Testimonies from residents show how community organization drove urban improvement and access to the right to the city.
Chamanculo: Paradise - Building the Right to the City, depicts the urban transformation process in Chamanculo C, in Maputo, Mozambique. The film showcases the changes experienced by this community, historically affected by floods and lack of infrastructure, toward an environment with more accessible streets and better living conditions.
It will premiere on March 19 at 7:30 PM at Cines Girona in Barcelona, Spain. The screening will be free and open to the public, marking the start of a tour through other cities and festivals.
The project marks ten years of work by Arquitectura Sin Fronteras in the neighborhood. Through testimonies from residents themselves, with special prominence given to women, it recalls past difficulties such as floods and lack of infrastructure, and shows how community organization processes have driven territorial transformation.
It also proposes a reflection on the right to the city, understood as access to basic services, infrastructure, and decent housing. This process highlights advances in access to DUAT (land use and benefit rights), as well as the generation of regulations approved by the local government, considered a milestone in the improvement of informal neighborhoods across the African continent.
The production is supported by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, Spanish Cooperation, and the Barcelona City Council. Experiences like this initiative align with projects promoted by SELAVIP, which supports housing, land tenure regularization, and habitat improvement in communities across various countries.
Spanish