Thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Urban Design to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017 / African cities are rapidly developing, and current planning approaches are often based on theory derived from the global North as opposed to research on the developing cities of the South. These approaches are often limited in relevance when planning and policy-making decisions have to be made in a much more diverse and dynamic urban environment of the developing South. The research on particular cities of the South, in this case Maputo, produced new layers of creative planning ideas with new shared theories as contribution to global planning. The research investigates place making through contextually appropriate urban design approaches within the context of Sub-Saharan Africa. Alternative approaches towards planning for (designing in) an African city were compared and reviewed to determine how contextually appropriate theory can be applied to develop a precinct plan for the upgrading and future development of the Bullring site in Maputo. The conclusion is a desk based urban design project for the selected site / XL2018