Cidade and bairro: classification, constitution and experience of urban space in Angola

Like other towns that are the product of a colonial history, Angolan towns are usually described in dualist terms that refer to, on the one hand, a ‘centre’ and, on the other, a ‘periphery’. This dualist description of Angolan urban space is expressed in the case of Luanda through the terms of baixa and musseque and in the case of Benguela through cidade and bairro. Even if Angolan towns are in reality more complex and heterogeneous than what this conceptual duality portrays, these terms are widely employed and their use strongly entrenched in Angolan society. Looking at the case of Benguela, this article explores the usage of the duality bairro and cidade and argues, following Bourdieu, that these terms function as classificatory categories with strong symbolic power, through which cidade is associated with the urban, order and the ‘proper place’, and bairro with the sub-urban, disorder and chaos. The article further argues that the symbolic power of cidade is predicated on historical, social, economic, ...