Sumbe [Novo Redondo]

Lat: -11.199450000789000, Long: 13.839727997068000

Sumbe [Novo Redondo]

Kwanza Sul, Angola

Historical Background and Urbanism

The Presidio of Sumbe/Novo Redondo (in Kwanza Sul) originated in the Fortress of Gunza-Cabolo (1762) which became a town. Of Pombaline origin (1769) and connected to the slave trade, it would have around 60 shanties in 1846. It was a municipality from 1869 when it was a port for the export of cotton and the headquarters of trading companies. In the late 19th century it was the starting point for the conquest of the interior (Seles, Amboim, Cuvo valley). More recent plans show a development from an extended axis with two parallel roads, evoking the urban fabric of the small settlements of Tarrafal (Santiago de Cabo Verde) and Porto Covo (Alentejo, Portugal – established in the 18th century). Henrique Galvão mentions it in the 1930s, saying that “the city has settled on the sea-shore, in the place it was born, foul and burnt [...] a dark-coloured, commercial settlement” (Galvão, s/d, p. 573). In the mid-twentieth century the Plano de Urbanização e Planta do Novo Redondo (Urbanization Plan and Map of Novo Redondo) depicted a small town with an elongated plan and a reduced expansion to the northwest. At, this stage the city saw a new growth period connected to the central region economic development and population increase within the sphere of influence of Lobito and the urban axis established along the Benguela Railway. Located in the sphere of influence of Lobito, it was provided with some new, modern facilities (cathedral, town hall, high school), designed by Castro Rodrigues, an architect living in Lobito.

Religious Architecture

Equipment and Infrastructures

Housing

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