This article is based on a research project led by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) on shelter in East Africa. It explores Mogadishu’s history, political settlements and variations in housing to inform more inclusive, affordable shelter interventions. MAIN FINDINGS: • Connection between urban poverty and internal displacement. Mogadishu’s informal settlements are inhabited by people displaced from other regions and poor urban residents. As the urban poor live in areas with high tenure insecurity and can be evicted without notice, there are migration flows both into the city and within Mogadishu itself. • Role of informal networks and relations. As access to land and shelter is governed by a complex system of formal and informal rules, having contacts with powerful actors in the informal settlements is key to finding shelter. • Vulnerabilities of women, people with disabilities, and young single men. In Somalia’s patriarchal society, the male-headed family is the fundamental social unit; people who fall outside this category are heavily disadvantaged when accessing housing.