DESGRIPTION OF A SAMPLE OF HOUSEHOLDS SURVEYED IN

THE OF ,

June 10 - July 3, 1980

October, 1980

This summary is based on information provided by the following offi­ cials of the General Bureau of Employment, Ministry of Labor, Lima, Peru: Edgar Flores, Abel Centurion, Jorge Berneido, M. G~mez, Carlos Levano Fuentes, Victor Mu'oz Ugarte, William Sanchez Aybar, and Luis ISanchez Soto. They organized and supervised the survey together with Normc. Botero of Michigan State University. Th!.s description was written by W. Paul Strassmann. To select the sample of households, the Technical Office of Manpower

Studies of the General Bureau of Employment, Peruvian Labor Ministry, used a sample of 203 typical districts throughout the that had been surveyed in detail. In order to obtain a final sample of households that ws close to 1,200, initially 1,380 addresses were selected at random from these districts. Some had to be replaced later because dwellings did not exist there, were still under construction, were unoccu­ pied, were used for nonresidential purposes, or were in the process of demolition. Tn a home improvement survey, it was also inappropriate to interview households that had lived less than six months at a site. In some neighborhoods, the layout was such that the selected dwelling could not be clearly identified. For such reasons 162 preselected units did not materialize and were replaced by 53 others. From the remaining 1,271 addresses, 1,167 successful interviews resulted. Fifty households refused to be interviewed, and in forty cases competent respondents could not be located in spite of up to four repeat visits to a site at different hours of the day. In twelve cases the occupants appeared to be living elsewhere temporarily. Many of these failures occured in the highest income districts of San Isidro, Miraflores, , and Snrco. Altogether the rate of response was 91.8 percent.

The fieldwork was carried out in the period June 10 to July 3, 19S0, by sixteen interviewers and four supervisors, who traveled with station­ wagons supplied by the Ministry of Labor. Interviewing began early on

Saturdays and Sundays and after 2 PM on weekdays. Only the head of the household and other competent adults were questioned. Where information proved to be incomplete or contradictory (when the filled out questionnaire was examined later), repeat visits were made to some households. In gen­ eral, respondents seemed more reluctant to estimate the value of their

1 2

dwellings Lhan to reveal their monthly incomes. Nevertheless, the vast

majority (70%) knew nothing about rent control legislation and had no

opinion on the subject.

In accordance with the distribution of households, about seven per­ cent of interviews were planned for the central district of Lima, site of

the original town and still the location of the most important business

and government offices. Many types of construction were found from ancient

and crowded adobe and quincha (wattle and daub) buildings to modern apart­

ments above stores. This area continues to be in a process of redevelop­

ment and a source of outmigration to the suburbs. Naturally, all types

of public utilities and social services are available here.

South and west of the center is a series of generally middle class

districts that have fairly adequate housing, good transport facilities,

and all public utilities with minor exceptions here and there: La Victoria,

Lince, Jesus Maria, La Bre'na, Pueblo Libre, Magdalena, San Miguel, and

Bella Vista. In some parts of this area, old mansions have been subdivided,

converted to commercial use, or demolished altogether. In other parts old

estates have only recently been urbanized. There are numerous single-family

dwellings and a few apartment complexes. About 30 percent of the interviews were planned for this zone.

Further south and extending to the Pacific are the high-income districts of San Isidro and Miraflores, very extensive but not as densely settled, so only some 4 percent of the interviews took place here. Also well-equipped but with a number of exceptions is the next trio of suburbs, Surquillo,

Surco, and Barranco, an old picturesque village above attractive beaches.

Major squatter settlements did not appear around Lima until four cen­ turies after the founding in 1535. The first settlements were near the old central market 3

and along the Rimac River. Later ones were built along the five main high­

ways leading out of the city -- the Central Highway to the east, Tupac Amaru

to the north, Pachacutec to the south, and the Panamerican Highway north

and south. Setting up straw huts on arid, unused, often public land was no,

remarkably difficult. By the 1970's the settlement population exceeded one

million or one-fourth of all living in the metropolitan area. Many zones had be­

come fully urbanized, and the huts had been transformed into adequate housing.

The southern squatter settlements are mainly beyond a simall range of hills in Chorrillos, , and Villa Maria del Triunfo.

In the most distant areas streets lack pavement and lighting, and houses lack water and sewerage connections. Social services and transport facili­ ties to the rest of the city are at a low level. About 12 percent of the interviews were scheduled here.

East of the center along the highway and railway leading up to the

Andes lived some 4 percent of households in a great variety of neighborhoods.

Some were middle class and well-serviced and close to factories and employ­ ment opportunities. Others were pockets of slums without any public utili­ ties. Some lived on the steep hill of where the installation of public utilities has been difficult and where some dwellings can only be reached by stairs carved into the rock by the occupants.

A similar hill is sttled on the northern shore of the river in the old district of Rimac. Next to Rimac is San Martin de Porras, which began as a squatter settlement in the 1950's but is now almost a middle class suburb, uniformly supplied with electricity and water but not yet with all streets paved. In general, electricity and water have been extended promptly to the northern settlements along the Avenida Tupac Amaru -- Independencia,

Comas, and Carabayllo. Only the last and furthest out, Carabayllo, suffers from major deficiencies in these as well as a lack of graded roads. Sewer­

age systems are also lacking, but drainage is not a critical need in this

rainless area. About 8 pe-cent of the interviews were scheduled for San

Martin de Porras and 9 percent for the other three.

One of the newest incursions of squatters was encountered east of a

range of hills at Lurigancho north of the Rimac River. Streets were not yet graded but street lighting had been installed. Water service was absent and most houses were made of straw estera mats.

Conditions among settlers in the Pueblos Jovenes were generally not as desperate as those among many of the 9 percent of households interviewed in the port of and along the lowest parts of the Rimac River. Here

Iellings are made of cardboard and scraps of wood and are separated by narrow passages. Lighting is poor, sanitary facilities are absent, and water is delivered by trucks at a price of 20 soles per can (June 1980).

Nevertheless, access to work and other advantages are such that families have formed a housing cooperative with the primary objective of resisting eviction.