Results
The main results of the research were quantitative and qualitative data collection in the three countries, international research networks, dissemination and publications.
Quantitative data: survey
The delays to start the quantitative data collection have allowed us, however, to invest more time to prepare a household survey. We have worked with a former Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) invited researcher, with experience in surveys and databases, and managed to prepare and refine collaboratively a survey that we consider significantly matured, well targeted and ready for data coding and analysis. Both the survey and instructions were translated into three languages – English, French and Portuguese. We have also shared and discussed this survey with our local partners in charge of data collection, went through training/clarification sessions in the survey sites. The survey was conducted in nine locations (total of 460 surveys). In Angola: Lucapa (Lunda Norte), Matala (Huíla) and Bairro Operário (Luanda) (total 148); in the DRC: Kyeshero neighbourhood (Goma), Minembwe (South Kivu) and Rubaya (North-Kivu) (total 109); and Zambia: Chongwe (Lusaka province), Chililabombwe (Copperbelt) and Kalumbila / Maheba (North Western province) (total 203).
Data analysis of survey information has generated the following cross-tabulations, which were used as base material for presentations and publications:
Table 1: Percentage of households that were born or have lived in urban areas
Table 2: Reasons for migration from place of residence
Table 3: Why did you decide to stay
Table 4a: 1st Job characteristics by town
Table 4b: 2nd Job characteristics by town
Table 4c: 3rd Job characteristics by town
Table 5: Is the current house better than the one you had before coming to the current town?
Table 6: Year of occupation of house by settlement
Table 7: What town needs to be urban by location
Table 8: How facilities and conditions improved, worsen or are the same by location
Table 9: What events transformed town and made more urban
Table 10: Intentions to migrate, when and why by location
Table 11: Where plan to migrate by location
Table 12: Type (% of voluntary) of migration by place of residence by location
Table 13: Migration with whom by place of residence by location
Table 14: Intention to migrate by place of residence by location
Table 15: Migration - quality of life by place of residence by location
Table 16: Migration - safety/security level by place of residence by location
Table 17: Travel and reasons for travel by location
Table 18: Relationship with other (urban) locations
Table 19: Importance of relationship with other locations
Table 20: Frequency of relationship with other locations
Table 21: Ownership of land by location
Table 22: How has your housing (structure) changed over time?
Qualitative research: interviews and observation
The three project researchers have conducted fieldwork in the project sites, consisting of interviews to relevant stakeholders and informants, and observation of socioeconomic, migratory and urban dynamics. Fieldwork took place in the following locations:
Fieldwork conducted
Type Angola DRC Zambia
Urban periphery Bairro Operário Kyeshero Chongwe
Mining boomtown Lucapa Rubaya Chililabombwe
Kalumbila
Refugee settlement / camp Matala Minembwe Maheba

Networks
Through fieldwork and particularly by conducting the survey, we have consolidated our networks in Angola, the DRC and Zambia. In Angola, we have worked with local partners in Lunda Sul, Lubango and Luanda; in the DRC, with partners in Goma, Bukavu and Rubaya; in Zambia, with partners in Lusaka (Chongwe), Chililabombwe (Copperbelt) and Mwinilunga (North Western province). In addition, through the collaborations in joint scientific meetings with our European partners, we have discussed the possibilities of preparing joint applications for conferences and publications. We are regularly in close contact with our partners in the three countries under analysis, undertaking training or joint revisions of surveys and data. A description of our international partnerships is presented below.
Dissemination and internationalisation
Despite having to mobilise more intensively online tools like Zoom or WhatsApp, digitalising surveys, etc. to implement the partnerships with Angolan, Congolese and Zambian counterparts, the experience was positive, opening and preparing for more regular and facilitated exchanges using digital tools. In addition, we have managed to reach out to international audiences to display our research through the same type of online dissemination platforms.
Project partners in Angola, the DRC and Zambia
Country / location Name Institution
Angola – all Cristina U Rodrigues Nordic Africa Institute
Angola – Lunda Sul Octávio Alberto Governo Provincial da Lunda Sul
Angola – Matala Anacleto Escórcio
Nádia Balada Administração Municipal da Matala
Angola – Luanda João Domingos Development Workshop
Angola – Luanda Massamba Odeth Development Workshop
DRC – all Karen Büscher University of Ghent
DRC – all Stéphanie Perazzone University of Ghent
DRC - Bukavu Godefroid Muzalia Institut Supérieur Pédagogique de Bukavu, GEC-SH
DRC-Goma Mubanza Rukata Thierry GEC-SH
DRC-Minembwe Nguweneza Rwakira Espoir GEC-SH
DRC-Rubaya Isidore David Independent
Zambia – all Patience Mususa Nordic Africa Institute
Zambia – all Melanie Chirwa People’s Process on Housing and Poverty in Zambia
The project team organised three main events:
International expert inception workshop in Uppsala, 5-6 March 2020
The project team managed to hold an international expert inception workshop in Uppsala in March 2020, right before the COVID-19 restrictions were set. Our invited scholars (David Simon, SE/UK; Deborah Bryceson, UK; and Jytte Agergaard, DK) commented on the projects’ line of research, methods and potentials, contributing to refinements to our research. The team attempted to organise an in-person workshop in 2021 but COVID-19 restrictions forced its cancelation. Instead, the workshop was held online on 6-7 December 2021.
International expert workshop in Ghent, 2-3 February 2023
The team organised a workshop at the University of Ghent with invited local and international partners (Filip De Boeck (University of Leuven), Bram Jansen (Wageningen University), Stéphanie Perrazone (University of Geneva), Jeroen Cuvelier (Ghent University), Christian Koba (University of Lubumbashi). As the team was focused on preparing publications based on the data analysis, the invited scholars commented the draft papers and/or publications’ outlines, confronting them with the data analyses.
International expert final workshop in Lusaka, 12-13 December 2023
The final event and workshop was held in Lusaka in December 2023 and international partners have been invited to discuss the results and way forward: Ângela Mingas (Lusíada University, Angola), Christian Koba (Ghent University), Claude Ngomsi (UN Habitat, DRC), Dhanis Rukan (University of Lubumbashi), Bridget Bwalya (University of Zambia), Gilbert Siame (University of Zambia), Melanie Chirwa (Peoples Process, Zambia), and David Katungula (Peoples Process, Zambia).
The project team members have also participated in other events, where they presented project results. The include, among others:
Conference Africa and Asia in Transition, in the panel Urbanization in rural regions of Africa and Asia (Copenhagen, 28-30 June 2021); Virtual seminar DW Angola — Água para Todos: uma análise do acesso a Água e Saneamento em Luanda, May 5, 2021; Network of African Women Environmentalists (NAWE) Webinar 5: Urban Resilience, 2 February 2021; EDRA52 DETROIT , Symposium Reframing DIY Urbanism from the Global South: Planning Just Cities, with the communication Ethnography: Looking beyond planning and the physical city in Luanda and Maputo, 22 May 2021; International Conference Middle Class Urbanism: New Aesthetics of Difference and Detachment in Cities of the Global South, 9-11 June 2021; Workshop 2: Dislocating Urban Studies, 19 March; Places “off the map”: Bringing to light the hidden locations of urbanization, EDRA52 DETROIT , Symposium Reframing DIY Urbanism from the Global South: Planning Just Cities, 19-23 May 2021; Conference Comparing the Copperbelt: Social history and knowledge production in Central Africa, University of Oxford, 18-19 June 2021; EWIS conference 2021.
Research results were communicated through the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) and CRG Ghent websites, as news or conference announcements, and through the NAI and CRG social media outlets (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn). Also, the project has set a webpage that was online from 2021 to 2023. The participation of team members in international conferences and meetings is also contributing to expanded communication of the results.
Finally, the project also led to publications as Open Access under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The list is presented below.
Challenges and limitations to project implementation
The COVID-19 pandemic had a hard impact on the project, in particular in terms of data collection on the field (Angola, the DRC and Zambia alike). This activity, foreseen for 2020 has been postponed until 2021/2022, with only a small percentage of surveys starting in 2021. Due to the restrictions for travel, quantitative data collection was partially made with the support of our local partners and qualitative data collection missions postponed for 2022. While the team managed to run the first workshop in March 2020, right before the beginning of the pandemic, the second workshop planned for 2021 in Ghent was postponed to 2023.
Due to the pandemic, the project faced the constraints not only of the postponement of the field missions but also the limitations of remote collaboration. The most challenging issues have been the drafting of collaborative arrangements that suit Swedish and local legal dispositions; making foreign country payments and transfers; sending surveys and research materials to Sweden; communication and internet access difficulties in Angola, the DRC and Zambia alike.
The research team and the timelines were adapted to conduct quantitative data collection prior to qualitative, which was not initially planned for. However, the results were very positive, and the team used the available time to collaboratively work with the data analyst on the survey results.
Finally, the project constraints led to the assignment of new research tasks to the local partners, who assumed a key role in organising the local teams and conducting the surveys, as well as in guaranteeing data quality.