Currently, 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. Projections show that urbanization, the gradual shift in residence of the human population from rural to urban areas, combined with the overall growth of the world’s population could add another 2.5 billion people to urban areas by 2050, with close to 90% of this increase taking place in Asia and Africa, according to a new United Nations data on May 2018. SMART without SLUM focuses on the often-neglected Medium sized cities specifically in the case of Africa. With the use of the IMM methodology this project explores an integrated approach towards investigating the city as a complex adaptive system and the city of Quelimane was selected as a study case. The study case is developed in five themes developed from the integration of the IMM (Integrated Modification Methodology) and the SDG (sustainable development goals). The five themes drive the prototype projects that are proposed within the focus areas of the city.