ABSTRACT
The concept of habitation means more than just a house, a shelter against climatic factors, a place of intimacy, for resting during the night and for preparation of meals. It also means the existence of a local infrastructure like water supply, sanitation and transport as well as social facilities like schools and medical centres. All these factors together are indicators for the quality of a habitation. This quality again is determined by economic and cultural factors. The peri-urban areas constitute a link - not only in Mozambique but in the majority of the developing countries - between a traditional and a modern culture. Both of these types of cultures have their own value. Unfortunately, large parts of the traditional African culture of housing were destroyed by European aggression during the times of slavery and colonialism and also in recent times by neo-colonialism, the penetration of capital also in the rural areas and the negative effects of globalization. In the investigated villages we did not find an intact culture of African traditional housing, only remains of it.
