According to urbanistic plans, the core areas of Maputo and Matola cities, called cement area, were reserved for office buildings, apartment blocks and service houses. The sub-urban zones were created to be residential and industrial ones and the peri-urban zones were established as green zones to supply these cities with vegetables, fruits and other fresh agriculture products (Pinsky, 1985). When the cement zone became largely occupied since the 1960’s, enormous demand for land surrounding the cities, first in sub-urban zones and second in peri-urban ones increased, mainly in lands reserved for agriculture or future planned expansion of the cities, emerged. Many factors were responsible to this and among these, underlining the Mabogunje position (1992), the most important were:
- Population growth, due to migration, not only from immediate hinterland but also from entire country, looking for security and better living conditions, originated high demand of land for residential and agricultural purposes;
- Income distribution, which determined the space needed and the amount of land required by individual households. The intensive competition which arouse from this factor put face-by-face rich people and institutions/enterprises, disputing land in the best and well located areas within the cities.
- The interests of government institutions, tend to pressure the demand and occupation of open spaces and recreational grounds closed to the centre of the cities. The reason for that is the very high ability of these institutions to acquire land anywhere they want, because the state arragements protect them.
- Inflationing situation in the national economy, that creates the demand of land for speculation, especially as a hedge against inflation.
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