hierarchical_section_title: Maputo / Infrastructure
caption_attribution_description: Polana Hotel, Maputo, Mozambique
context_page_description: Maputo, officially named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the capital and most populous city of Mozambique. The city is named after chief Maputsu I of the Tembe clan, a subgroup of Tsonga people. Located near the southern end of the country, it is positioned within 120 km of the Eswatini and South Africa borders. The city has a population of 1,088,449 distributed over a land area of 347,69 km². The Maputo metropolitan area includes the neighbouring city of Matola, and has a total population of 2,717,437. Maputo is a port city, with an economy centered on commerce. It is also noted for its vibrant cultural scene and distinctive, eclectic architecture.
  Maputo is situated on a large natural bay on the Indian Ocean, near where the rivers Tembe, Mbuluzi, Matola and Infulene converge. The city consists of seven administrative divisions, which are each subdivided into quarters or bairros. The city is surrounded by Maputo Province, but is administered as a self-contained, separate province since 1998. Maputo City is the geographically smallest and most densely populated province in Mozambique.
context_section_description: The central area of Maputo corresponds to a planned city with square blocks and wide avenues, with Portuguese traces and their typical architecture of the 1970s.  After the Carnation Revolution (1974) military coup in Lisbon, Portuguese refugees fled in massive numbers close to the date of independence (1975), and the resultant lack of skills and capital, in the context of a fierce civil war and government mismanagement, contributed to its state of dereliction in the years following these events. Nevertheless, the city itself was never damaged, since it was tacitly considered neutral ground during both the colonial and the civil war.
  Recovery of the older infrastructure has been slow and most property developers in recent years have decided to invest in the construction of new properties rather than rehabilitating any of the existing ones. The rates for property in the city are high as investment increases, larger numbers of businesses are hoping to locate within easy reach of the airports, banks and other facilities. The infrastructure is expected to spread out across vacant areas of the city hopefully easing property prices within the next couple of years.
  Maputo faces many challenges, such as poor transport and drainage infrastructure, which have profound implications on people’s livelihoods, particularly in informal settlements. Inadequate planning regulation and law enforcement, as well as perceived corruption in government processes, lack of communication across government departments and lack of concern or government coordination with respect to building codes are major impediments to progressing the development of Maputo’s infrastructure, according to the Climate & Development Knowledge Network.
  As a coastal city, Maputo is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise, and population growth is putting increasing pressure on the coastal areas.
  Despite its Portuguese heritage, all vehicles are right-hand drive and drive on the left hand side of the road.
caption: The Hotel Polana
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