On handling urban informality in southern Africa

In this article I reconsider the handling of urban informality by urban planning and management systems in southern Africa. I argue that authorities have a fetish about formality and that this is fuelled by an obsession with urban modernity. I stress that the desired city, largely inspired by Western notions of modernity, has not been and cannot be realized. Using illustrative cases of top–down interventions, I highlight and interrogate three strategies that authorities have deployed to handle informality in an effort to create or defend the modern city. I suggest that the fetish is built upon a desire for an urban modernity based on a concept of formal order that the authorities believe cannot coexist with the “disorder” and spatial “unruliness” of informality. I question the authorities' conviction that informality is an abomination that needs to be “converted”, dislocated or annihilated. I conclude that the very configuration of urban governance and socio-economic systems in the region, like the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, renders informality inevitable and its eradication impossible

Comprimento das estacas e parte do ramo para formação de mudas de pinhão-manso Length of cuttings and the part of the branch section for production of Jatropha seedlings

Tradicionalmente, a propagação do pinhão-manso (Jatropha curcas) é realizada através de sementes; e em muitas situações a propagação vegetativa é uma importante alternativa para a propagação desta espécie. Objetivou-se, com este trabalho, avaliar como o comprimento e a parte do ramo de onde se extraem as estacas influenciam a capacidade de enraizamento adventício e de crescimento de mudas de pinhão-manso. Os tratamentos foram arranjados em esquema fatorial 3 x 4, sendo os fatores três posições da estaca no ramo (apical, mediana e basal) e quatro comprimentos de estaca (10, 15, 20 e 25 cm). Adotou-se o delineamento inteiramente casualizado com quatro repetições e dez estacas por parcela. Aos 70 dias após o estaqueamento foi avaliado o número de brotações e de ramos formados, o comprimento dos ramos, número de folhas, área foliar, número de raízes, massa seca de brotações e massa seca de raízes, cujos resultados indicaram que a posição do ramo em que se extrai a estaca de pinhão-manso (base, meio ou ápice) não influencia o crescimento inicial ou a formação das mudas; no entanto, o comprimento da estaca modifica o crescimento inicial das mudas sendo que o maior crescimento é obtido com estacas em torno de 22 cm.<br>Jatropha curcas is traditionally propagated by seed. However, in several situations the vegetative propagation is an important alternative and its technology needs to be developed. The objective of this study was to evaluate how the length and the portion of the branch from where the cuttings are extracted, influence the rooting and growth capacity of Jatropha cuttings. The treatments were arranged in a 3 x 4 factorial design, with three cutting positions (apical, middle and basal) and four cutting lengths (10, 15, 20, and 25 cm). A completely randomized design with four replications and ten cuttings per plot was adopted. At 70 days after planting, the cuttings were evaluated for the number of sprouts and branches, branch length, number of leaves, leaf area, number of roots, and dry mass of shoots and roots. The position from where the cuttings are extracted (apical, middle or basal) did not influence its capacity for rooting and the growth of the seedlings. The cutting length influences the initial growth, and the best growth was obtained in cuttings of around 22 cm