The impact of foreign investments in the urban morphology of Lusaka, Zambia

In fast-developing Sub-Saharan African countries, private and non-state actors play a role in shaping local urban textures. Lusaka, the fast-growing capital of Zambia, is experiencing morphological changes due to the progressive sprawling graftings of spots of urban textures. This phenomenon partially results from massive foreign investments in the real estate sector and adds new materials to Lusaka’s built environment. This study aimed to understand how foreign economic and cultural capital shapes new residential urban materials within Lusaka’s urban development. For this purpose, modifications of the existing urban textures were investigated by remote sensing. Results showed significant alterations of original spatial relations based on an often oversimplistic urban design approach overlooking stratified morphological complexities. Three-dimensional models of the identified new urban morphologies have been used to investigate their spatial characteristics further. This study encourages context-sensitive urban morphologies by challenging the local ongoing urban trajectories.