This project reflects on urbanisation in Cape Verde, focusing on Mindelo, on the island of São Vicente. It questions the conventional image of the city and the dichotomy between "local" and "global", arguing that urbanisation is now a planetary, multi-scalar process. It looks at how development narratives and large-scale housing programmes overlook the existing organisation of places: solidarity between neighbours, extended families, emigrant remittances and the small local economy. At its heart is the casa de tambôr, the first stage of the housing process on the island, which stands for the daily resistance of residents and their right to "Estar" in the territory.