The Significance of Outdoor Domestic Space for an Ecodevelopment Model of Medium-Size Cities. A Case Study of Dondo, Mozambique

In the neighbourhoods of Dondo, the urban environment materialises through the appropriation of the natural environment by society in order to construct its habitat and fulfil its needs in a lasting, balanced manner, because “human participation in nature’s processes is the natural condition of human existence” (Schmidt, 1971: 79). In order to resist the marginalisation of the dualistic city, the external space surrounding the house – which I call the ‘Outdoor Domestic Space’ – is adapted to integrate both farming and businesses, shaping a green and ruralised pattern of urbanisation. Assuming that there is an innate relationship between humanity and nature, industrialisation and the rise of capitalism marks the rupture between ‘democracy’ and ‘ecology’. This paper suggests that it is possible for societies to reassert collaborative practices and self-organisation.