‘Roots of Empowerment’

Boca la Caja, Panamá City, Panamá 2011 Department of Urban and Regional Planning Florida State University

Tim Berke, Greg Boan, Alejandro Casa-Valencia, Andrew Donini, Hiba George, Tatiana Gonzalez, Kristin Murray, Brent C. Pesta, Ray Rodgers, Christine Rice, Lina Rojas, and Katelyn Widness ‘Roots of Empowerment’, a capstone project, submitted in partial fulfillment of Masters Degree requirements; Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Florida State University, December 2011 Dr. Timothy Chapin, Dr. Rebecca Miles, and Dr. Olmedo Varela advising. The ‘Roots of Empowerment’ capstone project research group would like to thank the many people who made this effort possible. First, we’d like to extend our heartfelt appreciation and thanks to the community of Boca la Caja. You welcomed us into your homes and community spaces and provided us with well appreciated access to your lives. Thank you for letting us experience your community. Secondly to the leaders of Boca la Caja, past, present, and future. Your unwavering and persistent efforts to create and support community efforts have made Boca la Caja what it is today, a community of people that care enough about one another to worry about the future. We’d like to thank the many dedicated public officials that we met in Panamá, especially Jaime Aleman. All of you helped us on and off the record to decipher the nature of the problems Boca la Caja faced, and match those problems to feasible solutions. Your honesty throughout this process and your continued efforts in the interests of communities like Boca la Caja give us faith in a bright future for the Republic of Panamá. We’d also like to thank the faculty of Florida State University for the education you’ve offered us, the experiences you’ve shared, and the opportunity you've given us to represent the University in a foreign country. Among the faculty we’d like to recognize our advising committee for the many hours they’ve devoted to this project: the hours securing the opportunity, the hours spent answering our calls for advise, and the hours spent ensuring that the final product was a good one. We couldn’t have completed this project without the help of the Florida State University support staff and would like to thank Maria-Elena Puerta for her tireless efforts to ensure that we took some time off to enjoy the beauty of Panamá. Without those much needed breaks we wouldn’t have made it. To Claudio Carrasco Poblete Liao we give a special thanks. Claudio you brought the history and places of Panamá alive and made them relevant to our work. Thank you for your wisdom. We would also like to thank many people who contributed in small but important ways to our research, including: Manual Acosta, Vasco Zuleta, and Marisin. Lastly, we’d like to thank Professor Lisa Vera for guiding us throughout our project, for providing both personal and professional counsel, and for caring about our future. Table of Contents

List of Figures v List of Tables vi Executive Summary vii

1.0: STATE OF THE COMMUNITY 1 1.1 - Boca la Caja: A History 2 1.2 - Physical Form and Design 2 1.3 - Population 4 1.4 - Infrastructure 5 1.4.1 Resources 5 1.4.2 Areas of Concern 7 1.5 - Community Assets 7 1.5.1 Community Organizations 8 1.5.2 Community Leaders 8 1.5.3 Outside Organizations 9 1.6- Legal Issues 9 1.6.1 Zoning 9 1.6.2 The Floodplain 9 1.6.3 Titling 11 1.7- Conclusion 13

2.0: CRIME PREVENTION AND PUBLIC SAFETY 14 2.1 - Purpose 14 2.2 - Literature Review 14 2.2.1 Crime and the Community 15 2.2.2 Crime and the Environment 16 2.3 - Strategy and Methods 17 2.4 - Findings and Analysis 18 2.4.1 Finding a Community Identity 21 2.4.2 Modifying Neighborhood Design 35 2.5- Recommendations 36 2.6 - Conclusion 37

3.0: URBAN DESIGN 38 3.1 - Purpose 38 3.2 - Literature Review 38

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3.2.1 Environment 38 3.2.2 Crime and Public Safety 39 3.2.3 Economy 41 3.3 - Strategy 43 3.4 - Methodology 44 3.4.1 Interviews 44 3.4.2 Survey 44 3.4.3 “Mi Hogar, Mi Ciudad” Student Activity 45 3.5- Findings and Analysis 45 3.5.1 Interviews 46 3.5.2 Survey 46 3.5.3 “Mi Hogar, Mi Ciudad” Student Activity 47 3.5.4 Observations: A Photo Tour of Chorillo 49 3.6- Recommendations 50 3.7- Conclusion 50

4.0: LAND TITLING 51 4.1- Purpose 51 4.2 - Literature Review 52 4.2.1 Latin American Land Tenure Case Studies 52 4.2.2 Land Tenure in Panama 56 4.2.3 Cooperative Land Trust 58 4.3 - Strategy 58 4.4 - Methodology 60 4.4.1 Interviews 60 4.4.2 Parcel Data Collection 62 4.4.3 IPACOOP 65 4.4.4 Survey 65 4.5- Findings and Analysis 66 4.5.1 Collective Patrimony 66 4.5.2 Ministry of Housing, Department of Informal Settlements 68 4.5.3 National Program for the Administration of Lands, PRONAT 69 4.5.4 Women’s Meeting 73 4.5.5 Survey 74 4.6- Recommendations 76 4.7- Conclusion 77

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5.0: RECOMMENDATIONS 78 5.1- Introduction 78 5.2- Community Identity 78 5.2.1 Community Groups 79 5.2.2 Open Communication 80 5.2.3 Participation & Vecinos Vigilantes 81 5.3- Modifying Neighborhood Design 82 5.3.1 A Place for Community 82 5.3.2 Creating Security 83 5.4- Titling 84 5.4.1 Key Partnerships 84 5.4.2 Community Organization and Land Trust 86 5.5- Thinking About the Future 90 5.6- Conclusion 94

REFERENCES 95

APPENDIX A: METHODS AND TECHNIQUES A-1 A.1- Pre Collection Activity A-1 Data Sources A-1 A.2- Cooperative Agreement A-1 Survey A-1 Bureaucratic Difficulties A-1 Coding A-2 A.3- Mi Hogar, Mi Ciudad Student Activity A-4 A.4- Parcel Data Collection A-4 A.5- Mapping Methodology A-5 A.6- IPACOOP A-5 A.7- Interviews A-5 Types of Interview A-5 Interview Sample Group A-6 Snowball Sample A-6 Interviews A-6 A.8- Observations A-8 A.9- Census Data A-8 A.10- Advanced Technical Support A-8

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APPENDIX B: CREATION OF COOPERATIVE B-1 B.1- Project Formulation B-1 B.2- Group Request B-3 B.3- Identification B-4 B.4- Preliminary Meeting with the Group B-4 B.5- Review of Documentation B-4 B.6- Registration of Cooperative B-4

APPENDIX C: COMMUNITY COMMUNICATION EXERCISES C-1 C.1- Using Maps and Images C-1 C.2- Messaging to External Populations C-1

iv List of Figures

1.0: STATE OF THE COMMUNITY 1.1: Trump World Tower and Boca la Caja Soccer Field 1 1.2: Boca La Caja Land Use Map 2 1.3a: Housing Types 3 1.3b: Housing Types 3 1.3c: Barred Patio Enclosure 3 1.4: Wide Alleyway 4 1.5: Sewer System 5 1.6a: Health Center 6 1.6b: Catholic Church 6 1.6c: Elementary School 6 1.7a: Trash 7 1.7b: Polluted Surface Run-off 7 1.8: Official Zoning Map of Boca la Caja and Surrounding Areas 10 1.9: Floodplain 10 1.10: Parcels without Title in Boca la Caja 12

3.0: URBAN DESIGN 3.1a: Negative Ahora 45 3.1b: Positive Ahora 45 3.1c: Futuro 45 3.1d: Futuro 45 3.2a: Chorillo Fisherman 49 3.2b: Work Training Center 49 3.2c: Fishing Cooperative Seal 49

4.0: LAND TITLING 4.1: Block Groups of Boca la Caja 62 4.2: Housing Types in Boca la Caja 63 4.3: Floodplain Limits and Cooperative Land Trust 64 4.4: Parcels without Title in Boca la Caja 71

v List of Figures

5.0: RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1: Scenario 1 91 5.2: Scenario 2 92

APPENDIX C: COMMUNITY COMMUNICATION EXERCISES

C.1: Plotted Survey Responses for “Areas where residents feel unsafe.” C-2

vi List of Tables

1.0: STATE OF THE COMMUNITY 1.1 2010 Census Data for Boca la Caja 4

2.0: CRIME AND PUBLIC SAFETY 2.1 What is the most urgent worry of Boca la Caja? 23 2.2 What is the spirit of participation in Boca la Caja? 29 2.3 Who do you go to for protection? 31

3.0: URBAN DESIGN 3.1 Negative and Positive Ahora Illustrations 48 3.2 Ahora and Futuro Illustrations 48

4.0: LAND TITLING 4.1 Ownership Status 75 4.2 Acquisition and Willingness to Re-locate 76

vii List of Tables

viii Executive Summary

The Roots of Empowerment project is a community development plan created for the community of Boca la Caja in Panama City, Republic of Panama. The plan was conceived by twelve graduate students from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and the Department of International Affairs at The Florida State University, under the guidance of Dr. Olmedo J. Varela, in conjunction with the community of Boca la Caja. This document presents solutions for a troubled urban Latin American community facing numerous challenges simultaneously, but honors the unique character of the community. Crime, land tenancy, control of waterfront property, social and economic isolation, poor infrastructure, organizational disorder, and nearby rapid high density construction are some of the problems that Boca la Caja faces.

The “Roots of Empowerment” community vision is an extension of the 2009 “Seeds of Hope” revitalization plan created by the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at The Florida State University. Instead of focusing on social capital strategies, economic development, public-private partnerships, and urban design and urban re-engineering, “Roots of Empowerment” expanded on the social capital strategies and urban design components of the original plan, while emphasizing two new components broached in the original project: land titling and public safety.

The future of Boca la Caja can be strategically planned through collective collaborative action that starts by reorganizing its Junta de Desarrollo Local, or Junta Local. A Junta Local unifies the community, as well as, ties the community to the greater San Francisco corregimiento through the Junta Comunal and to the national government by the laws and procedures governing the committee. The reformulation of the Junta Local serves as the vital starting point for the revitalization plan. As a centralized local authority it will unite the different groups towards the common good of the community and manage the communal spaces proposed in this community development document.

ix Executive Summary

The Roots of Empowerment community development plan includes the following actions:

 Create a Foundation for Security  Reestablish a Junta Local  Erect a police watch post  Institute a Vecinos Vigilantes  Invest in a youth group  Organize a women’s group  Devise a fishing cooperative  Implement Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)  Consideration of possible urban design scenarios for the future  Communicate fears  Create a message that challenges currently held perceptions of Boca la Caja  Establish a community center

Through the knowledge garnered in the Roots of Empowerment community development document, a collaborative partnership amongst governmental ministries, community members, and the project team, the plan of action described herein will increase the safety, equity, and social capital of Boca la Caja. With this document, the Roots of Empowerment project team has attempted to honor the unique urban characteristics and cultural integrity of Boca la Caja.

x Chapter 1.0: State of the Community

Boca La Caja is confronted by many issues due to encroaching development, crime and gang-related violence, and social marginalization. These issues are of great concern to the residents of Boca La Caja, many of whom have lived in this community for several decades and had no intention of relocating, but are now considering it. While many are willing to sell their property to developers and move, others prefer to remain in Boca La Caja to keep their connection to the community, enjoy the convenience of its location, or maintain their property as an investment. The purpose of the Roots of Empowerment project is to aid the community with advice on these issues and to provide proposals related to the prosperous continuation of the community.

1.1- Boca la Caja: A History

Boca la Caja began over sixty years ago as a small fishing village outside of Panama City. Its founders called themselves the Phoenix Group because they rebuilt repeatedly every time their homes were torn down. They built the original infrastructure without governmental help, or an organized plan. This sense of self-reliance has allowed the Phoenix Group to continue to supply itself with the needed buildings, such as churches and the school, roadways, and utilities as Boca la Caja realized that it was needed. The Phoenix Group eventually transitioned to form the neighborhood Junta Local for a few years before it disbanded leaving the area void of local political leadership.

Today, Boca la Caja is a geographically and politically defined space in Panama City, Panama's corregimiento of San Francisco. It is a community ideally located on the coast of the Bay of Panama, near a high-end commercial district and adjacent to Punta Pacifica, an area with expensive real estate, such as the Trump Figure 1.1: Trump World Tower in the distance World Tower (Cover, Figure 1.1) . behind the community soccer field.

1 Chapter 1.0: State of the Community

As Panama City has expanded around Boca la Caja, the residents of this area continue to be self-reliant, while expecting very little aid from the government.

1.2- Physical Form and Design

Land use in the community is somewhat haphazard, as Boca la Caja is not a pre- planned community and, therefore, did not follow any sort of land use pattern while expanding (Figure 1.2). Land use in Boca la Caja is predominately residential, but there are some educational and very few commercial uses as well. The land use map, however, does not account for residents that work out of their homes, such as a net repairer for the fishermen.

Figure 1.2 Boca la Caja Land Use Map

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Boca la Caja’s physical form varies considerably. The homes that front Eduardo Barahona Road and Joaquin Vergara Road (Figure 1.3a) appear to benefit from regular intra-community traffic and direct connection to

Calle Federico Velasquez. These roads are a. reasonably well maintained and were constructed by members of the original settlement of Boca la Caja. Roads in this area are wide enough for local cars to traverse, but not large enough for the Diablos Rojos. Local police were observed patrolling this loop road by motorcycle on several occasions during the study period. Most of the homes and businesses along this route are well maintained, well appointed, and well protected (Figure 1.3b). All have elaborately barred windows and patios (Figure 1.3c), many with bowed out bars that enable their residents to look up and down the street. Homes and businesses in this area b. displayed small stickers that said “Dios Te Ve”, meaning “God is watching.” Roots of Empowerment members were told that this was a church-sponsored initiative to remind residents of God’s presence. Adjacent sectors are connected to the roadway by short direct c. access pathways between the homes fronting

Figure 1.3: a. & b. Housing types- Homes on Joaquin Vergara St. Boca la Caja. c. Barred patio enclosure.

3 Chapter 1.0: State of the Community the road. While the homes in the adjacent sectors are connected to those along the loop road at multiple points, they appear to have fewer connections with sectors deeper in Boca la Caja and farther from the loop road (Figure 1.4). Beyond these homes in Boca la Caja, connections are via serpentine footpaths often littered with trash and differing from other areas of the community where trash is collected at one place. Many of the homes lack defensive protections in this area, such as the barred windows, and some lacked even windows and doors. The physical qualities of Boca la Caja near the water are haphazard with disorienting path arrangements. There are multiple unpredictable, and sometimes invisible, connections Figure 1.4: One of the wider alley- ways in Boca la Caja. to other points, including the possibility of informal “paths” through unsecured homes. All of these factors Table 1.1 suggest that the possibility of division within the 2010 Census Data for Boca la Caja neighborhood is real and may factor broadly in the Vivienda (households) 779 ability of the neighborhood to envision possible futures for the community or to engage in dialogue. Numero de hogar (homes) 693

Numero de persona 2,475 Hombre (Men) 1,261 1.3- Population Mujer (Women) 1,214 According to the 2010 Census there are a total Land Tenancy of 2,475 people living in Boca la Caja in 693 homes Hipotecada (Mortgaged) 20 (hogares). There are approximately 3.1 people per Alquilada (Rented) 65 household (vivienda), which is below the average for the country, which is 3.2 people per household (Table Propia (Owned) 546 1.1). The national Census also stated that 546 Cedida (Relinquished) 46 Retrieved from Panamanian Census.

4 Chapter 1.0: State of the Community households owned their residences. There was no indication as to what category those that had right of possession, but without title, or lived in the flood plain were instructed to choose, if anything, on the Census. Right of possession was not one of the categories available on the Census, so the accuracy of tenancy data for Boca la Caja is questionable.

Boca la Caja is divided geo-politically into seven sectors, into at least two organized Christian groups, and ideologically into those who wish to sell and those who wish to stay. Additionally, the neighborhood is characterized by disparate income levels and those who have title and those who do not. Housing types and quality differ markedly between sectors reflecting differences in income and also highlighting the community’s ‘new arrivals’ whose incomplete homes were evident .

1.4- Infrastructure

Much of the original infrastructure in Boca la Caja was built by the Phoenix Group. The infrastructure varies, depending on the area of Boca la Caja. While some infrastructure, like sewer (Figure 1.5), is adequate there are other resources important to the social needs of the community and also areas of concern. Figure 1.5: Boca la Caja sewer system.

1.4.1 Resources

Boca la Caja possesses several community spaces and facilities which benefit the community. Among the spaces and facilities available are :

 Churches  Skills Training High School  Health Center  Boat Ramps  Daycare Center  Park  Elementary School

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The health center (Figure 1.6a) serves the entire San Francisco area and is located on the periphery of the Boca la Caja barrio. There are two churches within Boca la Caja where many congregate every Sunday: one Catholic (Figure 1.6b) and the other Evangelical. A child daycare a. center, funded by MIDES, currently services the community and there are two schools located within Boca la Caja where children and adults interact and have social gatherings: the elementary school, Escuela Federico A. Velasquez, (Figure 1.6c) and the skills training high school, Don Bosco. Boca la Caja also has a small park constructed by the Mexican development corporation, ICA, which executed the contract for the Corredor Sur. It’s a common gathering space for young adults and children and is comprised of two basketball courts where girls play and an artificial soccer turf where boys play soccer in the b. early evenings. At the edge of the sports facilities are tables where older males of the community gather and play dominoes in the evenings. Community boat ramps were also constructed by the development corporation in 2007 and two are still used by community fishermen daily. The third c. ramp is no longer visible in aerial photographs and reportedly has been torn down, along with part of Figure 1.6: a. Health Center . b. the connecting footbridge, to make room for Catholic Church and storefront on Barahona St.- One of Boca la Caja’s two housing in the eastern part of the community. churches. C. Elementary School.

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1.4.2 Areas of Concern

There are several areas within Boca la Caja that need to be addressed. Waste management is an issue throughout Panama, but it is of major concern in Boca la Caja. As mentioned, some areas in the barrio have made informal areas to place the trash (Figure 1.7a), but other areas within the a. community have not, spreading their trash throughout those areas. This was an area of concern for the community as it was brought up at the community meetings the Roots of Empowerment project team attended. The community’s efforts resulted in establishment of regular garbage collection beginning in early August 2011.

Another concern is the soap and oil factory centered in the community that can potentially pollute the air and water in the area. Several drainage areas in the community already have soap residue in the water, as seen in Figure 1.7b. b.

1.5- Community Assets Figure 1.7: a. Trash- A trash pile in the com- In its past, Boca la Caja has munity is evidence of service deficiencies, a experienced periods of strong communal common Panamánian problem. b. Polluted surface runoff.- What appeared to be a social capital, starting with the Phoenix channelized stream carrying surface runoff Group. Today, Boca la Caja is struggling to and pollutants into the bay.

7 Chapter 1.0: State of the Community create and execute a Junta Local, a neighborhood organization to support the community. However, their effort to organize the community is making gains.

1.5.1 Community Organizations

There are a few community organizations that the Roots of Empowerment project team has identified. There are two churches where many community issues are brought up, as well as where community members interact weekly. The parishioners of the Catholic and Evangelic Churches have joined together to address the community’s problems, successfully increasing membership in their group and generating interest in a number of community issues.

There is a parent-teacher association at the elementary school, Escuela Federico A. Velasquez, where parents are actively involved with their children’s education and can interact with other parents that have similar issues or interests.

A broad array of community issues are also discussed by a nondenominational civic group called Comité Por la Defensa de la Paz y la Integridad de la Comunidad, or the Committee for the Defense of Community Peace and Integrity, which meets every Tuesday at the Don Bosco School. The organization was established in April 2011 and is already addressing community issues, including: garbage collection, community safety, and land titling.

1.5.2 Community Leadership

Boca la Caja currently has active community leaders and the potential to develop future leaders from active community members. The leaders are drawn from several of the community organizations, especially the churches, and take an active role in guiding the Committee. Currently, the community has limited engagement with any political leadership; beyond the representative to the Junta Comunal, all leadership in the community is voluntary.

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1.5.3 Outside Organizations

Richard Morales and his group, Citizen’s Power, are involved in Boca la Caja and are available to guide the community as they build their community organization. Government ministries also provide support in the community, on a limited basis, such as the day care center, run by MIDES, and the health center. Jaime Aleman, minister of state subsidies, stated that MIDES gives every citizen over 70 years of age $100 Balboas a month. People in extreme poverty are given $50 Balboas a month if they enroll their children in school and obtain monthly health check-ups.

1.6- Legal Issues

There are several legal or procedural facets influencing the acquisition of title in Boca la Caja. These include the specifics of zoning and land use in the community, the legal use of the floodplain, and the titling process itself.

1.6.1 Zoning

According to the Ministry of Housing, Boca la Caja is zoned as a “special studies” area, which makes this part of the community unique in regards to its zoning. As illustrated by Figure 1.8 (facing page) the Estudios Especiales zone covers a wide area within the community and is the location of many residential units. What makes this particular zone notable is that it is defined as special residential zoning with no specific zoning requirements. As a result of the Estudios Especiales designation, residents fear that the land has the potential to be turned into a large development. However, according to Jose Batista, who in 2008 was the Vice Minister of Housing, "The special status of the neighborhood is being respected, and any changes will be managed at the request of the residents or the new owners.”

1.6.2 The Floodplain

One of the major obstacles to community members receiving land tenure within Boca

9 Chapter 1.0: State of the Community

Figure 1.8: Official Zoning Map of Boca la Caja and Surrounding Areas of San Francisco Retrieved from Ministerio de Vivienda la Caja is the law regarding the floodplain area. The floodplain law states that houses cannot be built within 22 meters of the waterline and that any houses built there are ineligible to receive land titles. Safety concerns about flooding are cited as the principal reason for ineligibility. However, the community members of Boca la Caja have built their homes in areas that are determined to be in the floodplain and are, therefore, ineligible for land titling (Figure Figure 1.9: Floodplain- A view of Boca la Caja homes in the floodplain. 1.9). Director Grace Clark of the Office of

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Informal Settlements advised the “Seeds of Hope” project team that no titling plans exist for houses in Boca la Caja located within the 22 meters. It is clear that the recommendations of the “Seeds of Hope” 2009 initiative have not been undertaken (Vera, 2011). Although it is the aim of the Panamanian government to keep people safe with this zoning regulation, wealthy communities have been able to bypass the regulation while citizens of Boca la Caja are refused land titles.

1.6.3 Titling

The titling problems affecting Boca la Caja include a confusing titling process and legal indecision regarding the status of properties in the floodplain. As previously mentioned, the residents of Boca la Caja are constructing their dwelling units on any available property including the floodplain. A legal problem arises because they have failed to obtain their titles through formal methods, which exposes them to the possibility of losing the home they have constructed.

Panama’s right-of-occupancy doctrine and the provisions held in Law 20 of March 2007, states that “although a person may not hold title to a parcel, there may be value in the parcel since occupants would have to be bought out of their right-of-occupancy, if established by doctrine, before being required to relinquish and vacate the land being occupied. Law 20 allows for squatters on land for a period of 15 years to be eligible to receive title for the land that they occupied. However, this provision does not appear to apply to lands located within the required 22-meter setback from the Bay of Panama” (2009, p. 42).

Past efforts to title squatters in Boca la Caja have been successful and have resulted in a large portion of the earliest residents being titled. During the military government of Omar Torrijos, authorities sectioned Boca la Caja for administrative purposes and began the land titling process. Although land titles were conferred to the community of Boca la Caja under the Torrijos government during the 1970s, the initiative was never completed due to a change in administration. As development surrounded Boca la Caja over the past15-20 years, residents with title have been pressured to sell their properties quickly at subprime prices.

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Although many residents desire to stay in the area for its proximity to employment and services, it is becoming increasingly difficult for residents to resist pressures to sell their land and leave the community. Many of the residents of Boca La Caja await a fair offer from developers on their lots and houses, but comparable to the value of skyscrapers being built around them.

Some residents believe that the community does not receive title because they as a community must fight political favoritism within the urban spectrum and demand services from the government. Community leaders have consistently referred to the piece-meal titling solutions and effects of ‘Plan B’, and the system of promising titles for votes. This system is acknowledged and recognized by the Boca la Caja community in its community meetings, and confirmed by PRONAT, as an unfortunate by-product of political party tactics.

The Roots of Empowerment team, using the most recent data from parcels known by MIVI’s Department of Informal Settlements and PRONAT, was able to create a map showing which parcels have title and which parcels do not have title within Boca la Caja (Figure 1.10). This map illustrates the nature of the Boca la Caja’s land titling issues.

Figure 1.10: Parcels without title in Boca la Caja (A larger version of this map appears on page 70).

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1.7- Conclusion

Boca la Caja is experiencing many issues as a result of Panama City’s rapid growth and urbanization, but they are problems that can be rectified. Their issues may be magnified by a complicated land tenure problem, but the community’s resilience under pressure, long history on the land, and experience with tenure matters bodes well for their future. Through cooperation and community organization they can set a collective course to a better future. The following chapters will describe some options concerning the course they can take towards that future.

13 Chapter 2.0: Crime Prevention and Public Safety

2.1- Purpose

Marginalization and fear of crime and violence are powerful social forces that can divide a community, reduce quality of life, and impact the use of community spaces. Boca la Caja faces these issues, but citizens are organizing for positive change. They will make many choices that will be influenced by their circumstances and stand to learn from others who have dealt with similar events

2.2- Literature Review

Communities struggling with gangs and gang violence are competing for two types of terrain: the physical terrain or geography of their neighborhood, and the human terrain or participation of community members in the social norms of the community. The struggle over human terrain is most desperately experienced in the competition for the community's youths. The competition and experience of 'winning' or 'losing' is determined by both reality and perception. The reality of 'winning' or 'losing' is defined by real gang-membership or attachment and affiliation with the normative social group. The perception of 'winning' or 'losing' is more broadly interpreted. Youths may be classified as gang-members based on the music they listen to, the people they are seen with, their possession of a weapon, or by where they live or what they wear. The unfortunate reality of perception-based metrics of 'winning' or 'losing' is that they are based on principals of exclusion, and favor 'losing' over 'winning' (Pickett & Brewer, 2000). A possible result is an unhealthy in-group / out-group dynamic between the adults and youths of a community in which the generation gap is misinterpreted as an abandonment of normative values (World Bank, 2011). In response to this perceived abandonment of values, reinforced by examples of non-normative behavior, the community excludes its youth and increases the likelihood that they will find or seek acceptance from, and membership in, a gang.

14 Chapter 2.0: Crime Prevention and Public Safety

2.2.1 Crime and the Community

Optimal Distinctiveness Theory (ODT) provides a framework for understanding social dynamics in Boca la Caja by helping to predict or explain behaviors exhibited due to the various tensions within the community and between the community and Panama City. ODT describes the effect of maintaining a positive social standing through in-group / out-group rationale on social cohesion (Pickett & Brewer, 2001). The desire to maintain a positive social standing can motivate people to abandon or join a new social norm. The theory provides insight into understanding reasons for social group abandonment and acceptance of re- norming in the context of self-identification with a new normative social group. ODT also provides insights that can be used to address the process of improving community or social capital.

Building social capital by encouraging strong horizontal community and family ties can give individuals a sense of belonging or common purpose (Woolcock & Narayan, 2000). However, it is also acknowledged “that without weak intercommunity ties, such as those that cross various social divides based on religion, class, ethnicity, gender and socioeconomic status, strong horizontal ties can become a basis for the pursuit of narrow sectarian interests” (Woolcock & Narayan, 2000, p. 230). Ties that cross social divides are especially important to creating the type of community organization required to enable familiarity, unity, and the courage to create change. “Violence in the City,” a World Bank Report on violence in cities around the world found that cycles of violence tended to erode trust within communities, and between communities and national institutions. Citizens often blame security forces for lapses in protection and retreat into isolating behaviors that further reduce the community trust and make collective action difficult (2011, p. 71). However, community policing that remembers its principles in protecting and serving community is finding success in its mission with the support of the protected communities. Community leaders can connect diverse partners, including the police, to community efforts.

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2.2.2 Crime and the Environment

While the ‘human terrain’ is the most important part of the solution, the ‘physical terrain’ should not be ignored. Defensible space was first proposed by Jane Jacobs in 1961 and subsequently defined by Oscar Newman in 1972. Since that time their ideas have received accolade and criticism in equal measure and have evolved into Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED). The core of Newman’s theory includes (Jefferies, 1999):

 Reinforcement of territorial attitudes;  Natural surveillance of public spaces;  Control of natural access points.

The spatial perceptions of criminals are as important as those of potential victims because both are important to determining their patterns of interaction in space. Merry's research demonstrates that the way criminals use and perceive space for their activities contrasts with the perceptions of residents with regard to the same space (1981). Channelizing terrain, offering limited options for ingress and egress, and places to hide around corners or in shadows are noted danger areas. Both the criminal s and development residents Merry interviewed regarded these spaces as danger areas and because of the shared awareness little criminal activity happened there. A playground in the central area of the development that should have been safe was perceived as unsafe because it was a place of rest for the community’s criminal youth. The development’s outer stairwells were difficult to observe because of turns and translucent coverings that obscured the presence of individuals in the stairwells, and over half of robberies in the area occurred in the stairwells. The residents perceived their stairwells as danger zones, but were unable to avoid them. The development's criminals were also aware of and took advantage of this simple fact. The buildings of the development were also organized haphazardly to one another turning the space between them into a confusing maze of unoccupied un-owned space. Even long-time residents were unable to map their neighborhood reliably and its “maze-like” design contributed to its

16 Chapter 2.0: Crime Prevention and Public Safety reputation as a place where “criminals can easily vanish and elude pursuers (Merry, 1981).” These types of spaces are difficult to patrol by police and are even more difficult for pursuit. Likewise, residents face difficulty taking ownership of them. Merry's research emphasizes the dynamic nature of space, community, policing, and crime. Criminals are aware of defensible space but are also capable of testing whether it's defended. If undefended, they are not dissuaded by its defensibility. Spaces where tenants were known to get involved by yelling, calling the police, or giving chase were avoided. While architectural features such as long views, windows, and spatial predictability make the defense of space possible, social factors such as engagement with the neighborhood and pleasurable views that encourage people to look out their windows create and foster ownership and maintenance of the public space between. CPTED theory is controversial in part because it is difficult to measure and test and because time and research have demonstrated that CPTED success is strongly dependent on attendant social structures and organization. Findings suggest that good design can fail if overwhelmed by a poor social environment and that good design only makes criminal activity more difficult.

2.3- Strategy and Methods

To understand crime and perceptions of crime, and their effects on perceptions of safety in Boca la Caja, one has to know something about crime and gangs in Panama. The project team sought to evaluate and understand Boca la Caja’s situation by considering multiple sources of information. While this approach helped the project team to remain free of bias, it was also necessitated by the reluctance of community members to discuss gang related violence due to the perceived dangers associated with sharing information about gangs. The project team collected data through the informal and formal interview process, community observation, and via a pilot survey of the community. Through the process the project team identified community strengths and challenges related to community organization and vulnerability to criminal acts. These strengths and challenges were then weighed against the state of the community and used to guide the project team in the

17 Chapter 2.0: Crime Prevention and Public Safety formulation of recommendations for reduction of community vulnerability to crime and gang related violence.

2.4- Findings and Analysis

The Boca la Caja neighborhood and community is gifted with strengths relevant to overcoming the crime and public safety challenges they face. Foremost among those strengths is the community’s youth, but others include:

 Passion and courage  Leadership  Geography  Abundant opportunity for change  Understanding of ‘target hardening’

The pilot survey revealed that 41% of respondents felt that ‘security’ improvements were the most urgent need of the community and the majority of respondents ‘strongly agreed’ that gang activity, armed violence, and drug trafficking were problems in Boca la Caja. It is necessary to identify the challenges the community faces in addressing and making positive change, and directing those changes against the environment in a way that leverages a new and desired future. In Boca la Caja, the project team identified several challenges or areas in which a positive change can be used to leverage the environment in a beneficial way. These areas are:

 Finding a common community identity  promoting greater participation  Modify neighborhood design

Each of these challenges substantially relates to barriers to communication and commonly held misperceptions within and without the community and all may be addressed through the community strengths listed previously.

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The State of the Community chapter of this document describes a resilient community capable of overcoming great adversity and it was apparent to the project team that the spirit of resilience and strength which materialized at the community’s founding is still present today. Team members attended several community meetings and were struck by the passion of community members. The community is proud of its history with and connection to the land. The pride and passion of the community was echoed in the commitment of national leaders in the Ministry of Social Development and National Police to effect positive change for Boca la Caja. Leaders make a difference in any community, and it was equally apparent to the project team that Boca la Caja has many talented persons able to provide leadership within the community. Church leaders, former political officials, and capable citizens: male and female are providing leadership and positive examples within the community on a daily basis. The dramatic neighborhood geography of Boca la Caja is another strength of the community. While the community is different from everything that surrounds it, those very differences help define an identity for the neighborhood. The similarity of home construction between Boca la Caja and the countryside set Boca la Caja apart from the modernist construction that surrounds it. One Panamanian described the community as “quaint, a place to walk and take pictures.” Boca la Caja has the potential to be a place where the denizens of a rapidly growing city go to remember home. Others in the San Francisco corregimiento agree and believe that the community would be a great asset to San Francisco just as it is. Opportunity is another community strength. Rising land values and its coastal location mean that Boca la Caja is, or will be, a community of national interest in the near future. Curundu occupies that position currently and that gives the citizens of Boca la Caja time to organize, envision, and create a future of their own device. Changes in the National Police and Ministry of Social Development, and increasing sophistication concerning the way these agencies respond to gangs and gang violence, also bodes well for the community. The era of “mano dura” is being replaced by community engagement and community participation for the attainment of security (Seelke, 2011 & interview with National Police). The last and greatest community strength is its youth. The children of Boca la Caja overwhelmingly desire a safe, crime free, gang free future for themselves and the community (Mi Hogar, Mi Ciudad).

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Their desires provide the community a reservoir of strength and reason for commitment to a better future.

The specific challenges or areas of change respecting crime in the community of Boca la Caja center on improving communication and organizing the community effectively to create social change with the power to influence the physical environment and help the community cope with crime and violence. Many citizens of Boca la Caja are presently engaged with a group called the ‘Committee for Defense of Community Peace and Integrity’. While this group recognizes that a broad membership is crucial to their success in the community, gaining a broad representative membership remains a challenge. The varied interests of a broader community membership will present a possible identity challenge to the group as they engage in the first steps of group identity formulation (Gioia, et al., 2010). Communication and understanding will be central to long term success. A key exercise for the community in forging a common community identity will be communication exchanges that allow community members to explore misperceptions and realize that their differences define them less than their common experience as community members. The project team discovered several possible areas of misperception, including:

 Mistrust of neighborhood youth  Misunderstanding concerning why people choose gang membership  Misunderstanding between generations  Differences between neighborhood sectors  Mistrust of police and government figures

Correcting problems of community requires community solutions and building community is encouraged through erosion of artificial barriers to interaction. Each of the areas for misperception above has the potential to splinter and divide the community making community solutions difficult to achieve. Building relationships within the community that bridge these potential divides increases cohesiveness and understanding.

Lastly, Panamanian pride is a double edged sword. While it is useful for organizing and

20 Chapter 2.0: Crime Prevention and Public Safety motivating a community it also has the potential to limit the community’s ability to accept assistance. The community’s history of independence, represented by the Phoenix Group and several community member statements of independence and self-reliance, illustrate this as a concern. The problems that Boca la Caja faces related to gang violence and crime are not Boca la Caja’s alone. They are the problems of Panama City and Panama. As such it is important that the citizens of Boca la Caja accept a role in the national and city-wide effort to confront gangs and gang violence. The acceptance of this role isn’t a plea for help, but a contribution to a larger effort organized for positive change that will help the community achieve its own goals. By changing the focus of the community’s dialogue from the acts of crime themselves toward communication and understanding, members of the community will grow their social capital within and without and empower community members to create positive change (Woolcock & Narayan, 2000).

2.4.1 Finding a Community Identity

When criminals are discovered living in an affluent neighborhood they are frequently described as living “in a community” instead of “being members of the community”. Marginalized communities are rarely afforded the same consideration. Boca la Caja appears to suffer from that very kind of disservice; part of anin-group / out-group dynamic based on differences, real and perceived. In nearly every interaction that team members had with people in Panama City regarding Boca la Caja, people voiced concerns about going there. Responses like “That's a red zone” and “It's not safe there” were so common as to appear universal. Conversations with Boca la Caja community members attending community meetings seem to confirm the prevailing attitudes of the city. The community members believe that their community is unsafe and attribute the crime to poor parenting, gangs and drug related activity, music, and television. They admonish visitors not to enter the community alone or risk being mugged or robbed and admit that there is a criminal element living in their community. Community members even possess detailed knowledge of how drugs are smuggled through Boca la Caja.

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Residents of Panama City are predictably human in their condemnation of Boca la Caja and its residents, but seem to have drawn their conclusions based on these biases. The Panama City press runs stories about drug smuggling that magnify perceptions of danger in the neighborhood. The perceptions are later confirmed by other stories and the classification of Boca la Caja as a “Red Zone”. In the book, Gangs in Central America, Clare Seelke states that, “sensationalist media coverage of the gang phenomenon in Central America has contributed to a sense of insecurity (p. 7).” The predictable-world bias can lead people to believe that if drug smuggling is taking place in Boca la Caja, then the people of Boca la Caja must be criminals. To forge a common community identity that rejects crime and criminal activity, Boca la Caja residents must deal with two problems: altering perceptions ofthe community and dealing with real crime in their neighborhood.

Recently, some Boca la Caja residents formed The Committee for the Defense of Community Peace and Integrity. It is a secular community organization that was created by parishioners of Boca la Caja’s two churches. This group took action and created a message that resonates within the community: “Dios te ve.” The message means “God sees you” and is intended to evoke a sense of responsibility among residents of Boca la Caja for the state of the community. Conversations with community members and leaders revealed children as a particular focus of the community. The Committee for the Defense of Community Peace and Integrity strives to provide good role models for children and is pursuing improvement of relationships between parents of the community and a local high school where gang recruiting takes place. The Committee actively seeks out new members and is striving to gain representation from each of the Boca la Caja sectors in its membership. According to commentary in community meetings they face two obstacles in recruiting new membership:

 The perception that the Committee is a tool for political actors that will be used to establish candidacy for election/appointment to a political post.  Negative campaigning by gang members against membership and participation.

Community youth and adults alike are invited to attend and participate, but meetings appear to average between 14-16 community members and not all of the sectors have representation at this time. Pilot survey data describe residents’ perceptions of crime and

22 Chapter 2.0: Crime Prevention and Public Safety criminal activity as an urgent community problem (Table 2.1 ); 41% of respondents perceived security as the most urgent issue facing the community while transportation deficiencies were considered most urgent by 36%, a nearly equal number of respondents. While these data describe respondent sensitivity to Table 2.1: crime compared to other issues the majority of respondents “strongly What is the most urgent worry of Boca la Caja? agreed” that gang activity, armed Frequency Percentage violence, and drug trafficking were Transportation 14 36% problems in Boca la Caja. An underwhelming eighteen of the thirty- Housing 1 2% eight respondents said that the local Security 16 41% government and municipal community leaders should be solving the Health 8 21% community’s problems, but total 39 100% respondents of the survey were divided about their ability to make a positive change as individuals within the community. These are indications that the committee should continue to seek a broad membership and pay careful attention to how decisions are made. While the Committee faces challenges, it remains an incredible asset to the community and is actively working to be more inclusive and representative.

Eroding Misperceptions

To understand what is happening in Panama, one has to hear both sides of the story. Throughout the project, the team collected conflicting reports about safety and criminal activity in Boca la Caja:

 Jaime Aleman addressed the team’s safety concerns by stating, “You can hand it [the survey] out in the seven sectors. You’re not going to get shot. It’s not that dangerous.”  A teacher told the team members how several months before our arrival in

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Panama, two of his students came into his classroom after finding a dead body on their walk to the school.  A Panamanian Police Officer briefed the team on the gangs in Panama City and described the circumstances that had started an ongoing war between two local gangs. Police believe that a gruesome recent murder in Boca la Caja was likely gang -on-gang violence and that the victim was a gang member who had recently relocated to Boca la Caja.  During a brief trip walking alone through Boca la Caja team members observed a police officer on foot hanging out at a shop on Velasquez Street and at no time felt ‘in danger.’ This experience was contrary to most of what had been heard about Boca la Caja. The team members were not warned by members of the community to leave, nor were they offered ‘protection’.  The pilot survey could not be fully implemented because the team did not have gang permission to do so.  The team heard the story of a mother’s son held at gunpoint returning late in the evening from university.  The team heard about when the community organized for right of admission at Multi Plaza shopping mall.  The team saw photos of a community wide candle light vigil against violence.

Human interpretations of an environment reflect both one’s experience in a place and the things heard about it. Limited experiences and repeated negative messages can falsely shape the impression of a place. This process is equally effective at skewing perceptions of a social group. While it is apparent that there is crime in Boca la Caja, the bad is being allowed to outweigh the good and the greater Panamanian community is unaware of the struggle the citizens of Boca la Caja are engaged in. The bad news is more often repeated and there is no good story to act as a counterpoint. The trouble makers are outnumbered by the honest and just, but the honest and just remain passive.

Mistrust of Neighborhood Youth & Understanding Gang Membership

Investment in neighborhood youths is critical to success. The disposition of youths is properly identified by all of the stakeholder groups as the center of gravity respecting the

24 Chapter 2.0: Crime Prevention and Public Safety future security and sustainability of the neighborhood. Gangs often invest organizational effort and capital on recruiting youths in order to perpetuate their activities and broaden their membership base (Vigil, 1988). The community recognizes that their youth are being corrupted by gang influence and negative images in the media. Police and Ministry of Social Development personnel realize that anti-gang activities are central to their strategies for long- term community development and crime prevention. All of these stakeholder groups are delivering their messages to neighborhood youths, but what options for the future are being offered to these youths? A real investment in the neighborhood youth should include membership in a community and the promise of being able to contribute productively to society upon reaching adulthood.

During a meeting with Richard Morales, a local community organizer, it was stated that there was limited youth participation in current civic groups within Boca la Caja. This was a primary community concern of his. At the weekly community meetings, all of the participants are adults and there is little to no youth representation. The only visible organizing of the youth is through gang association. Gangs offer social belonging, agency and independence, and economic possibility. The community must be able to offer a future to youths on competing terms. Reaching out to the youth will play a vital role in reducing perverted social capital. Creating representation for the youth can help relieve some of the problems that drive the youth to join gangs in the first place.

An application of Optimal Distinctiveness Theory (ODT) to Boca la Caja with the purpose of preventing gang recruitment, and returning current gang members to the greater Panamanian social norm, suggests that measures for broadening in-group definitions and limiting the effects of perception-based exclusion can be effective in decreasing the likelihood of gang exploitation and recruitment by reducing the psycho-social motivation for association with gangs. In practice this means that youths need acceptable alternatives for social organization and definition of identity. It also means that they need organizations thatwill enable a successful and productive reintegration with the community and the greater Panamanian social norm it represents. Success is defined by the inclusion of neighborhood

25 Chapter 2.0: Crime Prevention and Public Safety youth into the community and therefore requires community action, participation, and community based solutions. Success will require positive leadership, youth mentorship, and outreach that are all within the capabilities of Boca la Caja residents. Actions, education, and outreach must be supported locally and are dependent on human to human interaction based on inclusiveness, understanding, and in some cases forgiveness.

A Panama City pastor’s story (inset right) helps us to understand the divisions that exist between the community of Boca la Caja and neighborhood youth. He joined a local gang at an early age, but has reformed himself. The current generation of children is growing up in a very different Boca la Caja. Gangs work in the schools and recruit young men and women who are struggling to find their place in the world. They suffer bullying and intimidation. In other cities, youths have joined gangs for protection from other youth or simply dress and act like they are in a gang to blend in and escape notice (Vigil, 1988). The pastor states that his mother was a “principled, good woman” and that he was led astray by his friends. His story is a commonly heard one in neighborhoods plagued by gang-violence (Vigil, 1988). The pastor’s young role models were street thugs and his options were limited. His understanding of what he was missing now drives his commitment to mentor today’s youths, help them talk through their problems, and understand that there are solutions outside of violence. His story is important to Boca la Caja because of the possibility that Boca la Caja’s most at-risk youth are being excluded from normative society. Closing the door on them leaves them few options. Understanding and reconciliation based in open communication are the only way to reintegrate them into the community.

In another community, the project team heard the story of a young man who was fired from gainful employment because it was discovered that he had a friend that was associated with a local gang. His employer feared that the young man would somehow make cause for violence to invade his workplace. “Exclusion, marginalization, rapid social change, and lack of opportunities are central determinants shaping the emergence of gangs (Jutersonke, Muggah, & Rodgers, 2009, p. 14).” By excluding a community or individual from their surrounding environment and placing them on the fringe of society, connections to others are diminished allowing them to stray from societal norms and possibly resulting in expressions of violence.

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A Story of Change

On the 3rd of August, the project team interviewed a Pastor concerning gang activity and crime in Panama. The Pastor, a two time murderer and former gang-leader, didn’t appear to be anything like what those labels might suggest. The pastor described his family life as supportive, even though his father was absent, and his mother as a “principled, good wom- an,” but he was living a life of crime by the time he was 8 or 9 years old. He started in petty crime and by the time he was eighteen he was leading a gang and had killed a police officer and a soldier before he turned 20. He stated that his peers led him astray, but credited his mother with saving him. In his early twenties, he was apprehended and so badly beaten that he required physical therapy in order to walk again. During his convalescence and rehabilita- tion, his home was searched and drugs were found on the premises. His mother confessed to the crime she hadn’t committed and spent sixteen months in jail. Jailed, recovering from a bullet wound, his legs badly damaged, the pastor was unshaken in his commitment to his gang lifestyle, but his mother’s sacrifice shook his commitment and became the event that altered the course of his life. Now he works with at risk youth and gang members on gang prevention and intervention. He is often seen as a father figure and mentors the kids of his community and is frequently called upon to mediate or de-escalate gang disputes. On occasion he’s even had to step between the guns in order to facilitate a peaceful solution to gang issues, but he believes that good works are the path to his redemption. Although he firmly believes that reli- gion and acceptance of ‘right principles’ are essential to the process of intervention, he uses soccer as the preferred tool for reaching and communicating with community youth and gang- members. The strength of soccer was its near universal appeal and importance to young men. Soccer and soccer events provided a venue by which he could socialize with young men in the community and deliver his message while hearing what the youths had to say. When the team inquired about safety at these events the pastor stated that many gang members were armed at these events and that he had to work hard to secure safe passage for gang members in or- der to enable them to attend, but that all agreed that the soccer fields were strictly neutral territory during these events. He described the gangs as being much divided at present, and stated that the recent killing of a respected gang leader had destabilized the gang world and led to a series of assassinations and retributive actions, but so far none of that violence had reached onto the field of play or sidelines.

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Misunderstanding between Generations

Based on interviews and conversations it appears that some in Boca la Caja believe that young mothers are not being appropriate role models for their children and that is why the children become involved in drugs and violence. The team frequently heard that there are too many vices available, and television shows and music about the gangster lifestyle promoting poor behavior. Recall, however, the story about the pastor. His mother was “a principled, good woman” by his admission and by her own actions. No mother wants their child to follow a path that might lead to violence. Similarly, parental under-involvement in the PTA was mentioned as a community issue and is seen as further evidence of poor commitment on the part of young mothers. Some interviewees were very adamant that television has a lot of influence and that Boca la Caja has more cable than anywhere else; “Houses are falling apart, but people have their cable.” Citizen involvement starts with everyone. If a child’s parents are poor role models, the community can attempt to provide an example for that child. The community can find solutions to these problems if they talk the problems through.

Differences between Neighborhood Sectors

While a walk through Boca la Caja reveals that the economic and security status of citizens varies, demonstrations of community solidarity were evident at several gatherings. While there is a growing sense of solidarity and togetherness, it is important for everyone to maintain an awareness of the fact that there are actual differences between populations in the community. These differences are readily apparent with respect to the possession of land title. As the community develops their identity and defines the purpose of their community organization, they must be aware of these differences in order to ensure that the needs of all members of the community are represented. In the effort to achieve consensus, difficult problems and groups are sometimes ignored and that should be avoided.

The pilot survey reveals other encouraging indications of the community’s solidarity. Generally, survey respondents felt that their neighbors would be willing to help if needed and

28 Chapter 2.0: Crime Prevention and Public Safety that they were honest and trustworthy. This indicates a goodwill and camaraderie among the residents that will make working together to generate strong social capital easier. The perceptions of the spirit of participation in Boca la Caja varied among all respondents. Illustrated in Table 2.2 it can be seen that some perceptions of the level of spirit were very low at 1, and some levels of spirit were very high. Table 2.2: Differences in community spirit remind us that What is the Spirit of Participation in BLC? making change is difficult, often beset by (1 low, 5 very high) setbacks, and takes time. Communicating Level of Spirit Frequency Percent frustrations can reinforce solidarity and 1 (low) 8 24% maintain enthusiasm for change. Waning enthusiasm may also be an indication that the 2 4 12% needs of a group are not being addressed or 3 6 18% satisfied. Discussing frustrations should help to identify these important areas. The project 4 11 33% team was able to identify that discussions of community need were taking place, and that 5 (very high) 4 12% frequent fund raising efforts are organized to Total 33 100% meet the needs of members in the church community in particular. The team was told that there are some community members of Boca la Caja in extreme poverty and that the church in Boca la Caja collects donations for them, as well as community members who may have lost a family member or are going through a difficult time.

Promoting Greater Participation

Interactions with the community in interviews and observed meetings revealed a tension between the needs of the community and the willingness to reach out and engage with local government. Some community members indicated that they were able to get the things the community deserved by demanding it of government officials, while others

29 Chapter 2.0: Crime Prevention and Public Safety expressed their history of independence and self-reliance. In one community meeting, discussions ensued concerning a community cleanup, provision of garbage services, and crime in the community. The tone of the meeting varied and differed with respect to speaker and topic, but it appeared that those present responded most favorably to leaders who composed their thoughts, controlled their emotions, and provided a positive vision of the future. Messages regarding the disenfranchisement of the community or relative helplessness to effect change in Panama City regarding the community were poorly received.

In general, the government of Panama is responsible for the same provision of services to the community of Boca la Caja it provides to other communities. Organizing for and demanding that those services be provided is not an indignity, but an example of the people holding their public servants accountable to their responsibilities. However, the government has great difficulty responding to many voices and the people of the community will be better served by organizing and establishing a formal dialogue with government agencies, as they have regarding garbage service. One community voice will be louder and more effective than 100 individual complaints.

Despite the apparent difficulties the community experiences dealing with the government, there is great promise for the future represented by the community’s advances concerning garbage service and cooperation with Citizen’s Power Community Organizer, Mr. Richard Morales, and FSU Panama. While these are very positive signs, it is important to realize that the Ministry of Social Development and National Police offer services and programs that would benefit the community. In some cases, the benefits can be realized by direct request and in others they may be achieved by working through local schools or still other means. The Panamanian system is difficult and confusing, but it can yield results by bringing resources and experience to the community.

Mistrust of Police and Government Figures

Many citizens of the community felt that the National Police could not be trusted with their safety. In the initial visit to the community the team was informed that there were high

30 Chapter 2.0: Crime Prevention and Public Safety levels of distrust between the community and the police, but our pilot survey indicated that 94% of respondents relied on the police for protection (Table 2.3). While this response does not indicate that the respondents trust the police, it does indicate that many would like to be able to.

The survey results help emphasize Table 2.3: that community residents cannot persist in Who do you go to for protection? believing that all police officers are corrupt, just as Panamanians and the officers of the Community leaders 0 0%

Panamanian National Police cannot persist Police 34 94% in believing that all citizens of Boca la Caja Community members 2 6% are criminals. These positions are as false as they are counter-productive. An affirmation total 37 100% and acceptance of our common humanity helps to establish hope for change by undermining common misconceptions held by people based on socioeconomic status or position. The community members and police involved in securing the safety of Boca la Caja are both vulnerable. A shared understanding of this mutual vulnerability should increase empathy and help foster the realization that they are all people with human stakes in the situation. While the community risks their personal safety by cooperating with police, the police risk their personal safety by protecting the community. In one interview with a policeman who patrols in Boca la Caja, the project team received confirmation that police patrols do not penetrate all areas of Boca la Caja. When the officer was pressed for reasons, he said “They cut people.” His general sense of fear concerning community members was apparent as was his lack of familiarity with people of the community. Without trust in the community, police operating in Boca la Caja must be on their guard against everyone. Poor levels of trust and an unwillingness to share information with the police reinforce police perceptions that the community members are “involved” and “actively protecting” criminals. The fear that community members have, that the police will betray them, contributes to their unwillingness to share information. Trust is constructed by taking a chance on something or someone and that is the prescription for success in this case as well.

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Good policing is equally dependent on swift reaction and steady presence. Swift reaction builds confidence and steady presence builds trust. Good policing is also dependent on community reinforcement of cultural norms and positive community interaction with patrolmen. The community defines social norms and communicates these to patrolling policemen by sharing information about violations of the social norm with police. A law is only as good as it is enforced, and a community that fails to report crime or provide testimony nullifies the ability of the police to enforce the law respecting those crimes and accepts de facto an altered social norm for their community. Similarly a government that fails to provide for the needs of its people makes those people vulnerable to groups that would exploit them in exchange for satisfying their unmet needs. The varied levels of responsibility and control dictate that all parts of the system must work together and the current situation suggests that the community will have to reach out to the police and affirm that they want a different future for Boca la Caja.

The National Police of Panama underwent a dramatic reorganization following the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989. While allegations of corruption are still part of the socio-political landscape, the National Police are promoting policies to deal with corruption on the force, and the perception of corruption, and have increased officer pay as one measure in this effort. Because of recent media pressure and media exploitation of individual cases that unfairly accuse and condemn the entire Police force, the Minister of the National Police froze public access to recent and historical crime statistics and restricted press access to police personnel.

Nevertheless, the Roots of Empowerment team interviewed Jairo Polo, Panamanian National Police Sub-director of Public Relations, on July 25th, 2011. Mr. Polo described how the National Police have been reinvented since the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989. The National Police implement a number of community or citizen based programs including:

 Vecinos Vigilantes (neighborhood watch)  Business Watch  Transportation Watch  Bank Watch

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 University Watch  Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.)  Youth Against Crime  Safe Children  Police Officers for Prevention of Drug Use  Canine Youth Group  PEDRO  Music Program-jazz quartet, chorus, salsa, string, drum and bugle, and parade ensemble  Magic and Puppet Shows  Community Watch Posts

Each of these programs relies so heavily on community involvement and participation that they are available only to communities that desire to participate. They are not police programs that are forced upon a community, but efforts that begin with the community and are supported by the National Police.

Vecinos Vigilantes was first started in Panama in 2003 with the creation of approximately 10-12 groups nationwide and about 100 members nationwide. Gustavo Perez, Director of the Panamanian National Police made Vecinos Vigilantes a national priority in 2009, founding the Department of Citizen Protection led by Sub-Commissioner Bolivar Lasso. Since 2009 the program’s membership has exceeded 100,000 members and includes neighborhoods like Boca la Caja (inset, next page). The National Police have increased both the funding for Vecinos Vigilantes and the priority it has been given and according to a report by LaEstrella, Vecinos Vigilantes and the community participation that it engenders is making Panama neighborhoods safer (2010).

Youth Against Crime is an organization that brings gang recruitment awareness counseling and advice to schools and specifically focuses on youth 8-15 years old. Safe Children is a program designed to build trust between children and the police focusing on 4-6 year olds. The DARE program focuses on the dangers of drug use and gang association and

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Meeting: Vecinos Vigilantes in Huerta Sandoval, Chorrillo On the 4th of August, “Roots of Empowerment” met with Vecinos Vigilantes coordina- tion Officer Lieutenant Andrea Flete in Huerta Sandoval, a small barrio of Chorrillo for a com- munity Vecinos Vigilantes meeting. Prior to the meeting, we met Juvenal Sinisterra. Mr. Sinis- terra, who grew up in Boca la Caja, is a community’s founder. We spoke with him about his experiences in the community and the crime, gangs, and gang activity around his neighbor- hood. Juvenal’s story was a hopeful one. His community is in the middle of gangland and Ju- venal had little difficulty naming off a half dozen of the gangs in the immediate area, including the two gangs currently at war. He walked us through the community naming all of the nine apartment buildings for us and touring us by the soccer field, basketball court, and children’s playground. The community of 300 people, mostly adults, was very small compared even to Boca la Caja. The pride of the community was evident everywhere you looked. The streets were clean, walls were well painted, people were smiling and happy and Juvenal’s pride in be- ing able to share it with us was evident in his speech and bearing. A slogan of the community from its founding was painted on one of the walls of the basketball court near another listing all of the names of the community’s founders. The slogan, “Es fuerzo propio la gloria Huer- tena” means “Glory is in your power, Huertena.” The physical attributes of the community were different from Boca la Caja, but weren’t all better from a CPTED standpoint. The build- ings were approximately eight stories and most had enclosed stairwells though a few of the newer buildings had open stairwells that extended away from the building and provided excel- lent visibility. The factor that seemed to dominate the area was its very limited connectivity to surrounding areas. The neighborhood was almost completely surrounded by a concrete wall with only one point of ingress/egress. The presence of numerous light poles was another notable difference and Juvenal testified that the area was well lit at night. On that note we wrapped up our tour of the community and returned to the community center where the Vecinos Vigilantes meeting room was filling up with community members, police officers, and food. Juvenal opened the meeting with a word of thanks and a simple powerful statement that summed up the whole experience: “Being poor doesn’t mean we are delinquents.”

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PEDRO is a family program whose aim is to increase parental involvement in their children’s schools.

Director Perez is also addressing charges of corruption within the police force by increasing policeman pay and instituting electronic monitoring into the force. Police cars and patrolmen are being outfitted with cameras or other electronic equipment linked directly to National Police headquarters to monitor the police, capture potential evidence for prosecution of criminals, and protect the public from corrupt practices.

The National Police stand ready to assist Boca la Caja. They’ve received new training and equipment to make them more effective and responsive, but they remain human with human fears and frailties. Their trust in the community of Boca la Caja is substantially reduced, but communication and engagement can remedy the current condition and make a cooperative peaceful future possible.

2.4.2 Modifying Neighborhood Design

In “Towards a Strategy of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design in the City of Masaya, Nicaragua” Pilar Mora addresses urban design that promotes crime. “Poorly managed, rapid urbanization leading to neighborhood decline and absence of cohesion between neighborhoods is considered one of the most significant causes for the increase in crime and violence in Latin America” (Mora, 2008). Over the past several years, there has been a dramatic change in urban design surrounding Boca la Caja through the construction of high- rise buildings.

The project team observed that several men involved in the fishing industry congregated at the fishing docks in the morning. These daily activities in a public space serve to control the natural access point from the sea and provide natural surveillance of the public space and are examples of CPTED principles in action. Similarly, the community’s embrace and use of the soccer facilities is another example of these principles, while the “Dios te ve” stickers present an excellent example of territoriality and community promotion of the social

35 Chapter 2.0: Crime Prevention and Public Safety norm and exertion of effort to reclaim the public space in the community.

The Roots of Empowerment team observed that the sectors of Boca la Caja are physically very different. Homes fronting Vergara Road and Barahona Road were well maintained and well protected. All of these homes have elaborately barred windows and patios, most with bowed out bars that enable their tenants to look up and down the street better. These practices are referred to as ‘target hardening’ and are an example of territoriality expressed at the individual level. While target hardening can be an important individual expression of territoriality and access control, it is important to avoid a fortress mentality that leaves every member of the community to protect themselves without recourse to community cooperation. While the second tier of homes is connected to Vergara Road and Barahona Road at multiple points, it appears to have fewer connections with areas deeper in Boca la Caja. Beyond the second tier of homes in Boca la Caja connections are via serpentine footpaths often strewn with refuse and differing substantially from the roads mentioned previously in this respect. Many of the homes closer to the waterfront are lacking defensive protections and some even lacked windows and doors. While community interviews show a high degree of solidarity, these factors might indicate that members of the community have the potential to experience different levels of risk to criminal activity that may impact their participation in community efforts.

2.5- Recommendations

The Committee for Defense of Community Peace and Integrity is making great strides for Boca la Caja and should continue its work for everyone’s benefit. It is working to become more representative of the community and that should increase the committee’s effectiveness. In addition to the current actions of the committee the research group recommends:

 The formation of a youth group and greater involvement of youth in community decision making.  The formation of a women’s group where their perspectives may be heard and then

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shared with the larger community.  The foundation of a Vecino’s Vigilantes organization and improvement of relations with the National Police.  CPTED based spatial modifications in the community.

2.6- Conclusion

Citizen’s of Boca la Caja can benefit from open communication concerning the hopes and fears of the community. By sharing ideas and concerns and helping one another resolve the problems of the community, it is possible to revive the spirit of the Phoenix Group and create a safer and more united vision of the future.

37 Chapter 3.0: Urban Design

3.1- Purpose The current state of Boca la Caja’s physical layout is one with poor roadways and substandard homes. These factors can contribute to pollution, violence, and crime in Boca la Caja. The Roots of Empowerment project team will propose two different visions for the community to consider, as they address some of these urban design issues currently affecting the community.

3.2- Literature Review The ‘Roots of Empowerment’ team focused on scholarly articles to guide their initiatives in the following areas related to an urban design: environment, crime, and economy.

3.2.1 Environment Pollution, dilapidated buildings, and lack of greenspace have made the environment in Boca la Caja not only unpleasant but unhealthy. The 2011 ‘’Roots of Empowerment’’ team focused on previous literature to guide our strategies and the new design for the revitalization plan. Campbell & Wiesen write:

“Parks, community gardens, building exteriors, rights-of-way, botanical gardens, urban farms, vacant lots, public housing campuses, and closed landfills offer unique opportunities for restoring social and ecological function in the public, urban sphere” (2005, p.12).

They further discuss the important linkage between the local environment and human health, both physical and mental. For the community of Boca la Caja, the use of what planners like to call “greenspace”, which is undeveloped landscape or the natural environment, will serve as a part of the urban design that will promote health and also citizen stewardship. Citizen engagement is essential to the function of an urban ecosystem (Campbell, & Wiesen, 2005). The authors demonstrate that the creation of open spaces in a community allows its

38 Chapter 3.0: Urban Design community members to get involved in its caretaking and prosperity, which feeds their mental health.

3.2.2 Crime and Public Safety Another major focus for the new urban layout of the community is one that facilitates openness and awareness but discourages criminal activity. Fukuyama and Colby (2011) explain the resurrection of Santo Domingo Savio, a poor community of the Colombian city of Medellin. During the early 1990s, Medellin was the world’s most violent city, and Santo Domingo Savio, which had evolved into a permanent slum, was one of its most dangerous communities. However, an impressive social and political transformation took place in Medellin. Experiments in urban planning and other programs helped to reinvent the city.

According to Sergio Fajardo, one of the political figures that helped to renovate Medellin, Medellin’s main problems were extreme inequalities and a culture of violence (Fukuyama and Colby, 2011). In his view, policies aimed at fixing the city’s broken social structure could alleviate both issues. Fajardo’s most innovative approach was to construct a high-quality public architecture in the poorest neighborhoods such as Santo Domingo Savio. In order to create alternatives to crime and violence, the city of Medellin implemented social projects such as reintegration programs. Although the Medellin homicide rate is one-fifth of the rate during the early 1990s, violence is still a frequent problem in the city. Even though Panama City does not face the tremendous problems that affected Medellin during the early 1990s, the issue of income inequalities applies to our case study in Boca la Caja. It also demonstrates that innovative experiments in urban planning could produce positive changes in poorer communities and illustrates the importance of social-policy programs to promote social capital for the urban poor. In other words, it is possible to create urban design projects to improve people’s lives. The renewal of Medellin displays the importance of political will and leadership to produce real change. The article’s greatest contribution is the focus on the importance of smart urban planning and social-policy programs to help the urban poor. Although the article does not address similar issues in other cities nevertheless, Fukuyama and

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Colby’s article should awaken the intellectual curiosity of professionals who want to investigate these issues more profoundly. Latin America has become heavily urbanized during the last 40 years: “Latin America is the planet’s most urbanized region. It is also its most unequal” (NACLA, 2007, p. 3). The inequities exacerbate social fractures by having the elites live in areas with high-rises and gated communities, which makes the poor viewed as violent and lawless (NACLA, 2007). NACLA explores cases in Brazil, Honduras, Peru, and Bolivia. Although the situation is different in each country, the main problems are similar. The rapid urbanization of Panama City exemplifies the article’s argument as evidenced by the affluent neighborhood of Punta Pacifica growing up around the relatively poorer neighborhood of Boca la Caja. Jutersonke, Muggah, and Rodgers focus on the factors contributing to the formulation of gangs in the article “Gangs, Urban Violence, and Security Interventions in Central America.” Urban governance and spatial organization are said to result in urban violence and also to be a catalyst for it (Jutersonke, Muggah, & Rodgers, 2009). The article discusses that when people see violence or even have a fear of it occurring around them, they create what is called an “architecture of fear”, for example the application of fences or other barriers to their homes or work place. When this is done, it causes a breakup of the public space. According to Jutersonke, Muggah, and Rodgers “Exclusion, marginalization, rapid social change, and lack of opportunities are central determinants shaping the emergence of gangs” (2009, p.19). By excluding a community from its surrounding environment and placing them on the fringe of society, they are diminishing their connection to others, which allows them to stray away from societal norms and become violent. Urban design can either be used to adapt to violence or it can be used to prevent it. In Pilar Mora’s paper “Towards a Strategy of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design in the City of Masaya, Nicaragua”, she addresses what type of urban design promotes crime. “Poorly managed, rapid urbanization leading to neighborhood decline and absence of cohesion between neighborhoods is considered one of the most significant causes for the increase in crime and violence in Latin America” (Mora 2008, p.17). Over the past several years, there has been a dramatic change in the urban design surrounding Boca la Caja through

40 Chapter 3.0: Urban Design the construction of high-rise buildings. This has been a major contributor to the crime happening within Boca la Caja. Along with the change occurring around this community, individual, relationship, and social factors also contribute to increases in crime. Mora focused on the idea of defensible space that is defined as “a model of residential environments, which inhibits crime by creating the physical expression of a social fabric that defends itself,” (Mora 2008, p.22). Part of this concept of defensible space is having a strongly defined area of influence that can be interpreted in urban design terms as a central business district within Boca la Caja or a community center.

3.2.3 Economy Policy that reflects the theory that increasing social capital will increase opportunities for regeneration of the deprived community is based on empirical research and could be used to justify any policy to encourage community regeneration (Middleton, Murie & Groves 2005). Both Putnam and Fukuyama, leading social capital theorists, argue that social capital is “necessary for economic growth” (2005) thereby inferring that social capital is related to economics, where other authors and, indeed the World Bank, use a more general sociological definition described above, which includes “collective action.” The authors believe that policy must be carefully selected for all possible outcomes prior to implementation in order to optimize the potential for regeneration and that not all policies based on increasing social capital will work in all areas. Boca la Caja is composed of mixed-income housing that is occupied by people from different socio-economic backgrounds. The social networks have a varying degree of links to different parts of the Panamanian economy and political landscape. In times of crisis or disaster, one uses the social network to ask for help or assistance. Communities with a variety of incomes can come to the aid of each other in different situations. In low-income neighborhoods however, access to resources is limited. If a person only knows other people that are poor, then the chances of finding a higher paid job decrease. Employment and other benefits are often actualized by connections people have with different organizations. Child supervision, public safety and other creations of a differentiated social net allow families to

41 Chapter 3.0: Urban Design rely on each other when in need. The access to employment and other modes of mobility help low-income households gradually pull themselves out of poverty. If the reason why many families are in poverty is systematic in the societal structure, then increasing social capital is one way to encourage new opportunities. Research on social capital and economic development can be categorized into four paradigms: the communitarian view, the networks view, the institutional view and the synergy view (Woolcock & Narayan, 2000). For the purpose of this paper, and Roots of Empowerment’s work with the community of Boca la Caja, the view that was developed in depth was the communitarian view. The commonly used communitarian view of social capital is that civic groups, associations, informal and formal clubs, and cultural events are all beneficial. The communitarian’s paradigm takes a quantitative view that more groups equate to increased amounts of social capital and that social capital is inherently positive. In other words, the more social ties there are the stronger social safety nets the poor have and the less vulnerable they become (Woolcock & Narayan, 2000). Community programs that promote revitalization through increasing social capital can be viewed by outsiders and government officials as a challenge to the current social order and typically take on an economic role for the impoverished or disenfranchised community, according to Mayer and Rankin (2002). Mayer and Rankin argue that these characteristics are harmful in community redevelopment. They believe that current programs, such as the micro financing programs, have actually diverted from the original intention of providing support to the marginalized and impoverished. Instead they have been using solidarity groups, or community groups, to “cut costs and introduce financial discipline through peer pressure. The health of the financial system, rather than social transformation or social welfare, has become the sole objective” (p.13). In Boca la Caja, financial support is needed for any redevelopment project and although microfinance money would be insufficient for this project, other programs and grants from non-governmental organizations intended for community redevelopment could be used. The same caveats that Mayer and Rankin make regarding microfinance programs can be applied to monies for community redevelopment: be sure the money is intended for social transformation and welfare and not just as a bureaucratic

42 Chapter 3.0: Urban Design safeguard that is detrimental to the revitalization process in Boca la Caja. Social development theory links social capital with economic development, essentially theorizing that an increase of social capital will lead to increased economic growth. Without the increased access to education, employment, and health services that well-developed social capital facilitates, the markets would stagnate (Asadi, et al. 2008). Economic growth makes poverty alleviation and community development simpler, but this does not always equate to increased social capital, or political will. (Asadi, et al. 2008) argue that development theory is correct in that economic growth is needed to help alleviate poverty, but economic growth without a correlating increase in social capital will lead to greater social and economic inequality and unsustainable development.

3.3- Strategy The Roots of Empowerment team applied several strategies to help mitigate the previously identified problems in Boca la Caja (FSU, 2009). Design priorities for the revitalization of Boca la Caja included:

 Determine a location for creation of a small business development center  Utilize the Centro de Salud as the heart of a business center  Develop a plan for the expansion of Centro de Salud to meet current/future needs of the community  The school will be rebuilt so that it is only one building  Increase police access to the community  Incorporate lighting into the design alternatives to promote community safety  Incorporate sidewalks to increase community accessibility and safety  Promote housing design that recognizes CPTED principles

Many services are currently in need of improvement within Boca la Caja. Roots of Empowerment investigated private sector and government solutions for the community. Additionally, the team evaluated community facilities and garnered public opinion concerning future needs and desires regarding those facilities. There are multiple locations within Boca la Caja that can act as community meeting space where social capital and internal pride can be encouraged. These spaces in particular were considered in the design strategy:

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 Schools  Daycare Centers  Churches  Local Stores  Clinics  Community Meeting Areas (houses)  Fishing Docks  Sports Facilities

Roots of Empowerment designed alternatives for Boca la Caja that promote a safer, more united community that better meets the needs of its citizens. The urban design strategies that promote a safe environment are based on the crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) principles.

3.4- Methodology The Roots of Empowerment team used interviews, the survey, and the “Mi Hogar, Mi Ciudad” student activity to gain information regarding the current status of Boca la Caja’s physical design as well as what residents want/need within in their community.

3.4.1 Interviews The Roots of Empowerment team held several unstructured informal interviews with the intent to find out information about the physical design of the community. One interview was with Dr. Marta de Gardelini at Dr. Hernando Puyol Centro de Salud. Three team members took a tour of the health center in Boca la Caja and Dr. Gardelini explained the current problems with the facility. Team members also observed the number of patients and available space within the health center.

3.4.2 Survey A preliminary survey was handed out to 40 community members of Boca la Caja. Of the 32 questions on the survey, six of them were regarding residents’ opinions on the physical layout of the community. Data was collected for the urban design element of this project through the responses to these questions.

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3.4.3 “Mi Hogar, Mi Ciudad” Student Activity The “Mi Hogar, Mi Ciudad” Student Activity took place at the Escuela Federico A. Velasquez, located in Boca la Caja, in two of their fifth grade classrooms. Students illustrated positive and negative aspects currently seen within Boca la Caja as well as things that they would like to see within the community in the future. The activity was divided into three sections: negative ahora, positive ahora, and futuro. Trends such as gun violence, drug use , and development were noted, as well as, positive things like playgrounds and soccer indicating the impacts these activities have on the community (Fig 3.1).

3.5- Findings & Analysis For each method of data collection, the Roots of Empowerment team was able to collect vital and important information for the community of Boca la Caja in regards to urban design.

a. c.

b. d.

Figure 3.1: “Mi Hogar, Mi Ciudad” drawings- (a) depiction from negative ahora (b) depiction from positive ahora (c) &(d) depictions from futuro.

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3.5.1 Interviews From the interview at Dr. Hernando Puyol Centro de Salud, the Roots of Empowerment team learned that it has a good location within Boca la Caja. However, according to Dr. Marta de Gardelini, it needs to be expanded to better serve the community. The health center is divided into two buildings, the administration office and the health clinic. The two buildings are located across the street from each other. Dr. Gardelini mentioned that this division reduces efficiency, especially during rainy days. Taking a tour of both facilities of the health center, team members noticed how the health center seemed too small to accommodate the needs of the area while also noticing the variety of services which are offered at the health center. Dr. Gardelini also told them that over 70% of the patients at the health center are not residents of Boca la Caja.

Several important things were found from the women’s meeting held in Boca la Caja. It was learned that when things are needed in the community, like a street light, there is a political representative for the San Francisco area which they must contact in order to receive what is needed.

The women were also asked about their opinions about government intervention within the community, infrastructure, and safety. The women believe that the government has no responsibility in the community. They felt that the government does things in their own time and that the government mainly works to “patch” things up within the community, such as initiating minor construction projects, but not major projects. In terms of the infrastructure within Boca la Caja, the women stated that they were happy with basic services like water and that every house in Boca la Caja has light and water. However, the women stated that transportation was a problem within Boca la Caja. The women stated that they did not want a bus route that went into the community, but that they would like the current bus route to be more reliable.

3.5.2 Survey The preliminary survey results from question 10 regarding the primary form of transportation showed that 89% of the respondents take public transportation, which includes

46 Chapter 3.0: Urban Design diablos rojos, or taxis. Results from question 11 of the preliminary survey regarding what amenities the respondents would like to see within the community of Boca la Caja, health facilities came in first followed by sports facilities. Religious centers and community center both had ten respondents who chose them as the most desired amenity.

41% of the thirty-nine respondents believe security is the most urgent concern for the community members of Boca la Caja, with transportation following with 35%. Question 16 was an open ended question asking the preliminary survey takers to write down what existing design features they would like to preserve within Boca la Caja. Of the twenty-eight who responded, eight said the school and six said the health center.

The preliminary survey also asked questions about housing preference. Of those survey takers that responded to what housing option they would prefer, only two respondents prefer condos, another two prefer duplexes, and twenty-four prefer single family homes. Question 20 of the preliminary survey asked whether or not the survey taker would be willing to relocate to other housing temporarily during the revitalization of Boca la Caja. Of the thirty- four respondents, 41% said that they would while 58% designated that they would not.

3.5.3 “Mi Hogar, Mi Ciudad” Student Activity After analyzing the illustrations from the “Negative Ahora” part of the student project, we found that 46% of the thirteen students who turned in their drawings currently see violence within Boca la Caja as seen in Table 3.1a (following page). 46% also see development as a current negative aspect of the community, while 31% see drug related activities also as negative. Table 3.1b (following page) displays the results of the “Postive Ahora” part of the student project, which showed that 83% of the eighteen students who turned in drawings thought recreation was one of the most positive things in Boca la Caja. Comparing these results with the illustrations from the “Ahora” drawings, Table 3.2a, where the children didn’t decipher between what was positive and what was negative, we can assume that the 65% of the seventeen students who depicted violence viewed it as a negative aspect of the community. The assumption can also be made that the 59% who depicted recreational

47 Chapter 3.0: Urban Design activities viewed that as a current positive aspect of Boca la Caja.

Table 3.2b shows the results of the thirty-four “Futuro” illustrations turned in by the two fifth grade classrooms. Of these, 53% depicted development as something they wanted to see in the future which is interesting since 46% of them drew development as a current

Table 3.1: Negative and Positive “Ahora” Illustrations a. Negative "Ahora" Illustrations b. Positive "Ahora" Illustrations (Out of 13 drawings) (Out of 18 drawings)

Observed Observed Not Depicted Depicted Not Depicted Depicted Theme Theme Violence 54% 46% Violence 100% 0% Drugs 69% 31% Drugs 100% 0% Pollution 77% 23% Pollution 100% 0% Development 54% 46% Development 94% 6% Religion 100% 0% Religion 100% 0% Economy 92% 8% Economy 89% 11% Education 100% 0% Education 100% 0% Recreation 100% 0% Recreation 17% 83%

Table 3.2: “Ahora” Illustrations and “Futuro” Illustrations a. "Ahora" Illustrations b. "Futuro" Illustrations (Out of 17 drawings) (Out of 34 drawings) Observed Observed Not Depicted Depicted Not Depicted Depicted Theme Theme Violence 35% 65% Violence 100% 0% Drugs 100% 0% Drugs 100% 0% Pollution 88% 12% Pollution 100% 0% Development 24% 76% Development 47% 53% Religion 88% 12% Religion 85% 15% Economy 88% 12% Economy 71% 29% Education 88% 12% Education 91% 9% Recreation 41% 59% Recreation 29% 71%

48 Chapter 3.0: Urban Design negative aspect of Boca la Caja. 29% of the students drew that they wanted economic activity also in the community along with recreational activities, which 71% of the students depicted.

3.5.4 Observations: Photo Tour of Chorrillo The photo tour of Chorrillo yielded some interesting information. A taxi cab driver who was familiar with the Roots of Empowerment project suggested the tour of Chorrillo as some of our development a. ideas for Boca la Caja were already implemented in Chorrillo. Chorrillo, a former fishing villageFig ( 3.2a) that has been incorporated into Panama City, is considered a Zona Roja and is located in near major tourist areas in Panama City. Chorrillo’s unique resources include: the only work training center in Panama City b. (Fig 3.2b), a community pool that was too expensive to upkeep and was taken over by gangs, and a fishing cooperative (Fig 3.2c). As another red zone of Panama City located along the coast, this information was used to consider design options for the community development plan of Boca la c. Caja.

Figure 3.2: (a) Chorillo fishermen at work in their community. (b) Work training center - the only one of its kind in Panama City. (c) Fishing cooperative seal.

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3.6- Recommendations The Roots of Empowerment team suggests the following actions be taken in the community of Boca la Caja in regards to the urban design and community involvement:

 Create a small business district on the periphery of Boca la Caja  Expand the Dr. Hernando Puyol Centro de Salud  Increase Community Events within Boca la Caja  Place community boards throughout Boca la Caja  Create/ensure access to community resources

3.7- Conclusion Through previous scholarly works and data collection techniques, the Roots of Empowerment team was able to gather abundant information regarding the physical design of the community. Information on the current opinion of the community will be used in our recommendations for the possible future designs of Boca la Caja which will be used for providing a foundation for allowing the residents of Boca la Caja to develop a vision of how they want to see their community.

50 Chapter 4.0: Land Titling

4.1- Purpose

Roots of Empowerment sought to gauge the organizational capacity of the Boca la Caja community to identify the feasibility of creating a Foundation for Security that could charter a cooperative land trust in Boca la Caja. The Roots of Empowerment team researched the preliminary land titling process initiated by PRONAT in the community, why it ceased to function, and what initiatives had to be undertaken to restart such an endeavor in Bocala Caja. The team also researched whether the construction of the Corredor Sur had affected the floodplain status of Boca la Caja residents, and whether residents with houses outside the current flood zone are now eligible to receive title to their land through innovative land tenure means.

As previously stated by the Seeds of Hope project: “The titling process [within Boca la Caja] has created rifts within the community, impeding residents’ ability to act collectively for a common benefit” (2009, p.7). The purpose of developing a Foundation for Security is to charter a cooperative land trust that would establish a personeria juridica (legal entity) to create economic opportunity through group-oriented action. The cooperative land trust would serve as the development tool of the community Foundation in its implementation of other strategies recommended by the “Roots of Empowerment” project, such as establishing a fishing cooperative. Integrating the different segments of the Boca la Caja population into a greater titling organization, the Foundation for Security could serve the function of building consensus and mediating collective negotiations amongst residents living within, and outside of, the servidumbre. In law, servidumbre (servitude) is a type of limiting right to the domain of a property called the servient estate for the needs of another called the dominant estate belonging to another entity. This is comparable to U.S. law as an easement. As in the right, privilege, or interest that one party has in the land of another. This function could accommodate the creation of a patrimonio colectivo (collective patrimony) to drive any negotiations the legal entity would need to make with the government, NGO’s or private industry. The Roots of Empowerment titling initiative functions on the principle that a collective patrimony will lead to land titles that will benefit the greater common good of Boca la Caja.

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4.2- Literature Review

To gain a better understanding of the land tenure and titling issues currently being experienced within Boca la Caja, the Roots of Empowerment team researched current and past literature written by scholars about this area of focus. The criteria for the selection of sources were to find articles related to land titling in Latin America, the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to facilitate land titling, and the history of the Panamanian titling process itself and relevant governmental and administrative offices involved. This review includes articles accessed through academic databases, journals, official reports, Panamanian government sites, news sources and real estate sites. Sources of data include the Ministry of Housing, El Programa Nacional de Administración de Tierras (PRONAT), IPACOOP, The Inter- American Development Bank (IADB), and Registro Publico de Panamá (Public Registry).

4.2.1 Latin American Land Tenure Case Studies

According to Deininger and Binswanger (1999) it is critical for individuals to obtain their property rights for several reasons. First, when people do not possess their own land tenure in the developing world there is a desire for individuals to over invest in their property in the hopes that the over investment will help them to defend their property claims. Second, “even in situations where individual property rights are infeasible, helping communities develop structures that overcome these coordination problems and establish effective property rights can enhance the sustainability of resource use, prevent environmental degradation, and promote the overall efficiency of land use” (Deininger and Binswanger 1999, p.250). The third benefit of possessing land tenure is that decreasing the difficulty of the land tenure process leads to an increase in the ease and cost effectiveness of the transferability of property market. The last reason is that it provides the land owner with the ability to use their property as collateral, which then allows them to obtain credit through formal sources.

One example of a solution to the problems associated with land tenure is for the government to become heavily involved and carry out legislation that decreases the difficulty of the land tenure process. In 1996 the Peruvian government “issued a series of legal,

52 Chapter 4.0: Land Titling administrative, and regulatory reforms aimed at promoting a formal property market in urban squatter settlements (Field, 2005, p. 281).” Peru successfully created and implemented a land tenure program aimed at residents of urban areas where formal land tenure had been uncommon during the late 1990s. This effort resulted in the issuance of 1.2 million titles to people living within the urban slums (2005). Although this program was primarily aimed at increasing the formal property market of the urban slums of Peru, it does demonstrate an efficient method of increasing the number of people within the communities that possess land tenure. The Peruvian government saw the property market benefits that its population would be able to take advantage of if they possessed the land tenure rights of their property and subsequently made the effort to help the residents gain those rights.

According to Field (2005) this program by the Peruvian government resulted in an increase in the amount of investment that the residents who obtained land tenure were putting into their homes and property. Her “results indicate that strengthening tenure security through property formalization in urban squatter settlements has a large positive effect on investment. Land titling is associated with a 68% increase in the rate of housing renovation within only four years of receiving a title.” (p. 280). It can be argued that those homes that have yet to receive title in Boca la Caja lack the incentive to invest in housing upgrades or the subsequent beautification of the neighborhood that results. An interesting notion that Field addresses is the “significant increase in renovations financed out-of-pocket and in total investment among non-borrowing households” (p. 281). Households that do not face eviction are more likely to make improvements to their houses, and will save money to do so, instead of seeking a loan. This was a successful venture for the Peruvian government and it was successful for the individual residents of those slums because they obtained land tenure and the benefits of possessing those property rights. This case study illustrates a successful plan implementation of a nationwide titling program within the urban slums of Peru because it helped to increase the formal property market and could potentially be applied to other urban areas if the needed amount of government support was available.

Another example of a land tenure program can be found in Guatemala. Although this land tenure program was conducted within rural areas it does provide a solution to land

53 Chapter 4.0: Land Titling tenure problems for those within urban areas who are willing to relocate to rural areas to gain their land tenure. A Guatemalan nongovernmental agency (NGO) created a land tenure program for citizens that were landless, or nearly landless, and were willing to provide the labor required to turn an empty parcel into a family farm. This program was created based upon the concept “…that participants would receive titles to their individual parcels at the Guatemalan Property Registry, with a lien held by the NGO until the value of the land and initial production credit had been repaid” (Schweigert, 2006, p. 118). This case study demonstrates that nongovernmental agencies are also capable of creating solutions for citizens having difficulty obtaining land tenure.

Between 1986 and 1987, with the help of funding from a foreign aid donor, the NGO purchased more than twenty large farms, which are known as fincas in Guatemala, and then subdivided the large properties into equal sized smaller lots. The fincas that were purchased by the NGO went mainly unused or had fallen into a state of neglect and were therefore open for development of homes and farms. These fincas would be cared for and constructed by the program participants. The program participants were randomly assigned to their parcel by a drawing and were then sold their assigned parcel for a small down payment. After the participants were assigned to their respective parcels and paid their down payment, they were required to follow certain “…directives until they have paid the full cost of their parcel with interest. In particular, participants have to accept the technical assistance of program agronomists regarding crop selection and input use (p. 117).” Although the program began based upon the concept that obtaining individual property titles was important, the NGO encountered some problems with program participants deserting their parcels and attempting to sell that title to others after obtaining their land title. When the households attempted to sell their land titles, legal complications arose with the Guatemalan Land Registry. As a result of the unexpected complications, the NGO decided to suspend giving out individual titles until the threat of desertion had ceased. The titling of the program participants resumed in the 1990s due to the foreign aid donor’s insistence that the NGO release the individual land titles.

De Janvry and Sadoulet offer “Land Reforms in Latin America: Ten Lessons toward a

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Contemporary Agenda” (2002), wherein the authors discuss the issue that communities face when land reforms begin a titling process which grants titles to the poor, but does not include the provision of “assistance to the ability to manage community affairs and to achieve political representation” (p. 10). This aspect of social incorporation is not yet considered to bean integral component of land reforms and thus organization, representation, and empowerment are missing. Several studies have shown that increasing levels of social capital can benefit a community’s ability to communicate, which can help prevent the burden of poverty. Joseph L. Klesner’s work, “Social Capital and Political Participation in Latin America: Evidence from Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Peru” (2007), supports the idea that the promotion of social capital encourages positive outcomes. Klesner points towards the labor unions, arts, music, education associations, social services and other organizations which have potential for bringing together different citizens. These networks encourage people to become more active in the community. Interactions among community members in these organizations play a vital role in building trust. Countries that have high levels of social capital are recognized as better economic performers (Knack and Keefer, 1997). These countries also have more access to a greater diversity of public services, advanced agricultural technologies, and credit programs (Narayan and Pritchett, 1999).

Hendrix’s “Land Tenure Administration in the Context of Hemispheric Trade Integration in the Americas” (1997) discusses the importance of the utilization of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and the creation of maps to improve the community participation process: “Combining GPS with ortho-photo maps also stimulates greater community participation in mapping, giving land administration more legitimacy in the view of the public” (p. 297). Although this article refers to the increased use of geographic information systems (GIS) as a method for governments to increase their tax base, Hendrix also advocates the use of GIS to increase the government’s distribution of information to citizens. The current situation in Boca la Caja could benefit from the creation of maps to aid in informing residents of the location and land use classification of their properties, and to stimulate discussion among the residents to find a common ground and the possibility of creating a cooperative land trust.

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4.2.2 Land Tenure in Panama

Jacobs and Savedoff’s “There’s More Than One Way to Get a House: Housing Strategies in Panama” (1999) gives the reader a background into Panama’s low income households and their housing strategies, particularly their choice to become owners and slowly build houses, rather than rent. A study carried out in two cities in Panama provided households with two housing scenarios to determine how tenure choices are made: to rent or own; or to rent, buy with savings and credit, or to obtain a site on which to build over time. “The results suggest that in countries like Panama that have relatively unfettered land markets, low income households are readily able to become owners because of the alternative strategy of progressive building and this has a positive impact for accommodating growth” (p. 1). In Panama, households can occupy an undeveloped site and build a shack that meets no formal definition of adequate urban or housing norms. This situation applies especially to Bocala Caja’s development.

Instituto Libertad y Democracia also undertook an “Evaluation of the Legal and Institutional Framework of Panama” which offers greater detailed explanation of thebasic eight-step titling process and the creation of PRONAT in 2002, a national program for land titling, and its funding mechanisms. However, ILD’s analysis has found that since PRONAT’s creation, the majority of Panamanians who live in cities do not have fully fungible titles to land. Several reasons are cited, but the most important is the fact that the legal framework governing property rights is scattered in many laws, decrees, resolutions and difficult policy knowledge. This results in limited public access to information which is compounded by the digitization process the Public Registry of Panama is still undergoing. The information that is released creates contradictions between reality, the information in the registry and the cadastre (p. 21). Through different real estate sites, it is evident that the titling process is clearly explained to foreigners who are looking to invest. The process is not so easily found in Panamanian government sites regardless of the Public Registry’s mission to “update, collect, integrate and guarantee the authenticity of the documents, certificates or instruments to be recorded to provide legal security of private property to users, maintaining a registration

56 Chapter 4.0: Land Titling system technologically efficient, effective and innovative” (2011). Incorrect or inadequate information has led residents of Boca la Caja to mistrust government officials and the titling process.

In 2006, Instituto Libertad y Democracia (ILD) offered objective insight into the titling process in Panama in “Evaluación preliminar de la economía extralegal en 12 países de Latinoamérica y el Caribe: Resumen Ejecutivo.” The report describes the titling process, the numerous institutions involved, its modernization, and the obstacles the process has yet to overcome. Of particular note is the application of this report to the community of Boca la Caja whose residents have expressed an interest in selling their lots. “If a proprietor with only possessory rights wishes to sell his property, the price is lower than that of a titled property due to the fact that the price reflects the increased risk of the transaction” (p.7). The formation of a cooperative land trust (CLT) would eliminate the increased risk considerably, particularly if the CLT is able to acquire titles to land.

According to an article in La Prensa from 2007, a conflict exists between residents of Boca la Caja and developers because the residents are awaiting offers they feel will adequately cover the costs of their land, home and standard of living which are higher than developers are willing to pay. Residents asked for prices upwards of $6,000 per square meter, which was higher than other nearby properties, such as Avenida Balboa, that peaked around $4,000 per square meter (Muñoz, 2007). Roots of Empowerment found that community members had previously organized themselves with the intention of selling, but were unable to successfully obtain all of the property information required, such as who has titles and what is for sale. This previous attempt was dubbed el movimiento or “the movement” (Muñoz, 2007). The movement was an organization of neighbors that intended to sell their lands at a just price. Resident Ruben Gomez observed that certain residents were selling, and that those anonymous individual sales prevented el movimiento from obtaining a larger profit as one unified public group of sellers. The future of Boca la Caja is represented in this potential division of the community.

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4.2.3 Cooperative Land Trust

The focus of this analysis bases itself on the findings of the Seeds of Hope 2009 initiative. It has been stated that land trusts have evolved into a mechanism by which multiple tracts of land can be combined for three main purposes: the preservation of land, real estate investment, or acquisition for development purposes. There is a need to unify the rights to housing along with property rights of the residents in order to mobilize the community (Peterson, 1996). The form of cooperative ownership offered by the CLT protects and manages property rights where tenancy is not secure. The CLT is a for-profit organization, in case the organization decides to sell part or all of its land assets, that is formulated to hold the collective property rights of a community, and usually its purpose is to develop or secure housing that is affordable to the residents (ICE, 2009). The CLT is, most importantly, a protective measure that ensures that the rights of the residents abutting the coastline within the Boca la Caja community are protected where legal ambiguity makes room for insecure tenancy. CLTs are typically utilized in low-income areas as a way for the community to manage the most valuable asset within their community – its real estate. The management of the coastline CLT is performed by elected representatives within the community, if not their sector leaders. The unique ownership of the CLT model is designed to acquire land for the community, promote home ownership within the community, and ensure that the real estate prices remain affordable for future generations. In Boca la Caja, creation of a cooperative land trust will enable residents to create a collective bargaining tool to use when approaching developers and other agencies to create a development agreement or receive funding for their own redevelopment and relocation plans.

4.3- Strategy

The Roots of Empowerment team met with government agencies and interviewed private citizens to collect information that would aid in the creation of maps depicting the land uses, zoning, and titling status of the community of Boca la Caja. These data were used to describe the titling process and a possible method for the residents in the floodplain to gain

58 Chapter 4.0: Land Titling title. The maps identify the location of residents with or without titles, as well as those within the flood zone areas, and non-residential areas of public and private land for possible development.

Building on the Seeds of Hope 2009 cooperative concept, a cooperative land trust was seen as a potential option for the community of Boca la Caja to pursue as a means of organizing themselves. In this case, it could serve as a rallying point for titling efforts. A cooperative would give community members a way to represent themselves during negotiations with various stakeholders and an avenue to promote community goals and objectives to other groups such as the government, investors, or developers.

“Cooperatives function on the principle that combined resources and owner/member responsibility will benefit the member as well as the greater common good of the organization. The community will need to discern the form of the cooperative that will best serve the communal needs of its members. The purpose of developing a cooperative is to create economic opportunity through group-oriented action. The cooperative will serve as the development tool of the community in its implementation of other strategies recommended by the Seeds of Hope project. The cooperative will engage in construction, land management, and the regulation and operation of the economic development engines – the public market…This function will accommodate the creation of a community vision and manage any negotiations the cooperative will need to make with government, NGOs or private industry… The community cooperative will be used to unify land for redevelopment” (Seeds of Hope 2009, pg 15).

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4.4- Methodology

Titling information was primarily collected through interviews conducted with government officials in the Ministry of Housing and PRONAT, as well as the engineering consortium COES, and members of the community. Government websites were accessed to review public records of Boca la Caja and the cooperative formation guidelines. The Public Registry was used for establishing the legal tenure status (i.e. formal or informal) of Boca la Caja, and the Contraloria’s definition of a barrio was used to identify the geographical boundaries of Boca la Caja. IPACOOP’s cooperative registration guidelines were accessed to identify the process of creating a cooperative. Finally, the preliminary survey created by the Roots of Empowerment team also included questions to ascertain the tenure status of the community.

4.4.1 Interviews

The Roots of Empowerment team undertook various interviews to learn the titling process in Panama and the history of titling within Boca la Caja. Preliminary discussions between with Ministry of Housing Lawyer Irania Agrazal revealed a map confirming which residents possessed title in Boca la Caja. A copy of that map, detailing zones and sectors, was not provided during that preliminary meeting. Protocol required a formal request of information from the Florida State University. During a meeting with Ministry of Housing Director, Grace Clark, and Ms. Agrazal, a structured set of written questions were provided:

 What are the 7 sectors of Boca la Caja and where are their boundaries?

 Who is eligible to receive title? What are the requirements? Will they only own the structure or will they own the land and any structure built on it?  Have all the residents who are eligible to receive a title applied for a title? How many have received their titles, and how many are still in the process of receiving one?  Why is the titling process stalled? If possible, what can the residents do to speed up the process?  For those who have been rejected, what can they do to become eligible?

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 Where is the flood zone located? How many parcels are located in that zone?

 Is the flood zone designation established during the 1980s now outdated due to the construction of Corredor Sur and can it be changed?  If yes, how can the flood zone designation be changed? What is the process and can the residents influence that process in any way, i.e. by making physical changes to their residences, filing legal paperwork, etc.?  Would you be willing to offer your professional opinion on a cooperative trust if a particular scenario was presented along with an explanation of basic information concerning the process?

During a subsequent meeting with Ms. Agrazal, the group was redirected to the Division of Social Development within the Ministry of Housing. A census was requested from the Division of Social Development within the Ministry of Housing to include all of Boca la Caja. The census would serve five important and interrelated functions:

 Enumerating and collecting basic information on the affected parcels tobe registered (this information will be made public to the Cooperative Land Trust);  Registering the affected parcels’ plot measurements;

 Establishing a list of legitimate beneficiaries before the project’s onset to counter spurious claims from those moving into the project area solely in anticipation of benefits;  Laying a framework for subsequent socioeconomic research needed to establish fair compensation rates and to design, monitor, and evaluate sustainable development interventions;  Providing the Cooperative Land Trust with a baseline for the monitoring and evaluation of resident relocation and/or parcel payout.

The interviews with PRONAT Sub-Coordinator Mr. Del Rosario also produced a referral to a government-contracted cadastral surveying consortium, COES, and National Mortgage Bank Director, Ruben Gonzalez. Interviews with Engineer Marta Castro at COES provided official government cadastral and demographic data as well as the identification of the flood zone area and delineations of city blocks within Boca la Caja. Due to the absence of a sector map for Boca la Caja, the city blocks provided a unit of measurement and record known in

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Panama as a manzana. The Roots of Empowerment team used manzanas as a new form of surveying measurement, replacing sectors (Figure 4.1).

4.4.2 Parcel Data Collection

The physical mapping and zoning assessment of the proposed Cooperative Land Trust worked concurrently with aspects from two resettlement handbooks: The Involuntary Resettlement in IDB Projects: Principles and Guidelines Manual (1999) and the IFC’s Handbook for Preparing a Resettlement Action Plan (2002).

Using ArcGIS, parcel data from the Contraloria of the Republic of Panama was assembled for Boca la Caja to distinguish titled households from non-titled households, and to

Figure 4.1: Block Groups of Boca la Caja.

62 Chapter 4.0: Land Titling elaborate on the titling situation of non-titled households that had been rejected by the Ministry of Housing on the basis of their location within the floodplain. Most importantly, data from each level of government was compiled to explain to the community of Boca la Caja what their titling status was with the government and how it relates to the status of the community.

A land use map was also assembled from Contraloria data to identify land uses in the community such as residential, commercial, and industrial areas (see Land Use Map Figure 1.2, pg 2). From this data, we also identified mixed-use parcels and different residential types (Figure 4.2). It was the identification of the proclivity towards certain residential housing types that was evaluated in meetings with residents for the development of scenarios for new structures in the community.

Figure 4.2: Housing Types in Boca la Caja.

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Through the collection of additional parcel and zoning data from the Ministry of Housing, COES and PRONAT, a map was created of Boca la Caja that identified the floodplain and tenure status of residents (Figure 4.3). The locations of the members of the potential Cooperative Land Trust were subsequently identified. These parcels were to be informed of the status of their title registration and the different redevelopment plans under consideration for Boca la Caja.

Concurrently, Roots of Empowerment needed to identify the adverse impacts the project would have on its residents. The planning for Boca la Caja’s Cooperative Land Trust involves more than simple cadastral surveys or inventories of affected assets. The Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust action plan identified affected residents and impacts through a series of actions already completed, and proposed steps for the trust.

Figure 4.3: Floodplain Limits and Cooperative Land Trust.

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These actions and steps include:

 Thematic maps identifying such features as lot measurements, natural flood plain areas, and land use patterns;  Census data that enumerates the affected people and registered them according to location;  Zoning inventory of lost and affected land, and legal assets at the household and enterprise levels for sale (proposed);  Analysis of surveys to establish compensation parameters, to design appropriate income restoration and sustainable development initiatives, and to identify baseline-monitoring indicators (proposed);  Consultation with affected parties regarding mitigation of effects and development opportunities within Boca la Caja (proposed).

4.4.3 IPACOOP

The Roots of Empowerment initiative sought to provide Boca la Caja with a specific institutional framework that corresponds with the guidelines of the Republic of Panama’s Instituto Panameño Autónomo Cooperativo (IPACOOP), a cooperative registering agency, on how to form a cooperative. Those guideline methods involved:

 Project Formulation  Group Request  Identification  Preliminary Meetings with the Group  Review of Documentation  Registration of Cooperative

4.4.4 Survey

Although the preliminary survey was primarily focused on identifying social capital within the community, the survey also asked for community members’ perceptions of land tenure issues in Boca la Caja.

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4.5- Findings & Analysis

4.5.1 Collective Patrimony

In an informal meeting with Professor Olmedo Varela the viability of a cooperative was discussed, as was its English to Spanish translation into Panamanian law and procedure. Professor Varela’s referral to the Licenciado (Licensed) Mr. Carlos Lee Moreno, a lawyer for the Instituto Cooperativo Interamericano, or Interamerican Cooperative Institute (ICI), explained how a cooperative land trust could establish itself in Spanish civil code and Panamanian legal procedure: patrimonio colectivo, or collective patrimony. The idea of collective patrimony is the legal union of rights and assets that exist, in both an individual and collective sense, as a legal entity. This speaks of an organization’s assets: the set of assets, rights and obligations pertaining to a firm as a legal entity, and of which are the economic and financial means through which it can meet its objectives. In Panamanian civil code, one’s patrimony is their individual legal existence. Once signed over collectively to the Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust, it presents itself as a greater legal viability.

Boca la Caja residents feel that the government does not provide legal clarification for individual titles or assistance to obtain them. A personeria juridica, or legal entity, can be used to clarify and/or negotiate titles for all Boca la Caja residents. In Panamanian civil code, establishing a cooperative through IPACOOP can create a legal entity for a large collection of residents. To register a cooperative, IPACOOP requires a declaration of identity, better known as a patrimony. A declaration of identity, or patrimony, can legally be declared in the forming of a “Foundation”. Creating the goals of the Foundation would serve to mobilize residents to unify for the purpose of obtaining titles to their land, and to declare a collective identity, or patrimonio colectivo.

Committee for the Defense of Community Peace and Integrity

Boca la Caja is capable of a unified declaration of patrimony. Community leaders and residents openly discuss issues of patrimony at regular meetings held by the Committee for

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Defense of Community Peace and Integrity. Issues such as: tenure security and property title for all Boca la Caja residents, their legal and economic rights to their land, and existence as a safe fishing community with proper infrastructure. This community civic group proves that Boca la Caja is capable of internally working towards a mutually beneficial resolution on small issues. This ability could be applied to resolve parcel conflicts within the community, along an agreed upon set of guidelines. Community leadership should acknowledge that parcel conflicts exist, which would verify the government’s claim that internal conflict amongst parcel claims of metes and bounds is impeding any kind of titling initiative. Since government agencies cannot find a solution to the servidumbre issue, PRONAT is open to any options offered by Boca la Caja. If undertaken by community residents, this ‘bottom-up’ approach would alleviate a laborious and costly problem that stunts the titling process for the government. Current leadership can incorporate into the larger goals, by-laws and guidelines of the proposed Foundation, Cooperative Land Trust or NGO, the acknowledged capacity to build consensus and resolve parcel conflicts. Leadership in Boca la Caja could retain a lawyer to file those initial legal declarations.

Legal Code

In investigating Panamanian Civil Code, the Roots of Empowerment initiative discovered concrete legal codes that tie together the initiatives and strategies of a Foundation for Security, the Cooperative Land Trust, collective patrimony and possessory right. If the people of Boca la Caja chose to unify, they should first recognize themselves as the Foundation for Security in Tenancy under Article 68 of the Civil Code wherein a charter is declared outlining the parameters of collective patrimony within a Cooperative Land Trust and as a Non-Governmental Organization with the Department of Coordination and Promotion of Actions in Marginal Areas (COPRAM) (Appendix B). The Cooperative Land Trust can then recognize itself as a fishing cooperative when it meets with its IPACOOP representative during initial stages of registration. The Cooperative Land Trust can recognize itself as any industry, collection of service oriented jobs, or households under IPACOOP definition, because the

67 Chapter 4.0: Land Titling primary issue is tenure security for both their businesses and personal property on an initial non-profit basis. The Cooperative Land Trust then collectivizes its patrimony into its personeria juridica (legal entity) through IPACOOP (Article 6 of Law 17, 1st of May 1997) (Appendix B). Once the Foundation for Security in Tenancy obtains titles for stakeholders, the Cooperative Land Trust can disband under the appropriate requirement of Article 87 of Law 17, May 1st 1997 (Appendix B). From this point, members have the ability to liquidate land jointly as a for- profit NGO and business entity under Article 529 of the Code of Business (Appendix B), or under the legal regime of private interest non-profit foundations found within Law 25, June 14th, 1995 (Appendix B).

4.5.2 Ministry of Housing, Department of Informal Settlements

Answers to the structured set of written questions provided to the Ministry of Housing’s (MIVI) Department of Informal Settlements proved to be inconclusive in regards to the delineations of sectors by metes and bounds. The answers stated that some residents are always eligible to apply for their titles when their lots do not have any kind of conflicts, or when they do not find themselves in the servidumbre. The MIVI Department of Informal Settlements’ lawyer, Irania Agrazal, stated that in 2011 there have been 27 property titles turned in that stayed without being legalized. One can say that some 30% of inhabitants find themselves in the stunted process of not receiving title due to finding themselves in the servidumbre. This stalled progress is due in part to the servidumbre not being disaffected by various proprietors, including the National Mortgage Bank. The National Mortgage Bank has not hurried to resolve the situation.

The Roots of Empowerment team was informed by MIVI that the servidumbre runs concurrent with the flood zone. Flood zone questions were referred to SINAPROC, while servidumbre limits were characterized by MIVI, allowing for a flood-zone/servidumbre map to be created by the Roots of Empowerment project team, using state sanctioned PRONAT data collected by the engineering consortium COES (see Figure 4.3, pg 61). MIVI stated that the limits of the floodplain have changed due to the construction of the Corredor Sur. Ms. Agrazal

68 Chapter 4.0: Land Titling explained that the department would be willing to offer a professional opinion on a cooperative land trust, but Boca la Caja is in a ‘legal limbo’ that is magnified bythe government’s lack of capacity and interest to resolve such a complex matter. These agents of change can be developed through fluid communication amongst titling stakeholders and consensus with the titling organisms of the government.

4.5.3 National Program for the Administration of Lands, PRONAT

The Roots of Empowerment team joined Professor Lisa Vera on an interview of the sub -coordinator of PRONAT at ANATI, Rainier Del Rosario Franco. Mr. Del Rosario commented that there are three immediate scenarios under consideration that would allow the residents of Boca la Caja to achieve a certain level of formality and to remain within the community. He also acknowledged the viability of a collective legal entity in gaining title.

Scenario 1 – Rights of Possession

This scenario officially recognizes the right of possession of residents, but does not grant them a title. This will grant the residents the right to remain in Boca la Caja, currently a contentious issue due to the location of a large number of households in the flood zone.

Scenario 2 – Limited Title

The second scenario would involve changing the current zoning law to grant a title to residents with certain limitations. For example, once a title is granted, the parcel can only be used for low-density residential purposes not for high-density development, however medium -density residences would be allowed. Another example is that the parcel cannot be resold immediately. This requires residents to remain in the community for a certain period of time after having received a title.

Scenario 3 – Rental Option

The third scenario is an administrative concession whereby the Ministry of Housing would rent properties to individual residents for a predetermined number of years (20, 30 or 50 years).

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The Roots of Empowerment team focused on scenario 2, and incorporated an analysis of current Panamanian civil code. Collective patrimony and personeria juridica (legal entity) were findings that give legal credence to the proposed Foundation for Security. This scenario would give the residents a formal title and could limit the type of development that can take place in Boca la Caja. Since the residents have expressed a desire to limit the densification of their community, and PRONAT has communicated its desire to keep residents from immediately selling their land should a title be granted, the limited development clause of the titling strategy can benefit both parties. Additionally, according to the Municipal Plan for Panama, the corregimiento of San Francisco is creating new usable areas using the current land from the Paitilla Airport and through the gradual densification of the district of San Francisco – substituting detached single-family houses for apartment complexes. This will absorb growth in the district, which is estimated to grow to 60,000 people by 2020. This means that most of the residential area is likely to remain with the relatively low densities it currently holds and allows Boca la Caja residents to limit certain types of densification in the community.

Mr. Del Rosario provided visual confirmation of a cadastral map of Boca la Caja with delineated parcel data, an explanation of possible state data, and the referral to the Engineering Consortium that had originally produced the cadastral data of Boca la Caja. During a secondary meeting with Mr. Del Rosario he provided more clarification concerning the land policy and the legal ambiguity surrounding Boca la Caja. He commented that titling issues that Boca la Caja possessed were ones that would require the National Assembly to solve them because of their complexity. The interview also provided a referral to Ruben Gonzalez of the National Mortgage Bank in regards to financial affairs of Boca la Caja. Mr. Del Rosario suggested that if half the legal and development solution was provided by the community then the state could meet them halfway. The community must take the initiative to unite and find a solution to their problems. Mr. Del Rosario phrased it as “a matter of them maintaining their problem on the minds of those who govern.” Boca la Caja, as a community, has always been self-sufficient, and demanded services from the government only when necessary. Boca la Caja must insist upon an inclusive, understanding process in a non-adversarial manner. This should be done by a recognized legal entity (i.e. Foundation, NGO, Cooperative Land Trust, or Junta Local).

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In a visit to the Engineering Consortium COES, the company that performed the most recent cadastral sweep of Boca la Caja, engineer Marta Castro illustrated examples of data and maps the consortium’s cadastral sweep could provide. The data provided was official state property and the latest data the government had on Boca la Caja. When prompted to illustrate where the flood zone is located, the engineer delineated the possible flood zone as a section of homes along the waterline. The electronic demographic and cadastral database collected by the consortium was then handed over to the Roots of Empowerment team after an official release of ‘state property’ was presented to their consortium from PRONAT Sub- Coordinator Mr. Del Rosario. The maps created from this data illustrated homes known by PRONAT, and MIVI’s Department of Informal Settlements, to be ‘without title’ (Figure 4.4), the previously mentioned servidumbre map, and a manzanas map that delineated the unit of

Figure 4.4: Parcels without title in Boca la Caja.

71 Chapter 4.0: Land Titling measurement used by COES to characterize a city block within Boca la Caja.

The interview of Mr. Del Rosario also addressed one property of note, with title, along the coast. The particular parcel was an anomaly, with the National Mortgage Bank registered as its ‘owner’. The Roots of Empowerment project team inquired into the parcel at the National Mortgage Bank and was informed that it was a part of the Bank’s plan for Boca la Caja, but no further information could be provided. The Roots of Empowerment team was unable to determine why it received title in an area that, according to current legal interpretations, should not be titled. Mr. Del Rosario informed Roots of Empowerment that a massive government titling process was first initiated in the interior because of the rural farms’ complete lack of land titles. When the process was begun in the city it encountered difficulties with money being invested, but no titles being issued. Mr. Del Rosario then gave shape to the ‘Plan B’ initiative created by the Ministry of Housing which used to give legal documents that recognized that someone resided on a particular parcel, so utilities could be connected, without giving a property title. The document permitted the mortgaging bank to bill the parcel without a property title. In order to bill land, an approved plan was needed from the government’s cadastral office. At that time during ‘Plan B’ there was already an “approved plan” within the National Mortgage Bank, and the National Mortgage Bank had been charging money despite not having property titles. The government proposed that instead of waiting for the companies to finish the cadastral sweeps, and to help measure and push titling along, the government worked with what the bank already had on file. Because it was an approved plan, it could not be changed, even if a later cadastral sweep challenged it. That was known as Plan B, the titling of parcels belonging to the Mortgage Bank, but not many made it through the process. It was titling, but not officially the product of PRONAT.

The idea of a collective patrimony and cooperative land trust was proposed to Mr. Del Rosario and explained as the collective sale of the right to declare a possessory right. He saw it as complicated because of the law. The law recognizes the possessory right and the property, i.e. individual property and the collective property, but he could not find the fundamentals of collective possessory rights in current interpretations of land policy and admitted it would require further research. When prompted for a policy suggestion or change in law, he stated

72 Chapter 4.0: Land Titling the cooperative as a protected entity could acquire title, but from the collective point of view it would be difficult because the law currently does not recognize collective possessory rights. If introduced as a cooperative of small merchants then titles could be obtained cheaply. In Boca la Caja’s case, if the community registered a cooperative or NGO for themselves as a legal entity, it would be easier and they could receive title. However, because the entirety of the land would be titled in the name of the NGO, it could be much more expensive.

Mr. Del Rosario reiterated that titling is all a question of social pressure. What Boca la Caja must do is organize and pressure the government because it would achieve a heightened level of social sympathy. Mr. Del Rosario then assured that if a resolution to the conflict in property claims, and the issues of Boca la Caja, came from within the community, the government would support them in their titling endeavor, because they have resolved a problem for themselves.

4.5.4 Women’s Meeting

The Roots of Empowerment team learned a great deal in regards to titling at the women’s meeting in Boca la Caja. Previously, the Roots of Empowerment team had been told that the people in Boca la Caja that did not have title was due to those people living in the flood zone. When the Roots of Empowerment team proposed this theory to the women in attendance they all disagreed saying that “there are people who don’t live in the flood zone and still don’t have title.” The Roots of Empowerment team was informed by one other woman that she resided in what was once the servidumbre/flood zone prior to the construction of the Corredor Sur in 2000, but that legality has changed. Parcels such as hers were now considered to be on “solid earth”, as opposed to the flood zone, but would still find themselves in a stalled titling process and legal limbo. Cadastral data surveyed by COES is not consistent with this testimony, leading us to believe that government records are grossly outdated. Marisin, a resident at the women’s meeting, said she believed people do not have title because the purchase of the Corredor Sur included a fifty-two hectare purchase of land which goes into the sea. The finalized sale of that land had just been publicly presented in the

73 Chapter 4.0: Land Titling newspaper on July 26th, 2011. A company or government entity behind that purchase was offering residents along the waterline large sums of money for their lands and a title elsewhere, but neglected to address the still untitled residents residing in the pre-Corredor Sur flood zone. Since those events, appraisers and government agents had come into the community to discuss title, sale or staying and that unity was needed first and foremost.

The Roots of Empowerment team asked the women whether or not they would sell their land, and a majority of them said they would. When asked ‘why’ they proceeded to explain that the people around Boca la Caja are people of wealth, and those people won’t let Boca la Cajans live the way they want. It was stated that more than 200 people in Boca la Caja would sell and were offered $4,000 per meter for their land, but this offer fell through. The women went on to explain that the recent crime and insecurity within the community plays a major role in their decision to leave. Another reason for the women wanting to sell is to help their families financially. Several of the women have homes in other provinces, or family members they can move in with, so if the offer was right, they would sell and give the sale profits to their children.

The Roots of Empowerment team members at the women’s meeting asked the women of Boca la Caja about a conversation between Richard Morales and the team. Morales stated that there had been community members that had spoken with an attorney and expressed an interest in forming an NGO. The women responded that they were still interested in forming an NGO and that the attorneys came and told them what they needed to do to begin the process, however they had not returned.

4.5.5 Survey

The preliminary survey also asked multiple questions which directly pertained to the current titling situation within Boca la Caja. The preliminary survey provides a limited view on the titling situation within Boca la Caja because only 39 community members responded to the survey and not every one of those 39 respondents provided an answer to every survey question pertaining to titling.

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The survey asked a series of questions Table 4.1: Ownership Status that was meant to provide information about Frequency Percent where people lived within the community and a. What sector do you live in? their status as a property and/or homeowner. 1 1 3% According to Table 4.1a, the majority of 2 0 0% respondents lived within sector five while no 3 4 11% one reported living in sector two, and the 4 7 19% other sectors had very limited representation. 5 22 61% There was one response of 73 to this 6 2 6% 7 0 0% question; this is not a sector within the Total 36 100 community of Boca la Caja and it was b. Are you a homeowner? suggested that 73 may be a house number or Homeowner 32 91% street number. As shown in Table 4.1b, the Tenent 2 6% majority of those responding to the Usofruct 1 3% preliminary survey were homeowners, while Total 35 100% very few stated that they were tenants, living c. Do you have documentation indicating that you own your land? within the servidumbre, or had the status of Yes 24 62% usufructo which means that one has a legal No 12 31% right to use land that belongs to someone Otro 1 3% else. Also, as seen in Table 4.1c, the majority Rent 1 3% of respondents, 24, indicated that they have Servinumbre 1 3% documentation showing that they own their Total 39 100% land, while twelve stated that they do not d. If you do not have title, why not? have documentation. There was only one Not aware 5 38% person that stated that they live within the Not interested 0 0% servidumbre, which makes them ineligible to Financially Incapable 2 15% receive property titles. This is the only Title Request Rejected 2 15% question asked by the preliminary survey Rent 1 8% Other 3 23% pertaining to titling that every survey Total 13 100%

75 Chapter 4.0: Land Titling respondent answered. The respondents were asked to provide a reason why they did not possess their property title and the majority that responded to that question stated that they were not aware of the reason why they did not possess their title (Table 4.1d, preceding page). The next series of questions were meant to determine how many respondents were in the process of acquiring their property titles, and of those that were not why they weren’t. As seen in Table 4.2a, twelve respondents stated they were in the process of acquiring their land title, eighteen stated they were not in the process, and nine did not answer. Two questions were asked to gauge how many people would be willing to sell their property, and how many would be willing to relocate. As shown by Table 4.2 b&c, the majority of respondents stated they would be willing to sell their property for compensation; however, the majority of respondents stated they would be willing to relocate within the community of Boca la Caja during a revitalization of Boca la Caja.

Table 4.2: Title Acquisition and Willingness to Relocate b. Would you be c. Would you be willing to be a. Are you in the process of willing to sell your relocated during a revitalization of aquiring title to your land? land? Boca la Caja? Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Frequency Percent

Yes 12 40% 21 68% 14 41% No 18 60% 10 32% 20 59% Total 30 100% 31 100% 34 100%

4.6- Recommendations

To better facilitate the understanding and implementation of the Roots of Empowerment recommendations, it is important to know there are two overall goals that spearheaded their creation: to improve social capital and to improve equity within Boca la Caja. The following are the recommendations that can help achieve those goals:

Build trust and improve communication

 Formulate a partnership with the IPACOOP to assist the community’s organization

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efforts as an autonomous Cooperative Land Trust and legally viable negotiating authority.  Develop partnerships with key members of government as a registered Foundation for Security.  Develop a partnership with PRONAT to facilitate a negotiation of the community’s titling efforts and tenancy issues.  Strengthen communication with Panama City.

Create Public Interest Organizations

 Establish fishing cooperative.  Establish a Foundation for Security Create Civic Organizations

 Create a Junta Local in Boca la Caja.  Develop a Cooperative Land Trust (CLT). Implement a Land-Based Financing Initiative to Obtain Capital for Redevelopment

 Finance real estate to capture the value of designated parcels or land trust en mass. Utilize the Cooperative Land Trust land assets as collateral to obtain credit

 Utilize development loan programs available through the Ministry of Housing and National Mortgaging Bank. Sale of Cooperative Land Trust land holdings

 The Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust residents choose to sell the land assets of the Foundation’s Collective Patrimony in a liquidation or dissolution.  In the event of a sale of land assets by the Cooperative Land Trust, the allocation of a set-aside can be guaranteed.

4.7- Conclusion

The issues of land titling difficulties for residents of Boca la Caja, and a lack of governmental communication, have been the central foci of the titling component of the Roots of Empowerment project. These recommendations have been created in coordination with the crime and urban design components to develop potential community redevelopment plans. The titling process is intended to benefit the community by providing the primary lots in conflict with Panamanian law and real estate interests an equitable, transparent and

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5.1- Introduction

The findings and analysis of the Roots of Empowerment project team produced several recommendations that might be followed by the community of Boca la Caja to improve the community environment and create a better future for its citizens. Many of the recommendations address social capital improvement related to the primary issues that concern community residents: crime and land tenure. Other recommendations deal specifically with actions to be taken to facilitate the accomplishment of tasks to improve conditions in the community. Lastly, the importance of understanding changes in Panama City and proactively adapting the community to those changes is discussed.

5.2- Community Identity

Actions that further communication within the community and create common purpose and identity are beneficial to the long term security of Boca la Caja. Efforts should continue to achieve full sector involvement and groups such as community youth and women should be allowed a greater voice in guiding the formulation and definition of the community’s identity. The Committee for the Defense of Community Peace and Integrity represents both the Catholic and Evangelical churches in the community and has growing legitimacy within the community. The group is successfully negotiating a process that brought trash collection to the community and is working to ensure that the dumpsters are placed in a fair manner. The goals of the organization and the experience they are gaining places them in a position to implement further social capital based security programs such as Vecinos Vigilantes, the Panamanian version of neighborhood watch. Additionally, they are building the linkages with schools servicing their community to influence administration to incorporate DARE, Youth Against Crime, and PEDRO programs offered by the Panamanian National Police. This group is actively attempting to broaden its membership and is determined to make an impact in the community. As the Committee gains experience in tackling community issues it will be able to assist local schools with improvements in the PTA programs by acting as a conduit of information for parents unable to participate. The group benefits from the passion

78 Chapter 5.0: Recommendations and dedication of its members and a great depth of leadership.

5.2.1 Community Groups

Boca la Caja is full of people who desire to contribute toward making a difference. Success will come by encouraging each to do what they can and through recognition that it must be done together. There is a need within the community for positive role models for the community’s youth. By forming a youth group that encourages youths to pursue their varied interests supported by community mentors Boca la Caja can meet the needs of those who wish to participate and make a positive difference as well as the needs of community youth seeking direction and guidance in life. As community mentors are identified and the participation increases a mentorship program could be expanded into an after-school program providing community youths a safe space to interact after school hours monitored by community mentors and leaders. The identity of the community should include input from the community youth. They need a forum to discuss, understand, and contribute to the community’s identity. They should be invited to share their experiences of the community and speak about gang membership and concerns about gangs in a non-threatening environment. Until the community understands the real reasons youth are joining gangs, community solidarity will be incomplete.

The establishment of a women’s group would be beneficial to women who become or want to become involved and also for the community as a whole. As witnessed at the women’s meeting held with the women of The Roots of Empowerment team, women who held back at the community meetings began to participate and express their concerns and suggestions for Boca la Caja. Some of the assistance that the women’s group would provide is already occurring. An established women’s group could support the current committee and be an intermediary for some social responsibilities within the community, such as helping with funeral arrangements, support for the needy, and counseling for those in need. By formally organizing a women’s group, the skills required and currently being exercised to meet community needs can be taught to others to ensure that the efforts continue, and to relieve strain on the individuals orchestrating these efforts privately. The suggested women’s group

79 Chapter 5.0: Recommendations would also be beneficial for its involvement in creation of community festivals for the residents of Boca la Caja. The women’s group could create annual festivals, like “The Children’s Day Celebration”, which was an event planned by some of the adults in Boca la Caja to encourage community participation and unity.

5.2.2 Open Communication

It is critically important that the community come together to speak about how violence has, and is, impacting their lives. Speaking about fears in a public forum demonstrates that many fears and anxieties are shared by everyone and reinforces the fact that there are a large number of people in the community who can be trusted. Discussion of past violence also helps to heal the wounds. Lost members of the community will not be forgotten, but without reconciliation the community loses more than what has already been lost.

The residents of Boca la Caja can work together to create a message that challenges commonly held perceptions. In the case of Boca la Caja, there are three audiences of concern: the residents of Boca la Caja themselves, the people of Panama City, and the drug traffickers and criminals who feel that Boca la Caja is a safe place to do their business. The message, a reflection of the community identity and social norms, should instill pride in residents, challenge the misperceptions of Panamanians, and cause criminals to question whether or not their activities in Boca la Caja will go unreported. Messaging is important because it creates a new frame in which future observations may be evaluated by members of the audience. Consider for a moment how a drug or gang arrest in the Boca la Caja neighborhood might be interpreted by the audiences described. If the environment has been shaped previously with the message “Boca la Caja seeks police partnership to reduce crime in Panama City,” then the arrests can be viewed as progress by residents of Boca la Caja, a paradigm challenging turn around by the people of Panama City, and a warning to criminals. The existence of the message changes the dialogue and places Boca la Caja residents in the situation as actors. Instead of suffering silent condemnation, each new arrest and cooperative action empowers residents for further action. Messaging should be an active part of a community strategy

80 Chapter 5.0: Recommendations moving toward reintegration with the Panama City community. Communication of community progress and desires to the other citizens of San Francisco corregimiento is also recommended.

5.2.3 Participation in Vecinos Vigilantes

Boca la Caja possesses great strengths and a remarkable history of independence. Since its founding it has become surrounded by, and increasingly connected to, Panama City and many of the issues its citizens face are no longer the problems of Boca la Caja alone. Crime, violence, and gang-activity are impacting all of Panama City and it is important for Boca la Caja to participate in the larger efforts for the sake of Boca la Caja and for the sake of Panama City. Forming a Vecinos Vigilantes (Neighborhood Watch) has the potential to improve safety in Boca la Caja, increase social connections between Boca la Caja and the Panamanian community, and improve relations with the National Police. Joining Vecinos Vigilantes requires that a community form a board comprised of seven members:

 President  Vice President  Secretary  Treasurer  Spokesman  Fiscal clerk (2)

The meetings themselves are attended by many top-ranking members of the National Police and demonstrate a dramatic showing of police support for the community. Typically, crime throughout the city is discussed and each corregimiento reports on arrests and trends. Community members are able to ask questions and discuss issues with the police officers in attendance and there is a small presentation on an issue impacting the city. Afterthe formalities are completed the meeting adjourns and participants enjoy dinner and socialization with each other and members of their National Police.

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5.3- Modifying Neighborhood Design

It is tempting to read the CPTED literature and use it to blame the twisting pathways and narrow alleys of Boca la Caja for the crime taking place there, but that would be incorrect. CPTED principles can, however, inform community decisions about their space and guide building and improvement processes to reduce the capacity of a space to make people vulnerable. The project team concluded that several additions or concepts of development can improve the security environment in Boca la Caja.

 Community center  Police watchpost  Street and alley lighting  ‘Sea gates’  Increased police access or surveillance

5.3.1 A Place for Community

A community center is essential as a focal point for bringing the varied interests together and encouraging communication between groups. A community center becomes a central neutral space that the entire community has an interest in preserving and defending. It can provide a space for youth mentoring and activities, a women’s group meeting, traditional music and dance, and a place for the community to define itself and share. Having a space to hold these community events will increase the social capital within Boca la Caja and give community members in all sectors the opportunity to participate in community events. Community boards are another venue for residents to communicate with one another and advertise upcoming events and festivities. The Roots of Empowerment team suggests that a community board be placed at the community center in Boca la Caja so every sector has an opportunity to share events and ideas with the entire community.

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5.3.2 Creating Security

Police presence and response in Boca la Caja can be improved by the construction of a police watchpost. The National Police provide the building materials to any community interested in constructing a watchpost and then staff the watchpost with National Police personnel 24/7. A watchpost provides an opportunity for increased socialization and communication between the police and the community and increases surveillance of the public spaces in two ways. First, people are less likely to misbehave in the presence of authority. Second, people are more likely to enforce the social norms of the community if they are confident that they are protected. The community is also more likely to geta response from police stationed within the community than from those stationed in San Francisco. San Francisco police precinct has only four patrol cars and two motorcycles and a responsibility to protect 100,000 people.

Natural surveillance becomes difficult after darkness falls. The narrow alleys and twisting paths of Boca la Caja make natural surveillance even more difficult. Lighting many of the public spaces of Boca la Caja will help ease fears by making surveillance easier. The community should discuss siting lamp poles and lights throughout the community that will afford people lit routes of access to and from their homes at night. Additionally, it could be agreed upon that community members will open their curtains at night to shed led into the alleyways and paths until such lighting can be installed. Community members can also consider social solutions to this issue such as safety whistles that people promise to respond to by calling police or notifying the officer at the watchpost.

CPTED principles recommend that communities control access to increase predictability and make neighborhoods ‘more local.’ The greatest impact the community seems to experience related to crime and gangs appears to be fueled by the community’s location along the coast and potential for drug smuggling. The Corredur Sur provides an unexpected benefit in this respect by limiting the access of the community to the sea. Consideration could be given to the installation of ‘sea gates’ on the access ways to the sea. The community could limit the use of their sea access to those with socially legitimate needs

83 Chapter 5.0: Recommendations by locking the gates at night after all of the fisherman have returned.

Lastly, the community can consider straightening and widening alleys to increase natural surveillance and police access. This option is potentially traumatic to the community and may require substantial change. It should only be pursued when everyone’s voice has been heard and all concerns have been addressed, because, it has the potential to create more problems than it solves by displacing and displeasing individuals and families.

5.4- Titling

Titling remains a potentially divisive issue within the community and magnifies the impact of income inequality. Uncertainty of tenure and unemployment may contribute to a culture of fear that is easily exploited by gang-leaders. Maintaining titling as a community level issue and working together to secure tenure for all members of the community further increases solidarity and reduces opportunities for exploitation by criminal elements.

The Roots of Empowerment initiative recommends that Boca la Caja build trust and improve communication with its own community members and the larger metropolitan Panama City in the following ways.

5.4.1 Key Partnerships

The Roots of Empowerment team recommends the formulation of a partnership with IPACOOP for the purpose of assisting the community’s organization efforts as an autonomous Cooperative Land Trust and legally viable negotiating authority. Registering with IPACOOP as the Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust identifies Boca la Caja’s “Collective Patrimony”. The steps IPACOOP requires are noted in Appendix B.

The Roots of Empowerment team recommends developing partnerships with key members of government as a registered Foundation for Security. By holding routine meetings with the Ministry of Housing’s Director of Informal Settlements (MIVI) and Desarrollo Social (MIDES) designate to discuss issues of land titling in Boca la Caja as a registered Foundation,

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Boca la Caja can direct the selection of its community leader(s) from the Foundation’s chartered Cooperative Land Trust to act as the liaison in coordination with the Department of Informal Settlements and the Ministry of Social Development. The individual(s) should be designated with the input from Land Trust residents to ensure that all essential items and concerns of the Cooperative are addressed. There should be an initial meeting between community leader(s) in Boca la Caja, the Cooperative Land Trust Leadership, and the identified official within the Ministry of Housing and the Ministry of Social Development; the purpose of this meeting will be to address initial questions specific to the community on an introductory basis so that future scheduled meetings can occur. The designated leader(s) should determine from an introductory meeting with the Department of Informal Settlements the necessary steps to be completed for Cooperative Land Trust residents to negotiate measures towards determining the legality of title as a non-profit private-interest Foundation. If necessary, additional meetings will be held between the designated leaders and the Department of Informal Settlements and the Ministry of Social Development to address any issues which may further inhibit the titling process. The identified contact within the Ministry of Housing for all future correspondence, in the immediate future, with Boca la Caja can be: Irania Agrazal, Lawyer - Department of Informal Settlements. The identified contact within the Ministry of Social Development can be: Jaime Aleman, Director of State Subsidies.

The Roots of Empowerment members suggest developing a partnership with PRONAT for the purpose of facilitating a negotiation of the community’s titling efforts and tenancy issues. Selected leader(s) from the Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust community can act as the liaison in coordination with the PRONAT Office. The individual(s) should be determined with the input from Cooperative stakeholders to ensure that all essential items and concerns of the community are addressed. The designated Cooperative Land Trust leader(s) should liaise with the contact in the PRONAT Office and demonstrate a clear understanding of the details of the community’s strategic plan and needs so that all criteria can be knowledgeably discussed during scheduled meetings. The designated Cooperative Land Trust leader(s) should meet with the contact in the PRONAT office to address initial questions specific tothe community on an introductory basis so that future scheduled meetings can occur. The

85 Chapter 5.0: Recommendations identified contact within PRONAT for all future correspondence, in the immediate future, with Boca la Caja can be: Licenciado Rainier Alexis Del Rosario Franco, Sub-Coordinator of PRONAT. Future meetings regarding the Cooperative Land Trust initiative of mass titling in Boca la Caja should be planned subsequent to the successful organization of the Cooperative Land Trust.

5.4.2 Community Organization and Land Trust

A government recognized entity is necessary in order to provide residents with a political voice. The Roots of Empowerment members recommend creating various public interest organizations such as a fishing cooperative and the Foundation for Security. The first step in the process is to unite the fishing industry in Boca la Caja and establish a fishing cooperative. There is a fishing cooperative in Chorrillo founded in 1965 that serves as an example. The cooperative could be supported by a community fishing market and would allow those involved in the fishing industry, from net repairers to fishermen, to unify for insurance purposes, to purchase large volumes of fishing-related products, or to better support local fishing boat repair. The cooperative could also advocate for fishermen in political andlegal arenas. Fishing cooperatives in Panama are a co-organization run under the direction of IPACOOP, Autoridad Marítima, and JICA-Panamá. The second step is contacting IPACOOP to begin the steps for formal recognition. To establish a Foundation for Security, the founding leaders should retain a attorney to file papers for the Foundation, charter the constitution of the Boca la Caja Foundation for Security, and subsequently charter a constitution of the Cooperative Land Trust. Specific problems within Boca la Caja (titling, crime, urban design), could be improved through the formation of an NGO or Foundation that focuses directly on those issues. Addressing these issues with larger government organizations will be the difficult part. In order to locate agents of change, community leaders in Boca la Caja should first declare a set of values and issues to be addressed. These sets of values and issues can be used to attract stakeholders interested in addressing them and can be incorporated into the larger ‘Foundation’ or NGO.

The Roots of Empowerment members recommend the creation of civic organizations,

86 Chapter 5.0: Recommendations as well. Creating a Junta Local in Boca la Caja, otherwise known as “Junta de Desarrollo Local (Law 37),” can act as the organizational leader in the community because it is recognized as a governing board within the community by the Panamanian government. The Junta Local should be representational of the entire community and needs to include members from each sector, or geographic division to allow more social cohesion between all community members and the various organizations within Boca la Caja. The Junta Local is also encouraged to work with outside political and governmental organizations and act as the voice of the community to deliver a consistent message concerning the community’s identity and needs. Most importantly, the Junta Local will be a bridge between the community and government processes. It is recommended that the Junta Local organize the community center and work closely with the Foundation for Security, the fishing cooperative, the businesses in the central business district and the Cooperative Land Trust.

The Roots of Empowerment strongly recommend the development of a cooperative land trust (CLT). The CLT should consolidate their separate parcels into a singular unit to facilitate the mass organization of the area with the goal of creating an autonomous representative body that will be present during negotiations concerning the potential development of the waterline area. The CLT, a non-profit foundation, will operate under the direct oversight of the registered cooperative residents and will select a board of directors to oversee and manage the operations of the trust. The board of directors will consist of the elected leaders within the Boca la Caja waterline area. A cadastral registry of parcels will be characterized by the Cooperative Land Trust in its formalization of assets and subsequent registration with IPACOOP (see Appendix B).

Individuals will release their patrimonial right to declare possessory right of title, or legally recognized possessory right and/or title, to the Cooperative Land Trust’s greater right of ownership that is transferable and recognized as a collective patrimony or a collective possessory right. A selection of the leader(s) from the Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust community should act as the liaison in coordination with the IPACOOP Office. The individual(s) should be determined with the input from residents from all sectors to ensure that all essential items and concerns of the community are addressed. The designated leader(s) that

87 Chapter 5.0: Recommendations will coordinate with the contact in the IPACOOP Office should demonstrate a clear understanding of the details of the community’s strategic plan so that all criteria can be knowledgeably discussed during scheduled meetings. There should be an initial meeting between community leader(s) in Boca la Caja to identify an official within the IPACOOP Office; the purpose of this meeting will be to address initial questions specific to the community on an introductory basis so that future scheduled meetings can occur. The Cooperative Land Trust should register with the affiliated IPACOOP branch. Additionally, the Cooperative will register with the national government and MIDES as a Foundation. The trust will ensure that relocation and/or set-aside real estate within the community remains affordable to current waterline residents by controlling future sales and purchases within the registered areas of Boca la Caja. This will be accomplished based upon the selected or developed CLT model constitution that will dictate the terms of real estate transactions and relinquishing of the community. The re- purpose of land or adjacent water for redevelopment, known as a land-grab, is sanctioned by a Cooperative’s ability to declare lands or adjacent water within its use as such.

The Roots of Empowerment team recommends the implementation of a land-based financing initiative to obtain capital for redevelopment through the financing of real estate to capture the value of designated parcels or land trust en mass. The residents of the Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust are strongly urged to determine, as a community, if the entire Land Trust wants to finance the land en mass or particular real estate if selling of land is not desired, for a redevelopment plan. If financing is chosen, the Cooperative Land Trust Board of Directors obtains a real estate attorney who drafts these contracts and a bank to act as an escrow agent to facilitate verifiable records of payments received. Providing a chosen redevelopment plan with an appraised set of blue prints for the project helps the lender in justifying the loan.

The Roots of Empowerment members recommend the utilization of the Cooperative Land Trust land assets as collateral to obtain credit by utilizing development loan programs available through the Ministry of Housing and National Mortgaging Bank. A willing or selected group of leaders should also identify and solicit the appropriate departments and agencies within the Ministry of Housing and National Mortgaging Bank which are able to allocate financial resources for urban housing redevelopment. The selected group of leaders should

88 Chapter 5.0: Recommendations begin by applying for the following urban development programs offered by the Ministry of Housing (program descriptions and requirements are located online at

http://www.mivi.gob.pa/paginasprincipales/programas07.html):

 FASHABI  PARVIS  The Social Housing Program  The Measurement and Legalization Program  PROMEBA

The Roots of Empowerment members also recommend that a massive sale of Cooperative Land Trust land holdings carry out in the following manner if the Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust residents choose to sell the land assets of the Foundation’s Collective Patrimony in a liquidation or dissolution. The board of directors liaison would act as representative of the autonomous power of the Cooperative Land Trust as a legally recognized negotiating stakeholder. The sale of a vacated lot and development rights will be based upon a test of due diligence to determine the feasibility of the arrangement with the prospective buyer. The services of a real estate firm, an attorney specializing in contract and real estate law, and a financial analyst shall be consulted, as a component of the test of due diligence, to ascertain comparable property values in the San Francisco corregimiento, to assess the viability of the sale and to ensure that the rights of the Community Land Trust are protected. The Cooperative Land Trust and IPACOOP organization will monitor the financial auditing and accounting in regards to market appraisal for compliance in the implementation of the recommendations made in the initial appraisal of the Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust land holdings.

In the event of a sale of land assets by the Cooperative Land Trust, the Roots of Empowerment initiative recommends a dedicated portion of land within the community should be set-aside to residents who opt-out of the trust if a sale of land is chosen. The set- aside would e guaranteed and remain available and affordable to residents outside of the Land

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Trust by controlling future sales and purchases within the registered areas of Boca la Caja, and be dedicated to preserving Boca la Caja’s heritage by means of access to the sea, the allocation of community infrastructure, etc. A measurement of land and/or infrastructure needed to fulfill the intentions of the set-aside will be measured and requested by remaining residents of Boca la Caja outside of the Cooperative Land Trust. Those measurements incorporate the land trust assessment carried out by the Cooperative Land Trust, MIVI and ANATI, and IPACOOP and include the reallocation of land assets during the sale negotiations. The Junta Local will assume ownership of the community assets, i.e. community infrastructure.

5.5- Thinking About the Future

Boca la Caja, like any community is ever-changing. With the pressures that the community is facing, the residents are recommended to discuss the possible futures regarding the physical urban design of the community. Through the cooperation of the Panamanian government, members of the community, and public-private partnerships, it is possible to achieve a future urban design that Boca la Caja desires. These scenarios help address community needs and will facilitate further discussions. These scenarios represent the first steps for Boca la Caja to begin a visioning process for how they would like their community to develop in a rapidly changing Panama City.

The Roots of Empowerment team proposes two possible urban design scenarios. The focus of both the scenarios is to provide Boca la Caja with a design that is a continuum between the urban character of the surrounding San Francisco area, while also working with the existing layout of the community. In order to help preserve the community and its character, both of the proposed scenarios have looked at the existing socio-cultural make up of the community. There are existing infrastructure and community assets that can be left intact for both possible scenarios. Some of the existing buildings include the Catholic and Evangelic Churches, the basketball/soccer fields, schools, hospital, the marina and most of the homes.

90 Chapter 5.0: Recommendations

The current housing placement is extremely crowded. The number of homes keeps increasing within the same space, diminishing the road and pedestrian networks. Scenario 1 has increased the pedestrian streets towards the northeast portion of the community, where the homes are the most congested with the least pathways (Figure 5.1). Increased accessibility and mobility to the neighborhood homes can be acquired through this. These pathways can encourage “more eyes on the street”, and provide for a safer sense of community. In scenario 2, consider rebuilding the homes by the marina with higher density housing of 2-3 story buildings. The increased need for housing in this space can be accommodated through higher density home construction (Figure 5.2, next page).

Over the last few decades, homes have continued to be built out towards the marina. The community prides itself in being a fishing community. Building out to the marina encroaches upon the fishermen’s identity and their way of life, as it reduces the possible space for conducting their business. In the community development plan, maintaining the

Figure 5.1: Scenario 1

91 Chapter 5.0: Recommendations accessibility to the fishing docks and marina is vital. Scenario 2 also depicts a marketplace strategically located between the two fishing docks (Figure 5.2). This marketplace can be a two story building that allow for various fishing activities (sale of fish, restaurant, etc.), while also creating a space for an artisans market where the community expands its economic opportunities. Both the scenarios have formalized a central business district (CBD) toward the entrance of the community. This CBD can bring more businesses into the community as well as the larger San Francisco/Panama City area. Since this is at the entrance of the community, it can be the one and only impression that outsiders may get of Boca la Caja. A lively and safe setting of commercial activities can have the outsiders leaving with a positive image ofthe entire community.

Currently the sports field provides a space for the community to come together. Increased space for this type of activity could be created through construction of a community center. In scenario 1, this community center is located by the entrance of the community

Figure 5.2: Scenario 2

92 Chapter 5.0: Recommendations

(Figure 5.1, p. 91). This space can be used for the neighborhood meetings, women’s meetings, youth activities, such as dance or music classes, etc. In scenario 2, this community center is located more centrally, towards the new 2-3 story buildings (Figure 5.2, previous page). Scenario 2 has also provided enough room to include a community swimming pool connected to it. One of the elementary school teachers, in an interview, mentioned having a community pool to allow the children an additional activity to encourage a sense of community, while also keeping them out of trouble. In both of the scenarios, the community center has a watch post connected to it. The purpose of this watch post is to provide for increased security in the community by basing a police patrol the community, and providing a place to report security concerns. The National Police of Panama are willing to provide material for building a watch post .

For the future development of the community, consider expanding the hospital, and combining the buildings of the elementary school in a larger area. The school and hospital are currently the only major links the community has with the larger San Francisco area. Over 70% of the patients in the hospital are residents outside of Boca la Caja. The elementary school could support an increased enrollment of students from the neighboring areas by having an improved community in terms of design and perception. The investment to improve the hospital and school can be beneficial to both Boca la Caja and the larger surrounding community. As supported by the student drawings and interviews with Boca la Caja community members, the development of a small business district on the periphery of Boca la Caja would be beneficial to the community’s economic sector. The center of the business district would be the Dr. Hernando Puyol Centro de Salud, which could be expanded to better accommodate the health needs of Boca la Caja residents and the surrounding Panama City. This suggestion is one that would take a significant amount of time and cooperation between all residents and the greater Panamanian government. These two urban design scenarios can be guides for the community while thinking about the future.

93 Chapter 5.0: Recommendations

5.6- Conclusion

Of the numerous recommendations made by the Roots of Empowerment initiative, the most important for Boca la Caja is to come together and build stronger relationships within and outside of the community. Boca la Caja has many diverse problems and diverse residents whose knowledge on how to solve those problems can become a vital tool. Whether the community decides to begin with organizing a Community Land Trust, implementing Vecinos Vigilentes, creating a Junta Local or a women’s group does not matter as much as gaining the knowledge to mobilize together as a community toward a common goal. Building capacity to mobilize the residents of Boca la Caja can be facilitated by creating relationships with local universities and community civic groups interested in Boca la Caja’s current situation. That ‘current situation’ can be characterized if the community self proclaims what their issues and values are in one unified and consolidated voice to educational institutions and government agencies such as the Ministerio de Desarrollo Social (MIDES), PRONAT, and the Ministry of Housing. To shape a positive future, a unified Boca la Caja should mobilize and carry forward the dreams and aspirations of all its residents to build a great community within Panama City. Such is the possibility for Boca la Caja’s future.

94 References

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98 APPENDIX A: METHODS AND TECHNIQUES

A.1- Pre Collection Activity Prior to data collection, agreed upon project goals were evaluated for their usefulness in reaching the project goals. Targeted data was identified and strategies were formulated for obtaining it. During this phase, data-related definitions were operationalized and defined in order to create clarity in the stated goals. A final stage of pre-data collection was focused on creating a well-organized method of data collection. All possible methods were thoroughly investigated for strengths and possible weaknesses. Poor sampling of questions and selection of participants were identified during this phase so that the value of the data collected was as useful as possible. Also, during this phase academic literature was reviewed in order to provide a solid foundation for the project. Gaining insight from the readings of experts and researchers would enhance the analysis to create room for comparison and contrast between the findings. By extracting ideas, concepts, theories, and methods of oth- ers, the group could better understand the project at hand.

Data Sources Data was primarily gathered through the preliminary survey and children’s drawings about perceptions of their community. Other sources of data were through: research of public records; non-participant observation; structured and semi-structured interviews with public officials, community members, and community leaders. A review of public records in the Public Registry was used for establishing the legal tenure status (i.e. formal or in- formal) of Boca la Caja. In identifying the geographical boundaries of Boca la Caja the team used the Contraloria of the Republic of Panama’s definition of a barrio. Data gathered from these sources was used to identify poten- tial avenues in which the social cohesion, current social originations, crime and urban design perceptions, as well as titling issues were further understood in order to propose strategies and develop tools to help strengthen the social capital of the community.

A.2- Cooperative Agreement The Roots of Empowerment group established a cooperative agreement with Ministerio De Desarrollo Social (MIDES) to analyze the social capital within Boca la Caja, which would be useful to both the project and MIDES. The role of the Roots of Empowerment project was to provide the technical aspect of the survey given out by MIDES. We chose the questions that were included in the preliminary survey and MIDES agreed to use their personnel to distribute and collect the surveys. Once the surveys were returned, we agreed to do the tech- nical and statistical analysis as well as policy recommendations for residents of Boca la Caja and government or- ganizations, such as MIDES and MIVI. The information gathered in this survey was to be vital to recommenda- tions that the team would make to increase community social capital.

Survey While individual teams contributed questions to the survey, the majority of the survey was designed with the intent to garner information for the social capital team and MIDES. The social capital centered questions ranged from community participation and their decision-making process to individual attitudes about the com- munity. The remaining questions asked for perceptions of crime in the community, land tenure issues, and opin- ions on urban design.

Bureaucratic Difficulties

Due to bureaucratic and communication issues a preliminary 40 surveys was distributed with a survey design created by MIDES. The survey design used was described, by Jaime Aleman, as a member of the social development department visiting every 7th house in Boca la Caja during the day, distributing the surveys, and collecting them later in the same day. The survey distributers were prohibited to enter areas along the waterline, which the community designates as sectors 1 and 2, because they had not requested gang permission to enter these areas and distribute the surveys.

A- 1 APPENDIX A: METHODS AND TECHNIQUES

Coding To being the coding process we read the question being asked first, to increase the understanding of respondents’ answers. We also pasted the question on a Microsoft excel document along with the answers. Be- low the question we then begin to copy and paste all the answers from the SPSS data sheet onto the excel work- sheet. When copying them we made sure to get the entire set of responses and arranged them in the same order as in the SPSS spreadsheet to not leave out any questions. As we read the responses we began to get a sense of common themes that coincide with the question.

After we had pasted all the responses on to the excel spreadsheet we began to categorize the remaining data. We then started with a common themed response that was given and created that category.

STEP 1: Once the category was established we then examined the data that had been pasted on the excel spread- sheet and began to cut and paste individual responses that fell under that category (i.e. “Keep the current de- sign” was a common theme we observed from the participants, and coded everything that fell under it as 1). The following responses fell under that category. What design characteristics would you like to keep in Boca la Caja? 1 = Keep the current design -Preserve the same characteristics -Keep the current design -Keep the current design -The interior style -Everything

STEP 2: When we examined all of the responses that fell under that given category we assessed the next com- mon theme that was observed in the data set. Again, when the category was established we examined the data that had been pasted on the excel spreadsheet and cut and pasted individual responses that fell under the given category. We created a total of 6 sections under the question “What characteristics of the community would you like to preserve?” All six are listed below: 1 = Keep the current design (5) -Preserve the same characteristics -Keep the current design -Keep the current design -The interior style -Everything

2 = School (8) -School (8 times)

3 = Health Center (6) -School, health center -Health center, school -Health center, school

A- 2 APPENDIX A: METHODS AND TECHNIQUES

-Health center -Health center, school

4 = Church (3) -School, churches -Church -Soccer field, school, churches

5 = Sports facilities and parks (3)

-Schools, parks, health center

-Sports facilities

-Sports facilities

6 =Other (3)

-Beach (playa)

-Keep the fences

-Nothing

We did this until there were just a few responses left. With the remaining responses we checked to see if they had any common themes that required creation of their own category.

STEP 3: If they do not have any common themes within the other listed categories then we created their own categorization. For this example, none of the three listed fell under the other categories or a common theme, so we created another category called “Other”.

6 =Other (3)

-Beach (playa)

-Keep the fences -Nothing

STEP 4: If variables were seen more than once in a respondent’s answer it was coded two or more times in the given categories. In the example below it can be seen that many respondents put both the “Health Center” and “School” as aspects of the community they wanted to preserve. In this case we put all of the responses under both the “Health Center” and “School” categories.

3 = Health Center (6)

-School, health center

A- 3 APPENDIX A: METHODS AND TECHNIQUES

-Health center, school

-Health center, school

-Health center

-Health center, school

A.3- Mi Hogar, Mi Ciudad Student Activity

The “Mi Hogar, Mi Ciudad” Student activity took place at the elementary school, Escuela Federico A. Velasquez, located in Boca la Caja. The two fifth grade classes at the school were chosen as the participants be- cause the Roots of Empowerment team members felt the age group in these classes, approximately nine to elev- en years old, was an age old enough to understand the strengths and weaknesses of their community, tends to be less inhibited than adults and are sometimes more open when it comes to sharing whereas adults may fear repercussion. Two Roots of Empowerment members were assigned to each classroom, with each classroom also having a translator.

A.4- Parcel Data Collection

The physical mapping and zoning assessment of the proposed Cooperative Land Trust worked concurrent- ly with aspects from two resettlement handbooks: The Involuntary Resettlement in IDB Projects: Principles and Guidelines Manual (1999) and the IFC’s Handbook for Preparing a Resettlement Action Plan (2002).

Using ArcGIS, parcel data from the Contraloria was assembled to distinguish titled households from non- titled households in Boca la Caja, and to elaborate on the titling situation of non-titled households that had been rejected by the Ministry of Housing on the basis of their location within the floodplain. Most importantly, data from each level of government was compiled to explain to the community of Boca la Caja what their titling status was with the government and how it relates to the status of the community.

Concurrently, Roots of Empowerment needed to identify the adverse impacts the project would have on its residents. The planning for Boca la Caja’s Cooperative Land Trust involves more than simple cadastral surveys or inventories of affected assets. The Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust action plan identified affected residents and impacts through a series of actions already completed, and proposed steps for the trust. These actions and steps include:

 Thematic maps identifying such features as lot measurements, natural flood plain areas, and land use patterns;

 Census data that enumerates the affected people and registered them according to location;

 Zoning inventory of lost and affected land, and legal assets at the household and enterprise levels for sale (proposed);

 Analysis of surveys to establish compensation parameters, to design appropriate income restora- tion and sustainable development initiatives, and to identify baseline-monitoring indicators (proposed);

 Consultation with affected parties regarding mitigation of effects and development opportunities within Boca la Caja (proposed).

A- 4 APPENDIX A: METHODS AND TECHNIQUES

A.5- Mapping Methodology

A land use map was also assembled from Contraloria data to identify land uses in the community such as residential, commercial, and industrial areas. From this data, we also identified mixed-use parcels and different residential types. It was the identification of the proclivity towards certain residential housing types that was evaluated in meetings with residents for the development of scenarios for new structures in the community.

Through the collection of additional parcel and zoning data from the Ministry of Housing, COES and PRO- NAT, a map was created of Boca la Caja that identified the floodplain and tenure status of residents. The locations of the members of the potential Cooperative Land Trust were subsequently identified. These parcels were to be informed of the status of their title registration and the different development plans under consideration for Bo- ca la Caja.

A.6- IPACOOP

The Roots of Empowerment initiative sought to provide Boca la Caja with a specific institutional frame- work that corresponds with the guidelines of the Republic of Panama’s Instituto Panameño Autónomo Cooperati- vo (IPACOOP), a cooperative registering agency, on how to form a cooperative. Those guideline methods in- volved:

 Project Formulation

 Group Request

 Identification

 Preliminary Meetings with the Group

 Review of Documentation

 Registration of Cooperative

A.7- Interviews

Roots of Empowerment sought to perform a qualitative research interview which helped to describe the issue and the meanings of central themes that surrounded Boca La Caja. The main task in interviewing was to understand the meaning of what the interviewees said, which is difficult to accomplish exclusively through a sur- vey. The purpose of the interviews was to analyze the current situation in Boca La Caja and the perceptions of its residents. The interviewees were asked about problems in this neighborhood as well as what the problem repre- sents to Boca La Caja and its residents. Interviewing made it easier to pursue in-depth information around a top- ic.

Types of Interview

The types of interviews administered during this project were both the informal, conversational, un- structured interview and the structured, guided interview approach (Kvale, 1996). These two types of interviews allowed the team to be flexible with the interviewees (Kvale, 1996). The informal conversational interview did not require predetermined questions to be asked (Kvale, 1996). This allowed the answer to remain open and adaptable as to the interviewee’s experiences (Kvale, 1996). Depending on who was being interviewed, the ques-

A- 5 APPENDIX A: METHODS AND TECHNIQUES tions were formulated as the interviewee and the interviewer had an informal conversation with the purpose to obtain valuable and useful information that was later analyzed and interpreted (Kvale, 1996). An unstructured interview allowed for the interviewee to feel more comfortable talking about the issues discussed (McNamara, 1999). Also, during informal conversational interviews the interviewer further investigated the response of the interviewee and probed for a deeper more accurate interpretation of their response.

Structured interviews were intended to ensure that the same general areas of information were collect- ed from each interviewee (Kvale, 1996). This approach provides more focus than the conversational approach, but still allowed an extent of freedom and adaptability in gathering the information from the interviewee (Kvale, 1996). This approach was used with government officials, and the residents of Boca la Caja, to systematically ana- lyze the responses. The qualitative research in Boca La Caja for the Roots of Empowerment project could not rely on only one type of interview due to the sample group, which was initially small and limited, but through time and introductions, allowed the sample group to increase through the snowball effect.

Interview Sample Group

The team used a qualitative sampling technique which sought information from specific groups and sub- groups in the population. In this case the subgroup in the population were the residents of Boca la Caja, Panama, with the intent to find information regarding their perceptions on crime, social networks, land titling issues and physical design.

Interviews were conducted with various stakeholder groups: (1) public officials within the local govern- ment, (2) settlement community leadership, (3) community members, (4) others that were aware of the situation in Boca la Caja. The number of interviews conducted with stakeholders was contingent upon the accessibility of our research group to pertinent individuals within those groups. The aim of interviewing local government em- ployees and public officials was to contextualize the situation and to create partnerships in order to obtain data more efficiently.

Snowball Sample

The snowball sample method yielded a study sample through referrals made among people who shared or knew of others who possessed some characteristics that were of research interest (Hancock, 1998). Snowball- ing was applicable because the focus of the study was on sensitive issues and required the knowledge of insiders to locate people for the study (Hancock, 1998). The community leaders of Boca La Caja were well known through- out the community and helped facilitate this process since the issues investigated were sensitive to individual community members (i.e. land security, feelings of isolation, crime). Nearly all the interviews conducted in Pana- ma were a result of a referral from another person, institution, or organization.

Interviews

Preliminary discussions between Tim Berke and Ministry of Housing Lawyer Irania Agrazal provided visu- al confirmation of a map of Boca la Caja that was delineated into sectors. A copy of that map detailing zones and sectors was not available during that preliminary meeting. On a follow up meeting with Ministry of Housing Direc- tor, Grace Clark, and Ms. Agrazal, a structured set of written questions were provided. Protocol required a formal request of information documented by the University and was provided. Those questions were:

 What are the 7 sectors of Boca la Caja and where are their boundaries?

A- 6 APPENDIX A: METHODS AND TECHNIQUES

 Who is eligible to receive title? What are the requirements? Will they only own the structure or will they own the land and any structure built on it?  Have all the residents who are eligible to receive a title applied for a title? How many have received their titles, and how many are still in the process of receiving one?  Why is the titling process stalled? If possible, what can the residents do to speed up the pro- cess?  For those who have been rejected, what can they do to become eligible?  Where is the flood zone located? How many parcels are located in that zone?  Is the flood zone designation established during the 1980s now outdated due to the construc- tion of Corredor Sur and can it be changed?  If yes, how can the flood zone designation be changed? What is the process and can the resi- dents influence that process in any way, i.e. by making physical changes to their residences, filing legal paperwork, etc.?  Would you be willing to offer your professional opinion on a cooperative trust if a particular scenario was presented along with an explanation of basic information concerning the pro- cess?

Responses to those questions, in particular to the delineation of the seven sectors, were found to be inadequate or inconclusive for mapping purposes. During another follow up meeting with Ms. Agrazal on the am- biguity of the responses, the group was redirected to the Division of Social Development within the Ministry of Housing.

The interviews with Mr. Del Rosario also produced a referral to a government-contracted cadastral sur- veying consortium, COES, and National Mortgage Bank Director, Ruben Gonzalez. Interviews with Engineer Marta Castro at COES provided official government cadastral and demographic data as well as the identification of the flood zone area and delineations of city blocks within Boca la Caja. Due to the absence of a sector map for Boca la Caja, the city blocks provided a unit of measurement and record known in Panama as a manzana. The Roots of Empowerment team used manzanas as a new form of surveying measurement, replacing sectors.

A complimentary census was requested from the Division of Social Development within the Ministry of Housing. That complimentary census would incorporate all of Boca la Caja and considers the people affected by the project. The census would serve five important and interrelated functions:

 Enumerating and collecting basic information on the affected parcels to be registered (this infor- mation will be made public to the Land Trust);

 Registering the affected parcels’ plot measurements;

 Establishing a list of legitimate beneficiaries before the project’s onset to counter spurious claims from those moving into the project area solely in anticipation of benefits;

 Laying a framework for subsequent socioeconomic research needed to establish fair compensation rates and to design, monitor, and evaluate sustainable development interventions;

 Providing the Cooperative Land Trust with a baseline for the monitoring and evaluation of resident relocation and/or parcel pay-out.

A- 7 APPENDIX A: METHODS AND TECHNIQUES

A.8- Observations

Roots of Empowerment utilized an observational method of data collection throughout the project in Pan- ama. Types of observation included compare and contrast style observations of physical spaces, characterization of interpersonal exchanges through observation and analysis of body language, time-series photography, and observation for indicators of specific planning-related deficiencies. Compare and contrast observations of physi- cal spaces were made regarding both the actual physicality of a space and the reactions of people to spaces with- in the neighborhood. Variables such as building height, alley width, presence or absence of litter, and indicators of disposable income like decorations were utilized to characterize spaces within Boca la Caja. Body language was used to describe both the manner in which people reacted to spaces and the way they related to one another. Photography was used to increase our understanding of how the community has changed over the last several years and to establish community linkages to Panama. Indicators of planning deficiencies such as litter in the streets and along the waterfront, and the absence of trash receptacles, were used to fill knowledge gaps concern- ing community infrastructure. Observational methods are threatened by observer biases and “Roots of Empow- erment” maintained an awareness of those biases and rigorously tested individual observations through de- briefing and peer review. The peer review process and discussion often resulted in more developed lines of ques- tioning and hypotheses for testing. In all cases, confirmation bias was a primary threat and the group devoted considerable effort first to avoid settling upon a particular framework concerning the community and Panama, but also worked actively to disprove any framework that appeared plausible. While observations and findings resulted in specific recommendations, the group recognized that the reality most important to the future of Boca la Caja is the one in which the community believes, and every attempt has been made to ensure that recommen- dations are appropriately fitted to the experience of the community while remaining robust enough to account for the possibilities that couldn’t be eliminated.

A.9- Census Data

In order to access the viability of the preliminary survey, create the survey design for the original survey, and find basic demographic information about Boca la Caja, an in-depth analysis of the 2010 decennial census in Panama was attempted through their web portal. The database had several technological issues, such as crashing and timing out when more than one variable was sought; but basic information was found through this manner.

A.10- Advanced Technical Support

In the final meeting with Dr. Varela, he suggested that the urban design team contact the School of Archi- tecture in Tallahassee for more input. As per his instruction, contact was made with Jils Skariah, a candidate of Bachelor’s of Science in Architecture at Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University. She suggested using soft- ware from Autodesk called Revit for the revitalized designs for Boca la Caja. In addition to the architectural inputs in both designs, a professional opinion on the general functionality of the proposed transportation networks throughout the community was taken into account. This opinion was received by consulting with Dr. Doreen Ko- belo, Assistant Professor of Transportation Engineering at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, about the proposed designs for Boca la Caja.

A- 8 APPENDIX B: CREATION OF COOPERATIVE

The steps IPACOOP requires are as follows:

B.1- PROJECT FORMULATION: The Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust (CLT) Administrative body makes revisions and analysis of the organizational structure, evaluation of legal issues, internal controls and financial statements to better present to the community, government agencies and private sector how the cooperative is managing.

The individual(s) should be designated with the input from Land Trust residents to ensure that all essen- tial items and concerns of the waterline cooperative are addressed. There should be an initial meeting between both community leader(s) in Boca la Caja, the Cooperative Land Trust Leadership, and the identified official within the Ministry of Housing and the Department of Social Development; the purpose of this meeting will be to ad- dress initial questions specific to the community on an introductory basis so that future scheduled meetings can occur. The designated leader(s) should determine from an introductory meeting with the Department of Informal Settlements the necessary steps to be completed for Cooperative Land Trust residents to negotiate measures towards determining the legality of title as a non-profit private-interest Foundation. If necessary, additional meetings will be held between the designated leaders and the Department of Informal Settlements and the Min- istry of Social Development to address any issues which may further inhibit the titling process. The identified con- tact within the Ministry of Housing for all future correspondence, in the immediate future, with Boca la Caja can be: Irania Agrazal, Lawyer - Department of Informal Settlements. The identified contact within the Ministry of Social Development can be: Jaime Aleman, Director of State Subsidies.

The individual(s) should be determined with the input from Cooperative stakeholders to ensure that all essential items and concerns of the community are addressed. The designated Cooperative Land Trust leader(s) should liaise with the contact in the PRONAT Office and demonstrate a clear understanding of the details of the community’s strategic plan and needs so that all criteria can be knowledgeably discussed during scheduled meetings. The designated Cooperative Land Trust leader(s) should meet with the contact in the PRONAT office to address initial questions specific to the community on an introductory basis so that future scheduled meetings can occur. The identified contact within PRONAT for all future correspondence, in the immediate future, with Boca la Caja can be: Licenciado Rainier Alexis Del Rosario Franco, Sub-Coordinator of PRONAT. Future meetings regarding the Cooperative Land Trust initiative of massive titling in Boca la Caja should be planned subsequent to the successful organization of the Cooperative Land Trust.

The CLT, a non-profit foundation, will operate under the direct oversight of the registered cooperative residents and will select a board of directors to oversee and manage the operations of the trust. The board of directors will consist of the elected leaders within the Boca la Caja waterline area. All residents that elect to par- ticipate in the formulation of the land trust will remain members unless universal terms of separation are deter- mined under Article 87 of Law 17, May 1st 1997; the right of ownership will be transferable under the right of

B- 1 APPENDIX B: CREATION OF COOPERATIVE survivorship with liquidation policies dictated by Article 529 of the Code of Business and legal regime of private interest non-profit foundations found within Law 25, June 14th, 1995

The CLT will consolidate their separate parcels into a singular unit to facilitate the mass organization of the area with the goal of creating an autonomous representative body that will be present during negotiations concerning the potential development of the waterline area. A cadastral registry of parcels will be characterized by the Cooperative Land Trust in its formalization of assets and subsequent registration with IPACOOP. The char- acter of each parcel consists of: the cadastral metes and bounds of each parcel, parcel benefactor(s), and scale of improvements made upon the land. Conflicts with metes and bounds during the process of Cooperative Land Trust cadastral characterization will be arbitrated by a neutral third party chosen by or agreed to by the disputing parties and whose decision is binding.

A selection of the leader(s) from the Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust community should act as the liaison in coordination with the IPACOOP Office. The individual(s) should be determined with the input from resi- dents from all sectors to ensure that all essential items and concerns of the community are addressed. The desig- nated leader(s) that will coordinate with the contact in the IPACOOP Office should demonstrate a clear under- standing of the details of the community’s strategic plan so that all criteria can be knowledgeably discussed dur- ing scheduled meetings. There should be an initial meeting between community leader(s) in Boca la Caja to iden- tify an official within the IPACOOP Office; the purpose of this meeting will be to address initial questions specific to the community on an introductory basis so that future scheduled meetings can occur. The Cooperative Land Trust should register with the affiliated IPACOOP branch. Additionally, the Cooperative will register with the Na- tional government and MIDES as a Foundation. For registration steps see Objective 3.1.1 Registering with IPACOOP. The trust will ensure that relocation and/or set-aside real estate within the community remains afford- able to current waterline residents by controlling future sales and purchases within the registered areas of Boca la Caja. This will be accomplished based upon the selected or developed CLT model constitution that will dictate the terms of real estate transactions and relinquishing of the community. The re-purpose of land or adjacent wa- ter for development or revitalization, known as a land-grab is sanctioned by a Cooperative’s ability to declare lands or adjacent water within its use as such.

The Roots of Empowerment members recommend the utilization of the Cooperative Land Trust land assets as collateral to obtain credit by utilizing development loan programs available through the Ministry of Housing and Banco Hipotecario Nacional. A willing or selected group of leaders should also identify and solicit the appropriate departments and agencies within the Ministry of Housing and Banco Hipotecario Nacional which are able to allocate financial resources for urban housing redevelopment.

Any willing group of leaders should apply for the following programs offered by the Ministry of Housing for urban development:

B- 2 APPENDIX B: CREATION OF COOPERATIVE

 FASHABI

 PARVIS

 The Social Housing Program

 The Measurement and Legalization Program

 PROMEBA

Program descriptions and requirements are located online at: http://www.mivi.gob.pa/paginasprincipales/programas07.html

The board of directors liaison would act as representative of the autonomous power of the Cooperative Land Trust as a legally recognized negotiating stakeholder. The sale of a vacated lot and development rights will be based upon a test of due diligence to determine the feasibility of the arrangement with the prospective buyer. The services of a real estate firm, an attorney specializing in contract and real estate law, and a financial analyst shall be consulted, as a component of the test of due diligence, to ascertain comparable property values in the San Francisco corregimiento, to assess the viability of the sale and to ensure that the rights of the community land trust are protected. The Cooperative Land Trust and IPACOOP organization monitor the financial auditing and accounting in regards to market appraisal for compliance in the implementation of the recommendations made in the initial appraisal of BLC-CLT land holdings.

In the event of a sale of land assets by the Cooperative Land Trust, the Roots of Empowerment initiative recommends the allocation of a set-aside can be guaranteed. A Ddedicated portion of land within the community should be set-aside to residents who opt-out of the trust if a sale of land is chosen. The set-aside would remain available and affordable to residents outside of the Land Trust by controlling future sales and purchases within the registered areas of Boca la Caja, and be dedicated to preserving Boca la Caja’s heritage by means of access to the sea, the allocation of community infrastructure, etc. A measurement of land and/or infrastructure needed to fulfill the intentions of the set-aside are measured and requested by remaining residents of Boca la Caja outside of the Cooperative Land Trust. Those measurements incorporate the land trust assessment carried out by the Cooperative Land Trust, MIVI and ANATI, and IPACOOP and include the reallocation of land assets during the sale negotiations. The junta local will assume ownership of the community assets, i.e. community infrastructure.

B.2- GROUP REQUEST: The Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust should send a note to IPACOOP attaching a list with the names, identification numbers and signatures of at least 20 members.

B- 3 APPENDIX B: CREATION OF COOPERATIVE

B.3- IDENTIFICATION: The Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust Board of Directors meets with the IPACOOP representative. A technician is appointed by the IPACOOP to evaluate and develop a report, which is delivered to the cadastral offices and pertinent governmental agencies as a supplementary survey of Cooperative Land Trust holdings and of IPACOOP recognition.

B.4- PRELIMINARY MEETING WITH THE GROUP: In a day of work with the Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust, the IPACOOP Representative formally presents the results of the previous meeting. If feasible, the process of organization is continued; the Committee is elected Pre-Cooperative and names the working com- mittees to develop the regulations and the Socio-Economic Feasibility Study as well as the Cooperative Land Trust’s Land Assessment. After the training phase, the evaluation by IPACOOP of the progress of the group is con- ducted. Advice is given and the Constituent Assembly is formed with the participation of those who attended the Basic Seminar.

B.5- REVIEW OF DOCUMENTATION: The technician responsible for the group reviews the documentation to be submitted to IPACOOP.

B.6- REGISTRATION OF COOPERATIVE: The Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust, under the Registration Act of the Assembly Constitution of Cooperatives, receives the address stamp with the signature of the responsi- ble officer and the date of registration in the Cooperatives Registry. This certifies the formation of the Boca la Caja Cooperative Land Trust and its subsequent legal representative. This is issued in an official document signed by the Director of Registrar of Cooperatives, to certify that the personería jurídica (legal entity) meets all require- ments of constitution, legal status, or other information about the condition of the BLC-CLT standing.

B- 4 APPENDIX C: COMMUNITY COMMUNICATION EXERCISES

C.1- Using Maps and Images

Communication is often obstructed because of an inability to express complicated ideas in words. Maps and images can often be used to facilitate communication under these circumstances. A map of Boca la Caja was included as part of the research team’s pilot survey and survey respondents were asked to mark areas within the community where they felt unsafe. The research team compiled all of the survey results onto one map (Figure C.1). Maps like this one can be used by the community to share their perceptions of safety with National Police during a Vecinos Vigilantes meeting to ensure that police understand the community and patrol effectively. It can also be used at community meetings to pinpoint areas that require lighting after dark. Lastly, maps shared with police can help them better respond to complaints or pleas for help. The map produced from the survey depicts places where survey respondents felt unsafe. It does not depict places that are unsafe. Building a map like this one and discussing it as a group can alleviate unwarranted fear, identify actual areas that the police should patrol, and engender discussion concerning why those particular areas might be unsafe. That discussion can in turn lead to proposed solutions and community action.

C.2- Messaging to External Populations

Messaging communication is very much like advertising. It must be truthful and it must reach your desired audience to be effective. It should also be progressive, meaning that it should be rooted in the present and only reach into the near future. It is appropriate to organize messaging concerning planned progress for change into phases, with each phase having a simple message and action plan; such as:

Phase I-- Community Organization and Social Capital Investment (passive change)

Message: “My house, My City

My name is ______

I live in Boca la Caja.

I am Panama.”

Action Plan: Utilize this message in conjunction with portraits of residents to communicate a sense of community, pride, and belonging. The message connects residents to the community as well as Panama. During this phase, the community should continue to organize The Committee for Defense of Community Peace and Integrity and recruit new members. Recruitment can include the demarcation of community space with “Dios te ve” stickers and persuasive conversations with community members.

C- 1 APPENDIX C: COMMUNITY COMMUNICATION EXERCISES

Figure C.1: Plotted Survey Responses for “Areas where residents feel unsafe.”

Phase II-- Mobilization of Resources and Capital (active change)

Message: “Boca la Caja, protecting community for a healthy Panama.”

Action Plan: This message ties Boca la Caja’s health and its protection to a healthy Panama. Thevisual should be pictures of the community working or playing together and feature Panamanian National Police. Public social events should employ Panamanian National Police for a portion of the entertainment on a frequent basis in order to associate the community with the Police and benefit from their growing professional reputation.

These are just examples of community messages. As the citizens of Boca la Caja gather and discuss their collective community identity and construct their vision of the future, it should trigger authentic community messages that can be shared with Panama City. Pay attention to your strengths and dreams and spread the word for a better future in Boca la Caja.

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