摘要
As the efforts to modernize the Lobito Transport Corridor in Angola advance, people＇s lived experiences are shaped by the interactions between official ＂developments from above＂ efforts and a myriad of inventive, often messy, adaptations that could be seen as ＂developments from below＂. As a result of a combination of a variety of adaptive strategies （of coping and accumulating） pursued by diverse kinds of rural and urban Angolans and of official projects to improve transport infrastructure and services, a transformation of society is in progress. Beyond the obvious utilitarian function, the transport system provides a window on many socio-economic and political facets of the region. From an assessment of the dynamics, effects, impacts and linkages, the modernization of the Lobito Corridor can be made part of a sustainable development and poverty-reduction strategy in the development process. Nevertheless, those dynamics have not induced maximum multiplier effects in terms of increased employment and income earning opportunities of the poor despite their improved mobility. The transport economy is a site of capital accumulation and change where social stratification goes in parallel with increased socio-economic inequality and precarious conditions in the labor transport market. To some extent the government is bound to reinforce long continuities by improving infrastructure. People then adapt to this framework and it partly serves but partly constrains development. In this context, an improved regulatory and institutional framework for the transport system （top-down approach） and an integration of the non-formal dynamics that have been developed within the real transport system with the formal ones （bottom up-top approach） is essential.
