“We are not a slum; we are a city”: Evaluation of the “New City of Belen” and the response of its residents
Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/viviendaperu/26403381944/ Accessed: 31/01/2019
By: Diana Bernales Supervisor: Matthias Nohn, LF MPP Dipl.-Ing. Coordinator: Dr. Bettina Hamann Technische Universität Berlin M.sc Urban Management 2019
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“We are not a slum; we are a city”: Evaluation of the “New City of Belen” and the response of its residents
Diana Bernales Wuan
Supervisor: Matthias Nohn, LF MPP Dipl.-Ing.
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Urban Management at Technische Universität Berlin
Lima, February 1st of 2019
Page 2 Statement of authenticity material
I here with formally declare that I have written the submitted thesis independently, without assistance from external parties and without use of other resources than those indicated. The ideas taken directly or indirectly from external sources (including electronic sources) are duly acknowledge in my text. The material, either in full or in part, has not been previously submitted for grading at this or any other academic institution. I did not use any outside support except for the quoted literature and other sources mentioned in the paper.
Diana Cristina Bernales Wuan Lima, February 1st, 2019
Page 3 Abstract
Key Words: Relocation process, territorial cohesion, adequate housing, urban social movement, mobility, risk management.
Relocation processes have occurred with higher frequency in the last 15 years: 68,5 million persons around the world have been displaced (UNHCR, 2018)1, affecting their livelihoods, properties, social networks, etc. This may partially be attributed to climate change and the effects of extractive industries. The new city of Belen is a recent example of relocation in the Amazonian. The Peruvian government decided to relocate the lower area of Belen´s neighborhood because it is being invaded by the Itaya river during rainy seasons. In this paper, I analyze the direct and indirect costs and benefits of relocation in the context of territorial cohesion, employment, mobility, access to adequate housing, using the approach of risk management. Further, the thesis aims to explain the urban social movements’ response to the new situation. The exploratory work uses a qualitative method research.
1 Information obtained: https://www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html Page 4 Index 1) Introduction ...... 9 1.1) Context ...... 9 The Department of Loreto ...... 9 Iquitos…………………………………………………………………………………………………….10 Belen Neighborhood (BN) ...... 13 The natural reserve Alpahuayo Mishana ...... 15 Political actions before the relocation law: Sustainable Belen ...... 16 Relocation as a solution? ...... 16 The relocation law ...... 16 1.2) Actors ...... 17 Political actors ...... 17 Social actors ...... 18 Economic actors ...... 18 1.3) New City of Belen ...... 18 1.4) Research question / Goals ...... 19 1.5) Research aim and objectives ...... 20 1.6) Research Bias ...... 20 1.7) Methodology ...... 21 1.8) Relevance ...... 23 1.9) Limitations of the research ...... 23 2) Relocation experiences: A brief overview ...... 24 3) The failure of territorial cohesion in NBC ...... 28 3.1) Paradigm of social housing ...... 28 3.2) The economy of the relocation ...... 29 3.3) The vulnerability of inhabitants and the lack of adequate housing ...... 33 3.4) Territorial cohesion in NBC ...... 36 3.5) The mobility and accessibility in NBC...... 38 3.6) Risk management: A mean to improve the territorial cohesion ...... 40 4) The emergence of urban social movement ...... 42 4.1) The proposal of the inhabitants of NBC ...... 43 4.2) The resistance ...... 45 4.3) About the relationship with other actors (political and ex neighbors) ...... 47 4.4) About housing aspirations ...... 48 5) Technical and infrastructural problems found in the NBC ...... 50 5.1) Location ...... 50 5.2) Site planning ...... 51 5.3) Access to basic services ...... 51
Page 5 5.4) Housing ...... 52 6) Conclusions and recommendations...... 54 6.1) Location of the relocation ...... 54 6.2) Infrastructure access and urban inequality ...... 54 6.3) Housing and urban design ...... 55 6.4) Employment ...... 56 6.5) Urban Social movement ...... 57 6.6) Decision-making process in relocation projects ...... 58 6.7) Forward-looking reflections on how to manage/avoid the observed risks in relocation projects ………………………………………………………………………………………………...60 6.8) Final reflexions ...... 61 7) Suggested bibliography ...... 63 Annexes ...... 69 Annex I: Interviews Matrix, interviews design...... 69 Annex II: Belen´s market description ...... 70 Annex III: Trip to NBC ...... 74
Page 6 List of Charts
Chart 1: Poverty according to unsatisfied basic needs per houses. INEI Census 2007. Own compilation...... 13 Chart 2: Capital money per capita. INEI Census 2007. Own compilation...... 13 Chart 3: Instruments of gathering information ...... 21 Chart 4: Risks associate to the relocation project...... 60
List of Pictures Picture 1: Street view of Iquitos city. Source: Wikipedia ...... 10 Picture 2: Iquitos by Nasa. Source: Wikipedia ...... 10 Picture 3: Map of Iquitos ...... 15 Picture 4: Travel from Iquitos to NBC ...... 19 Picture 5: News about highway blocking in highway Iquitos – Nauta by NBC inhabitants ...... 49 Picture 6: Alpahuayo Mishana location and its buffer zone according to SERNANP...... 51 Picture 7: Urban design of NBC. Source: MHCS ...... 52 Picture 8: Water supply / Full biodigestor ...... 52 Picture 9: Deficiencies found in NBC ...... 53 Picture 10: Small river being covered during the construction period ...... 52 Picture 11: National law about edifications ...... 47
Page 7 Glossary
INEI Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Información (National Institute of Statistic and Information) BN Belen Neighborhood MHCS Ministry of Housing Construction and Sanitation NBC New City of Belen LAB Low Area of Belen District SB Sustainable Belen SJB San Juan Bautista District POC Program Our Cities PEN Coin of Peru, Nuevo Sol (1 Euro = PEN 3.88) CASA – Proyecto de Ciudades Amazónicas Auto-sostenibles de la Pontificia PUCP Universidad Católica del Perú. (Project of Amazonian Auto – Sustainable Cities of Catholic University of Peru) PNUD Programa de las naciones unidas para el desarrollo (Program of United Nations for the development) UN United Nations WB World Bank AM Alpahuayo Mishana SEDA Water company in Loreto LORETO
Page 8 1) Introduction
1.1) Context The process of urbanization and city expansion in the Amazonian is characterized by the proliferation of intermediate cities, which indirectly cause the deforestation of the area, affecting the biodiversity2 and native cultures living there. The accelerated growth and the non-planned development of Iquitos and its communities, characterized by the precarity construction of houses, extreme poverty and the occupation of risk areas for urban habilitations are conditions that make the natural dynamics of the rivers a threat or generates risky conditions. The plan for sustainable cities that belongs to the plan of urban development of Iquitos considers that: 1) The probability that natural events that occurred in the past will occur in the future is high. 2) The exposure of vulnerable elements and incorrect urban planning contributes to the disasters. 3) The disasters are not natural, but the natural events are. The previous development plans have considered the flooding areas as ecological protection areas, inadequate for urban habilitations. However, there is a big social pressure for housing areas, and the few available areas in the city for housing have encouraged inhabitants to look for available land in flooding areas.
The Department of Loreto Loreto department´s territory is characterized by an extensive low jungle, mixed with rivers. It shares boundaries with Ecuador (North), Colombia (North-East), Brazil (Southeast), Ucayali (South) and Amazonas and San Martín region (West). It has an extension of 368852 km2 and it represents the 28,7% of the national territory. Loreto department is formed by 7 providences: Maynas, Loreto - Nauta, Alto Amazonas, Mariscal Ramón Castilla, Ucayali, Requena y Datem del Marañon. Its weather corresponds to a humid rain forest. The medium temperature is 26 °C, from October till January the temperature can reach 33 °C – 34° C. The rainy season starts normally in October till May. The river system consists mainly in the next rivers: Ucayali, Huallaga, Marañon, Napo y Yavari which sediment in the Amazon river. Another important characteristic is recurring inundation that happens during the rainy seasons. Urbanization in Loreto is growing fast: 65,4% of the inhabitants live in the urban area against 34.6% of the inhabitants living in the rural area.3 According to INEI (2007), the urban growth rate was 2,7 against the rural growth rate that was 0.5. Loreto has a rate of birth of 30 plus 1000 (superior of the national rate) and a mortality rate of 6.5 plus 1000 inhabitants. The rate of child mortality is 63 plus 1000 kids, showing the problems related to access to health. The economic activities are, in most of the cases, extractive and primary activities (agriculture, forest extraction, hydrocarbons, and fishing) and services (tourism and commerce). The agriculture production is considered as one of subsistence because it is not strong to export products. There is a lot of dependence on the mining canon which has produced that other economic activities did not develop. The geographical isolation (poor and high-cost transportation and road link) and the distance between the markets difficult the industrial
2 50% of the biodiversity is concentrated at the Amazonian jungle. 3 CENSUS of 2007. Page 9 activity. One of the few finished highways is the Iquitos – Nauta one, but there are missing a lot of interconnections between the cities. Iquitos Iquitos is located in the providence of Maynas and it is the main city in Loreto department. Metropolitan Iquitos is formed by Iquitos city (146853 inhabitants), Belen district (64488), Punchana (75210 inhabitants), SJB (127005 inhabitants)4 and some other satellite cities that are important for the metropolis. These districts are characterized by being urbanized almost in their entirety. Iquitos is the center of communication with the providences and districts of the department, with the boundaries with other countries, through its international airport and the international routes by the Amazon river. Because of its geographical location, Iquitos is the cohesion core and distribution center.
Picture 1: Street view of Iquitos city. Source: Wikipedia. Accessed: 31/01/2019
Picture 2: Iquitos by Nasa. Source: Wikipedia. Accessed: 31/01/2019 Iquitos is the capital of Loreto department, it is the 6th most important city in Peru (the 5th most populated) and it is the biggest city in the Peruvian Amazonian. For this reason, the
4 According to the National Census of Population of 2017. Page 10 services (health, education, etc) are located in this city. It concentrates the biggest job offer in the region. The Iquitos´ urban development plan (2016 – 2021) points out the need to have a city that recognizes the importance of the rivers that surround it and the creation of public spaces, means of transport that respects the natural diversity and its geographical characteristics. (Goal A: City of the Amazon River) Also, Iquitos aims to be a compact city, where all the small towns are connected by public transportation, making that all the points in the city are accessible for everyone without the need of big travels. (Goal B: Sustainable city and adapted to the climate change). However, there is not any concrete plan about the urban growth in the city and which actions are going to be taken in order to have an orderly growth. The percentage of urbanization (counting Belen and Punchana) is 94.47%. The primary axes of urban development are two: - South axis formed by the highway Iquitos – Nauta. This area is already being urbanized by informal slums through all the highway (92.5 kms long) Along the highway, there are informal slums in process of consolidation and some of them consolidated. Also, the NBC is located at the 13,5 km of the highway Iquitos – Nauta. According to the plan of urban development, this zone is considered a natural city expansion area because it is non-inundated land. It is formed by395.9885 inhabitants. - North axis formed by Amazon river between Bellavista and the Varadero Mazan – Indiana that will be connected through a bridge that the MHCS will build in the next years. This will connect Iquitos with Indiana and other informal Amazonian slums. It is formed by 29010 inhabitants. The urban development master plan orientates the urban growth towards the north, in the highway Iquitos – Nauta and the south, till Navy base (Amazon river). However, the planned growth of the city did not happen because the new habilitations occupied the empty spaces near the town city and the areas that suffer from inundations during the rainy seasons. This happened because the inhabitants were looking for a space where they could access easily to the services, infrastructure and urban equipment from the city center.
The urban renewal projects “Los Delfines” (located at km 9 of the highway Iquitos – Nauta) was thought to be occupied by the inhabitants that live-in flooding areas (LAB); however, it did not happen because the market had too much importance for them. It is also located in the highway Iquitos – Nauta. After a while, Los Delfines was populated by other informal dwellers of Iquitos. Currently, there are water and drain of Los Delfines was implemented by the non-profit organization “Bomberos Unidos sin fronteras”6 who found a new source of water and paid to “Seda Loreto”7 for the installation of the pipelines. Another case of community resettlement is
5 Actually, there are more inhabitants living in this axe because this number corresponds to the census of 2007 by the INEI, they haven`t considered the creation of the NBC. 6 https://diariolaregion.com/web/municipio-de-san-juan-fortalece-lazos-de-amistad-con-bomberos-unidos-sin- fronteras-busf/ 7 Company in charge of water and drain in Loreto (Iquitos). Page 11 Calipsos, located also at the highway Iquitos – Nauta in the 12,5 km. They were promised basic services too, but the Municipality of SJB could not convince “Seda Loreto” in the year 2012 to do it because the company said it was too expensive to implement basic services till that km8. In that order, there have been some experiences of informal settlements at the Iquitos Nauta highway who had the support of the government before the creation of the NBC and still, they could not access basic services. The MHCS should have known these cases and prepare better for relocating the inhabitants of LAB. Seda Loreto is the company in charge of giving water to Iquitos. The service is discontinuous (6 hours per day average) and it does not give water to all parts of the city. In most of the peripheral areas, the coverage of water is inexistent. The company provides water in the areas that there are no connections of water through 2 water tanker trucks. There are no fixed hours and its service is coordinated with the municipalities and inhabitants. SJB district has only 3,52% of the housing with drain system. There is no treatment of the residual water in Iquitos and the district SJB (where the NBC is located) is the one with less access to water and drain. 64% of the inhabitants use underground well to supply themselves with water in SJB. The construction of the bridge in the north axe (above the river Amazon) shows the intentions of the MHCS to impulse the urban sprawl appear through this area, instead of allocating services in the south axe of urban development that is already urbanized. The connection between Iquitos and Indiana will be complicated and will represent a high economic and time cost. MHCS should have prioritized improving the living conditions of the inhabitants living in the south axe instead of having a project that will implicate building a bridge over a river, where allocating services will be almost impossible. The population located in the south axe is 100 times bigger than the one located in the north axe. The project about building the bridge will not beneficiate as much as a project of basic services through the Iquitos Nauta highway. In regard to the education centers, there is a big different in the number of centers between Iquitos city and the other districts. For example, there are 121 centers, counting schools and institutes (no universities) in Iquitos. In SJB, there are 38, in Belen 33. The difference between SJB is that the way to Iquitos takes 1 hour and a half, it cost more money and the frequency of the transportation is not fluid. The demand of educational services of primary and secondary schools in SJB needs to cover more than 21000 persons. That is the reason why many children travel on a daily basis to Iquitos to be able to study because there is overcrowding in the schools of SJB. Furthermore, the population in school age in SJB corresponds nearly to 50000 while the special population in school age is almost 1000. On the subject of economically active population, in SJB almost 35000 persons which have a rate of activity9 of 65. In Belen, there are 26000 persons that economically active with a rate of activity of 70. The 32% of the people in Belen work in commerce and in SJB 20%, in transport, the 10% of the people in Belen work in this activity and in SJB, 12%.
8 https://proycontra.com.pe/nos-sentimos-burlados-por-las-autoridades/ 9 Rate activity in labour = (Active population / Population in working age) * 1000 Page 12 The poverty per home is determined by the approach of unsatisfied basic needs, which are: inadequate physical characteristics of the house, overcrowding, toilets, kids that do not go to school, economic dependence. Chart 1: Poverty according to unsatisfied basic needs per houses. INEI Census 2007. Basic needs SJB Belen Iquitos All covered 67341 – 43149 – 53264 – Not poor 34,03% 37,38% 66,5% 1 unsatisfied 36744 – 23485 – 34, 36586 – Poor 36,00% 13% 23,01% 2 unsatisfied 22878 – 14094 – 13144 – Extreme poor 22,41% 21,94% 8,27% 3 unsatisfied 6905 – 6,76% 4261 – 6,19% 3175 – 2% 4 unsatisfied 770 – 0,75% 292 – 0,42% 324 - 0,2% 5 unsatisfied 44 – 0,04% 17 – 0,02% 35 – 0,02% Own compilation. Chart 2: Capital money per capita. INEI Census 2007. SJB Belen Iquitos Cash expenditure per PEN 324 PEN 313 PEN 468 capita Own compilation. SJB is the district with the biggest number of poor people: 36%. Inhabitants in extreme poverty living in SJB represents the 29.97% of the inhabitants, followed by Belen with 28,58%. Extreme poverty is considered when the households have 2 unsatisfied basic needs. Belen Neighborhood (BN) In the Amazonian, many communities are settled next to rivers because it enables access to decent livelihoods. In Loreto, Peru, we can find BN which is a determined area within the Belen district in Peru. It is at 10 minutes from the main city in the Peruvian jungle, Iquitos, which is characterized by being surrounded by water, as Belen (river Amazonas, Itaya and Nanay). Iquitos is considered the main city of this region because there had been several extractive industries working there which led to commercial growth in the area. Belen district is occupied by 75685 (INEI, 2016) inhabitants. Inside this district, there is the BN which is divided in upper Belen and lower Belen. The neighborhood’s life is conditioned by the water volume increment of the Itaya river. This is due to the rains during the rainy seasons (December till June) which inundate the houses and the whole neighborhood (See Picture 19, Annex IV) The houses are built with wood sticks at the bottom which hold the houses, other houses use the wood to make floating houses. The inhabitants use small wooden boats as a transport mean to go out from the inundated areas. (See Pictures 2 – 9, Annex IV)
The urban area of Belen district presents zones with a high density, especially in LAB, where the port and the market is located. However, the other areas of the district present low densities, that is why the average density in the district is 144.87 Inhabitant /Ha. In 2007, the census made by INEI showed that the type of housing followed the next typography: Independent house (11,264), Apartment (23), House in “quinta” (364), House in “vecindad” Page 13 (38), Shack (1678), Improvised house (188), others (41) (total: 13586). Belen district shows a considerable number in “shacks” or “improvised houses” in relation with the other districts of Iquitos, even though its population is less. The district of Belen has 27% (3614) of its housing is built with non-adequate materials (they are located in the LAB). Furthermore, Belen district has the biggest percentage of overcrowding in Iquitos: 27% (3595). Overcrowding is considered when 3 persons are living and sleeping in the same room. Only the 10,36% of the houses have a drain. (See Picture 19, Annex IV) Belen started as a place where native communities settled in because it was next to the river and they could get all their livelihoods from it in the middle of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, many foreign workers started living there because of the rubber boom and the port located in this district. The land, originally, was owned by the family of Julio C. Arana (Politician from Iquitos and rubber entrepreneur). The family was planning to build a new market at LAB in 1965 (“Pueblo Libre”), however, the inhabitants organized a protest to defend the land. After this incident, the land was expropriated by the government and the inhabitants continued living there.
The area that suffers from the inundations during the rainy seasons to a larger extent is “Pueblo Libre” or LAB (See Picture 2 of Annex IV). This part is located next to the river Itaya which gives them the possibility of using the water of it. However, the river Itaya is also a garbage dump. The inhabitants do not have water nor drain, so all the waste goes also to the river or to the same dirt floor (there is no paving in Pueblo Libre). Next to Pueblo Libre (LAB), starts the Belen market in which more than 8000 retail traders gather to sell their products. In the list of what is commercialized in this market, we can find fruits (native), meat (chicken, cow, pork, fish, turtle, caiman, monkey, dolphins, etc), vegetables, legumes, groceries, clothes, pirated goods, etc.10The retailers come from Iquitos, but most of them, live in BN. This affects the environmental health of the area. There is a lot of garbage in the streets which have caused the appearance of buzzards (See Picture 3 of Annex II). Besides, Belen is also known to be a very poor area in which the inhabitants live in precarious conditions. 46,2% of the inhabitants are considered poor, and 15% of the inhabitants are considered in extreme poverty (Inei, 2016) (See Annex II: Description of BN and Annex IV, Pictures from 2 – 9))
According to Inei Census of 200711, there are 66804 inhabitants in Belen district, private housing with permanent occupants is up to 94.3% (12808 houses). Of this percent, 83.5% (10696 houses) are totally paid by their owners, 5.4% (688 houses) are paid by their owners in installments and 5.4% (698 houses) are rented. Almost everybody at LAB, owned a property title, which was exchanged for the new house at NBC. Regarding the number of houses that are inside the relocation influence area, there are 1725 lots. Of this amount, 1695 are inhabited domestic lots (98,3%), according to the pre-
10 Some fishes that are sold in Belen´s market are protected by Peruvian law but fisherman continue fishing them. 11 Web site: http://censos.inei.gob.pe/cpv2007/tabulados/ Page 14 investment study. However, when the study of prefeasibility was made, COFOPRI12 found plans which had 2048 houses distributed in the 6 allotments that form the intervention area. In relation to the characteristics of houses, 76.43% of them lay on firm ground and in most of the cases, they are made with vernacular material (wooden walls, ceiling of local tree leaves and floor made with pona13 or floating wood). The houses were built on top of wood piles which are 2.5 m high (beyond of the water level). The 23.5% of the houses remaining are built on top of logs which allow the house to float in inundations season. It is important to mention that the end of Iquitos´ drain faces the part of the Itaya river that is invading every year BN during the rainy season. This means that the water is highly contaminated by all the residuals and waste of the city. This increases the level of contamination and sanitation in the area. Itaya river is contaminated by nitrates and presents a high level of bacteriological contamination. The levels are higher than the permissible for the all uses of water according to the General Law of Water.
Picture 3: Map of Iquitos Source: Desmaison, et all (2018)
The natural reserve Alpahuayo Mishana AM natural reserve was created by the supreme decret N° 002-2004-AG on the 15th of January of 2004. It is located in Maynas providence, 23 kms from Iquitos city and has an extension of 57667,43 HA. It is characterized by protecting rain forest of white sand and by having flooding forests inundated by the black water of the river Nanay. The natural reserve AM is highly influenced by Iquitos and the informal settlements that were created by the access of the Iquitos – Nauta highway and the Nanay river.
12 COFOPRI: It is the governmental organization in charge of the legalization of urban illegal possessions. Web site: http://www.cofopri.gob.pe/ 13 Pona: It is a palm tree, typical from Peruvian jungle. Web site: http://www.wanamey.org/plantas-medicinales-2/plantas- medicinales-selva.htm Page 15 According to SERNANP14, AM has “exceptional potential for the environmental education and for sustainable tourism because of its proximity to Iquitos. Furthermore, it also protects part of the water source that supply the entire city and ensures the traditional usage of the renewable natural resources by the communities located in the area” (Sernanp) The natural reserve has more than 145 mammal species, 475 types of birds, which 21 of them are exclusive of this white sand rain forest, 6 of them are new for the world science and 9 from the ecoregion Napo. Besides, 83 species of amphibious, 120 species of reptiles and 155 types of fish. The NBC is built in the buffer area of AP, which can cause environmental problems for the preservation of AM. Political actions before the relocation law: Sustainable Belen The project SB was created in 2012, after the fire that happened in the LAB, that destroyed 200 houses. Fires were and are a big threat for BN because the wood is the principal construction material. SB represented an inversion of PEN 133 million. The aim of this project was to improve the housing complex in Belen in order to make them safe and with all the basic services (water, drain) and to improve the physical access to them which was supposed to improve the social inclusion and decrease the vulnerability of 16000 inhabitants living in the LAB (Pueblo Libre). Each family was supposed to pay PEN 740 for the new house, which was going to be more adequate in terms of infrastructure for the period of inundation. Besides, the project aimed to build high paths in order to improve accessibility and make it more secure. SB lasted till 2015, and it did not reach its goal of improving the infrastructure because many companies of water and construction companies did not want to stop their work during the rainy season (December – June). Relocation as a solution? The problem identified by the central government by a report of the National Navy in LAB is that Itaya river is being invaded by the flow of water of Amazon river, in consequence, people’s houses are being inundated during raining seasons15 and the level of water has begun to increase. However, according to some specialists, this is a natural event and not affected by the climate change. The Peruvian navy says that in 40 – 50 years, the Amazonas and Itaya river will be together again. Another important reason that the central government considered to made this decision is the lack of sanitation and the accumulation of garbage in the area. However, these reasons do not explain why the relocation was conducted in such a hurry. The relocation law The relocation law came out after the visit of the ex-president Ollanta Humala to the area in December of 201416 because there was a fire in Pueblo Libre, which destroyed the houses of 200 families in 201217. Affected inhabitants were living in tents18 in a military stadium. In
14 Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado (National service of protected natural areas by the Government) 15 The period of inundation of the low area of Belen begins in December and lasts till March. Only during this period of time the water flow of Itaya river increases causing the temporal inundation of this area. 16 https://www.americatv.com.pe/noticias/actualidad/presidente-ollanta-humala-visito-zona-devastada-por-incendio-en-iquitos- n31758 17 There have been several fires in Belen neighborhood that had destroyed all the houses. 18 https://trome.pe/actualidad/incendio-iquitos-150-casas-quemadas-video-61477 Page 16 December of the same year, the law is announced on the 24th19, after a lot of controversies because the inhabitants were not consulted. The law #30291, declares in “emergency and of public need the relocation of the population of the low area of Belen´s neighborhood”. This state of emergency is generated by the constant inundations of the Itaya river in LAB. The law also says that this process will be handled by the MHCS with the coordination of local governments like the Municipality of Belen, Loreto government, Municipality of Maynas and the ministries of transport, education, and health. Besides, the law says that the relocation process will take place when all the infrastructure, basic services, and paving are installed at NBC. Inhabitants must “enjoy a decent housing with access to basic services and an adequate environment for their development” Since December of 2016 till December of 2018, 400 houses of the 2,600 houses have been relocated. The MHCS and the central Government are planning to build a new highway at the limit of the area that suffers the inundation at LAB, a pedestrian touristic boulevard, pedestrian access to Itaya river, an ecological park, commercial area at the riverside (New Belen Market) and an area for the Peruvian National Navy.20 The relocation protocol of populations in risk can be found in the law N°2986921 (Population relocation in high risk in no mitigable zones law). The law points out the characteristics of a population to be considered in high risk and the role of each governmental organism. This document does not make reference to participative activities that involve the population that is going to be resettled.
1.2) Actors
Political actors The process of relocation, as mentioned, is handled by the MHCS. The program that will do this process is POC of the same Ministry in coordination with other areas in the ministry like the office of social dialogue and other public entities. This program is the one in charge of doing all the process of relocation in Peru (Olmos project, new city of Cerro de Pasco, reconstruction of Piura city).
Two other important political actors are PNUD and the Ministry of Production who started building the new market of Belen at LAB22 in 2015, which is part of the program “Improvement of the commercialization service at Belen´s market”. There is not information that explains why the Peruvian government allows PNUD to build this new market even though it is considered a risky area. The aim of this is to try to contribute to inclusive economic growth in Maynas providence. “In this way, we are looking for orderly commerce, to recover the spaces next to the market that have been taken by informal traders and to improve the quality of
19 http://www.leyes.congreso.gob.pe/Documentos/Leyes/30291.pdf 20 http://www3.vivienda.gob.pe/pnc/newcbelen.html 21 Web site: http://geo.vivienda.gob.pe/dnv/documentos/ley_29869.pdf 22http://www.pe.undp.org/content/peru/es/home/presscenter/articles/2018/02/01/infraestructura-estrat-gica-para-impulsar-el- desarrollo-en-bel-n.html Page 17 life of neighbors, traders and producers with a clean and modern space, that allows a better conservation of the products.” (PNUD: 2018) According to the informal traders in BN, they received the invitation to work in this new market but paying a rent of 6 PEN per day for using the market. Currently, they are paying 3 PEN per day. The construction of the new market would imply a higher (the double) cost for renting the area. Social actors The process of relocation of this population involves also social groups of the Belen´s population. There are two clear groups: the one who is against the relocation and the one who wants it. One of them is related to the defense of the relocation project and the other one is against this process because they say it does not preserve the identity of BN. Also, we can find NGOs working in the area: Bola Roja (works with kids and theater), Patch Adams organization (health), Spanish cooperatives (sanitation and water), etc. The social authorities of the group that wants the relocation which is 50% of the population (LAB) are already living in the NBC. The presence of NGOs in LAB is decreasing with the progress of the relocation process. Most of the NGOs did not accept this process because they believed that LAB represents an important space of culture and they supported the first initiative of the government, “SB”.
Economic actors Although it is a project made by the government, economic actors are involved too in the construction of the new city. The companies of construction are chosen by the regional government of Loreto through public bidding per phase of construction. The MHCS is the one who decides how many houses are built per phase. During the first phase, 200 houses were built and during the second one (last one till the moment of writing this document) 300 more. The name of the companies that participate in the first phase of construction are: P&C Yactahuasi SAC, AyF Contratistas Generales, J. Dueñas Constructora SAC y Líber Perú SAC. Each company had the responsibility of building 40 houses.
1.3) New City of Belen NBC23 is formed by the population of LAB, specifically with Pueblo Libre inhabitants. It is located at the 14.5 km of the Iquitos – Nauta highway, in the district of SJB. Currently, there are 500 families living in NBC but the LAB, before the relocation process was comprised by 16,000 inhabitants. The territory where the MHCS built NBC city belonged to Maggie Hirsh, which is the wife of one of the ex-presidents of the regional government of Loreto, Ivan Vazquez Valera24. It has 6 urban allotments of which 2,048 lots are for domestic use. NBC is located in Varillal, at 1.5 hours from BN in public transportation. This area has 50 available hectares. The beneficiary population is up to 2,600 families, whom will have a house of 40m2 inside a 120 m2 land. Currently, the NBC does not have all basic services: till the end of 2018, the services of water and drain have not been implemented. This leads to the impossibility to build schools and
23 http://www3.vivienda.gob.pe/pnc/newcbelen.html 24 Ivan Vasquez Valera was in prison for corruption during his period as regional president of Loreto. http://www.periodicoluzverdeloreto.com/caso-motochatas-yvan-no-se-acordo-cuantas-propiedades/ Page 18 hospitals (health centers). Besides, NBC is located next to the national reserve, AM, which is located in the 23 km of Nauta highway (10 kms from NBC).
1.5 Hr.
Picture 4: Travel from Iquitos to NBC Picture taken from: Google Maps. Accessed: 27/10/2018 BN NBC AM
Trip from BN to NBC in public transportation Path without paving According to the plan of urban development, the office in charge of supervising and generating public transport in the Iquitos – Nauta highway is the Departmental direction of transport and communication of Loreto. This service is covered by taxis and buses for 12 hours per day till 7 pm. In order to cover the route with more frequency and for more hours (because not always inhabitants can find the buses till 7 pm or regularly during the day), there are services of taxi for the price of PEN 10 per person (4 persons in each taxi). The informal stop of buses and taxis is located in Belen.
The transport system is operated by private transport companies. There are 5 companies of buses working in the route with a total of 35 vehicles, with a capacity of 650 passengers. There are 6 companies of taxis covering the area, with a total of 83 vehicles, with a capacity of 332 passengers. 1.4) Research question / Goals Central research question o Which was the impact of the relocation process on the inhabitants of the NBC? Supporting research questions o In which way, the new space responded to the human right to adequate housing (vs. the right to the city)?
Page 19 o How did the employment structure change for the NBC inhabitants? o In which way, the NBC promotes the territorial inclusion of the new inhabitants? o How do the patrons of mobility have change for the new inhabitants? o Which are the (costs and) benefits of this new space? o What is the response of the new inhabitants to the relocation in terms of urban social movements?
1.5) Research aim and objectives The main goal (aim) of this research is to evaluate the relocation process of the residents from LAB to NBC in terms of social infrastructure, the costs of living in this new space and the response of the new inhabitants in the following aspects: Specific objectives include: (Compare the situation of LAB and NBC in terms of:)
Analyze how has been the process of territorial cohesion and the right to the adequate housing (Infrastructure) for the new inhabitants of NBC. This goal will consider the services allocate around the new city and spatial integration to Iquitos. Describe: Employment structure of the inhabitants and how the relocation has changed their opportunities to meet their life means. Explain how mobility has been affected with the relocation process, the costs, time, frequency of mobility, the usage of public and private transportation. Analyze the urban social movement in terms of their demands and collective actions.
1.6) Research Bias The impact of the relocation process was negative in the following terms:
Economic terms: The process of relocation only considered the costs of some of the infrastructure of the city, for example, the housing complex but did not consider the employment structure, transport system, education centers, hospitals, basic services. Social terms: The MHCS relocate a vulnerable population which was living in LAB to an area where their vulnerability is even more. The NBC is not integrated to Iquitos; all the spatial practices and dynamics are not related to the ones happening in Iquitos. This situation has impoverished the life conditions of the inhabitants of NBC. Political terms: The relocation process showed the lack of articulation between the political institutions (municipalities, ministries, governmental offices) and inside the MHCS. Furthermore, there are no clear reasons which were the political drivers to rush the relocation and why PNUD is building a new market in an area considered risky to by the government but not considered risky to build the biggest market in Iquitos.
Page 20 1.7) Methodology
The methodology will be qualitative; this means that I will use qualitative methods to be able to answer the research question and the support ones. This research will be exploratory, which means that it does not pretend to generalize the outcomes to all the social phenomenon of relocations.
Revision of secondary information: o Policies: Relocation of LAB, Creation of NBC, General law of relocation. o News: Block of highway, relocation process. Interviews: (See Annex I: Interviews, matrix interviews) o Political actors: MHCS, Municipality of SJB. o Social actors: Residents of BN and the NBC. Observation: o NBC o LAB o Market of Belen o Route to NBC The field research of this dissertation consists of two parts: the first part is an analysis of the regulations, the infrastructural and technical problems found in the construction and conformation of NBC. The instruments that will be used to develop this part are documents elaborated by CASA and Peruvian regulations about construction in environments similar where NBC is located.
The second part will consist of an analysis of urban social movement created by the neighbors of NBC in order to claim their basic services, the total construction of NBC and their demands. Also, it will show the opinion of specialists in the subject and the opinion of the head office of social dialog at the MHCS. The interviews consisted in: (See Annex I and Interviews Matrix) Chart 3: Instruments of gathering information Actor Number of interviews Political actor: 2 interviews 1) Specialist at dialog office at MHCS 2) Manager of economic development of the Municipality of SJB (location of NBC) Social actor: 10 interviews + 1) Focus group of 6 NBC 1 Focus Group Discussion inhabitants 1 Neighborhood meeting of NBC 2) 3 interviews with NBC inhabitants 3) 9 interviews with BN inhabitants Page 21 4) Neighbor meeting (more than 100 neighbors assisted) Technical actor: 1 interview 1) Specialists in the subject of Belen´s relocation
Also, I did an observation of the neighborhood meeting in NBC where they expressed their demands about the development of NBC, they talked also about the management of the neighborhood aggrupation and they also discussed on their possibility of action and the way the measures driven by them will be taken.
Furthermore, I visited NBC from Iquitos city during three determined periods of time of the day: 1) 7 am 2) 3 pm and 8) pm in order to compare the offer or frequency of public transportation to arrive to the area, the duration and quality of the trip. (See Annex II) These hours were chosen because, according to the neighbors, they are the ones that present a major number of people commuting. Actually, there is a time during the day that people travel to the city (3 am) to go to work in the market of Belen and start selling at 4:30 am when the market opens. In addition, in order to have a complete vision of the employment structure, I did an observation in order to describe the environment where most of the people work. Also, a characterization of BN was needed to understand the reasons of the relocation law. Besides, I took pictures from BN, NBC, Belen market and Iquitos to use them as sources of information that complement the analysis of the dissertation. (See Annex II and IV) The interviews to the inhabitants of BN were as important as the ones done with inhabitants of NBC because they show us the perception inhabitants have of the place that the government wants to relocate them, about the process, the pros and cons of this project, the relation with the governmental and non-governmental actors and how were the other options taken years ago that did not consider the relocation process as a solution. Also, an interview with a policeman that works in the police surveillance in the BN was important because the area is well known for being a dangerous space with social problems (family violence, drug selling, prostitution, etc) In order to know the opinion of the governmental actors, 2 interviews were carried with authorities: 1) Manager of economic development of SJB district. The importance of this actor lies on its knowledge about the economic reality of the district where the NBC is being built and the relation that they have with the central government. And 2) 1 interview with the head of social dialog office at MHCS. These two last interviews provide to the thesis the institutional point of view about the relocation and how it was driven by the MHCS (even though, it was made but POC) Finally, 1 interview was done to 1 specialist on the subject from CASA, who has been working on the subject of relocation for two years. Their work consisted in academic research proposing practical solutions to the lack of services and ways to improve the quality of life
Page 22 1.8) Relevance
There are many areas in Peru considered in risk because of natural disasters and the impact of industrial activity. Most of the cases related to community relocations happened because of mining causing the pollution and health problems. The best-known relocation, which still is in process, is the city of Cerro de Pasco (capital of Pasco region). Population of this city must leave their houses because of Volcan Company mining operation. Communities usually are almost obligated to change the space where they live due to the risks imposed. Around the world, there are similar cases of relocation process especially, in developing countries that suffer more the climate change and the activities of the extractive industry. The experience of NBC can be useful in order to understand the interrelation between the political actors such as municipalities and ministries because a good communication between these parts is vital for the success of the process.
1.9) Limitations of the research The information about the budget of public entities and how they spend it, is supposed to be public. However, on the website of the MHCS, the information about the project of NBC does not appear. I tried to contact POC, and have an appointment with the architect Patricia Goycochea (director of the program) and they did not reply. Several documents about the construction of NBC are not available for the citizens. This represents a problem because the civil society cannot know how the money was spent and how much money this project costs, which companies are working in NBC (construction process), the decision process and the reunions with other political actors like Ministry of transport, SEDA Loreto. The situation of lack of access and the lack of budget execution information is happening in a context where the social urban movements are emerging in the NBC. On the 19th of October of 2019, the inhabitant had a meeting between them to take actions for the lack of water, paving, transport, jobs, the management of the construction companies, etc (See Annex III) which led to the inhabitant to take the decision of blocking the highway of Nauta at the km 13 on Monday 22 of the same month. This actions made that all the problems that are happening in NBC appear on the news at national level and for the first time, this became a problem for the MHCS because their work is under the public eye. This situation made simple the field work with inhabitants because everyone wanted to say their opinion about the NBC and the problems that are happening in there. However, the situation made more complicated the relationship with the political authorities like POC. I was able to get 1 interview with people from the Social dialogue of the MHCS and 1 interview with the person in charge of the economic development of the Municipality of SJB. Another important element that constrained the field work, was the distance and danger to go to the NBC and the danger in BN. (See Annex II) It takes 1.5 hours to get there by public transportation and there are several cases of robbery and rape in the Nauta highway, numbers that increased since the creation of NBC.
Page 23 2) Relocation experiences: A brief overview
Relocation processes are used as a strategy to overcome the outcomes of climate change, political agendas, effects of wars, etc. However, this is not the best solution as different cases have shown us around the world. According to the literature related to Development-Induced Displacement and Resettlement (DIDR) literature, which studies forced movement as indirect part of infrastructure projects, shows that this process most of the times leads to the increase of vulnerability of the population. Bartolome (2000) address that this process leads also to “multidimensional relocation stress”. Oliver-Smith points out that the causes of relocations can be: 1) Political violence: Civil and international wars, caused most of the times by ethnic and political points of view. 2) Environmental degradation. 3) Economic displacement: produced by the changes in the mode of production. 4) Natural disasters: Hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding. 5) National political strategies: Policies that aimed the relocation of certain groups and other forms of population control. 6) Development projects: Removal of people from a specific location, in order to “large scale transformations of physical and social environments: included here are strategies for removal of traditional peoples and the transfer of land rights for intensified production for commercial commodities” (Oliver-Smith, 1994: 200) In the case of NBC, the relocation process is a mix of environmental degradation (insalubrity in LAB), natural disasters (flooding), economic displacement (new projects in the area) and development projects (NBC). Arnall (2008) says that resettlement (driven by the effects of climate change) or relocation (driven by political reasons) must be done by the initiative of the inhabitants and not by political organizations. Barnett and Webber point out that in some cases, relocation processes are done by governmental actors with the excuse of protecting them from the effects of climate change and to “secure the present by acting in advance in the future” (Anderson, 2010, P: 777) In that sense, inhabitants are moved to a less vulnerable location and mostly, they are showed the benefits of being relocated against the effects of climate change. The consent of the affected inhabitants in terms of what they expected from the relocation or whether if they wanted to be relocated, influences the success of the relocation process. (Mc Adam, 2015) It is important to have the consent of the population because otherwise the relocates can manifest that the process was “bottom-up” which can be a challenge for the political authorities. Relocation process must consider too the restorage of livelihoods, recover the employment structure in the community and the re – organization of the socio – economic structure. This process also responds most of the time to different governmental goals: “Many resettlement schemes, such as those in Tanzania and Ethiopia, have a number or declared aims, which focus on rural development and poverty reduction, and a set of underlying aims which relate to government interests in securing control overpopulation” (Arnall, 2008: 5) Arnall says that most of the relocation process that happened in the rural areas of Asia and Africa are not aiming to decrease rural poverty or fight the effects of climate change, they are trying to address political interests. Another important point mentioned before is the “consent”, Hammond (2008) showed a case of relocation in Ethiopia where the relocated household gave their consent to be relocated but it only happened in a situation of “anticipated dire conditions” (Hammond, 2008:528). With
Page 24 this, the author means that the inhabitants were just looking for an improvement in a long term, looking for opportunities for their children and not for themselves. In Argentina, the government relocated 20,000 inhabitants of Las Posadas because of the Hydroelectric project of Yacyreta. Bartolome (2000) points out that one of the main problems of this relocation was not taking into account the employment structure and the urban poverty of Las Posadas, where most of the inhabitants did not have any training. This fact was very convenient for the construction industry during the period of relocation, the construction of the new neighborhood produced jobs for the workforce who was not being employee. While it is true that it created jobs, it was temporal and did not create capacities in the inhabitants: “The growth of independent work and the economies of low development can be considered as a residual phenomenon and as an indicator of the existence of a labor force that can´t be absorbed by the formal economy” (Bartolomé, 2000:4) This means that once the construction process was over, the inhabitants did not have any opportunity to work. Even though inhabitants have a voluntary opinion about the relocation process in a bottom-up approach, the government tends to force the process in order to meet their original goals. This has been documented by several authors about the situation in countries in Africa and Asia. Legitimation is also an important element in this process, overall in bottom up situations. For example, during the 50s in Tanzania there were several projects that claimed to help “modernization”, “destiny” and followed a discourse of development and it caused the acceptation of the inhabitants even though, it was impoverishing their life conditions. In Laos, the inhabitant’s criticism of the relocation of farmers was concentrated more in the lack of services given by the government rather than the relocation itself. Most of the relocated households accept the relocation because of the possibility of having more opportunities in spite of the poor conditions of living in the new place. (Arnal, 2008: 6) Furthermore, there are some initiatives from the WB to create a manual to relocate population in risk around the world. In the book “Involuntary resettlement sourcebook: Planning and implementation in development projects”, WB talks about all steps involved in a relocation process, since the land acquisition till how to monitor the project. However, the document points out some crucial points like the participation of the new relocated households, the type of land that the neighborhood is going to be built, how to compensate the inhabitants for this relocation process, and also, they stablish differences in methodologies in respect of the reason of the relocation. The WB says that “involuntary resettlement may cause severe long term hardship, impoverishment, and environmental damage unless appropriate measures are carefully planned and carried out” (WB, 2001) However, it has received some critics for its work in Africa and how it tried to attack problems that appeared as a consequence of development projects that the same WB invested. According to Cernea (1997) the WB, before the 90s, used to finance development or infrastructural projects (like dams or hydropower) in developing countries (most of this financial help was given to African countries), which most of the time, ended up causing involuntary resettlement. The first attempt of WB to create a guideline that tried to correct the mistakes of past involuntary resettlement was done in 1980, through a policy that aimed the restoration of the income and livelihoods of relocated people and it was an Operational Manual Statement (Cernea, 2004). The policy also aimed for a relocation reduction. Between 1980 – Page 25 1995, the work of WB was concentrated mostly in Asiatic countries. Then, in 1990, another version of it was launched (Operational Directive) and its main goal was to try to ensure that the affected population received the benefits as compensation. In 2002, WB concluded that involuntary resettlements should be avoided and also, that if the involuntary process cannot be avoided, the inhabitants must receive benefits of the process and should be helped till they restore their livelihoods. And last but not least, that the involuntary resettlement should improve the living conditions of the relocated households. In that same year, WB adopted the Operational policy in involuntary resettlement. The book “Involuntary resettlement sourcebook – Planning and implementation in development projects” published by WB in 2004 points out the need of having a systematic resettlement planning, participation of the inhabitants, taking into account the local context of the relocated community, understanding the relocation as a way of developing opportunities (economic, social, etc), between other points.
Thomas (2002) analyzed a hydropower built in Togo (Nangbeto) at the end of the 80s. In this project, WB was an associate of the National Government of this country and it was the one who managed the resettlement process. The author concludes saying that the principal problem was the lack of urban planning at the resettlement process. Many of the relocated households returned to their original place because they were economically affected and the inhabitants were impoverished because they did not have any land to cultivate. In regard to the compensation (money to build houses), the inhabitants received it 3 years after the resettlement was done. Before this moment, inhabitants were living in poor constructed housing complex. After this experience, WB stress the importance of communicating the laws, decisions, regulations, compensation program, eligibility, etc. among the people who are going to be displaced. Another problem that happened in this project is that the host population did not receive any incentive to accept the new relocated household. This experience also shows that the area where the project should work in a social and economic way is not only with the relocated households but also, with the communities next to it that are going to be affected in some kind of ways. Another important situation pointed out by Cerna (1997) is that the resettled population never enjoys the benefits of the project on which they were relocated in a first place. It is true that the policy mentions the importance of giving incentives to the relocated households, there are no clear mechanisms for this procedure, the economic situation of the relocated households and what is possible for them to afford in terms of the new infrastructure maintenance. About this point, Thomas (2002) says that “Displaced populations in poor rural areas may not enjoy electricity from a dam project if they cannot afford the fixed installation costs of electricity use in the areas where they are resettled” (Thomas, 2002: 346) Colombo in Sri Lanka (UN, 2009) had a process of resettlement because of a development project, where the UN was an active actor in the process and gave consultancy for the Lunawa Environmental improvement and community development project. The innovative practices that were done by the UN and the Government of Sri Lanka were working with the inhabitants in the area of influence that are not directly affected by the relocation, also, they worked with an experienced NGO in the area as intermediary, in that sense, they earned the trust of the population quickly. Another innovative practice in this process was generating and working with community organizations, which helped the project to be more organized and to Page 26 focalize the strengths. The project also installed centers of information in the whole area in order to offer information to the inhabitants and worked with local banks that received the money of the compensation. Contrasting the bad experience of many relocation projects, WB discusses the experience of slum upgrading in Latinoamerica (2003) including the case of Villa El Salvador in Lima, Peru. The program was called “Self-Managed Urban Community of Villa el Salvador” strategies used were related to participatory planning, organized community pressure on policymaking, community control of local government. The document also discusses the ways that the program can be monitored, the actors involved, the importance of the identification of the inhabitants with their environment and the available resources that can help to reduce the urban poverty.
To conclude with this section, the international organizations are developing guidelines to facilitate and manage relocation around the world, with recommendations about how this should be driven (and how not). However, this does not assure the success of any relocation because the social costs that cannot be measured are highly invaluable for the inhabitants and their means of living. These organizations, which have had experience with this, point out that the involuntary relocation or resettlement must be done as the last option. This means that it is important to try other solutions to the problems that are happening in the area. For example, a way out could be slum-upgrading instead of relocating the inhabitants, as it was the case of SB. It tried to improve the structure of the housing complex in the neighborhood and also, it tried to start the paving in the area. There were some plans to put a drain system in LAB, which was going to improve the quality of life of the residents.
Page 27 3) The failure of territorial cohesion in NBC
This section will consist on explaining the concepts of social housing, as an example of the type of project that the MHCS wants for the NBC. Furthermore, I will use the concepts of mobility, adequate housing, territorial cohesion, risk management, etc. Also, I will link the concepts with the situation of NBC through the interviews done with the political and social actors.
3.1) Paradigm of social housing Social housing has been the solution for many governments around the world to the problem of lack of housing, and Peru is not an exception. NBC can be understood as a low-cost project of social housing. This dissertation conceives social housing as a policy measure to face the situation of the poor population without housing. This approach may be related to populism in Latin America. “Any policy that gives home to poor people and creates jobs in the construction industry is almost bond to be popular” (Gilbert, 2014: 255) Another problem found in the idea of social housing is that while it is true that an ownership title eliminates the rent (characteristic of these projects), it comes with other payments to pay like property taxes, services, etc., that will be paid by the inhabitants. “Access to cheap service land is a major problem for social housing programs across the world… The typical agency response is to build subsidized housing in the cheapest available land, usually in inconvenient locations for the inhabitants” (Gilbert, 2014: 258) The statements given by Gilbert (2014) characterizes the process of how the MHCS got the land to build the NBC from a donation. This made costs go down and with the possibility to allocate the money in some other services. However, the management of the project said that the budget was still short after the donation of land, making NBC inaccessible and excluded from all dynamics of the main city. Furthermore, there are problems with the access to services and security at NBC, this is caused by its location, which is far from the services and the main city. This fact makes that the way to access the NBC is retired and without transit and illumination. The mega projects of social housing receive the critic of trying to benefit the construction companies instead of trying to build adequate housing for the poor. This idea of building formal units in large number does not encourage self-construction and does not give options to build shelter, in that order, it limits the housing option for the poor. While it is true that building social housing in most of the cases creates job possibilities for poor families, after the project they remain as poor as they were before. “This is the fundamental problem with offering families home for nothing – it does not remedy the key problem, their lack of decent home” (Gilbert, 2014: 261) The paradigm of social housing in the last years shows that the national governments is more concerned in “the impact of housing market and the construction industry on growth in national and municipal economies than with the social role of secure housing in the alleviation and reduction of poverty…” (Wakely, 2014:17) In that sense, social housing leads to social exclusion in many cases. This can be analyzed since the perspective of social inclusion through paid employment, which is an important element because it is necessary for individuals to be “active”, “responsible” citizens. “Social housing places are seen as socially excluded, which
Page 28 justifies policy interventions to fundamentally alter the social structure of these places. Through the construction of place and associated social housing as the source of social exclusion, place is then reified as the bearer of exclusion” (Doney, et all: 2013) In order to provide better access to services, it is important to use an approach of social mix in social housing. (Galster, 2007; Doney, 2013) Social mix refers to the socio-economic composition of inhabitants in the “area”. This is important because it enables the access to services and infrastructure, it offers more possibilities to the inhabitants because the social mix population will attract more business and investment. Social exclusion can be understood in this sense as the lack of access to services, adequate housing, employment, etc. The conception of grouping poor people in the same area leads to impoverishment “If these families are so poor that they are uncappable to develop business or even to maintain their homes, the neighborhood may deteriorate and attract a degree of social stigma” (Gilbert, 2014: 257) The analysis of social housing will be useful to understand the governmental vision of the NBC. The project is characterized by its exclusion of the rest of the interactions in the city (location does not allow inhabitants to be part of the dynamics of Iquitos) and by not solving the housing problem of the inhabitants of LAB because the houses delivered by the MHCS are not suitable for them in terms of accessibility, materials of construction, basic services, etc. Furthermore, the inhabitants of the NBC belong to the same socio-economic level and the majority of them (or the majority) are poor. There is not a social mix of people from different socio-economic status. These conditions influence in the social exclusion of the inhabitants from markets, services, employment, infrastructure, etc.
3.2) The economy of the relocation
“Involuntary resettlement refers to both to physical displacement (relocation or loss of shelter) and to economic displacement (loss of assets or access to assets that leads to loss of income sources or means of livelihoods) as a result of project-related land acquisition or restriction of access to natural resources” (Environmental and social policy. PP:34) Economic resources in displacement situations can be organized in three big categories: 1) permanent or temporary sources of paid work. 2) material sources or recycled products or conditioned by physical or social procedures. 3) donation sources in cash, goods, services. (Bartolomé, 2000) The proximity to places of commerce or big cities is an important element to consider in the moment of allocating the relocated population because it offers the possibility to be close to services and job offers. The adaptive strategies in these contexts are related to how the social capital can be manipulated in order to assure a source of income. One of the strategies used by the inhabitants is working in activities related to informal economy. This phenomenon happens with more frequency in communities where urban poverty is present. Multi – employment is a normal solution against this situation. Poor households create organized forms and use the instrumental friendship as solutions. Informal economy can be understood as a way out to leave the poverty for those who cannot access to the formal employment. (Williams, 2014)
Page 29 The strategy that the families in NBC are implementing is that the two parents work. Many of the inhabitants are working outside the NBC, however, the costs implied of commuting to economic centers does not make this easy. It costs 20 PEN to go and come back to Iquitos, a price which is considered too expensive by them, so many of them are considering other sources of work. In NBC, there are some types of jobs that are popular between the interviews: construction, drivers of mototaxi (See Picture 1 of Annex IV), traders (work outside from NBC and the ones who sell products inside the NBC) and part of the invisible economy. The manager of economic development of SJB pointed out the need to support economic development projects such as “Mujeres emprendedores” (entrepreneur women) because the employment structure in NBC is not sustainable. Furthermore, he pointed out that the lack of communication with other governmental local entities did not help to the project. The MHCS took decisions that were not the most suitable for the project (using the highway Iquitos – Nauta instead of the one of Calipsos, not considering that Seda Loreto only provides water till km 7 because it is not possible to do it beyond that distance) Taking into account this information would have helped to make better decisions but the local authorities were not consulted.
“We have built different productive capacities, every 2 kms there are different agricultural production. We work with women, in a small town we created a center of hairdresser in other community, bird farm (we took some incubators), there are 50 little chickens per family and in other area, we foment families to grow corn and that is how we can help to invigorate the economy. We have 14 productive projects that were empowered by the Municipality”25 (The manager of economic development of SJB, 2018)
“The municipality needs to support the transport system to impulse the productivity in the area. The MHCS needs to involve local governments, they haven´t tried to negotiate with the provincial municipality and they did it with a private company. The entrance of NBC wasn´t for the Iquitos Nauta Highway, it was supposed to be by the Calipsos highway. Calipsos must have 20 occupied houses, no ore, people left. It was the same project that was done by MHCS. No one wats to go in and work in that area because they will need to charge extra money, and the people can´t pay”26 (The manager of economic development of SJB, 2018)
“The SJB municipality has been promoting the collection of rain water and dry toilets, but we don´t have the money and the MHCS points out it is too expensive… It has been known for many years that the water service can only be implemented till km 7. The study was made by Seda Loreto with other organizations. That is why “Los Delfines” that is located at 9 km has been working with BUF and they have found another water source… the principal problem is the water collection, pipelines, everything is too expensive, it is not rentable. How many persons that live in that area are going to be able to pay?”27 (The manager of economic development of SJB, 2018)
25 “Creamos diferentes capacidades productivas, cada dos kms hay diferencias en produccion. Nosotros trabajabamos con mujeres, en un local creamos un local del peluqueria y creamos un centro. En otra comunidad, aves de corral (llevamos incubadoras para que crezcan). son 50 pollitos por familia y en otro lado, hacemos que las familias hagan crecer maiz y hacemos que creen una economia dinamizada" "tenemos 14 proyectos productivos que se fortalecieron desde el municipio" 26 “La municipalidad tiene que apoyar en tema de transporte para impulsar la productividad. El ministerio en vez de involucrar a los gobiernos locales, ellos no trataron de negociar con el municipio provincial y lo hicieron con una empresa privada. La entrada a la ciudad de belen no era por la carretera iquitos - nauta, sino se tenia pensado que sea por la carretera de calipsos. Calipsos deben de tener 20 viviendas ocupadas, no mas, la gente se fue, fue un proyecto igualito que hizo el ministerio de vivienda. Nadie quiere entrar a trabajar hasta esa zona, porque tendrían que cobrar un precio que la gente no puede pagar"
27 “Desde la municipalidad San Juan Bautista se ha estado tratando de promover la recolección de agua de lluvia y baños secos, pero no se cuenta con el dinero y el Ministerio señala que es muy caro. "desde hace años hay un estudio que señala que solo se puede implementar agua hasta el km 7, lo realizo seda loreto con otras organizaciones, por eso los delfines, que está en el km 9, ha trabajado con el BUF, y se ha encontrado otra fuente de agua" "el pinricipal problema es la captación de agua, tuberías y todo, es muy caro, no es rentable, cuantas personas que viven aqui van a poder pagar?" Page 30 The housing design contemplates the construction of a mini farm per household in order to improve the familiar economy. In the big households, this strategy can be helpful to improve the family economy but in small families, it only helps to subsist. Most of the expenses are concentrated in food and to transport, the inhabitants that have mototaxis spend money in gasoline. Currently, the inhabitants are just paying for the electricity and not for the water because they were told that they will start paying when they are connected to the network of water. There are also several small businesses inside NBC (around 15) that provides livelihoods to the 359 families in the city. The prices of the products that are sold in these businesses are higher than the ones found in the city. The owners of the business said that this is because of the distance between one place to another. “The price is higher because we include the cost of bringing it here, we have to hire a transport mean to bring the things to the Varillal” (Inhabitant NBC, 2018) The owners of the business located in the NBC know that they have a competitive advantage because they know they are the only solution inside the city to buy livelihoods, in that sense, they can increase the prices and still the inhabitants are going to buy them because of the long distance to go to the city. Many of the interviewed pointed out that they buy their livelihoods in Iquitos and buy in the businesses in NBC when they do not have a specific product. However, the owners of this small business belong to the same socio-economic class and have the same vulnerability as the other inhabitants in the NBC.
“I sell chicken, with the money I get from the trade, I can buy other things and really, there is not any economic growth with the small shops, my sol goes to you and your sol goes to me, there are no incomes… the products are more expensive because they need to be transported to the NBC”28 (Inhabitant NBC, 2018) The principal source of employment at the NBC is the construction of it. Construction companies are hiring the inhabitants of NBC to build their houses. In the interviews and the neighbors meeting, inhabitants complained about the difference salaries that they are receiving from the companies and they also pointed out the importance of having a work certificate that validated the work that they were doing. Furthermore, women are demanding to work in the construction of the city, which is not the common employment for them, this is a response to the lack of job that it is happening in the area. This structure of employment represents a problem because it does not generate capacities in the inhabitants. When the construction process will be over, they will not have the tools to work in other activities. Besides, there is not a control over the payments of the companies to the inhabitants and the conditions under they are working. Some of them inhabitants were having problems with the company construction companies because they do not pay the same amount as a “citizen worker” and this was a matter of discussion during the neighborhood meeting.
“All neighbors that worked should have their work certificate by the construction companies. They should pay us the same amount of money, between PEN 800 and PEN 1000. In the first construction stage, we know how much money each company has paid, all of them should pay the same” (Inhabitant NBC, neighbor´s meeting 2018) The inhabitants are looking to form a career of worker and get a certificate that allows them to find more similar jobs and show the future employees, their experience.
28 "Yo vendo mi pollo, con lo que obtengo compro otras cosas y en realidad no hay crecimiento economico con las bodegas, mi sol fue para ti, tu sol fue para mi, no hay ingresos.... los productos son mas caros por el tema del transporte" Page 31 “Master of construction for everyone who have worked in that position with the company can receive a work certificate that allows them to work everywhere. We want more organization and companies paying the same price, not 800 or 1000, everyone should have the same proforma”29 (Inhabitant NBC, neighbor´s meeting 2018) Also, the economic situation of inhabitants is forcing family mothers that usually dedicate to housework and raising the children, to work in the businesses inside the city or considering working in the construction of NBC as a source of employment. The economic situation is changing the roles and customs that the inhabitants used to have at BN.
“The mothers have the right to work at the construction, not only men… they shouldn´t discriminate, there shouldn´t be a preference, I wanted to make women work but the construction, companies didn´t consider them”30 (Inhabitant NBC, neighbor´s meeting 2018)
“There are a lot of single mothers, lots of unemployed mothers that have the right to work, they have to work, people from NBC, not people from other towns, the priority is the people of NBC” 31 (Inhabitant NBC, neighbor´s meeting 2018) NBC does not seem to be attractive for the inhabitants of LAB in terms of employment. The lack of a market and the transport to arrive to Belen´s market makes the new city not attractive because of the price and the hour they would have to wake up to take the bus to work in Iquitos. They do not perceive that moving to NBC can compete with having the market (where they work) next to their houses.
“I live around here, near the market, I work as a trader, I sell products, soaps, everything… we start working at 4 am till 9 am or 10 am, that´s the hour where you sell good… we sell everything, fruits: banana, pineapple, watermelon… it is not like in Pucalpa because we don´t have this type of market, we sell food too, meat, grill chicken”32 (Inhabitant LAB, 2018) Furthermore, it is important to analyze these relocation or resettlement processes economically. Currently, the studies of relocation include operational indicators which help institutions to be able to understand and to stablish better process and the revenues for the relocated household from the development project, helping to monitor the future activities and the risks related to them. For example, Cernea points out the importance of having analysis about “behavioral risks” in resettlement projects. “The concept refers to risks to the project´s capital investments that can emerge from changes in people´s unrelated and hard to anticipate behavior (for example assumed consumption of project products, employment preferences, etc” (Cernea, 1999: 16) In the same line, the government creates risks to the inhabitants for expropriating their land without giving a comparable protection against this process. The only that it is given in return is the compensation which does not function properly in all the
29 “Certificado de trabajo de todas las empresas de construcción para los vecinos. Se deberia tener un solo precio entre 800 y 1000 soles. En la primera etapa se sabe cuanto ha pagado cada contratista, todos deben de pagar lo mismo. "Maestro de construcción para toods los que han trabajado en ese puesto con la empresa puedan recibir un certificado que les permita trabajar en otros lados, queremos que esta vez sea más organizado y que todas las compañías paguen el mismo precio, no 800 o 1000, todos deben tener la misma proforma"
30 “Derecho de las madres de familia para trabajar, no solo los hombres en la construcción… No hay porque discriminar, no debería de haber preferencia…yo he querido hacerle participar a las damas, pero las empresas no les han considerado a ellos"
31 "Hay muchas madres solteras, muchas madres desempleadas que tienen derecho a trabajar… deben trabajar la gente del pueblo, no gente de otros pueblos, esta es la prioridad del pueblo"
32 “Vivo aquí por el mercado, trabajo como comerciante, vendo abarrotes, jabones de todo… empezamos a trabajar desde las 4 am hasta las 9 am y/o 10 am, esa es la hora en la que se vende bien" "Se vende de todo, frutas: platano, piña, sandía" no es como en pucalpa porque no hay este tipo de Mercado…se vende comida, pollería, carne, pollo a la braza"
Page 32 countries, as shown in this dissertation. For example, in the case of NBC, the compensation for the loss of their land and house was a new city which did not have their validation and does not even offer the same life standers that they use to have before at LAB.
3.3) The vulnerability of inhabitants and the lack of adequate housing The right to adequate housing is defined by the UN as the right to live in security, peace, and dignity. Adequate housing must provide: 1) Security of tenure: inhabitants must have a level of security of land tenure which can defend them from evictions and involuntary displacement. 2) Availability of services, materials and facilities: Right to have safe water, adequate sanitation, energy for cooking, heating, lighting, etc. 3) Affordability, 4) Habitability, which says that the individual must live in a house that provides safety and an adequate space, as well as protection against the cold, heat or other threats. 5) Accessibility: the needs of the disadvantaged groups must be taken into account. 6) Location: “Housing is not adequate if it is cut off from employment opportunities, health care services, schools, childcare centers, and social facilities”. (UN, The right to adequate housing: 4). 7) Cultural adequacy. (UN, The right to adequate housing: 3 – 4) The UN points out that the right to adequate housing also encompasses the protection against forced evictions33. “This right allows an individual to be protected against forced evictions and the arbitrary destruction and demolition of one´s home.” (UN, the right to adequate housing: 3) Evictions are most of the times caused by infrastructure or development projects. The breach of the right of adequate housing leads also to the breach of the rights to work, health, education, security, etc. Discrimination can be present too in the housing laws, policies, measures, exclusionary policy development, limited participation in decision making. (UN, The right to adequate housing: 10) The right of adequate housing of the LAB is being vulnerable because the will of the ones that do not want to be relocated will not be respected because the MHCS has plans of building a market and a touristic boulevard in LAB, in that sense, all inhabitants will have to leave the area in some time. The right to not being evicted is being vulnerable. Besides, the NBC built by the MHCS does not respect the right of adequate housing (availability of services, affordability, habitability and accessibility) While it is true that the inhabitants of LAB were and are living in conditions of vulnerability and nor adequate housing, the project of NBC is being done by the government which has the budget and must respect the parameters of adequate housing. The problem of adequate housing is present in BN and NBC. In BN, the flooding season causes problems in the infrastructure (inhabitants need to rebuild the houses once per year) and in terms of security and sanitation. The water is contaminated (garbage and grey water) and there have been cases where kids fall into the water and die drowned. In NBC, the problems are related to the lack of basic services, the delay on the construction and allocation of infrastructure and services. Furthermore, the biodigesters implemented by the MHCS (as a measure because of the lack of drain) are full and they have
33 Forced evictions are defined by the UN as: “Permanent or temporary removal against their will of individuals, families and/or communities from the homes and/or land which they occupy, without the provision of and access to, appropriate forms of legal or other protection” Page 33 not received any cleaning or maintenance. Inhabitants have not been capacitated to clean them. The grey water is starting to appear on the floor of the new city causing the appearance of insects and bad smell. In the case of inhabitants of NBC, they are having problems to get basic services (water and drain) and one of the complaints was the access to them and the collective response that they were going to take against this situation.
“They have been telling us “in 30 days you will have water”, “in 30 days you will have light”, “in 30 days you will have drain”, everything was a lie”34 (Inhabitant NBC, neighbor´s meeting 2018)
“Budget of housing has decreased and that is why they (the companies) pay us the price they do for work, but someone else told me that the budget is permanent and it is the normal one, and now we will see this year, don´t let them fool us…Why they take so long to build the houses? What are the reasons they take so long? In two years, they can´t build 393 houses?”35 (Inhabitant NBC, neighbor´s meeting 2018)
“We don´t have water nor drain, and it is not only the fault of the company (seda loreto) it is the fault of MHCS. The water tank only gives us a little bit of water that is not enough for everyone, on top of that, the ministry wants to bring 200 persons more and we don´t have water, we will have to share the water” 36 (Inhabitant NBC, neighbor´s meeting 2018)
“There is no sanitation for the persons, the biodigestors are going to explode, the ones who came at the first stage: how old is your biodigestors? …Almost 3 years and it is not exploding, it is a problem of installation” (Inhabitant NBC, neighbor´s meeting 2018)
“Biodigestors don´t have any tube that allows everything to come out, I think they only have a small tube of 3 inches that´s all… we don´t make us respect”37 (Inhabitant NBC, neighbor´s meeting 2018) In BN, the inundations happen once in a year and the water enters to the houses of the inhabitants of LAB. Also, they have problems related to security, especially for women.
“There is a lot of people smoking pot or basic cocaine paste. Under the houses, there are 3 bars that are together. I got robbed on Monday. It is really insecure. Policemen are sleeping, there is no security and behind this area, girls are raped, they play with them. It is really dangerous. Everything is flooding, last year the river didn´t grow so much”38 (Inhabitant LAB, 2018) The inhabitants of NBC are in a situation of urban vulnerability; they were in this situation when they were living in BN and it increased when they were relocated to the new space. Vulnerability in most of the cases is related to the socio-economic conditions of the person, however, the analysis is not developed. In general terms, it is understood as the group of
34 "Nos han tenido diciendo 30 dais y nos ponen el agua, 30 días y les pongo la luz, 30 días y les pongo el desagüe, todo fue mentira"
35 "Presupuesto de las viviendas ha bajado y por eso nos pagan el precio que nos pagan por trabajar, pero de ahí otra persona me ha dicho que el presupuesto es permanente y es el normal y ahora vamos viendo este año, no nos dejemos engañar" "¿por qué se demoran tanto en construir las casas? ¿a que se debe la demora? ¿en dos años no se pueden hacer 393 viviendas?"
36 "No tenemos agua ni desagüe, y no solo es culpa de la empresa, es culpa del ministerio. Del tanque solo baja una cinturita no da abasto a todos… encima el ministerio quiere traer a 200 personas más y no tenemos agua, tendremos que compartir el agua"
37 "No hay salubridad para las personas, el biodigestor va a explotar… los de la primera etapa ya cuanto tiempo tienen? Ya casi 3 años y no rebalsa, entonces tiene que ser un problema de instalación" "Los biodigestores no tienen un tubo para que salga todo, creo que tiene un tubito de 3 pulgadas no mas. No nos hacemos respetar"
38 “Hay mucho fumon, debajo de la casa hay 3 bares pegaditos. A mi me han robado el día lunes. Es bien inseguro. La policia se duerme se cansa, no hay seguridad y acá atrás violan chicas, hacen sus pichangas con las chicas. Es bien peligroso. Todo se inunda, el año pasado no crecio mucho.”
Page 34 persons who are unprotected or uncappable in front of a threat to their psychological, physical, mental state. The WB and the IEDEP (Peruvian Institute of Economy) consider that the vulnerable population can be divided according to their daily expenditure: Extremely vulnerable ($4 - $6) and vulnerable ($6 – 10$). The inhabitants of BN are considered extremely vulnerable because of their income and living conditions, which both have decreased with the relocation. While it is true that urban areas can create economic growth, they can also contribute to the impoverishment of the poor residents. The process of urbanization comes also with the lack of access to basic services (water, sanitation) Cities are becoming in dangerous places to live for the urban poor in developing countries because they are victims of hazards (urban planning, infrastructure, transportation). Vulnerability can be understood as the possibility to be harmed, also “as the degree to which a system is susceptible to and is unable to cope with adverse effects of a single, or several hazards or stresses” (Romero, 2009: 4) Vulnerability can be caused by “The socio-economic structural processes that accelerate rapid urbanization and increase disaster vulnerability, particularly of low-income dwellers” (UN, 2007: 2) Vulnerability is also the capacity to cope with the hazards, but it cannot only be defined by the hazard, it must be studied by exposure, sensitivity and the capacity to adapt. (Romero, 2009) The first one refers to the nature and degree to which a system experiences a hazard. A hazard can be a one-off extreme event of short duration or a long one. Sensitivity remarks the change that a system has for the alteration of an event. The capacity to adapt refers to the ability of a system to overcome the alterations by adaptation or by introducing policies. The mechanism to deal with vulnerability is called resilience or the capacity to adapt to a new situation. It refers to the measure of the risk associated with the physical, economic and social aspects and the consequences of the risk taking into account the ability of the system to cope with the result. Resilience can be understood in two senses: 1) Hard resilience: “the direct strength of structures or institutions when placed under pressure, such as increasing the resilience of a structure through specific strengthening measures to reduce their probability of collapse” (Virenda Progra, 2014: 3) 2) Soft resilience: Ability of the systems to absorb and recover from the impact of hazards without the need to change radically. This depends on the capacity of adaptation and flexibility of the system as a whole. As explained before, the inhabitants of BN are facing a vulnerable situation because of the environment where they are living and their socio – economic status. However, the MHCS relocated part of the population of the LAB making a population that was already vulnerable because of its socio-economic status, to impoverish their living conditions. The resilience of the relocated group is being tried by the new situation they are living. One of the points where it is being tested is with the employment availability. As it has been explained, the NBC has a lack of territorial cohesion with the dynamics of Iquitos city, inhabitants have to adapt to this new situation where they need to find the way to find a job. The strategies implemented by the inhabitants that are still working at the Belen´s Market is going to the BN at 4 am. Others have tried to open a small business, but the problem is that there is not commercial circulation in the area because they are not cohesive to the main city. Another strategy that shows the resilience of the inhabitants and the capability to adapt to this new situation is in terms of the space. They have been adapting their housing complex in order to have more space and to improve the quality of thermic sensation. Page 35 3.4) Territorial cohesion in NBC
The NBC is far from the main city and one of the principal characteristics in social housing is the distance between the relocated population and the access to services. There is a lack of territorial cohesion in the urban planning of the NBC. Territorial cohesion can be understood as a principal for the creation of policies and projects in order to create cohesion between the members of a territorial community, to encourage access to services and facilities. Furthermore, territorial cohesion tries to configure an authentic common territorial project (identity) and also, communicate, articulate, connect all the parts (giving internal coherence) and to stop all the disparities between territories. According to the specialist in the subject, the MHCS was worried about building the houses rather than considering the territorial cohesion and basic services as first elements. Furthermore, there has not been any participation with the local government which did not promote a process of learning about this situation that is common in the Peruvian Amazonian. The project according to her, contributed to the urban sprawl and to a disorganized urban growth which can help to the impoverishment of the quality of life and environment.
“The project should have started with the accessibility, employment, water. Housing is something that should have been worked at last, not at the beginning. I went to some of the workshops done by the MHCS at the begging, but the reasons why the NBC was located so far, were unknown. Also, why the reasons of the relocation. The project didn´t consider an evaluation process, it came as a package, so it caused a lot of disinformation and without considering the local knowledge and it denies the possibility of the people to be prepared for the future changes, I mean, there has been null learning of the local government and the population in how to deal with emergency events”39 (Specialist CASA, 2018) Territorial cohesion follows 3 principals: The first one is the territorial efficiency: The physical articulation (infrastructure). The indicators that can be used are: efficient and polycentric urban systems, interregional integration, resource efficiency, general accessibility, competitiveness of production system, sustainable public transport, development of city networks, compact city form, reduction of technological and environmental risk. The second one is territorial equity (equality): equal opportunities for all the inhabitants. This also refers to the access of basic services and infrastructure for all the citizens. The indicators used in this item are: reduction of interregional income disparities, conservation and creative management of natural resources, access to basic services, quality of life and working conditions, quality of transport and communications (safety), reduction of emissions, attractiveness of external firms, reduction of poverty and integration, multiethnic solidarity, employment performance.
The third one is territorial identity, which is understood as the identification of the community that is living in a certain territory, that has a common project. This item talks also about the feelings of belonging and identity to the territory itself and can be studied through the following indicators: Conservation and creative management of cultural heritage, quality of urban and rural landscapes, cooperative between city and countryside, development of region
39 “Debería de empezarse por temas de accesibilidad, trabajo, agua, la vivienda es al ultimo, no se debería empezar con el tema de viviendas al inicio. Yo acompañé a algunos de los talleres hechos por el ministerio, pero hubo también mucho desconocimiento sobre por qué tan lejos, por que la reubicación, la gente no sabía. Llegó un paquete armado, no hubo un proceso de evaluación, llegó con un paquete armado. "Al llegar con un producto armado se cuenta con un desconocimiento de lo que puede dar la misma gente local y también se niega la posibilidad de que las personas sean activas para el futuro y estén preparadas para futuros cambios osea aquí ha habido un aprendizaje nulo del gobierno local y de la población frente a eventos de emergencia" Page 36 through specific know-how-knowledge, accessibility to global knowledge, development of territorial vocations and visions, development of social capital. (Fernandez, 2009, Abrahamns, 2013) Also, the concept can be understood as “the territorial ties that allow them to take advantage to a better competitiveness and territorial efficiency, avoiding the process of activities concentration, territorial polarization and social inequality…”40 (Fernandez et all, 2009: 160) According to the territorial configuration of the NBC, the principals of territorial cohesion are not being followed. There has been a loss of territorial identity, the community of BN now is disarticulated because of the relocation project and for the moment, there are no initiatives that try to recover their identity in NBC. Furthermore, the project has impulse a process of differentiation between the ones who accepted the project and the ones who did not and still are living in LAB. As mentioned before, the equality in the access to services is inexistent because the NBC is not integrated into the dynamics of the city. The NBC is not accessible and does not have a service of public transportation adequate to the demand of the inhabitants. According to the specialist of CASA, NBC is considered a dorm city because it does not have the facilities and infrastructure.
“Peru is one of the countries that signed the new urban agenda and it has a series of compromises, one of them is avoiding the urban sprawl and the degradation of green areas and the conservation of the ones that surround the city. The fact that the new city is located in the buffering area of a natural reserve and becoming a satellite city that ends up fomenting the process of conurbation, in which the main city or the satellite city ends up imposing, generating the loss of agricultural land because of an urban expansion and changes in the land use. NBC is a “dorm city” because it doesn´t have the facilities and services. There is one school that just have primary and not secondary. It had some problems to function because there are no basic services. Still, there have been some improvements, kids can play all day in the street, there is less stealing and the houses are made with “noble” material” 41 (Specialist CASA, 2018) Another important point that involves the concept of territorial cohesion is the connectivity and accessibility, in the way that building more highways is not only the priority. There must be a reformulation of mobility in these areas, where the prioritization must be the sustainability of the transportation, the life quality of residents, the environmental health and not increase the constant movement of the inhabitants. The measure of territorial cohesion can be done following these parameters: 1) Physical articulation through transportation networks. 2) Services and facilities access. 3) Economic development. 4) Territorial capital usage. 5) Disaggregation patterns. 6) Territories which help to the social cohesion of the inhabitants. Furthermore, it is necessary to make an evaluation of the territorial capital (social, economic, cultural, environmental) in the regions. There must be territorial zoning, where the study can allocate the socio-economic sectors and also, indicators and qualitative methods that correspond to each area. (Fernandez et all, 2009)
40 Own translation. 41 “Peru fue uno de los paises que firmo la nueva agenda urbana y que tiene una serie de compromisos, uno de ellos es evitar la expansión de la mancha urbana y la degradación de las áreas verdes y resguardar las areas verdes que rodean las ciudades, el hecho que la nueva ciudad esté ubicada en una zona de amortiguamiento de una reserva natural y que además se convierte en una ciudad satélite que termina creando un proceso de conurbación en la que la ciudad original o la ciudad satélite termina imponiendose lo que genera pérdida de áreas agrícolas a una expasión urbana y cambios en el uso de suelo. Es una ciudad dormitorio, porque no cuenta con las facilidades y servicios, hay un colegio que por el momento solo hay primaria y no secundaria, ha tenido problemas para iniciar porque no hay servicios básicos. Han habido mejoras en cuanto a que los niños pueden ahora jugar durante todo el año en la calle, menos robos, las casas son de material noble.” Page 37 Territorial cohesion may mean the possibility to coordinate policies between areas and to understand the particularities of each place. It also gives the enhance the social participation at the urban management of each area. For Abrahams (2013) territorial cohesion is characterized by “strong local economies ensuring global competitiveness, innovative territories, fair access to services, markets and jobs, inclusion and quality of life, attractive regions of high ecological values and strong territorial capital and integrated polycentric territorial development.” (Abrahams, 2013: 2143)
3.5) The mobility and accessibility in NBC An important element to understand in this discussion is “mobility” because “contributes to the quality of life. It is the precondition for economic growth, trade, and creativity, as well as personal wellbeing. People who can easily move around in the city can enjoy more of life´s opportunities. Mobility creates access to opportunities for advancement, individuals and for the community as well.” (Urban mobility, 7) Inhabitants of a determinate area need to moves in order to work or any other activity. Also, people moves for their physical needs and the availability of land. The land use system consists on the spatial distribution of opportunities in terms of jobs, healthcare, residence and social facilities, etc. Transport system is a mean that helps to overcome the distance between two points, “it consists of a multi-modal public transport connecting spatially distributed activity location which is planned by the government.” (Urban mobility, 6) Mobility is also understood as a demand for activities or travel, where the cost is an important part of the demand. (Salomon and Mokhtarian, 1998) Mobility can be also understood as the need of movement from one point to another with the help of transportation networks and the services that are allocated between these two points. (Beimbort et all, 1999). The points of origin and destination rules the travel patterns and they usually depend on the activities happening in such points. “The demand for travel is the distance travelled by an individual between the origin and destination using a specific transport mode, which includes the time dimension (travel time, waiting time, parking time), opportunities (income, travel budget) and an assurance dimension (reliability, level of comfort, accidents, risks, etc.”. (Beimbort et all: 1999: 6)
Accessibility is a measure of supply which usually is the end of most of the means of transportation. It can be understood also as the management of the travel of inhabitants, without considering the income, race or gender, and this can be achieved through transportation infrastructure. The supply of the infrastructure must consider: 1) knowing the location of the principal inhabitant´s activities, 2) Number of lanes. 3) Public transportation schedules 4) travel costs, etc. (Beimbort et all: 1999: 7) The inhabitant of NBC does not have a transport that considers “accessibility” as the principal motor of it. It does not have schedules, situation that affects inhabitants and the development of their activities. Furthermore, they just have one lane that is supposed to go the NBC each hour from 6 am till 7 pm. However, the activities of the inhabitants start at 3 am, when they have to go to Belen´s market to work, at this time, inhabitants do not have the possibility to take public transportation at this hour, the only solution they have is to take Page 38 “mototaxis” and doing it in groups of 3 persons in order to make the price cheaper. In a regular day, the household spends through the father (who is the only one who travels on a daily basis): 5 PEN, (mototaxi 1), 2 PEN (1ST bus to Iquitos), 3 PEN (mototaxi 2) * 2 = 20 PEN * day * person in NBC. (each trip 10 PEN) For example, a worker in the construction sector, working in Iquitos, can have (in the best case) a monthly wage up to 2000 PEN, working 10 hours per day, 5 days per week. A small business inside the city produces 700 PEN per month (according to the interviews), taking into account that they usually have their business open 6 days per week and with a limited time schedule (5 hours per day) because they need to do the houses´ chores. In NBC
Economic cost to household per trip: It will be understood as: Ticket cost per trip + time to arrive to Iquitos * Hourly wage * 50% Worker in construction sector: 10 (ticket cost per trip) + 1,5 (time to arrive to Iquitos) * 10 PEN (hourly wage) * 0,5 = 57,5 PEN Housewife with a small business inside NBC: 10 (ticket cost per trip) + 1,5 (time to arrive to Iquitos) * 6 PEN (hourly wage) * 0,5 = 34,5 PEN
Monthly transport cost: It will be understood as: Economic cost per trip * trips per month for all household members = (10 * 40 (men)) + (10*20(women)) = 400 PEN + 200 PEN = 600 PEN per family In LAB, the situation is different because most of them worked at the BM. In that sense, their workplace was accessible because it was next to their houses so they used to go walking to their works. Also, this change means more time to travel to one place to another. Inhabitants of LAB take between 5 to 10 minutes, by feet to arrive to BM. In NBC, inhabitants take 1.5 Hr. to arrive to Iquitos’s city. This also means that inhabitants are more exposed to the robberies and physical violence that happens on the Iquitos Nauta highway.
The WB defines sustainable mobility as “the ability to meet the needs of society to move freely, gain access, communicate, trade and stablish relationships without scarifying other essential human or ecologic values today or in the future” (WB,2001) In that sense, sustainable mobility must consider the following aspects: 1) Stabilize the social, economic and environmental costs. 2) Make the urban transport last for the next generations. 3) Make the urban transport accessible for all the socio-economic classes. 4) Land use allocation must be an important indicator to consider mobility and accessibility. Allocating land for different services will make easier and will reduce the travel demand by reducing the number of trips and the trip distances. This fact will help to have a compact city. The mobility represents a problem for the inhabitants which point out that their activities do not finish at 7 pm and by that time, it is really difficult to find public transportation. People Page 39 are considering renting a room in Iquitos because it is too expensive taking a mototaxi all days, besides, the price is not only for the trip to arrive to Iquitos. Moreover, it is a dangerous route, according to the interviewees: stealing and raping have been happening in the area. The principal problems detected in the transport are: Price, security, frequency, and quality.
“There is no transportation for the university students. Classes don´t finish exactly at 7 pm, and by that time, they can´t find any transport. This makes that a lot of them consider the possibility of renting a room in the city to be able to study”42 (Inhabitant NBC, neighbor´s meeting 2018) According to this, the director of Social Dialogue of the MHCS says that this problem was caused by the lack of communication between all the governmental parts and said it was the responsibility of the Municipality.
“We coordinated with the municipality of SJB to enable the transport companies to work in that area, but as you in a free market economy, where there is demand there will be offer, but initially there was no offer for this demand, because it wasn´t an attractive situation for the private sector, we talked to the municipality to coordinate the transport access. As far as I know, they do have, but it is not frequent”43 (Coordinator of Social Dialogue of MHCS, 2018)
3.6) Risk management: A mean to improve the territorial cohesion All social project should count with a risk management approach which studies the “internal and external, visual and invisible factors that influence the environment that create high risk in accomplishing project objectives.” (Hoon Kwak, Dewan, 2001: 1) Some of the internal factors that can affect the project are related to: 1) Stakeholders, including beneficiaries and the client groups, that have a strong power to influence in the rest of actors. 2) Technical capabilities. 3) Managerial factors. External factors are understood as: 1) Bureaucratic context in which the project is implemented and the organizations working for the project. 2) National policies that affect the development plan and organizations working in the project. 3) Political system of the recipient country and its level of stability. 4) Socio-economic context, the cultural and social settings that the project is operating in. The steps to a risk management process, according to Nupita (2010), consist in identifying, assessing and documenting possible risks. For this, is necessary to map what are the stakeholders facing before the project is implemented, the objectives of the stakeholders, availability of resources to mitigate the effects of the risks, what structures are available in case the occurrence of a risk. Then, it is important to consider risks that are visible in the community, rather than trying to englobe all type of risks or situations that can be at a national level. The third step consists in assessing the risk. After identifying the risk, the potential loss and grade of occurrence must be asses too. The fourth step consists in the treatment the project will give to the identified risk: 1) Avoidance (elimination): Not performing activities related to the risk. 2) Reduction (mitigation): Reduction of the loss: Methods that reduce the severity of
42 "No hay transporte para los alumnos de instituto y/o universidad. Las clases no terminan a las 7 pm exactamente y ya no encuentran movilidad. Esto obliga a que muchos consideren la posibilidad de alquilar un cuarto en la ciudad para poder estudiar" 43 "Se coordinó con la municipalidad de SJB para posibilitar a las empresas para que lleguen a esa zona, la economia de libre mercado, donde hay demanda hay oferta, pero inicialmente, no habia oferta para esa demanda, porque no era una situacion atractiva para el sector privado, se hablo con el municipio para que se vea el acceso de transporte, tengo entendido que sí llegan pero no es seguido" Page 40 the loss. 3) Retention: Acceptance of the loss. 4) Transfer: Making some other organization or individual to deal with the loss. The next step is related to creating of a risk management plan. This consists in selecting appropriate controls to measure each risk. Step 6 is related to the implementation of the risk management planning, finally, it is important to evaluate and review the experience for next projects. (Nupita, 2010) The success of a development project will depend on the environmental factors, that is why it is important that the project considers a project management strategy that analyzes the characteristics of the environment. Many of the development projects require specialists that are not from the area and have a different cultural mindset, that is why is important to make them feel comfortable and part of the team. An example of risk management is what Cernea (1999) researched about the costs of resettlement, which are not only socio-cultural, also these projects contribute to the impoverishment of risk population. Cernea (1999) proposes 8 interlinked risks: Landlessness (expropriation of land and the production system, commercial activities and livelihood sources). Joblessness, homelessness (no permanent house), marginalization, which happens when the families “loose economic power” after physical relocation. Food insecurity and social disarticulation understood as “dismantling of the structure of social organization and loss of mutual help networks… other common risks are loss of access to some public services as the temporary or permanent loss of the school for children” (Cernea, 1999:18) Furthermore, the social costs that are most of the times the ones that have more risk, are defined as the ones that are “left to accrue to the society outside the project, as opposed to the project´s direct internal costs… land, houses, trees, crops…and access to social services” (Cernea, 1999: 20) That is why is necessary to undertake special economic and financial analysis for the process and a socioeconomic reestablishment component. The risk analysis of the cost of the relocation process proposed by Cernea is useful in the case of NBC because it gives us the tool to explain what has been happening after the first groups were relocated. For example, the inhabitants are suffering from a lack of job, as explained before. In terms of the land, inhabitants do not have the property titles in LAB, in case they want to leave the NBC, they will not have any chance to come back to their previous home. This “landlenessness” comes also with no access to commercial activities (which was the job of most of the inhabitants in Belen) Another point is the social disarticulation that comes with the relocation process. In the case of NBC, the relocation process divided the inhabitants of LAB between the group who was against the relocation and the one who was for the project. This caused the disabling of the social organization in BN. The risk analysis of the project can be done also taking into account the administrative facts of the project. In this case, an important element that is an internal factor is the lack of communication between the POC (which was in charge of the whole project) and other ministries or offices inside the MHCS. Furthermore, the communication of the project with the inhabitants was insufficient, still many residents of LAB think that NBC has basic services. The methodology, that mixes management tools with social ends, must be used to control the possible outcomes of the project and have plans to attack them.
Page 41 4) The emergence of urban social movement
“This is not an informal settlement, this is not a slum, this is a city, this is our city, it is the dream of our parents that founded Pueblo Libre, Belen, we must have social leaders that “wear their pants” and enforce the law”44 (Inhabitant NBC, neighbor´s meeting 2018) In this section, I will explain that the relocation project situation has caused the formation of urban social movements (pro relocation) and resistance to the project (inhabitants that do not want to leave NB). Both of them are vital for the success of the project and the inclusion of inhabitants´ demands. I will use the theory related to this topic and some interview´s extraction in order to explain how is the situation in NBC. Urban social movements are defined as “social movements through which citizen attempt to achieve some control over their urban environment” (Ritzer, 2007:1) The urban environment is understood as the built environment, the social fabric of the city and the local political process. Urban movements can be seen also as a “structural mechanism of change” of the urban city. The mobilization happens in response to unsatisfied demands. Urban social movements can be understood also as “reactive” and as communities looking for the urban transformation that will implicate a more participative urban management. (Martinez, 2003:87). Urban transformation refers to the city structural realization in three aspects: 1) An organized city according to its usage value in order to improve collective consumption. The space is desired usually according to its services and connectivity, elements that are more frequent in spaces with higher economic resources. 2) The pursuit of a cultural identity. 3) The decentralization of power and empowerment of local authorities. (Martinez, 2003:83, Castells, 1983: 430-431) The action repertories that urban movements used are most of the time the same used as the regular social movements. Usually, inhabitants use squatting, blocking highways. Organizational ways can also be bottom-up or top-down. The first one refers to levels of organization beyond the community itself (networks of activists, creation of committees). Top- down movements characterize by political parties build local movements, when the movement is created inside the same community or when political movements take over or make a bottom-up movement a top-down one. Often the movements can transcend the geographical borders and initiate a movement that involves particular situations that requires mobilization of the inhabitants. Alcazar et all (1993) point out that the urban social movements have territoriality. This means that there are interdependent dimensions in which the metropolitan urban space is articulated. Space is also configurated by the social and economic division, “space is not neutral, it is susceptible to the logic of production and reproduction relations of the economic system” (Alcazar, 1993:119) This phenomenon is also known as horizontal cooperation from different inhabitants that share some goals or situations. It is possible that an urban movement can produce some social change when they are multi-issue: Realizing collective issue demands and fighting the idea like getting basic services as inhabitants of Belen. (Ritzer, 2007: 2) Also, blocking the highway as urban repertory by the inhabitants of NBC for lack of basic services.
44 "Esto no es un pueblo joven, esto no es una invasión, es una ciudad, ha nacido nuestra ciudad, es el sueño de nuestros padres que fundaron Pueblo Libre, Belen, tenemos que tener una dirigencia que se ponga los pantalones y haga cumplir la ley”
Page 42 The urban movement of NBC is at the phase of cooptation, which is characterized by the social movement implementing actions to ask for some particular request. The success of a social movement depends on the political opportunities to it. Tarrow (2012) remarks that most of the time, social movements (and urban social movements too) only have contentious actions as a resource. It is important that a structure of opportunities in the political system exists in order to create a social network which can result in a social movement. Tilly (2004) describes a movement as a synthesis of 3 elements: 1) Constant public efforts. 2) Political action. (demonstrations, petitions) 3) Public demonstration of its participants. According to Tilly and Tarrow it is fundamental the participation of the government to the success of the social movement and to set the nature of it. Another important element to consider in the analysis of social movements (and urban movements also) is the consciousness of the group integrant about their demands and how it is managed in front of the group of power. Goldstone (2004) remarks the importance of studying also the non-contentious actions, such as the relationship with other groups. Most of the urban social movements are characterized by organizing themselves in order to obtain basic services, infrastructure improvements or any other demand that is set locally in a particular space. While it is true that the movement can expand its demands in other areas, it happens because they share the same kind of demands and social articulation. The identification of the inhabitants of NBC is characterized by their past living at LAB, their common demands of basic services and infrastructure as a collective and the repertories of action that they will take.
“We are a strong group of people, we have survived to the delinquency of Belen, to the garbage of Belen that makes the city of garbage at a national level, they eat contaminated fish, why can´t we fight to have our market, our school, our highway. We have to insist with the neighbor to come with us to be stronger, it is time that the rest of neighbors come to be stronger. Let´s go the ministry of health, let´s go to the ministry of education, why can´t we as an emblematic school? Is it just that Lima has the right to progress? We are the sustenance of the world because of the oxygen, we need to be strong, we need to participate, let´s walk one day or two to the Ministries because Lima only will give us a document… if the architect won´t give us a solution, she is not going out from the NBC, come on brothers, on Monday we fight… the project hasn´t stopped but it is going really slow and it is the fault of the architect, let´s march till the central government”45 (Inhabitant NBC, neighbor´s meeting 2018)
4.1) The proposal of the inhabitants of NBC The participation of inhabitants in the decision-making process is vital for the success of a social movement. This concept is known as co-production, which is defined as a tool of “empowered participatory governance which relies on the commitment and capacities of ordinary people” (Watson, 2014:76) This method assures the maintenance and the improvement of urban communities. Furthermore, it is important to understand that the state and citizens provide the city, different types of services and knowledge, and both actors must work together
45 "Somos un pueblo fuerte, hemos sobrevivido a la delincuencia de belen, a la basura de belen que la convierte en la ciudad de la basura a nivel nacional, comen pesces contaminados, por qué nosotros no podemos luchar para tener nuestro mercado, colegio, carretera. Hay que insistir con el vecino que venga para ser más fuerte, que vengan ya todos para ser fuertes, vamos al ministerio de salud, vamos al ministerio de educación, porque no pedir un colegio emblemático? acaso solo lima tiene el derecho a progresar? somos el sustento del mundo por el oxigeno... tenemos que ser fuertes... tenemos que participar, caminemos un dia o dos dias a los ministerios porque Lima solo nos va a responder con un documento." "si la arquitecta no nos da solución, no sale de la ciudad de belen, vamos hermanos, el lunes se lucha" "el proyecto va lento, no se ha paralizado, es culpa de la arquitecta, vamos a marchar hasta el gobierno central"
Page 43 in order to be a sustainable city. Two important elements of this are the social cohesion of participants and their shared common goal. In order to analyze coproduction is important to take into account 2 points: (Misselwitz, 216:76) 1) What enables and constrains cooperative and self- practices? 2) How is this related to investments or public policies? Co-production can be understood also as “institutionalized co-production is the provision of public services (broadly defined to include regulation) through regular, long term relations between state agencies and organized groups of citizens, who both make substantial resource contributions” (Joshi and Moore, 2004: 31). Coproduction in the global south can be understood as a strategy for services delivery in the context of a bottom-up projects made by the government. It can be understood also as a struggle for choice where the citizens are looking for engagement with the government for the management or provision of basic needs. “Coproduction is a strategy for the urban poor to consolidate their local organizational base and build capacity to negotiate successfully with the state on both policies and practices” (Mitlin, 2018: 561). Coproduction is an important step for urban social movements because it brings a proposal to the movement, it is not only a protest. The collective actions implemented by social movements are seen as ways of “breaking the rules” and most of the times, illegal strategies are used by poor households in order to call the attention of the authorities. Co-production is important in order to inhabitants appropriate their own space. Spatial appropriation address two concepts: transforming action (territoriality and personal space) and the symbolic identification (interactives physical aspects). People are able to leave a mark through action “through action, the person incorporates the surrounding in their cognitive processes” (Vidal and Pol, 2005: 283). It is important that persons can feel symbolically identified in the space in order to be able to recognize themselves in it and make it their own. Urban social movements and co-production are fundamental to explain also the concept of the right to the city. Harvey explains that this right is far more than the access to the city resources, “it is a collective right since changing the city inevitably depends upon the exercise of a collective power over the process of urbanization” (Harvey, 2008: 1) In order to claim this right is necessary to have some power in the process of shaping the city. Urban social movements according to Harvey are fighting against the social disparities found in a city.
NBC does not count with the possibility of social opening, nor the need for security and the possibility of having encounters due to its isolation. (Lefebvre 1998) The space appropriation through self-management and the capacity of building the city is limited for the inhabitants because they do not feel represented in the space. Civil participation is as important as other elements for the city constitution. The lack of coproduction in the project of NBC has caused a poor sense of appropriation of the project. The inhabitants do not feel represented in their new environment. A place is a meaningful location, is not only the material space (locale), it is needed a sense of place, which is understood also as a “phenomenon that brings social and spatial together and in part produces them” (Cremsswell, 2004 in Bruchansky, 2010:1) A place can be described also by its identity, the social practices that are taking place there and the traces of memory that characterized it. According to Marc Augé a non-place is the one that does not have an identity, that is not relational and historical. For him, the cities are considered as places and the Page 44 highways, for example, are considered the non – places. However, according to Bruchansky (2010), there are many spaces rooted in human nature that can be considered as non – places. According to this, NBC can be considered an in between in a place and a non – place. It does not have an own identity (this can be related to the fact that the relocation process is still going), but the lack of appropriation of the project contributes also to the lack of constitution of a place. 4.2) The resistance In most of the cases, when the people of a community is informed that they are going to be relocated, the projects are already in process. “At such time, when people decide to resist resettlement they are faced with a major decision, namely whether to resist a project backed by the force of the state and the power of multilateral financial institutions or to accept the infrastructural project and to resist the implementation of a poorly conceived resettlement project” (Oliver-Smith, 1994: 201) At this moment, the access to information is crucial for the inhabitants to decide what type of actions are going to be taken and whether the strategies are going to be collective or individual, if they are going to have allies, sizing the consequences of losing or winning, what type of resources they need. Inhabitants usually fight not only against the project but also, the vision of development hidden in the proposal. There are cases where people decide to support infrastructural projects (that involves relocation) and they put their efforts to accompany the process and improve it. This resistance can be understood to a resistance to a bad process of relocation. The strategies are focused on negotiation instead of resisting the project. “Such terms and conditions might include improved replacement land, compensation for losses, or housing allowances” (Oliver-Smith, 1994:202)
Resistance must be understood as a positive insight for the policies, strategies, and procedures in resettlements because it helps to improve them, having the opinion and experience from the inhabitants. According to Oliver-Smith (1994) the analysis of a resistance movement can be done in 3 approaches: The first one is the micro context of the affected community. This is understood as the flexibility of the group to adapt to the new situation and the ability of the people to re-contextualize the threat of relocation according to their own local symbiology. “A group´s capacity to mobilize itself for organized resistance will be affected by the social composition of the local context” (Oliver Smith, 1994: 203) The role of the leader might be caught between the governmental power and the sentiments of the community that are against the relocation process.
Another important element attached to the micro-analysis is the relation between the community, its land, and environment. This relationship might be because of cultural, economic or political reasons. The economic reasons are related to the livelihoods that inhabitants could find at their original place (resource availability), productivity, urban employment; political reasons such as territoriality and cultural aspects like the relation with the environment, cosmology etc. Inhabitants of NBC see the possibility of having a better status by leaving LAB because it is related to bad quality of life. They are organizing themselves in order to have a successful relocation process.
“How much time has passed? 4 years and we are still without any hospital, if we have an emergency at 5 am, we can´t ask for help… what are we going to do when the law is over? We have 2 years to make this otherwise we will be a slum forever… What was happening in Belen? Drugs, vicious, stealing, you can´t go by Belen, but luckily we are out
Page 45 of that place, we have become professionals, our kids will be professionals” 46 (Inhabitant NBC, neighbor´s meeting 2018) The second approach used by Oliver Smith (1994) is the design and implementation of the project. This is related to the quality of the project itself, which is a link between the micro and macro level. “The project is in effect, the projection of the state onto the local context, reframing it into its own terms and for its own ends” (Oliver-Smith, 1994: 208) A poor quality project may cause resistance against it and the local agendas. A project that does not involve the participation of inhabitants will not show confidence for the inhabitants that will have to change their lifestyle.
“Broken promises, unfulfilled plans, negative environmental impacts, inadequate or inappropriate compensation, inferior replacement land, or cultural unacceptability of settlement or residential patterns in the new community have all been known to trigger resistance movements after resettlement has taken place” (Oliver-Smith, 1994:209) The last approach (Oliver-Smith, 2014) is the macro context which tries to explain the political economy at a national or international level. For example, the relation between the NBC inhabitants and the government (MHCS) is vertical. This relation shows the ethnic and socio-economic differences between both groups. And this characterizes the type of contestation actions that the group will have, as blocking a highway. The resistance to the project itself will help not only to accomplish the interests of the inhabitants or at least to show their demands, but also to improve the project itself. On the contrary, it has been explained the social organization resists to have a badly implemented project, that is why the inhabitants organized themselves in order to check the process of implementation. In the case of NBC, the resistance had 2 important moments: The first one was when the relocation project was informed to the inhabitants of BN and they showed their disagreement with it. Then, a group of people was relocated (the ones who were in favor of it) so the “resistance” was looking for a quality relocation. In order to have a successful a relocation project is important that it is communicated in terms that the population can understand and it stimulates the conversation between the political and social actors, showing the power relations between both of them. In many occasions, resistance is related to subjects that go beyond the specific threat that means the relocation process. It is also important to understand who is benefiting from the project and who is by the resistance to the project because it could be that the resistance provoked by the relocation process might be caused by a more general form of rebellion that has been germinating for ethnic causes, internal differentiation (economic, social), etc.
46 "Cuanto tiempo ya ha pasado, 4 años y seguimos sin posta, tenemos que emergencias a las 5 am y no podemos pedir ayuda" "que vamos a hacer cuando la ley se termine?, faltan dos años" "nos vamos a quedar como pueblo joven?" " qué pasaba en belen drogas, vicios, robos, tu no puedes andar en belen, pero ya hemos salido de allá, nos hemos vuelto profesionales, tenemos a nuestros hijos profesionales"
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Picture 5: News about highway blocking in highway Iquitos – Nauta by NBC inhabitants The neighbors’ reunion was done on the 19/10/2018 and the highway blocking happened on the 22nd of the same month47. Inhabitants manifest that they are tired of being patient with MHCS, that is why they said they will start taking actions in order to improve their situation. In the meeting, several inhabitants try to differentiate from NB and informal settlements. For them, living at NBC improves their quality of life but it needs to be done what it was promised and what the relocation law says. During the meeting, they were having problems with the president of the organization because according to them, he was not a good link between the inhabitants and MHCS. The strategies that they will use is blocking the highway because it is the only available resource to “call the attention of authorities” that they have. Other types of manifestation would require economic resources, that they do not have. Before the relocation started, the social organization formed by the inhabitants who wanted the relocation was called “Comité de defensa del projecto de la Reubicación de la zona baja de Belen” (Defense committee of the relocation project of the LAB). They affirmed that they had several problems with the inhabitants who did not support the project because they took violent actions against them. 4.3) About the relationship with other actors (political and ex neighbors) In BN inhabitants says that they received the visit of people from MHCS who told them different versions about the relocation. The first one and most common is that the relocation process was not obligatory. However, some other inhabitants say that the MHCS have told them that they need to leave, the ones who do not want to leave, will be forced to do it.
In NBC, inhabitants pointed out that the “agendas” about the construction of the city have been changing according to the political team. This means that there has not been a continuation of the political actions of the MHCS. Furthermore, the inhabitants say that they did not have any information about the project and the constitution of it. The only source of information they have is with the president of the neighbor organization who communicates with the MHCS, but there are no documents about the project that they can access. NBC Inhabitants are worried about the arrival of the new inhabitants because they are thinking about the small amount of water they will have to share with them. There are no explanations about why the MHCS wants to relocate more people in NBC if the amount of
47 https://diariolaregion.com/web/con-disparos-de-perdigones-y-gases-lacrimogenos-policia-desbloquea-carretera/ Page 47 water is not even enough for the ones who are already living at NBC. Inhabitants are tired of being patient about the allocation of basic services because they manifest that they already have several workshops and dialogue sessions with them.
“We have seen many changes of ministers, and each one of them that have visited “Varillalito” has had a different disposition. The last one told us a lot of promises about the New City, so neighbors we have the decision in our hands, because we can´t have an empty fight, we need to have a fight with arguments, we could have believed in the promises of the minister, the projects need to be done, overall the one of basic services of the new inhabitants. Let´s raise our voice” 48 (Inhabitant NBC, neighbor´s meeting 2018)
“Where is the complete project with all the budget? Is it hidden? They want us to go to a round table discussion? Well, we won´t go! They must show us the information; we are not patient anymore…The lady in charge of MHCS here, she wasn´t paid, we don´t make the law to be respected, nobody says let´s go to the MHCS to complain, why don´t we go? If informal tenants march and walk for a place that they have invaded, why don´t we mobilize if we have a law that backs us? ...Inhabitants of Belen tell me, go have a shower with sand and I answer I will have a shower with sand, but at least I won´t have a shower with pee, because that´s the truth, with which type of water we were showering in Pueblo Libre? With water with poop”49 (Inhabitant NBC, neighbor´s meeting 2018)
4.4) About housing aspirations The elements that have been observed in the housing aspirations of NB and NBC are different. The inhabitants of the first group mentioned that the material of the houses in NBC is better because they have houses of “noble” material, which means that they aspire to have houses of cement and bricks. Furthermore, the fact of not having to suffer the flooding every year is an improvement for them because it is dangerous and expensive for them (they have to rebuild their houses constantly). In some interviews, people mentioned that there are inhabitants in BN that have never left the neighborhood, they are always in BN. In addition, in BN there have been complaints about family violence, drug selling and consumption, sexual violence and the neighborhood is perceived as insecure. In the case of the inhabitants of NBC, they are starting a process of differentiation in relation with the inhabitants of NB. “They have showers with water with pee or poo” “That is a garbage neighborhood”. They feel that there is an increase in their status because they are living at NBC, even though they do not have the basic services jet. However, the highway Iquitos – Nauta is seen as highly dangerous specially for women. In the interviews, the dirt path to enter the city represents a problem because it is not built with pavement. The perception of the inhabitants of both spaces is related to the materials of construction. The education is also an
48 "Hemos visto muchos cambios de ministro, y cada ministro que ha visitado varillalito ha tenido una diferente disposicion. El ultimo ministro en el libro de actas ha escuchado sobre las promesas de la nueva ciudad y entonces vecinos, tenemos la desición en nuestras manos, porque nosotros no podemos tener una lucha al vacío, tenemos que tener una lucha argumentada, nosotros hemos podido creer, las obras que ha dicho el ministro se tienen que hacer, sobre todo los servicios básicos de los vecinos nuevos. Levantemos nuestra voz"
49 "¿Dónde esta el proyecto integral con todo el presupuesto y todo indicado… escondido?... ¿Que nos quieren hacer ir a una mesa de diálogo? Pues no, que nos muestren la información, no tenemos paciencia ahora" "la señorita encargada del MHCS no le han pagado, nosotros mismos no hacemos cumplir la ley, nadie dice vamos a vivienda a quejarnos, ¿por que no nos vamos? si los invasores marchan y caminan un lugar que han invadido, porque nosotros que tenemos una ley no nos movilizamos?" "Los de Belen me dicen, vete a bañar con arena y yo le respondo: me voy a bañar con arena, pero al menos ya no me voy a bañar con agua con meado, porque esa es la verdad, ¿con que agua nos bañabamos en pueblo libre? con agua con caca"
Page 48 element of status and the inhabitants of NBC points out that they want to fight for the basic services and for the city, not for them, but for their kids. In LAB
“Most of the persons want to go because they see the little houses well built, obviously, there are others that don´t want to leave, but most of the people want to” 50 (Inhabitant LAB, 2018)
“I am happy to be relocated, but there is a part that is not that pretty, and there is a part that is wrong, there is no water, there is going to be a strike on Monday to reclaim our rights…People don´t want to go because it is really far, and there are no jobs. When the construction is finished, there are going to be some problems because people will have to come to Iquitos, now women will work in the construction too.”51 (Inhabitant LAB, 2018)
“I don’t have too much money; I want a safe house without flooding problems. When the river grows, it is dangerous because the river pulls you to the Amazon river, and suddenly the mum is not paying attention and if the area is not protected, the kid runs and pum he or she falls into the water and doesn´t appear anymore… There are a lot of persons that don´t want to leave because they are used to this, they live lots of years here, and they don´t go to other areas in their whole life, and this relocation will improve the situation of my kids, this is not for me”52 (Inhabitant LAB, 2018)
“There´s anything to sell there, only between them, there´s no market, I can´t be paying transport all days. For example, people from there come here to work, they have to leave the place at 3 am. And if you take too much time it is worst, at 7 pm there are a lot of robberies, it is really dangerous, they rape you, it had happened before on several occasions, on the way (to NBC) they rape you, a couple was rapped at the mototaxi, both of them. The highway needs more illumination, it is too dangerous, there is no one that can help you. Here I can work everywhere, I can go to Iquitos, I have more activities, people trick you there”53 (Inhabitant LAB, 2018) In the focus group, the housing aspirations in NBC are related to a matter of infrastructure and employment structure. On one hand, the inhabitants pointed out the need to have water and drain. The construction of the new houses is also a preoccupation that the inhabitants have. They pointed out that they are worried about the water supply and source. Furthermore, the delinquency and the lack of employment for the young people can lead the young people into delinquency. They also remarked that the kitchens given by the MHSC are too small, and they are not suitable to cook. Dirt road. Likewise, the appearance of insects in the community generates a constant worry in health issues:
"This can be caused by the lack of drain and the appearance of grey water in the floor of the community". (Focus group, NBC, 2018)
50 "La mayoria de personas ya se quieren ir porque ven las casitas bien hechas, obvio hay otros que no quieren, pero la mayoría quieren irse"
51 "Estoy contento de haber sido reubicado, pero hay una parte que no es tan bonita y hay una parte que esta mal, no hay agua, va a haber una marcha el día lunes para reclamar nuestros derechos". “La gente no se quiere ir porque esta lejos, tampoco hay trabajo, cuando se termine la construcción va a haber problemas porque tendrán que venir a Iquitos, ahora las mujeres van a trabajar en la construcción también.”
52 “Yo tengo bajos recursos, quiero una casa segura, sin inundaciones. "Cuando crece el río es peligroso porque el rio te jala hacia el amazonas, de repente la mama se descuida y si el area no esta bien cercada el niño corre asi y pum se cae al agua y no aparece… hay mucha gente que se cierra a irse porque están acostumbrados a esto, viven años de años no salen por otros lados, en toda su vida y esta mejora no ha sido para mi, sino para mis hijos"
53 “No hay que vender, solo entre ellos se venden, no hay mercado no puedo estar pagando todos los días la movilidad. Por ejemplo la gente de alla viene acá a trabajar tienen que salir de alla a las 3 am, te demoras y peor pues, a las 7 pm asaltan es muy peligroso, te violan, ya ha pasado en varias oportunidades en el camino te violan. A una pareja la violaron en el mototaxi, a los dos. tienen que ser mas iluminadas la carretera, es muy peligroso, no hay nadie que te pueda ayudar. Desde aqui puedo trabajar por todos lados, puedo irme a iquitos, tengo mas actividades para hacer, por allá te engañan”
Page 49 5) Technical and infrastructural problems found in the NBC
In this section, I will describe some of the technical and infrastructural problems found in the NBC. This section was done with information of CASA PUCP. 5.1) Location The road accessibility in the NBC is difficult. Currently, NBC has an only way to get it which does not have paving and it is 1.5 km long. Most of the inhabitants use public transportation (bus or mototaxi) to be able to access to the city. During the summer, the land becomes sandy and in raining season (Winter), some puddles of rain-water appear. This makes that buses or mototaxis cannot circulate easily, which forces the inhabitants to walk 1.5 km to go to their houses.
Likewise, the NBC is located in the buffer area of the natural AM which aims to preserve the rain forest of the Varillal. This natural reserve exists since 2013 and is 58,069 m2 long. NBC is located in front of the natural reserve and this fact makes the NBC as a buffer zone54. For this reason, there are some threats to accomplish the conservation of this area according to SERNANP: 1) Highways 2) People living near the area. 3) Underground infrastructure (drain and pipelines)55 . “The buffer zone 5 thousand meters around the natural reserve” (Gaceta jurídica, 2007) In spite of this condition, the urban planning of the NBC did not propose any conservation plan for the ecosystem.
Picture 6: AM location and its buffer zone according to SERNANP.
54 Buffer zone is defined as the areas next to the natural reserves that requires a special attention and treatment because it will help the conservation of the natural area. http://www.gacetajuridica.com.pe/servicios/normas_pdf2007/julio/24-07- 2007/349863-349894.pdf 55 http://old.sernanp.gob.pe/sernanp/archivos/biblioteca/planes_maestros_2014/Plan%20Maestro%202013%20- %202018%20Allpahuayo%20Mishana%20ver%20aprob.pdf P. 16 Page 50 5.2) Site planning
The land where the NBC is being built has an irregular topography with 8 m cliffs. The urban planning did not consider the characteristics of the land and the urban design considered the land as flat.
Picture 7: Urban design of NBC. Source: MHCS 5.3) Access to basic services Currently, the NBC project does not offer basic services to its inhabitants since the beginning of the project. As a temporal solution for the lack of drain, POC has implemented temporal biodigestors, located between the houses. This area is highly passable by the inhabitants. Furthermore, there has not been maintenance of the biodigestors, occasioning that in some of the first 159 houses handed over in December of 2016, the content of the biodigestors exceeds the container and appears on the streets of the city.
Picture 8: Water supply / Full biodigestor
Page 51 Currently, the water supply works in a discontinuous way through water trucks or water wells and most of the time is not enough for the whole population. It was not possible access to the plans, project or planning from MHCS for the permanent implementation of basic services related to water and drain in NBC. Even though the problem of the lack of water and drain was not solved in the first 159 houses, MHCS built 183 houses more, increasing the number of inhabitants without access to water and drain.
5.4) Housing Some deficiencies can be found in the housing complex of NBC. The first model houses built by MHCS showed some cracks, filtrations, and marks of salinization, possibly because of a lack of waterproofing materials in the foundation that is located on a humid and clay soil (common in the Amazonian).
Picture 9: Deficiencies found in NBC
Picture 10: Small river being covered during the construction period. Besides, the housing complex was promoted as sustainable by the MHCS. According to some declarations of the specialist of POC to the press: “The inaugurated housing complex was designed taking into account the passive conditioning system, having proper ventilation in each of the rooms of the houses. Also, the houses´ roofs are elaborated by vegetal material which are
Page 52 characterized by being a thermic insulating and acoustic. This material decrease in 7 grades the temperature and reduce 28% of the decibels of the noise.”56 Furthermore, the materials used in the construction of the housing complex were mostly, bricks and cement which do not meet the EM. 110 norm “Thermic and light comfort with energetic efficiency” of the National construction regulation. The housing walls are not permeable enough to meet the thermal transmittance required for a subtropical humid bioclimate area, like the one where NBC is located.
Picture 11: National law about edifications
56 Ver: http://www.inforegion.pe/253743/loreto-entregaran-500-viviendas-mas-en-la-nueva-ciudad-de-belen/ Page 53 6) Conclusions and recommendations
6.1) Location of the relocation As mentioned before, one of the biggest problems related to NBC is the choice of the location. It should consider the price of land, urban growth, privatization of the land, etc. The land privatization produces the lack of land for municipal and governmental projects. That is one of the reasons why governmental projects of relocation have problems in having a space to install the social urban projects. They usually do not have a land to work with and the location is chosen by its ease to be obtained. Even though, sometimes the price of land can be cheap, the location of the project makes the price of allocating services and infrastructure really high, because it is far from the main city. Sometimes, the cost analysis of relocated process does not consider the real price of allocating infrastructure and services like transportation, water, that are most of the cases paid by the new inhabitants. The creation of cities that are not interconnected to the main urban centers, makes more difficult the possibility of accessing and allocating infrastructure, services, and having social encounters. Also, the lack of territorial cohesion limit the possibility to work, because, being far of the urban centers, the offer of jobs decreases. Because of the economic composition of the inhabitants, internal commerce is quite difficult, besides, being isolated contributes to the lack of new consumers for the small business. In the article 69, The New Urban Agenda (2016) says that the urbanization through the growth of the urban sprawl should be avoided in order to maintain green areas. That is why, the location of the new cities is important because it plays a crucial role in the social, economic and environmental impacts of the new city. Furthermore, this is generating that women stay at NBC permanently and the loss of their social networks. NBC is located in the buffer area of the natural reserve AM which fomented the informal occupation of land near the NBC in the highway Iquitos – Nauta (also located in the buffer area of A.M.) This is occasioning the urban occupation of the areas surrounded NBC. This fomenting also, the deforestation and impacting the biodiversity of this area. The creation of NBC is not respecting the existence of the reserve and it is not following the goals of the New Urban Agenda, where the conservation of natural areas and the control of the urban sprawl are vital recommendation for the urbanization growth.
6.2) Infrastructure access and urban inequality Inhabitants of NBC are facing a situation of inequality in the access to urban infrastructure and equipment. The construction of NBC has increased the vulnerability level in terms of risk management because now, inhabitants have to deal with risks associated with the urban infrastructure. Infrastructure has become a “quotidian risk tramp” for the inhabitants. “Risk tramp” is understood as recurrent dangers that are accumulated in some specific areas and they are not registered because they are normalized. These risk tramps occur with more frequency in places where the lack of urban planning is present, and where most of the times, people with low income live (Clima sin riesgo, 2015: 1) The risk tramps can be seen in the urban infrastructure and equipment such as the access to basic services, transport, highways, etc. In the case of NBC, as we have seen, the situation of non – access of these services, makes their life more difficult, not only in terms that can represent a real risk but also in terms that make their life much more difficult at the daily basis. For example, the fact that the NBC is located so far from Iquitos and the cost and bad quality of the public transportation makes that the possibility of leaving the city (for example to work or to study in Iquitos) is even more difficult. This situation perpetuates the vulnerability and poverty of this group of people because now they will have to spend more money and time trying to achieve their goals (get money to their families, finish the school/university), and without achieving these goals, it would be impossible for them to leave the poverty situation. Besides, the isolated location and the lack of illumination, makes NBC a place perceived as dangerous by its inhabitants and by the LAB ones. In the interviews, inhabitants reported cases of robbery and rapes at the Nauta – Iquitos highway. Interviewed woman feel in more danger travelling in that highway.
6.3) Housing and urban design Another important factor that contributes to the failure of the relocation process, is the lack of participation of the inhabitants in the urban design and the representation of them on the construction of their new space. This leads to a small or none space appropriation because it does not adequate to their activities and ways of living. This situation usually generates that the people return to their original place or try to look for another environment nearby because they will try to find a place that have the characteristics they are used to. The housing design did not consider that the relocated inhabitants will have to pay for the installation of basic services and improving the infrastructure of the city and of their houses. Some inhabitants have bought water tanks because of the need to storage water. (See Picture 19 of Annex IV) Besides, the materials used for the construction and the urban design did not consider the environmental and climate characteristics; situation that is forcing inhabitants to pay adaptations at their houses (See Picture 15 of Annex IV). The MHCS did not take into account also the number of the family members in LAB. In LAB, houses are shared by a big number of family members, as it is happening also in NBC. Families of LAB were living under conditions of overcrowding, situation that MHCS did not try to change with the new houses at NBC. Also, this situation has caused that some of the families had to separate. Some are living at Iquitos (in houses of relatives) because the house at NBC was too small and
Page 55 because the time commuting to one place to another was too time and money consuming. In that sense, the familiar situation has been affected by the location of the project.
6.4) Employment According to international standards, people´s efforts to improve their economic status must be assisted according to international organizations (or at least help them to have the same life conditions before the relocation process) (WB, 2011) In that sense, the projects of relocation should not be seen just as compensation process, but also as development ones. The minimum that the Peruvian government should do is restoring the livelihoods of the inhabitants of NBC.
The inhabitants of NBC are still depending on Belen´s market, which is the principal source of work and livelihoods because it is difficult for them to find sources for their economic maintenance at NBC. The money inhabitants pay to go to Iquitos has increased considerably in comparison to what they paid in LAB, and it is located one hour and a half from the NBC. This is the reason why only men are leaving NBC to work daily, and the price of the public transportation generated a reduction at the familiar income. Housewives, who stay at NBC most of the times, are opening a small business, which do not work due to the fact that all of them belong to the same socio- economic status. Also, the location of LAB was next to the river Itaya, which provided them livelihoods. Now, inhabitants of NBC have to pay 20 PEN to go to Iquitos and return to their houses. Other inhabitants are still working at the market and the mentioned that they have to leave NBC at 3 am in order to start working at 5. The MHCS should have considered that the change of environment was going to implicate a change of their source of employment and the possibility to find it. MHCS impulse the idea of creating a cultural center at NBC, but the idea did not work because of its location, lack of basic services, infrastructure, etc. The economic development projects were presented at the beginning of the relocation process, and till the end of 2018, the inhabitants mentioned that they did not have any news about them. Furthermore, the initiatives that the MHCS did not considered the capacities of NBC inhabitants because they do not match with the economic activities and interests of the inhabitants. They are trained as traders because they used to have small businesses at Belen market. MHCS is also fomenting the work of inhabitants at the construction of the city through the construction companies that won the tender. Besides, the MHCS does not supervise the work arrangements between the inhabitants and the companies, that is one of the reasons that inhabitants are having problems with the salaries that this companies offer them. Inhabitants are more likely to accept working at the construction in the city, even knowing that the benefits are not fair, than going to Iquitos to work because each trip costs 10 PEN and takes 1.5 hr. There have been two projects that aimed to develop their source of employment. CASA built a communal ecologic kitchen in order to empower the business of selling
Page 56 menus which were driven by the committee of “vaso de leche”57 and the “community kitchen”58. Also, the program “productive jungle” working with women through “female entrepreneurs”, which is characterized by giving technical assistance in agriculture activities to women in extreme poverty.
6.5) Urban Social movement There have been two types of social urban movements in the process of the relocation of LAB: The urban social movement that goes against the project and the inhabitants that were supporting it and the one that tries to resist a project that is not working as it should. Currently, the first one has been disarticulated and will probably activate their operations when the MHCS starts pushing the displacement of the inhabitants that do not want to move. The other resistance movement shows that they have been using the strategies and social organization to demand adequate housing and territorial cohesion. They have started asking for the basic services they were promised by the MHCS. They believe a relocation process was needed but not under the conditions it´s been driven. They have started blocking the highway Iquitos – Nauta because it is the only tool they have to call the attention of the authorities. The level of disinformation about the project is so big that inhabitants of LAB and Iquitos are not sure what is happening in NBC. Lots of them believe that there are basic services and MHCS has fulfilled the expectations of the inhabitants and conceive the project as a successful one.
The social organization of the inhabitants of NBC is looking to improve the process of participation and to defend the goals of the relocation itself. As shown before, there are different types of urban social movements that its constitution depends on whether they support the relocation process or they are against it. The resources that the inhabitants of NBC are limited: they do not have economic resources to or contacts to travel to Lima where all the decision-making process is taking place. In that order, public manifestations are the only way to “call the attention” of authorities. The urban social movement was created to assure the fulfillment of the project, which seems to be threatened by the same government institutions that are driving the process. Furthermore, the social structure of the movement is having problems. By the end of 2018, the president of the movement was removed from its charge because he was perceived by the rest of the inhabitants as if he had a pact with the MHCS to calm the population of NBC because of all the missing parts of the project which include infrastructure, mobility, basic services, adequate housing, employment etc. The urban social movements are an important element to have a successful relocation process because it represents a motor for the production of the space and with
57 The goal of Vaso de leche committee is to provide food to the kids of the area. It is subsidized by the government. 58 The goal of the “community kitchen” or “comedor popular” is to provide food It is subsidized by the government.
Page 57 it, for the social change. The inhabitants that participate in the movement identify their demands with the creation of NBC because they are trying to improve their quality of life and for them, this is related to the construction of the city. The organization of the inhabitants of NBC shows that they are fighting for demands that must have been satisfied before the inhabitants moved to the city. On the other hand, inhabitants showed their concern about the arrival of the new residents (inhabitants of BN still) because if the provision of water is not enough for them, with more inhabitants, the NBC can collapse. Inhabitants are fighting for the maintenance of the NBC as if they were slum dwellers and they have accessed to the land through informal actions (invasions). They left the property titles of their houses in BN to live in a city where they did not have to worry about inundations and delinquency. This movement is related to the provision and access to housing and the provision of urban services; demands that are related to slums. The MHCS knew that Seda Loreto (company in charge of the service of water and drain in Loreto) The project shows the lack of communication between the inhabitants and other areas of the government. For example, ministries and other offices of the MHCS. The documents about the relocation should be open source, however, there is no access to the information of the project. The level of disinformation is such that it does not appear on the communication media. The MHCS has forbidden the entrance to the engineering and architects school of Iquitos to NBC, according to the specialists and inhabitants. These measures are generating that the population does not have any allies to resist and organized themselves. The article 2 of the law N° 30291 about the relocation of LAB says that “the process of relocation will be on handle by the MHCS and it will be done only when the urban habilitation actions will be complete” According to this law, the relocation should not have started yet because the basic services are not allocated. About water service, the coordinator of social dialogue at MHCS says that:
“We need to do a 3rd contract to see the sanitation, there will be water taken from Iquitos city and the drain will lead to some special treatment plant…. There are some water connections that are hired directly by the MHCS and there are others that work with public investment, like water and drain”59 (Coordinator of social dialogue at MHCS, 2018)
6.6) Decision-making process in relocation projects The relocation projects can go beyond the reduction of vulnerability and become economic development projects if the management of them is concerned about trying to
59 "Se tiene hacer un tercer contrato para ver el tema de saneamiento, se va a llevar agua de la ciudad de iquitos y el desague va a desembocar en una plata especial" "todo se trabaja a través de empresas, el de pistas y veredas se trabaja por inversión, ha habido atraso en inversión pública, cuando se construye la primera reubicación fue medio forzada en el gobierno anterior, hubo un factor político"
Page 58 make new urban spaces that respect the environment and social customs. In that order, the project needs that all actors (political, social, civil society, academia) to participate in the decision-making process. (Desmaison, et all: 2018, 155) To accomplish the coordination and communication between all actors involved in the relocation process, it is important to have a strategy of action and planning. Besides, the decision-making process should use participative methods and try to balance the structure of power between actors. The first thing to do in this planning process is to stablish who are these actors, set up the roles to each one and also provide accessible information to everyone. That is why it is important to create and promote spaces that allow all actors to participate, especially the ones that have been marginalized, because in several occasions, their opinion is not listened at the design og social projects. In that sense, the city (houses, public spaces) will respond to the needs and activities of the population. In the creation of NBC, I have not identified mechanisms to integrate all actors involved in the process. When the inhabitants were consulted about their communication with MHCS or any other governmental actor, they replied they just had contact with them when they were informed about the relocation, and when they moved to NBC. POC has the leadership of the program and they make decisions without the participation of local authorities nor inhabitants. The political and social actors are in the obligation of accepting them. The coordinator of Social Dialogue office at MHCS says that:
“The PCM60 is the one in charge to settle when the areas must cooperate. There have been many changes, there is an importance in all cases but each sector organizes its work. PCM is the only one that can make the other sectors have a prioritization about some matters, we can´t (Coordinator of Social Dialogue at MHCS, 2018) The manager of the economic development in SJB municipality said that there were not actions of POC to try to include local authorities in the decision-making process:
“All the money from the budget is going to the construction of the school for now, but what happens with the city?... MHCS was the one in charge of the project in its totality. We nor anyone participate in the process of decision making, we just supported… I can imagine that there must have been a committee that studies the other elements as education, health, but we hadn´t seen them at the processes of construction or coordination… More than the half of the project is missing, they just built the houses that is the easier of everything, there are missing a lot of components in its project”61 (Manager of Economic development at SJB municipality, 2018) In the case of the relocation project, the marginalized actors are the inhabitants but also, the local authorities which did not have any participation at the decision- making process. Furthermore, it did not have the participation of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Woman and Vulnerable Population, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of
60 PCM: Presidencia de la cámara de ministros (Presidence of the ministries´chamber) 61 "Todo el presupuesto se está yendo para la construcción del colegio por ahora pero que pasa con la ciudad?" "El ministerio de vivienda fue el que se encargó de todo el proyecto, nosotros ni nadie mas fue participe de la toma de desiciones, solo apoyamos... me imagino que debe haber habido un comité para fomentar los otros elementos educacion, salud, pero no los hemos visto presentes en la construcción ni en la coordinación" "falta mucho mas de la mitad para terminar el proyecto, solo han construido las casas que es lo mas facil de todo, faltan muchos componentes en su projecto"
Page 59 Labour. The lack of participation of different actors generates an urban space that does not recognize the needs of a vulnerable population. This has led to a lack of appropriation of the space at NBC by its inhabitants and the difficulty to improve the life quality of its inhabitants. One of the solutions for this situation could be the creation of local work groups formed by civil society, academia, economic groups, political actors that can be on charge of organizing the process at different scales (neighborhood, district and metropolitan) and taking into account the different demands in an urban center, like education, employment, transport, health, etc. Regarding the management of the project itself. Also, it is important to have different stages of it: design, implementation, evaluation, and monitoring. Furthermore, the knowledge of what is actually happening in the area is vital, that is why it will be necessary that the actors visit and work in the area.
6.7) Forward-looking reflections on how to manage/avoid the observed risks in relocation projects
The case of NBC shows the need to work with risk management procedures. In the next chart, I will explain some of the internal and external factors of the project with the risks that were present before the beginning of the project. Chart 4: Risks associate to the relocation project. Factors Associate risk Mitigation POC is the only one in POC incapable of Including more actors and charge of the relocation managing the project. delegating parts of the process program to them. Short budget Poor quality of material of Look for stakeholders who the houses, poor city and wants to help with the housing design. financing of the project. Lack of communication No hospitals (ministry of Policies that compromise with other governmental health), no schools each political actor with a offices, ministries and (ministry of education), no part of the project. local political actors. strategies to try to find jobs (ministry of labor), etc. No empowerment of local governmental offices. Lack of participation of No appropriation of the Having a co-production in inhabitants program and the new the construction of the new space. Inhabitants leaving space. the NBC and going back to BN.
Page 60 Lack of pipelines for water Soil contamination. Not relocating people and drain Diseases. Water as an before all basic services expensive commodity for are covered. inhabitants. Chosen land is too far Expensive transportation, Look for another available from Iquitos city impossibility of land. Ensure a quality inhabitants to do their public transportation. daily activities, social exclusion. Encourage urban sprawl. Land´s location in the Destruction of the natural Look for another available buffer area of AM reserve. Contamination of land. the subsoil. No mix area (people of the Difficulty of business Relocate poor population same socioeconomic creation. No quality in mix areas. condition living together infrastructure, no far from the city) investment. Centralism Impossibility to act taking Making alliances with into account all the local authorities demands. Own elaboration
6.8) Final reflexions
As a result of the lack of participative and inclusive decision-making process, adequate housing and socio-economic development, the inhabitants of LAB have been moved from a situation where they were vulnerable to another one that they are even more vulnerable because they do not have the access to basic services, infrastructure, power in the decision-making process, livelihoods. We can see that there is a lack of risk mitigation approach in the project of NBC that could anticipate some of the problems that are happening at the city. For example, transportation, lack of urban infrastructure, basic services, hospitals, schools, etc. In Peru, the SINAGERD62 is in charge of monitoring urban social projects and analyzing the risks related to them. However, is that it does not consider the environmental context and the physics characteristics of the area. Furthermore, there is a lack of training about risk management matters at the local governmental offices, who are the ones to inform the problems to the central government. Local authorities do not have in the municipal budget a percentage to scope with this risks, and also, it is not in their competences.
62 “Sistema Nacional de Gestión de Riesgos y Desastres Naturales” (National system of risk management and natural disasters) Law N° 29664: https://www.indeci.gob.pe/norma_leg/ley_sinagerd.pdf
Page 61 Loreto region has a land use plan that recognizes the biodiversity of the area and its importance to maintain it, however, it is not concerned about the urban growth and its impacts in the conservation of the Amazonian environment. In that sense, authorities are not realizing that the urban expansion that has been happening at Iquitos – Nauta63 highway can represent a hazard to AM and the ecosystem in general. The location, urban design and type of houses show that the climate and high temperatures were not taking into account while the decision-making prosses. It is important that local and central authorities make efforts to try to control the urban sprawl through proper policies and governmental programs that give adequate housing with a proper urban planning that do not threat the environment. It is important to consider also that the urban planning uses a social-mix approach. In that sense, the conformation of urban spaces that only concentrate inhabitants from the same socio- economic status can be avoided. Furthermore, the Amazonian must have its own regulation about urban planning that consider its own particularity (biodiversity, environment and climate). Relocation process should be considered as the last option in cases of natural disasters, climate change, development projects, etc. Governments should consider other options that can reduce the hazards to each community. NBC represents the tendency of projects related to relocation process, where there is a lack of incorporation of the inhabitants, academia, local authorities, a lack of regional characteristics (climate, environment, biodiversity) and the lack of territorial cohesion to the economic and social activities of the main city. In that sense, it is important to have an approach of participatory decision-making process, where all stakeholders are involved in it and everyone can access to the information of the project (decisions, budget, meetings, stakeholders). The inclusion of the population in the decision-making process will help to the appropriation of it by them and reduce possible negative effects. The process of relocation should not have started immediately after getting the land and after some construction companies started with the construction of the NBC. MHCS did not consider the allocation of basic services, infrastructures, and services for the new inhabitants. The MHCS decided to relocate the LAB inhabitants in this area just because it was a donation of land. Before that, they should have considered the risks of resettling the inhabitants in an area with no territorial cohesion with the rest of the city. While it is true that the conditions that LAB inhabitants are not adequate, the living conditions of NBC are not better. I could not find any reason why the process of relocation happened without having the conditions to do it and not making the population of LAB more vulnerable than they were already. One of the cases is about the water.
63 New informal settlements are located near NBC, with the hope of accessing to basic services and infrastructure.
Page 62 7) Suggested bibliography
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CERNEA, Michael (1993). The urban environment and population relocation. World Bank discussion papers.
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Page 63 CERVERO, R. (2011). Going beyond travel – time savings. The international bank for reconstruction and development. The World Bank.
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CONGRESO DE LA REPÚBLICA (2014). Ley que declara en emergencia y de necesidad pública la reubicación de la población de la zona baja de Belén, provincial Maynas, Departamento de Loreto. Accessed: 25/12/2018 http://www.leyes.congreso.gob.pe/Documentos/Leyes/30291.pdf
CONNOLLY, Priscilla. (2009). Las reglas del desorden: habitar la metrópoli. Eure (Santiago), 35(105), 137-142. Date of consultation: 23/07/2018 https://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0250-71612009000200007
DE CERTEAU, Michel; GIARD, Luce; MAYOL, Pierre. (1994) La Invención de lo Cotidiano Tomo 2: Habitar, Cocinar. Universidad Iberoamericana. México. DELGADO, Manuel. (2007) Sociedades Movedizas: pasos hacia una antropología de las calles. Barcelona. Anagrama. 275 p.
DESMAISON, Belen. (2015) Home as a catalyst for resilience. Settlement relocation in disaster risk reduction and response: The case of the community of Belen, Iquitos, Peru. The Barlett – Development Planning Unit. UCL. Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Msc Building and Urban Design in Development.
DEMAISON, Belen; BOANO, Camilo; ASTOLFO, Giovanna. (2018) CASA (Ciudades Auto - Sostenibles Amazonicas): Desafíos y oportunidades para la sostenibilidad de los proyectos de reasentamiento poblacional preventivo de la Amazonía Peruana)
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Diario la region (2014) Estado actual del Proyecto Belén sostenible. Accessed: 24/12/2018 https://diariolaregion.com/web/estado-actual-del-proyecto-belen- sostenible/
DONEY, R. H., McGuirk, P. M. & Mee, K. J. (2013). Social mix and the problematisation of social housing. Australian Geographer, 44 (4), 401-418.
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Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Urban Mobility, strategies for liveable cities.
FERNANDEZ, Alfonso, PEDREGAL, Belen, RODRIGUEZ, Juan Carlos, PITA, Maria Fernanda. (2009) El concepto de cohesion territorial. Escalas de aplicación, sistemas de medición y políticas derivadas. Boletin de la A.G.E N° 50. Universidad de Sevilla. Accessed: 24/12/2018 https://idus.us.es/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11441/30114/06%20FERNANDEZ.pdf?sequ ence=1&isAllowed=y
Fundación Idea. (2017) Resilencia urbana en América Latina: Una guía breve para autoridades locales. Accessed: 24/12/2018 http://www.aguascalientes.gob.mx/ivsop/BuenasPracticas/UrbanResilience_PolicyBrie f_170417_Esp.pdf
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Page 65 JOUEN, Marjorie. Territorial Cohesion: From the theory to the practice. Policy Paper 35.
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Page 68 Annexes
Annex I: Interviews Matrix, interviews design
3 interview guides were developed: Inhabitants (NBC or LAB), political authorities and specialists. The 3 of them shared a similar structure, but I will use the interview scheme guide to inhabitants for the annex. (See matrix of interviews)
1) Introductory questions The section goal is to know some basic information about the interviewees (sex, age, time they were relocated, how long they have been living there, etc. 2) About employment structure This section will try to collect information about the reality of the employment structure in BN and NBC. What is her or his employment? Livelihoods? 3) About adequate housing (basic services) In this part, the questions will be related to the items related to adequate housing and territorial cohesion. 4) About mobility The section goal will be examining the means of transportation used by the inhabitants, the duration of each trip and to collect the opinion of it. 5) About community building and social organizations (resistance) In this part, the interviews will be asked questions to understand the of the urban social movements development, what are they main requests? What is the structure? what are their strategies? what is the way to interact with inhabitants and political actors? 6) Relation with local political authorities The goal of this part is to understand the relation between the inhabitants and the local political authorities (Municipalities and Local Government), how it was the communication between both of them? 7) Relation with the MHCS Understand how has been the communication with the MHCS, how was the project communicated? What is the relation that the MHCS has with the BN neighbors? 8) Housing aspirations In this section, the questions will be oriented in knowing what they expect about a house and a city and how their aspirations can be articulated with NBC.
Page 69 Annex II: Belen´s market description
Belen´s market is located in the Belen district, by the river Itaya. 70% of the people selling products live in BN. The variety of the products go from cleaning products, clothes, fruits (camu-camu, cocona, papaya, taperiba, aguaje) from the area, liquors, till meat of turtle, shark, dry meat, between others. It is considered the biggest market in the whole Amazonian Peruvian jungle, that is why is really attractive for tourism. There is a big demand for medicinal plants that are sold in the market for a good price. The government (Production Ministry) is developing the project of the “Big market of Belen”. This project will replace the Market of Belen, where the traders pay PEN 3 per day for using the space and to pay a garbage collector service to pick up the garbage. The municipality of Belen district calculates that there must be almost 12 persons working in the market (it is difficult to know the exact number because not son many of the traders are formal). Belen is the market where all inhabitants of Iquitos go to buy supplies. There are stores located inside big buildings and other that works on the same streets around BN. The traders that work inside the buildings are formal, the ones working on the street do not pay anything to the municipality for working there. There are lots of street dogs and buzzards waiting to eat the leftovers and the garbage that is located in the street. The market is a good center of trade and offers the possibility to many inhabitants to find all types of products in a good price. However, there is a big problem with the collection of garbage. The service of garbage collection in Belen district is not continuous, which provokes that a lot of garbage is accumulated in some streets. The type of garbage is vegetal and animal source, which rotten under the sun and the hot Iquitos´s weather. This can represent a high environmental risk because the water of the garbage ends up contaminating the subsoil and it can go to the river Itaya which is a part of Amazonas river. Also, it represents a risk because many of the “puestos” or position in the market prepares food and the customer eats in the market, next to the place where the garbage is located and the buzzards and dogs are eating. Another element that can make difficult the sustainability of the market is the number of traders that work in the market (which exceeds the capacity of the market) because there is any garbage collection system in the area.
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Picture 1: Meat of caiman (forbidden meat by the Peruvian Government)
Picture 2: Entrance to the market
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Picture 3: Buzzards and people eating.
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Picture 4: Hall of the market.
Picture 5: Market from the inside
Page 73 Annex III: Trip to NBC
The public transportation used to go to the NBC from Iquitos (and vice versa) is the bus or mototaxi. The price of each way is PEN 3 and in mototaxi (sharing it with 2 other persons) PEN10. The time to wait for a bus is 1 hour approximately, and to wait till 3 other persons fill the mototaxi is around 30 minutes. The distance between one point and another is between 1.15 – 1.30 hours. The path during the day and the afternoon is illuminated but during the night there is no light in the highway, which is forest and some human settlements that are starting to populate the area. During the night trip of, there were few women taking the public transportation, most of them were men that were going back from work to the human settlements located in the highway. The most “dangerous” time to travel is at night, because of the risk of being robbed or suffer any other violent act (most of them physical). The quality of the highway is not the best, it has a lot of holes which makes the trip uncomfortable and if the mean of transport is a mototaxi, the hits against the pavement are stronger. The mototaxis and bus drivers tend to drive fast in the highway Iquitos – Nauta (because there is no supervision or they want to do it fast) and the chances of having an accident increases. After 6 pm it is almost impossible to find a bus to go back to Iquitos from NBC, in that order the only solution possible is to try to find any inhabitant of the NBC which offers the service of mototaxi to drive to Iquitos. However, the price will be of PEN 50.
The location of the NBC is not next to the highway, the bus or the mototaxi have to drive through a dirt way for almost 30 minutes. This also generates that the drivers of mototaxis do not want to accept to take someone to the NBC, because it can break some part of their mototaxi and because the way is perceived as highly dangerous. That is why is even more difficult to get someone to drive till Iquitos.
Page 74 Annex IV: Pictures (own source)
Picture 1: Mototaxis, mean of transport at Iquitos city.
Picture 2: Port of BN, in times when there is no flooding.
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Picture 3: Houses at BN and the river
Picture 4: Boat as mean of transport
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Picture 5: Commercial activities, trade of gasoline.
Picture 6: Church of BN.
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Picture 7: House – Boat
Picture 8: One of the entrance to BN.
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Picture 9: Commercial activities, transporting goods.
Picture 10: NBC and water from the biodigestors.
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Picture 11: Empty police station at NBC
Picture 12: Rods at NBC
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Picture 12: Empty water well
Picture 13: Bus stop
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Picture 14: Tanks of water that inhabitants bought because of the lack of water.
Picture 15: Housing adaptation (originally a window of glass that did not let air go in the house)
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Picture 16: Appearance of the small river that was located in this area of NBC. It was covered while the construction.
Picture 17: “Pond of love”. The construction plans of MHCS considers this area to build houses above.
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Picture 18: Full biodigestors and the grey water coming out of it.
Picture 19: BN during rainy seasons. Taken from: https://st2.depositphotos.com/1401963/11525/i/950/depositphotos_115257018-stock-photo- belen-neighborhood-of-iquitos.jpg
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