Preface by Amâncio Guedes Documentation on social housing in the Portuguese African territories before, during and after the ´74 revolution remains extremely scarce. José Troufa REal´s post-graduate thesis done at the Architectural Association School in London in the late seventies on the work in Luanda, Angola before the revolution, during the transition and after Independence is a fundamental contribution to a subject, which has remained shrouded in obscurity (...)After 25 years of almost incessant civil war Luanda is a broken city of over 3 million people where the inhabitants of the Musseques have continued to survive by reverting to their well-tried traditional life style. It is to be fervently hoped that when the authorities intervene again they will ponder on the actions of the Planning Department described here by Troufa Real, and be inspired to base their policies on this successful and significant experiment.