Collaborative approaches to knowledge development: Action research in urban land issues in Mozambique and Angola

This paper is about appropriate research approaches and collaboration in knowledge development. It is based on two action research projects in Mozambique and Angola, which are both developing new land and planning legislation, and where formal recognition of emerging land markets in a context of nationalised and/or state-controlled land is a crucial issue. The research has stressed the importance of a political-economic analysis of the context and an analysis of the socio-economic situations and cultural perceptions of the urban poor, including actual urban land management/market mechanisms - an approach that permits political and social awareness of the need for appropriate mechanisms and grounds these in local institutions. The paper summarises the results of the research available to date on institutional attitudes, and focuses overall on how socially modified market mechanisms could be established both to protect the poor majority and to create a solid basis for improved urban efficiency. The main focus of the paper, however, is on the role of collaborative knowledge development through action research as a contribution to creating openness to alternatives and awareness of options for policy.