Argentina and Uruguay Urban Planning Study Tour Reflections Patrick Fensham, Principal and Partner, SGS Economics and Planning December 2013
argentina uruguay study tour report
Patrick Fensham December 2013
argentina uruguay study tour report
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background to the study tour 1 1.2 Acknowledgements 1 1.3 Contents 2
2 REFLECTIONS 3 2.1 Fragmented governance: A poor constitutional legacy? 3 2.2 A difficult policy making context: Planning in a hyper-charged political environment 4 2.3 A broken financial system: Urban development in a country without credit 4 2.4 The unstoppable growth of urban areas: Poverty and privacy on the metropolitan fringe 6 2.5 Metropolitan planning in Argentina: Challenges and opportunities 11
3 CONCLUSION 26 APPENDIX 1 DIARY OF THE TRIP 29 My presentations 29 Day to day activities 30
Argentina and Uruguay Urban Planning Study Tour Reflections
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study tour
In March 2013 a group of urban planners from Argentina and Uruguay participated in the Planning Connections Program organised by the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) and supported by the Council on Australian Latin America Relations. During their study tour of Australian cities they attended the PIA’s national conference in Canberra. While in Australia they also visited Sydney and Melbourne. I assisted in organising the group’s Sydney program and enjoyed hosting the delegation in the Sydney office of SGS Economics and Planning on the first morning of their tour where I presented on metropolitan planning in Sydney. I joined the group on some social outings and also hosted Federico Bervejillo from Uruguay at my house. I enjoyed many stimulating exchanges with these visitors from Latin America.
Subsequently, I was fortunate to be selected to undertake a two week funded urban planning study tour of Argentina and Uruguay from 21st September to 6th October 2013, organised by the Council of Professional Architects of Buenos Aires (CPAU), assisted by the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA). In the two week period I visited the cities of Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Rosario and Montevideo (in Uruguay) and gave 13 presentations, as well as participating in a number of professional exchanges and city tours. I renewed many of the great connections I had made in March in Sydney.
After the formal program I spent a further week in Buenos Aires continuing the professional exchanges while consolidating friendships and continuing to explore the city. During this time I was joined by my friend and fellow urbanist Craig Allchin and we both extended our love of cities in the course of a number of Buenos Aires encounters and adventures.
A more detailed description of the contents of my presentations and a daily account of my activities over the three weeks I was in South America is included in Appendix 1.
1.2 Acknowledgements
I had a wonderful, educational and stress free time in Argentina and Uruguay and for this I have to acknowledge a number of people.
Firstly of course I should thank the selection panel for choosing me to participate in the study tour, and the contribution of PIA including their Executive Officer International Michelle Riepsamen in particular. The formal part of my visit was meticulously planned and organised by CPAU and I cannot thank them enough, particularly the efforts of Pedro Linares and Néstor Margariños, who spared nothing to ensure I was delivered to presentations on time, could find repose in comfortable accommodation, was well fed (!) and had wonderful hosts in the cities I visited. As well as Pedro and Nestor I would also like to offer heartfelt thanks to many people who have become good friends along the way, including:
Marcelo Corti and Celina Caprossi (hosts in Cordoba) Majo Beneite (host in Rosario, general travel assistant and lovely companion) Federico Bervejillo (host in Montevideo and ‘friend of the family’ from his Sydney visit) Carolina Ipes (manager of some tricky travel logistics and wonderful company) Daniel Kozak (Buenos Aires tour guide, city history guru and lender of bicycles) Demian Rotbart (social companion and passionate urbanist) Andres Borthagaray (sometime translator and urban all-rounder) Fredy Garay (for stimulating insights into planning at Puerto Madero and Buenos Aires in particular) Cecilia Larivera (host of a fascinating tour of Villa Hidalgo) Isabel San Vicente Martinez and Hector Floriani in Rosario (both fine dinner companions and, in Hector’s case, excellent translator as well) Carlos Mendive (architect of Uruguay’s innovative financing model for low income housing).
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There were numerous other people who made time to meet me, hosted events for me or who otherwise assisted behind the scenes, and I extend my thanks to them as well. Hayley Henderson, an Australian formerly resident in Buenos Aires and now in Melbourne, is a driving force in this current Australia-Argentina exchange and she assisted greatly, particularly with advice in the lead up to the trip which helped my preparations enormously.
I should also thank my partners and colleagues at SGS Economics and Planning. SGS has a sabbatical program for Partners and it enabled me to take time out from my day to day consulting responsibilities and participate in the study tour.
1.3 Contents
Section 2, following this one, contains reflections on what I learnt about urban governance and planning challenges in Argentina (and Uruguay) including comments on: the difficult and fragmented governance context for urban planning the highly politicised policy making context urban development in a country without credit housing development on the metropolitan fringe the practice of metropolitan planning in the cities I visited.
Section 3, draws some comparisons between Australia and Argentina and also highlights lessons that might be shared between the two countries.
The material is based on my own reflections, drawn from my own observations and many conversations. There are some references to material I found or was given on my travels but it is otherwise not scholarly research.
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2 REFLECTIONS
2.1 Fragmented governance: A poor constitutional legacy?
Argentina has a federal system of government with national, provincial and local governments – plus the ‘Federal Capital’, the City-state of Buenos Aires. Despite a number of discussions on the topic with my hosts, I am yet to fully understand the relative split of powers and authority between the levels of government. I do know however, that combined with the challenging and highly politicised policy making environment, the rigidities of the governance arrangements work against comprehensive metropolitan planning.
From a superficial perspective I would make the following observations about governance in relation to urban matters.
The national government is at least notionally strong, with the power to directly finance urban infrastructure and housing development projects. The national parliament consists of two houses – the House of Representatives and the Senate (notionally the house of the Provinces).
The system of local government varies from province to province but in some provinces there are very small local councils in rural areas – more or less single settlement local community boards – with virtually no bureaucracy or technical capacity. In Santa Fe Province these very small councils are one of three types of local council, which at the ‘highest’ level includes the City of Rosario with about one million residents. The weakness of much of the local government sector is compounded because it is often difficult to raise revenue at the local level given major gaps in the rate-payer base (many residents don’t or can’t afford to pay rates). This means local governments are often very reliant on the provinces and national government.
The Provinces are clearly important and appear to have some independent authority in relation to investment in road infrastructure for example and in land management matters including the approval of land use laws and development codes. This may at least be in law, if not in practice, because it appears that local government has a relatively autonomous hand in the preparation of planning controls. This is particularly the case in the larger cities.
The uneasy relationship between local authorities and the Provinces in relation to urban planning matters is strongly problematic in the large metropolitan areas. The significant political and financial power that resides in the ‘core’ City governments in metropolitan areas means that the Provincial government is unlikely to push for a metropolitan governance ‘marriage’ between the core City government and the local councils accommodating urban ‘overflow’.
In Rosario the effectiveness of integrated partnerships between the City, Province (of Santa Fe) and national government highlights what can be achieved when the fragmentation is overcome. The three levels of government have established a partnership on the re-use of rail and port lands adjacent to the waterfront and the results are there for all to enjoy and experience. The transformation of this city, previously disconnected from the water by a mass of tracks, silos and docks, and now with waterfront access and parks, and some redevelopment, can scarcely be imagined.
Similarly, a partnership between levels of government has led to the generally successful transformation and urban renewal of the dockside area of Puerto Madero. The Puerto Madero development corporation is a partnership between the national government and City of Buenos Aires and is at arm’s length from political interference. The approach to development was to allow for many investors and developers through staged land releases – rather than the ‘single developer/single architect’ approach now common in Australia and US. This has created diversity and interest and the development feels relatively integrated with the rest of the city. While most agree that in hindsight a different approach to value-capturing may have been established, there is a lot to admire in the approach adopted (with Fredy Garay’s influence as a key advisor to the development critical to the result).
In general though, these examples of inter-governmental cooperation appear to be the exception. While I can not claim to have done the research to understand the origins of the current fragmentation, it may be that the constitutional legacy is not particularly helpful.
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Uruguay, has strong connections and cultural similarities to Argentina, but is much smaller (about 3.3 million people). It is a constitutional republic with a unitary system of government and a president who serves as both head of state and head of government. The country is divided into 19 departments whose local administrations replicate the division of the executive and legislative powers. As a smaller country with fewer levels of government the fragmentation that plagues Argentina is less in evidence in Uruguay. Interestingly a new layer of local government has recently been introduced. My host and friend in Uruguay – Federico – is not convinced of the merits of this reform.
2.2 A difficult policy making context: Planning in a hyper-charged political environment
While the constitution may not have been kind to prospects for effective urban governance, the political culture is certainly not.
Argentina is characterised by highly political policy development and decision making. It is difficult to sustain any continuity when governments change, because senior officials also tend to be dismissed with politically sympathetic and perhaps less technically competent replacements installed.
It is not only difficult to have policy consistency through time, it is also difficult to generate it across metropolitan geographies because interjurisdictional cooperation depends on their being political alignment. This means that in those metropolitan areas where there is a planning framework being established it typically involves a patchwork of politically aligned local governments (dominated by the ‘lead ‘city covering the metropolitan ‘core’).
In Rosario, notwithstanding a solid tradition of metropolitan planning, and a medium term (8 years or so) political alignment between the core metropolitan municipality of Rosario and the Santa Fe provincial government, the officials at the metropolitan planning agency acknowledged that their survival depended on them ‘delivering’ an agenda or projects which the current politicians felt able to embrace. This highly political policy environment is compounded by what appears to be a relatively lax approach to enacted law. Certainly, enforcing planning law and prosecuting breaches can be a challenge in any country or jurisdiction and this is certainly the case in Argentina, though as might be expected the problem is much worse outside of the wealthier suburbs. However in many instances the problem appears to be deeper than a lack of will or resources to enforce. It was put to me that certainty of outcomes from a policy decision is most likely where a current politician can be persuaded to act; changing the law provides no guarantees. That is a challenging environment for planning.
So it might be said (as someone did to me) that in Argentina, ‘politics trumps money’, while in most countries the lure of money can be made to ‘smooth’ the politics. Nevertheless, policy conditions and resources surely must have a role in tempering the worst of the dysfunction caused by the politically charged system. Even accepting that political alignment between cooperating governments may be a fact of life, it would be worth exploring whether some system of financial incentives for local councils that implement metropolitan planning could be established. For example, though local authorities appear to exercise development control autonomy, provincial governments have the major road investment role. In a context of good will (not ones of corruption or bald ‘pork barrelling’) the province could tie some of its road funding to those local councils which ‘do the right thing’ in relation to land management and land release.
2.3 A broken financial system: Urban development in a country without credit
It would appear that Argentina has not really had a functioning system of credit for housing and property development for some time. Periods of hyper-inflation and national indebtedness (including defaults on repayment of international debt since the financial crisis of 20011) which have stressed financial institutions and led to currency devaluations have left a population unwilling to trust their savings to banks, and having a preference for investing in tranches as full equity in property or in more stable US dollars. In Australia, where credit oils the growth of the economy and the national love affair with property consumption, this context is almost impossible to contemplate.
1 Shapiro, R. (2013) The truth behind Argentina’s debt problems, The Hill blog, http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign- policy/235347-the-truth-behind-argentinas-debt-problems, viewed 2/11/13
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So what does the absence of credit mean for urban development in Argentina? Because of the security and hedge against inflation provided by property and because of immigration fuelled population growth, there is plenty of development activity. Bigger inner city apartment developers may have foreign borrowed capital, though it appears that prospective purchasers also inject equity via refundable deposits lodged with development companies. They make their choices of apartments to purchase when ready to commit (presumably when the equity deposited or held by them is sufficient), and from a suite of options the developer may be involved in.
To some extent this is similar to ‘buying off the plan’ and from a credit perspective reflects the contemporary requirement by Australian banks for a significant share of pre-commitments before financing is provided for apartment developments.
For many households not able to enter this system and gradually build a deposit to secure a relatively expensive apartment building – and this is a massive share of the households in a country where the average household income is US$12,806 (2012) and the national minimum wage is about US$72002 - the aim is to secure land (formally or informally) and to begin building whatever can be afforded at the time using savings, with the aim of incrementally adding to the dwelling and property over time as the money trickles in. Entering the private rental sector is barred to those without a middle class and secure status and in any case is not likely to be attractive to poor but aspiring households. Building any sort of future is seen to depend on having any sort of equity in property.
It is for this reason Argentina sometimes appears like a work in progress. Buildings are under construction everywhere (larger developers too must fall victim to the precarious credit system) but nowhere more so than in new and informal settlement areas, mostly concentrated on the urban fringe. The cities are growing room by room. ‘Sweat equity’ is the means to securing a future for the low income.
While initially this often ad hoc, incremental development jars with a western sense of ordered urban settlement, and while Australia would never want to confront the absence of credit to finance development, it does lead to ingenuity and in some cases at least, a process of development that reflects the ready means available to developers and households which we might take some lessons from.
Many years ago (in 1976) John Paterson, David Yencken and Graeme Gunn wrote a report for the Urban Development Institute of Australia entitled ‘A Mansion or No House’. This report pointed out that zoning, development controls and building regulations led to the overbuilding of housing to high standards, leaving many households unable to afford their own housing. Coupled with strict access to credit and the need for existing collateral it could be argued that this problem remains in Australia.
The system of ‘sweat equity’ and incremental housing development in Argentina points to at least one possible approach to the problem of housing affordability in Australian cities. Innovative financing and a system which ensures basic housing standards may be necessary, but there should be more opportunities for low cost entry into the housing market and for incremental housing improvements as household means allow. The Argentinian system also facilitates a very diverse design and development sector with many small scale and family run architect and developer firms. This contrasts with the much more concentrated development sector in Australia where innovative, small scale and affordable developments are relatively rare.
It should be noted that the Argentinian government has recognised the market failure and stresses caused by the lack of a functioning credit system and in 2012 launched ProCreAr (Program of Credit for Argentina). This seeks to grant 400,000 mortgage loans for housing construction aimed at the middle class within four years throughout the country. The program has two elements. The first is for those who own land, and individual credit is given to build a house, encouraging infill development. The second, for those without land, the program envisages the construction of small housing complexes, medium-rise and medium density on public lands generally well located near urban centres and subcentres3.
Uruguay too has introduced sophisticated government run systems of credit for low income housing which I discussed with the architect of the program, Carlos Mendive. The system evolved out of the collapse of the normal housing credit system which followed the 2002 economic crisis. The National Housing Agency (ANV) manages the program which provides, on the supply side, loan guarantees for developers and access to major tax exemptions for investors in low income housing for rent (in Montevideo the housing has to be located in particular regeneration
2 Monthly National Minimum Wage of 3.600 pesos from 1st January 2014; official exchange rate is about 6 pesos to the US$ 3 Information on ProCreAr from unpublished 2013 paper by Demian Rotbart, Urban Growth Trends in Buenos Aires and Sydney. The Role of the State
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neighbourhoods while elsewhere a range of price ceilings apply). On the demand side the program assists with down-payments for low income households when they purchase houses with a price ceiling within the program. There is also a guarantee system for low income renters who previously have suffered from a lack of security (and in some cases this is linked to the system of tax exemptions for investors).
2.4 The unstoppable growth of urban areas: Poverty and privacy on the metropolitan fringe
The metropolitan area of Buenos Aires is home to in the order of 15 million people (about 36% of the national total). Around 3 million are within the boundaries of the ‘Federal Capital’ (The City of Buenos Aires), with the remainder in another 40 local government areas (‘municipios’) in the middle ring and outer suburban areas. As Figure 1 shows while the population in the City has remained relatively stable for over 50 years these surrounding urban areas grew at a rate of around 80,000 people per year (between 1990 and 2000).
FIGURE 1. POPULATION GROWTH IN CI TY OF BUENOS AIRES A ND THE TWO MAJOR CONCENTRIC RINGS IN THE METROPOLITAN REGION
Source: Lineamientos Estrategics para la Region Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, p.84
The means to control or effectively plan for this spillover urban growth from a metropolitan perspective are limited. There are no planning authorities able to take a metropolitan view through statutory or legal mechanisms, though there are agencies with a metropolitan planning remit (see below).
The other cities I visited (Cordoba, Rosario and Montevideo) all have the same dilemma as Buenos Aires (though on a lesser scale), with the metropolitan population growing rapidly beyond the boundaries of the core City jurisdiction and modest institutional arrangements to manage or control the growth.
Two forms of development are particularly prevalent in these urban edge areas. The first is formal and private market development, now often taking the form of ‘gated communities’. The second is ‘informal’ developments or the so-called ‘villas miserias’ (literally the ‘misery villas’), or what might be called slums, shanty towns or favelas in other countries.
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With regard to the formal developments smaller councils beyond the primary City in the metropolitan areas seem relatively unconstrained in dedicating additional areas for new housing developments (at times the unedifying relationship between politicians and developers drives this process). In the metropolitan edge areas of Cordoba I saw both new gated communities and suburbs, and major new apartment developments.
Marcelo Corti suggested to me that in Cordoba the ‘gated’ aspect of the new suburban settlements is not necessarily driven by consumer preferences, though safety and security are a factor for some. Often though, this is the dominant form of new housing that is available to the new middle class, and with internal infrastructure and many services provided by the developers this form of development must be attractive to cash strapped local authorities. As in Australia, many urban analysts are concerned about these islands of privilege and the anti-social tendency they represent. In Rosario, where there is at least a strong tradition of urban planning (as well as a consistent socialist political disposition in both the City and Provincial governments), these gated communities are apparently prohibited.
On the outskirts of Cordoba I saw brand new apartments dominating one new development front. I was told that it was likely the developer had taken advantage of the uncertain ownership status of the land to claim it without payment, and then roll out the development. Such high density apartments would probably not be feasible on the urban edge in Australia, but if the land component came for free, the development equation represents a completely different proposition.
The development company GAMA’s apartment developments on the urban edge of Cordoba
With regard to the informal settlements these are ubiquitous on land that is in public ownership in particular the residual areas along freeway or rail corridors (some of the land has an uncertain ownership status (‘interstice’). While more likely on the urban edge, they are also to be found within the existing built up area. There is a very large informal settlement in the heart of Buenos Aires between the main rail line and the Puerto Madero renewal area, and they were very prevalent in Rosario on my tours of the metropolitan area. Many of the residents are immigrants from Paraguay, Bolivia and other South American countries where economic conditions have forced farmworkers and rural peasants in particular to look for opportunities in the cities of Argentina (I was told that rationalisation of rural landholdings and changing farm practices had disenfranchised many of these people, forcing them from land they worked and considered their own).
There is also a politically based reluctance to resist the development of these informal settlements, as this would be seen as denying the poor the option of housing.
I saw the Villa Hidalgo informal settlement (in the San Martin municipality in the ‘second ring’ of the BA metropolitan area) up close and while these are not living conditions anyone should have to endure – small cramped dwellings, open trenches for waste water, muddy lanes and streets, sometimes shared toilets, crazy and unsafe electricity connections, mangy dogs, stench and rubbish everywhere - there was a strong sense of community and dignity, evidence of a place not completely abandoned. I visited the small community school where amazing hard working women are striving to provide a platform for life for the young children. The school was an oasis amongst the squalor. I also visited the ‘soup kitchen’ where again, amazingly passionate women laboured in sweltering kitchens and cramped conditions to turn out pizzas, rice, soups and meals for consumption on site or distribution to the community. I was told that this centre, which is also a depository of cast off clothes and goods to be distributed to the community’s residents, makes 4000 meals a day (is that possible?).
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Shots in Villa Hidalgo
Tough streets, particularly after recent floods Power for the poor; hooking into the electricity
Everyone’s mum; the lovely head of the school, and the kids’ mural
Pizzas for the poor and the amazing ‘soup kitchen’ women, funny and so rightly proud of their work
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Government supports the amazing day to day work of these community centres but there are also government and aid funded projects aimed at addressing the abominable housing conditions faced by so many.
It was mentioned that a particular trigger for intervention is when these settlements intensify to beyond 120 inhabitants per hectare, which is when septic systems reach their absolute limits. There is a national goal for universal water and sewerage systems for urban settlements, and a program to improve or complete 600,000 poor quality dwellings.
Villa Hidalgo is one of a string of informal settlements in the basin of the River Reconquista undergoing a major rationalisation (see Figure 2), with new roads, drainage and water infrastructure, community hubs and open space and riverway upgrades aiming to regularise what otherwise looks like a mediaeval settlement. The works will create a firm border to contain the northern limits of the settlements. The InterAmerican Development Bank (BID) amongst others is contributing to the costs of this project being undertaken by the Provincial Government (through the Reconquista River Basin Committee).
Individual lots are also being created in Villa Hidalgo, as part of the regularisation, and typically – as I understand it - these lots are granted to the incumbent (perhaps involving low cost credit) - thereby establishing property rights and a modest platform for wealth creation for poorer households. Figure 3 shows the regularisation of the settlement pattern on the public land. Negotiations are continuing to extend the work to the privately owned area which has also been settled in the central part of the precinct.
The edge of Villa Hidalgo – hard up against, power line corridor, drainage line and motorway
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FIGURE 2. PROGRAMA DE MANEJO U RBANO AMBIENTAL SOST ENIBLE DE LA CUENCA DEL RIO RECONQUISTA (PRO GRAMME OF SUSTAINABL E URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, RECONQUI STA RIVER BASIN
FIGURE 3. NEW SUBDIVISION PATT ERN IN VILLA HIDALGO TO REGULARISE INFORMAL SETTLEMENT – CENTRAL AREA NOT IN PUBLIC OWNERSHIP AND THEREFORE NOT YET REGULARISED
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In Rosario the regularisation of these informal settlements is an explicit feature of the City’s Urban Plan, though in the project I saw the settlements were being razed, and new dwellings being constructed.
New social housing in Rosario where informal settlements had been
As well as the informal and private developments discussed above, there is an active government housing development program. According to Demian Rotbart’s paper comparing Sydney and Buenos Aires “of the approximately 50,000 dwellings that were built in the Metropolitan Region of Buenos Aires in 2006, 35,000 (70%) were in the hands of private developers or owners thereof, and 15,000 (30%) were houses built by the national government through the Federal Plan (social housing).”4 The Federal Plan housing development program targets the lower income of the population. It is through this program that the national government makes its contributions to the new housing, housing improvements and upgrades to infrastructure already mentioned (it is claimed that over one million housing units have been completed or assisted through the program since 2003).
2.5 Metropolitan planning in Argentina: Challenges and opportunities
With an open immigration policy, a fertility rate above replacement level (2.2) and a relatively strong economy since around 2003 (now stalling) Argentina’s population has been growing rapidly at around 400,000 per year since 2001 (see Table 1). Most of the growth occurs in the cities and in particular in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, anticipated to grow by over 100,000 per year over the next decade.
As already discussed, there are no legal or institutional means to effectively coordinate or control metropolitan growth. The legacy, not surprisingly, in the largest cities at least, is fragmented and growing urban areas (as discussed above), significant and basic infrastructure backlogs, traffic congestion and car dependence and growing geographic inequality between those with and without access to jobs and opportunities.
Notwithstanding the lack of institutionalised metropolitan planning, in all of the cities I visited there are or have been metropolitan planning initiatives. The work that has been or is being produced remains either, one, reference material for local council or provincial level politicians and practitioners (meaning that it may or may not influence planning and public infrastructure investment decisions), or two, the basis for inter-governmental agreements where there is political alignment between the governments.
It should also be noted that the national government has prepared El Plan Estrategico Territorial, which is a national strategic plan, with a summary volume, then volumes on: Land and infrastructure Urban Argentina Integration with international territories
4 The Federal Plan housing policy is driven by the Federal Government through the Undersecretary of Housing and Urban Development since 2003 has performed or initiated over 1,000,000 housing solutions across the country between programs for new housing construction, improvement of existing units and completion of hard infrastructure.
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This initiative was considered a significant advance for urban and regional planning by a number of my Argentinian friends and colleagues. They saw this as the national government providing welcome leadership in spatial and infrastructure planning, and setting a worthy example to the other jurisdictions.
I wasn’t able to spend longer coming to grips with the overall intent and detail of the plan and any of the implementation instruments it contains (the language barrier was too significant) but the strategy map (literally translated as the ‘desired model of the national territory’) provides some broad development directions for regions, cities and corridors. It is difficult to distil a strong logic from the map but, as mentioned, perhaps the main merit of the work is the display of national leadership in strategic planning that it provides.
FIGURE 4. DESIRED STRUCTURE OF THE NATIONAL TERRITO RY
To qualify To boost To be developed Area to develop of the Continental Shelf Connective tissue Malla structuring Nuclei structuring City to enhance City greater or equal to 10,000 inhabitants
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TABLE 1. POPULATION INCLUDING FOREIGN BO RN AND SHARE FROM NE IGHBOURING COUNTRY OR NOT (NATIONAL CENSUS 186 9-2010)
Buenos Aires
In Buenos Aires prospects for effective metropolitan planning in the absence of an agency with this jurisdiction and agenda appear modest. Factors include:
The sheer population size of the metropolitan area – 14 million and counting (is a metropolis of this scale beyond planning?) Major governance fragmentation – with the power and relative wealth of the Federal Capital ‘city state’ with its 3 million people, surrounded by 40 local governments of varying size, competence and power (the City and local government relationship within the Province is shown in Figure 5) The concentration of the majority of new fringe growth in peripheral areas where local councils are poorer and less able or willing to resist or provide structures for the growth The difficulty of establishing an effective City-Nation partnership where the road to national political power is often via the Mayorlty of the City and the current Mayor is of a different political ‘hue’ to the national president The lack of an institutional relationship or governance overlap between the Province of Buenos Aires and the Federal Capital adds to the fragmentation of metropolitan planning (the Province of Buenos Aires can and does take an interest in such matters but the Federal Capital is ‘beyond’ its power to influence).
As I understand it the reality of this political and governance fragmentation is behind the philosophy and content of the Strategic Guidelines for the Metropolitan Region of Buenos Aires (‘Lineamientos Estrategics para la Region Metropolitana de Buenos Aires’). This detailed and substantial document was produced by the government of the Province of Buenos Aires in 2008. It has the content, analysis and mapping which would normally underpin a metropolitan strategy but it stops short of including an implementation plan given this would overstep the jurisdiction of the Province. While, unfortunately for me, the whole document is in Spanish it is apparent from reviewing the contents and discussing it with my hosts that it is structured according to themes around which it was considered that a coordinated, cross jurisdictional constituency might be built – rather than what might be the planning norms and comprehensive ‘triple bottom line’ concepts which might typically be adopted as structuring elements for a metropolitan plan.
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FIGURE 5. THE PROVINCE OF BUENOS AIRES SHOWING LOC AL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARIE S AND THE METROPOLITAN REGION OF BUENOS AIR ES
Twelve themes are therefore covered in three categories as follows:
Production Ports Energy Road Structure Industrial location Growth Urban centres Transport Sanitation Development
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Environment Catchment management Waste Green areas (open space) Fringe development
Following detailed analysis of the issues relating to each, including a qualitative ‘balance sheet’ evaluation of two alternative options, preferred directions for action are explored via scenarios for development.
For example in the first theme of ports the challenge is identified as ‘expand the capacity of the port system’. The two options canvassed are one, modernize and expand Puerto Nuevo (the port in the central city) and two, generate an alternative for general cargo port in the south of the metropolitan area. The qualitative evaluation favours the second option.
Ultimately (in a stand alone document on the website entitled ‘desired model’) a broad preferred direction is established for each theme. For the ports theme this is described as follows:
1 - Restructure the port system, the system accesses and support area logistics. Rethink the structure of ports and complement the system of metropolitan area ports located north of the urban agglomeration with the construction of a new port for containers at the city of La Plata (south of the urban agglomeration), which allows for the gradual displacement of the activities of the Port of Buenos Aires and provides for investment in the construction of a modern and reorganised central coastal area of the city.
In discussions with Fredy Garay (driver of the work undertaken for this metropolitan planning) it is clear this is a position he supports. Fundamental aims are to provide for an outer suburban metropolitan employment centre (at the City of La Plata) but also to relieve the central area from port traffic and provide opportunities for urban regeneration in the central and coastal area of the city. Access to the waterfront is very limited in central Buenos Aires and it is understandable that rectifying this disconnect (in keeping with the actions of many cities around the world) could be a priority.
Perhaps predictably, in discussions with representatives of the City this port reorganisation was not seen as a desirable direction. The City is less amenable to the prospect of losing such a magnet for economic activity. While I would not claim the knowledge to necessarily form a firm perspective on either side of this debate it could be argued the City is taking a narrower ‘City-centric’ view, where the other is a genuinely metropolitan view.
These competing perspectives on metropolitan futures are very difficult to resolve with such fragmented governance, and where so much effective power resides with the City. In this particular case however (unlike in many others) the national government as owner of the port is a key player and it could take an active and highly influential role in such a decision. The national government played a constructive role as land owner in the Puerto Madero revitalisation.
This ports issue and documentation on the topic (as I have been able to understand it) highlights the way the themes have been explored to ‘speak’ to stakeholders so that choices and consequences are made clear. While there is no firm action plan (because of the difficulty of directing or compelling stakeholders to act) the analysis provides directions for the debate as the issues surface. As I understand it the material does work as key reference material for decisions taken by stakeholders, and at least provides an alternative ‘conscience’ check on decisions which might be at odds with its directions.
The on-line document mentioned above (‘desired model for metropolitan Buenos Aires’) contains a ‘strategy map’ and it includes a direction for each of the twelve themes (see Figure 6).
New or strengthened centres are highlighted at the key transport interchanges on the outer ring road. Port services are decentralised. Non urban areas are clearly identified. Zones or precincts for industrial activity are distinguished and priority transport corridors are shown.
I discussed public transport with Andres Borthagaray and his two dedicated colleagues at the non profit policy group ‘City on the Move’ (or, reflecting its French origins, L’ Institut pour la ville en mouvement’) which promotes and works on projects to promote access and mobility.
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FIGURE 6. SUMMARY MAP OF THE D ESIRED STRUCTURE FOR THE METROPOLITAN REGION OF BUENOS AIRES
Source: http://www.mosp.gba.gov.ar/sitios/urbanoter/planurbana/RMBA_ModeloDeseado.pdf at http://www.mosp.gba.gov.ar/sitios/urbanoter/ofmetro/mapasgeo.php viewed 1 December 2013
Amongst other topics we discussed the new investment and work on the Buenos Aires underground metro rail system (‘Subte’). The metro lines are radial, feeding the busy central city area from the inner suburbs within the City area (the outer suburbs beyond the City boundary are served by a rundown but vital suburban above ground rail system). By all accounts the metro system is at capacity. By the time the trains reach stations near the central city they are jammed full (most of the day but particularly during the peaks) and it is difficult for new passengers to join them. Crowded, hot and a target for pick pockets the system is stretched.
A cross radial line (the yellow line) has been constructed and is being extended and this is a good idea to provide options for those not destined for a central city station. A program of extensions to lines is also planned in the outer areas but this will exacerbate the overcrowded system unless additional cross radial lines are built (another is planned) and, importantly, more trains can be scheduled and trains are able to ‘run through’. At the moment this is impossible because the lines are not connected once they reach the centre (they are ‘dead end’ services and trains need to return on the same line). Although significant extensions are being proposed (see Figure 7), as it was explained to me there is no significant agenda to connect lines to create through running which would add significantly to capacity. So long as geology, topography or some other constraint is not insurmountable it does seem strange that through and loop services have not been included in the network expansion plans.
Even in the already dense City area there are many opportunities for densification which would reduce pressure for fringe development. Investment in effective metro rail capacity extensions would stimulate such infill development.
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FIGURE 7. EXISTING AND PROPOSE D ‘SUBTE’ (UNDERGROU ND RAIL) NETWORK IN BUENO AIRES
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Cordoba
In Cordoba, the problem of fringe growth and fragmented governance structures is starkly illustrated in Figure 8. Between 2001 and 2008 population growth in the hinterland villages and settlements grew by 33.2% while in the City of Cordoba growth was only 1.8%. Residents in the hinterland areas overwhelmingly work in the City. Taking a metropolitan perspective and coordinating growth and travel across the square area containing the City and the numerous surrounding local council areas is an enormous challenge.
FIGURE 8. POPULATION GROWTH IN ‘METROPOLITAN’ CORDO BA 2001 TO 2008
FIGURE 9. LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOU NDARIES IN ‘METROPLITAN’ CORDOBA
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The Institute of Planning of the Metropolitan Area (‘IPLAM”) is an initiative of the Provincial Government of Cordoba. Guillermo Iros is the Coordinator General of this small organization which does take a metropolitan perspective, and again uses whatever influence it can muster to implement the ‘guidelines’ it has prepared. Prior to my talk at the IPLAM office Guillermo gave a great presentation on the work of his group which includes the production of metropolitan wide analysis and guidelines for land use and transport planning (‘Lineamentos del Plan Estrategico Urbano Territorial de la Region Metropolitan de Cordoba’).
Guillermo reflected back many of the principles I had been espousing in relation to ‘best practice’ approaches to metropolitan planning – including for example containing urban encroachment on natural resource land at the urban edge (in water catchment areas and hilltops in Cordoba’s case) and managing travel to minimise costs (by proposing roads and travel connections from hinterland areas to bypass congested areas and thereby create a network of travel possibilities). A system of trunk public transport corridors (for buses) was also proposed, as an overlay on the numerous local services.
Rosario
In Rosario, I met with Pablo Barese, Secretary of Planning at the municipal council and had a terrific discussion about planning in Rosario - a city of over 1 million people. We discussed the six key points of the Rosario Urban Plan, which are.
1. the development of urban activity centres in addition to the central area 2. the renewal of the waterfront in particular providing public access 3. a new north south metropolitan spine (conversion of the rail corridor for metropolitan transportation and complementary green corridors, transport and land use redevelopment and renewal) 4. a new east west metropolitan spine (conversion of the corridor for metropolitan transportation and complementary green corridors and transport systems, including major transport hubs, urban renewal and regularisation of informal settlement areas) 5. enhancement and renewal of the key creek edges 6. a plan for new release areas and protection of agricultural areas.
These reflect common principles planning principles but some at least are being actively pursued, with observable results ‘on the ground’.
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FIGURE 10. KEY POINTS OF ROSARIO URBAN PLA N
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I visited two of the suburban activity centre locations to see the products of action in relation to the first point of the plan. Decentralised offices of the council are the main feature of these centres, with apparently little other active planning or interventions to create intense nodes of activity. In the south the council offices are an architect designed complex, while in the north they occupy an historic building.
Southern District Municipal Centre – North District Municipal Centre – "Rosa Ziperovich", designed by the architect Siza historic building Villa Hortensia
With regard to the second point, unlike in Buenos Aires, there is an enduring project in Rosario to reclaim waterfront lands from rail and port authorities to provide redevelopment sites and create open space and continuous riverside connections. This is a project that has endured from administration to administration - a generally unfamiliar characteristic of planning and development projects in this country. The national, provincial and local governments have all committed to transfer land and work together to realise what will be an enduring legacy for the city.
The incredible complex of docks and railways along the waterfront of Rosario in the mid 20th century. This is a photo of part of a large map hanging in the municipal offices.
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City on the water: the renovated waterfront of Rosario (‘Parque Nacional a la Bandera’) and the impressive city interface.
We also discussed the statutory planning ordinance with use and numeric controls over buildings. Rosario Municipality has produced its first such plan based on the urban plan in 45 years. Many other local councils do not have up to date statutory plans. Implementation and enforcement I am sure is quite another matter, with many non-conforming uses in existence and emerging all the time. Nevertheless, having a plan is better than not having one and has enabled some common purpose between levels of government to be discovered.
Rosario too has urban development spilling beyond the metropolitan boundaries and in hinterland towns and settlements. There is a longer history of metropolitan coordination between provincial, City and nearby local councils in the Rosario area but a new metropolitan planning initiative, organised (and in - all likelihood - dominated) by the City is underway. I visited and heard about the early work of this ‘Metropolitan Office’, led by Mirta Levin and her working group. It was explained to me that this initiative would ‘live or die’ on the politicians seeing the early merit of its work.
Montevideo
Perhaps because of Uruguay’s less complicated governance structure, and more modest development pressures, there appears to be a more coherent approach to metropolitan development and coordination in Montevideo, compared to Argentinian cities. There is a detailed ‘white book of the metropolitan area’ (Libro Blanco del Area Metropolitana’), from 2007, which is a joint production of the national government and the constituent
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metropolitan cities (‘Departamentos’) of Montevideo, Canelones and San Jose. This provides excellent baseline material.
This year sees the 5th anniversary of the national law for land use and sustainable development, and the accompanying regional strategies which focus on the greater Montevideo metropolitan area. The latter contains high level strategic directions for land use, key transport corridors, logistics and industrial clusters and sensitive natural resource areas. The accompanying statute is modest in size but interestingly contains provisions for a form of betterment capture for the state. The law provides for the Municipality to ‘participate in the distribution of the benefit of developed land or buildable property’ specifically either:
5% of the additional floor area provided for on any individual site above what was allowed in the development controls, or 15% of the floor area authorized by the rezoning in the areas subject to renewal, consolidation or reorganization’.
Developers can pay in cash in lieu of providing the floorspace.
Metropolitan Montevideo has a distinctive urban structure, with contiguous development (the ‘principal metropolitan centre’) around the old city for a radius of around 10 kilometres, most of which is contained in the City of Montevideo, but with five quite distinctive ‘fingers’ or corridors of urban development stretching radially away from the centre. The coastal finger to the east is the most significant ‘overspill’ area. Most of the development corridors are in the jurisdiction of Canelones, with the smaller western coastal finger in the jurisdiction of San Jose. Figure 11 shows this distinctive urban structure including the areas bounded by a purple line within the City of Montevideo and the other areas in the authorities of Canelones, except Ciudad del Plata in the authority of San Jose.
FIGURE 11. URBAN EXTENT OF METROPOLITAN MONTEVIDEO (PURPLE OUTLINED ARE AS ARE WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE ‘DEPARTMENT OF MONTEVIDEO’)
While there appears to be a national legal framework for metropolitan planning it was evident from a field visit that managing the ‘fingers’ of urban development presents significant challenges. I met with planners from the authority of Canelones at their district centre in Ciudad de la Costa about 20 kilometres from the old centre. They are
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struggling with limited tools to properly manage the development associated with the capital they now have responsibility for.
The main road through this area is edged by highway or ribbon development typical of many busy roads that serve a similar function in cities around the world: a string of haphazard shops, businesses and road-side vending, a proliferation of signage, no apparent dominant nodes, the odd bus stop at which weary travellers wait their turn, and a very wide carriageway – hostile for pedestrians and difficult to cross. The Canelones planners were pleased they had negotiated with a shopping centre developer to provide them with offices, housed on the upper floors of the shopping centre building, which straddled the busy road. The way to create a hub or node in this instance is to leave the street level.
All this reminded me how difficult it is to create any sort of pedestrian amenity at street level on a very busy and very wide road. The best approach is to try to create some amenity one block back or on a side street but this did not seem to be a strategy being employed. The apparent hope of the Canelones planners was to try to retrofit some human scale urbanity on or above this busy road. A tough job.
Conclusion
In the course of my talks about metropolitan planning in Australia I suggested that the aim is typically comprehensive, and implies taking a triple bottom line approach to resource management and sustainability. I proposed that an economically successful, environmentally sustainable and socially just city depends on metropolitan planning which addresses the following principles.
Ensure housing is provided to meet the spectrum of needs Reduce fringe land consumed for urban use to protect arable land and natural landscapes Limit the fronts of investment in public infrastructure to ensure more efficient use of resources Coordinate land use and transport infrastructure to moderate the (economic, social and environmental) costs of travel Distribute jobs, recreation and services to provide for greater equity of access Ensure the built environment minimises its impacts on the natural environment and natural resource consumption Provide for employment clusters and concentrations to realise agglomeration economies
On reviewing this list in the context of what I have learnt about urban development in Argentina and Uruguay I am struck by the realisation that very little of this agenda can be achieved without effective control of the land release ‘levers’. Where the urban footprint grows and grows, in an uncoordinated and uncontrolled fashion, it is much more difficult to ration the infrastructure expenditure, coordinate new transport investment, focus development on nodes to enhance access to services, minimise natural and land resource consumption and encourage clustering and concentrations of employment activities. The costs of this unconstrained growth are significant – and in Argentina take the form of major infrastructure backlogs and state indebtedness, spatial inequality in terms of access to housing and employment opportunities, congestion (particularly in Buenos Aires) and environmental degradation.
There is good planning but implementation is difficult given the fragmented governance and coordination arrangements. Continual change is required to realise the ambition of worthy plans, and a significant focus needs to be on better managing the growth of the urban footprint of the cities. This ought to be a national priority. While more evidence would need to be compiled to make the case it is likely that modest progress on this issue would generate major efficiency dividends – even in the life of the governments in power.
The Australian approach includes two options to control land release:
Better regulation of rezoning to facilitate staged land release, which in Argentina would require inter- jurisdictional cooperation and greater clarity of powers, plus coordination with infrastructure agencies Enhanced ‘user pays’ pricing to better relate the cost of sprawl to particular developments; the generally anti neo liberal perspective and reasonable concerns for the impact on the poor make such a change difficult in Argentina (and addressing the latter would need more targeted subsidies).
While these reforms may be some way off Argentina (and Uruguay) have a more sophisticated approach to the relationship between social housing policy and planning which Australia could do well to emulate. Partly because of the lack of institutional and coordinated metropolitan planning but also because it just makes policy sense, national housing initiatives including PROCREA in Argentina and the work of the NVP in Uruguay, are also tailored to achieving planning outcomes. For example, access to credit via PROCREA is prioritised for housing that satisfied the
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renewal and infill agendas of the metropolitan planning guidelines. Similarly, the tax exemptions for investors in low income housing in Montevideo aim to promote the central districts of the city where there has been population loss.
In both Argentina and Uruguay it is recognised that the state is involved in the housing market through these and other programs and can influence how urban growth will occur. This stands in stark contrast to Australia where (as Tomlinson points out5) the key policy drivers of housing demand and supply beyond land release – such as the taxation treatment of housing, the various home purchase grants, the National Housing Agreement and the National Rental Affordability Scheme and so on – are wholly disconnected from urban planning objectives. Indeed, in a recent speech by the Minister for Social Services, Kevin Andrews, which outlined the housing policy of the new Federal Government6, there was a big focus on the state’s land release responsibilities rather than any explicit acknowledgment that the myriad national policies that influence housing demand and supply might be better directed to achieving metropolitan planning objectives. In Australia there is a clear disconnect between national housing policy and metropolitan planning – unlike in Argentina where national housing policy is recognised as one of the potential areas of influence over urban outcomes.
5 Tomlinson, R. (2012) ‘Introduction: a housing lens on Australia’s unintended cities’, in Tomlinson R. (ed) Australia's Unintended Cities The Impact of Housing on Urban Development, CSIRO Publishing 6 Andrews, K. (2013) Closing Address to the National Housing Conference, 1 November 2013, Adelaide, http://www.nhc.edu.au/downloads/2013/downloads/ppt/fri/Andrews_speech.pdf viewed 11/12/13
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3 CONCLUSION
The study tour and my reading before, during and since have highlighted the divergent political and economic paths that Australia and Argentina have taken since coming to nationhood.
The two countries shared similar agriculture focussed economies through the 19th and early 20th century. While Australia shaded Argentina in terms of GDP per capita the countries were comparable and tracked each other on this indicator until the mid 1970s. Generally though, the countries followed divergent paths from the 1930s, with political instability in particular plaguing Argentina since then, including periods of dictatorship (the last dispensed with in 1983, but incorporating the horrendous ‘Dirty War’ and the disappearance or torture of 9000 people and perhaps 30,000 deaths). The countries have further diverged since the 1970s with Argentina stagnating economically (though with strong growth since 2003) and experiencing episodes of chronic indebtedness.
Nevertheless, both countries share high rates of urbanisation and educational development as well as ‘middle class’ traditions (significantly eroded now in Argentina, though it was pointed out to me that both Argentina and Uruguay share this tradition, and this distinguishes them from all other South American countries which have been even more divided by extremes of wealth and poverty).
Australia Argentina
• 21.507.717 inhabitants (2011) • 40.117.096 inhabitants (2010) • 7.692.024km2 (6th largest) • 2.780.400km2 (8th largest) • Nominal GDP 1,487 billion (66,371 per capita) • Nominal GDP: 474,812 million (11,572 per capita) • Human Development Index 0,938 (“very high”) • Human Development Index 0,811 (“very high”) • 89% urban population • 89% urban population • Average age: 37,9 • Average age: 30,7 • Birth rate: 1,77 • Birth rate: 2.29 • Literacy rate: 99% • Literacy rate: 97,2% • Unemployment rate: 5,5% (May 2013) • Unemployment rate: 7,9% (May 2013) • Capital city: Canberra • Capital city: Buenos Aires (La Plata, GPBA) • Biggest cities: Sydney (4.3 million at 4,392 • Biggest cities: Buenos Aires (15 million at 6,073 inhabitants/km2) y Melbourne (3.8 million) inhabitants/km2), Córdoba y Rosario (1.3 y 1.2 • Form of government: Constitutional monarchy , million) federal system • Form of government: Federal republic
Source: compiled by Hayley Henderson from various sources; Demian Rotbart calculation for densities of Sydney and BA
The divergence in the status and wealth of the two countries from the second half of the 20th century is significantly explained by differences in what Ferrer terms relative ‘national density’, in a book which is a comparative analysis of Argentina and Australia7. ‘National density’ is defined as follows8:
The components of national density include, first and foremost, social cohesion. Societies that are deeply fragmented by inequality, and sometimes by religious and ethnic problems, lack the capacity to exploit their resource potential. The second component is the quality of leadership. In socially cohesive societies, leaders normally have strategies for accumulating power within the national space, and are not merely the commissioned agents of transnational interests...... These two conditions are mutually linked. Highly fragmented societies tend to be led by minorities that are closer to transnational interests than the interests of their own people.
7 Ferrer, A (2011) ‘Argentina and Australia: Comparative development at the ends of the Earth’ in Nestor E. Stancanelli (ed.) Under the Southern Cross: Australia - Argentina: a comparative analysis, pp.25-32 8 Ferrer, Aldo, (2010) ‘Raúl Prebisch and the dilemma of development in the globalised world’, CEPAL Review 101, August
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A third component of national density is long term institutional stability, irrespective of the nature of the political regime. A sufficient degree of institutional stability is needed to be able to articulate responses to the dilemma. The fourth component consists of ideas. None of the successful countries conducted their national policies with the hegemonic vision of centre. All of them, including the emerging United States in the nineteenth century, always operated with ideas rooted in their national interest.
Ferrer argues of course that Argentina now lacks ‘national density’ compared to Australia.
After two centuries of independence, Latin America is struggling with the weak national density of our countries. Our societies are based on social fragmentation, the domination of native population and the subsequent extraordinary phenomenon of slavery that characterized much of Latin America. In countries like Argentina, where the original peoples and Afro-Americans were rendered as a minority in the total population after the tidal wave of immigration, social fragmentation is reflected in the concentration of land ownership and other natural resources. The fact that Latin America is the region with the highest concentration of wealth and the most unequal distribution of income is largely a legacy of history.
This divergence in relative ‘national density’ goes a long way to explaining the difficulty of institutionalising consistent urban policy through the layers of government. The younger of my Argentinian friends and colleagues perhaps wonder whether more stable and effective urban planning will ever be possible to achieve in future.
However, the older ones are able to take a longer view. The likes of Marcelo Corti and Fredy Garay remember the dark days of the dictatorship in the 1970s and early 1980s. For them the restoration of democracy in 1983 was a turning point for the country – marking a welcome point of no return. For them, the progress in better urban planning is palpable – a much stronger dialogue, an intelligent profession producing well researched strategies and plans, achievements in transport planning, urban renewal projects such as Puerto Madero and smartly targeted social housing initiatives. As Marcelo said to me, while they might like the pace to be faster, the urban challenges are ‘a problem not a sentence’.
Furthermore, because the lack of ‘national density’ leads to the challenges described earlier, such as problems in the system of credit and the lack of institutionalised capacity for effective metropolitan planning, ingenuity in parallel development and policy responses is generated. This provides lessons for Australia. In particular, we could reform planning and development standards and small scale private housing credit arrangements to encourage more incremental and affordable housing development, thereby widening the base of architects, builders and developers involved in housing production (see box overleaf). Additionally there is an urgent need to better link national and state policy which influences housing outcomes with urban planning objectives. More of the subsidies and assistance made available to households by governments should be contingent on satisfying metropolitan planning aims.
While Australia could do well to learn from these ideas based on the Argentinian and Uruguayan experience, Australia of course also has much to offer these countries.
The relative influence of urban practitioners on urban policy and the ultimate state of Australian cities is always debatable but there are many examples of advanced thinking and work. Our best have a lot to offer Argentina and Uruguay. In particular, linking advanced analytical techniques to actual problem solving and policy development is a strength of the best of Australian practitioners. In partnership with local practitioners there is great scope for Australians to assist in developing robust responses to Argentinian and Uruguayan urban challenges. Great promise lies in better metropolitan planning to diagnose the problems and prioritise solutions. This will be a challenge for data quality and systems in Argentina but these will only develop further when the research and solutions demand it.
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A city of multiple authors
This very small selection of photos illustrates the amazing architecture in evidence on the streets of Buenos Aires. These are everyday houses and apartments built through the years. This is a brilliant, complex, endless city built bit by bit by thousands of players. In many ways it is a product of the grid street system, a mix of lot sizes and relatively simple building rules which generally constrain the impact of the built form at street level (heights vary from precinct to precinct). It illustrates how we should strive for planning and development systems which facilitate roles for multiple authors, architects and builders in our cities.
A small selection of the architectural wonders of Buenos Aires
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APPENDIX 1 DIARY OF THE TRIP
My presentations
I was anything but idle during the tour and averaged more than one presentation per working day. All lectures were given in English with consecutive translation (except for that at the Bienale where the translation was simultaneous). All of my presentations had different elements, and were tailored to the different audiences, but they mostly focussed on one or more of the following four topics.
The Scope, Role and Efficacy of Metropolitan Planning in Sydney The last decade and more has seen a resurgence in the preparation of metropolitan strategies for Australian cities, led by state governments. Using the three recent metropolitan plans for Sydney as examples this paper outlines the general scope of metropolitan planning, its typical elements and its effectiveness in addressing the aims generally proclaimed; that is, more liveable, equitable, sustainable and economically productive cities. The often powerful role of policy unrelated to planning (e.g. immigration, taxation) in the settlement patterns and social outcomes in Australian cities is contrasted with the impact of the metropolitan plans.
Sustainable Sydney 2030 Sustainable Sydney 2030 is the vision and strategic plan for the City of Sydney over the next 25 years. This paper summarises the elements of the plan by explaining each of the ‘five big moves’ it contains. There are: 1. A revitalised City Centre at the heart of Global Sydney – about recognising and ensuring that the City Centre is world class and a magnet for workers and visitors 2. Activity Hubs as a focus for the City’s village communities and transport – recognising that the residential areas in the City need their own distinct village centres, and that these can play an important role in the overall City economy 3. An integrated Inner Sydney transport network – to get people to and from the City from the rest of the metropolitan area but also to more easily move around the City 4. A liveable green network – providing an alternative means and ways of moving around the City by either walking or cycling 5. Transformative development and sustainable renewal – ensuring that those areas that are changing rapidly, where new housing and jobs will occur in the next 25 years, are models for sustainable development
Models of Urban Renewal: Is there an ideal? This presentation assesses how different urban renewal approaches and governance models deliver against public interest goals of affordability and diversity, sustainability and economic performance. The continuum of potential urban renewal models is considered. Models range from a minimal government involvement approach where whole sites are offered to developers to undertake the planning, infrastructure provision and development through to public sector led models where planning, site remediation, public domain and infrastructure is provided by the government, and sites or blocks are then offered to the private sector for development. Examples from Germany, Sydney and Melbourne are used to illustrate. The results suggest that a deeper involvement by the public sector in the renewal process may ultimately be best to deliver against social, environmental and economic goals.
The Economic Dividend of Metropolitan Planning There has been a convergence in the main elements of recent metropolitan strategies and plans prepared for the major Australian cities, e.g. greater urban containment, centres-focussed development, integrated transport and land use planning etc. This planning orthodoxy is typically aimed at creating more liveable, equitable, sustainable and economically productive cities. However, the orthodoxy has also been challenged by sceptics and neo-liberal critics of planning. In response there has been a small but noticeable shift in the language of metropolitan planning in Australia, with an increased focus on the quantification of the economic benefits of key planning elements. This paper takes an economic view of metropolitan planning and highlights how and why effective metropolitan planning should lead to more economically efficient cities. Examples from recent Sydney and Melbourne metropolitan strategies are used to illustrate the concepts.
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Day to day activities
Saturday 21st September 2013
Leave Sydney late in the afternoon and arrive in Buenos Aires in the evening. Travel by pre-arranged car from the airport to the Hotel de las Americas, Libertad in the central city. Nestor Magariños meets me at the hotel and we have some supper in a nearby restaurant.
Sunday 22nd September 2013
In the morning Pedro Linares of CPAU meets me and we travel a few blocks to Daniel Kozak’s home in the Palermo area where Nestor is waiting. Fredy Garay also drops in to greet me. From there we go on a great introductory bike tour of the city focussing mainly on Recoleta, Puerto Madero and Avenida del Libertador. Some visiting American architecture students from St Louis, Missouri join the tour and we have lunch at the Fisherman’s club at the northern end of the Reserve, south of the port. Demian Rotbart also joins us. Nestor, Demian and Daniel are excellent tour guides.
Monday 23rd September 2013
Walking with Pedro through Recoleta, including the cemetery.
Early in the afternoon I gave a lecture at the "Humanization of Public Space" conference organized by the Ministry of Urban Development, part of the City of Buenos Aires at the the Aleph Auditorium in the Recoleta Cultural Center. I was received by the architect Agnes Messore, General Counsel Contests and Dissemination Project Secretariat Planning, Architecture and Infrastructure of the Ministry of Urban Development and Victoria Outes, Event Coordinator, Ministry of Urban Development. I also gave an interview discussing my presentation on video.
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In the evening I presented at a seminar in the auditorium at CPAU with 50 people in attendance. The conference was on urbanism in Sydney from an economic standpoint. Afterwards I dined with representatives of the CPAU.
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Tuesday 24th September 2013
In the evening I gave a lecture at the Golden Hall of the Hotel Castelar, organized by the Strategic Plan of the City of Buenos Aires, as part of their training program.
I was received by Ms. Silvana Giudici, Assistant Secretary of the Coordination Unit of the Strategic Plan of the City and the Andrés Borthagaray, Executive Director. I presented on Sustainable Sydney 2030 Plan. The meeting was attended by the First Secretary and Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Australia, Hugh Robilliard. The Golden Hall was full and afterwards the participants attended a cocktail party that allowed for more informal exchanges between attendees and exhibitors. The Strategic Plan published an article on its website about the event with photographs.
Wednesday, 25th September 2013
I gave a paper on urban renewal models at the International Biennial of Buenos Aires as part of the Keynote program. I was received by Miss Lula Quirno Morel, Coordination Secretariat of the Biennale and the Architect Carlos Sallaberry Director of the International Biennial of Buenos Aires. Afterwards I was interviewed by the the teleproject Director, Francis Fasano, about the state of planning in Australia and his experiences so far in Argentina.
Afterwards Pedro and I walked along Avenida Alvear.
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In the evening I gave a lecture on the Economics of Planning at the Aula Magna of the FADU (at the University of Buenos Aires) organized by the Department of City Planning Garay.
Thursday 26th September 2013
This ended up being a welcome free day in Buenos Aires after I missed the plane to Cordoba in the morning – stuck in traffic. Pedro and I visited the National Museum of Fine Arts and Decorative Arts Museum.
In the late afternoon I went by plane to the city of Cordoba and was met at the airport by Marcelo Corti and Celina Caprossi, who dropped me at the Hotel Grand Victoria in the pedestrian area of the Historical Centre.
In the evening Marcelo and I toured the Historical Centre, Paseo Buen Pastor and New Cordoba.
Dinner with Andres Borthagaray, Martin Lemma, Fernando Diaz, Marcelo and Celina at the Caraffa Museum.
Friday 27th September 2013
Participation in Latin American Congress of Colleges of Architecture and Urban Arquisur (Architecture in the Southern Hemisphere), at the UNC School of Architecture, with Siegfried Schmidt, Tshwane University of Technology in South Africa, Secretary of Extension UNC Ferraris and Marcelo Corti (picture right). I discussed five key challenges facing Australian cities. Audience included teachers and students.
Lunch at Pavilion Argentina UNC University City, Marcelo Corti and Martin Lemma
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Tour of Cordoba organized by IPLAM City (Metropolitan Planning Institute of the City of Córdoba) Municipality of Cordoba, with Marcelo Corti, Martin Lemma, Andrea Tumosa including La Cañada, Good Shepherd, Caraffa Museum, Parque Sarmiento, waterfront, suburban apartment real estate development (GAMA), Kempes Stadium, gated communities, Cerro de las Rosas.
Small seminar at the IPLAN office of the Cordoba Provincial Government - with Guillermo Iros, discussing Cordoba metropolitan planning and me discussing metropolitan planning in Sydney. Attendees included provincial and municipal officials, and practitioners of urbanism in the city of Cordoba.
Dinner at the home of Marcelo and Celina, with Elvira Fernandez (Dean UNC), Isabel Martinez de San Vicente (Dean UNR), Fernando Diaz, Martin Lemma and young architects.
Saturday 28th September 2013
North Market Tour with Marcelo Corti in Historical Centre. Tour to the Sierras Chicas. Lunch with Marcelo and Celina at Agua de Oro. Visit Jesuit Estancia Santa Catalina.
Sunday 29th September 2013
Travel by bus Cordoba to Rosario , picked up by Mario Jose Beneite and her brother and check in to Hotel Rebublic.
Boat ride on the River on ‘Ciudad de Rosario’ with Majo. Walk to dinner at ‘Rock and Fellers’ on the Boulevard Ororño.
Monday 30th September 2013
Travel by car-to Southern District Municipal Center "Rosa Ziperovich", building designed by the architect Siza and shown around by Arq Federico Daniel Perez.
Explore the southern area of the city from south area including Villa Gobernador Galvez (VGG) beyond the city boundaries, and the Irregular Settlements at Las Flores 1 and 2 and the Industrial Park at VGG, return to the city via South Harbor City
Lunch downtown with Majo at Rio-Bar, part of the colourful renovated silos containing the Contemporary Art Museum. After lunch we walk through the Central Coast Area back to the Hotel
Dinner with Arqs.Isabel San Vicente Martinez, Hector Floriani-at Restaurant Matungo.
Tuesday 1st October 2013
At the old Customs Building Majo and I meet with Paul Barese, Secretary of Planning of the Municipality of Rosario.
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Walk the city centre and visit the ‘Monument of the Flag’, where we climb the tower for a fine view of the city and river. Lunch at La Marina, traditional seafood restaurant not far from the waterfront.
Present on metropolitan planning in Sydney at the TUNEL in the Jockey Club Centre Area Headquarters of the CAD 2 CAPSF (the regional architects association).
Dinner with members of the architecture association at the beautiful "CAIRO" and joined by President of the CAPSF 2nd district Bagnasco and Group Land Use Commission.
Wednesday 2nd October 2013
Visit Metropolitan Office and met by Architect Mirta Levin and her working group.
Travel by car to North District Neighborhood including Victoria Bridge, Villa Hortensia, Irregular Settlements and Lunch at Menggano sampling the "Carlitos" (cheese and ham sandwiches).
Conference at the National University of Rosario, Fap & D School of Architecture, Planning and Design. Met by Dean Isabel Martinez de San Vicente. Hector Floriani translates. Very large crowd in attendance – over 250.
Light dinner with Majo’s family, then rush to bus station for 3.5 hour trip to Buenos Aires. Taxi to hotel at 3 am.
Thursday 3rd October 2013
Early boat from Buenos Aires to Montevideo, Uruguay. Met by Federico Bervejillo. Tour of the coastal area and then drop bags and settle in at Federico’s flat in Pocitos.
I present a lecture at the Faculty of Architecture at the private University ORT, focusing on Metropolitan Planning in Sydney plus the urban renewal project at Barangaroo.
Argentina and Uruguay Urban Planning Study Tour Reflections 35
Dinner at Restaurant Tandory with Federico, Carlos Mendive (economist and designer of a city housing program), the Dean of the Architecture Faculty at ORT and the head of the local property development institute.
Friday 4th October 2013
Lecture and Workshop with urban planners at the headquarters of the Inter-American Development Bank (BID) at Rincon 640, Montevideo, hosted by Veronica Adler of BID. Other offices of BID in Washington and Buenos Aires join us by video-link. I give two presentations; one on urban renewal models and the other on the economic benefits of planning.
Other presentations are on ‘Challenges of metropolitan planning-a view from the Department of Canelones’ by Andrew Ridao, Director of Land Planning, Municipality of Canelones and ‘Neighborhood Urban Renewal at GOES’ (a precinct of Montevideo) by Berdía Adriana, Project Coordinator, Municipality of Montevideo.
Visit the GOES precinct to see the impressive, refurbished old market and the adjacent factory being redeveloped for housing.
Lunch in the up-market coastal centre of Carrasco with Federico.
Meet with the Planning Team at the Municipality of Canelones district office to discuss some current planning projects and challenges.
Return to the city and, at the request of Carlos Mendive, give a lecture (unscheduled) to his economics students at the public university on the economics of planning, particularly focusing on agglomeration economies.
Dinner with Federico and his wife Begonia at the lovely converted corner grocery store near their flat.
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Saturday 6th October 2013
Day exploring the old city, including the beautiful old market with its ‘barbecue’ stands and lively atmosphere, with Federico and Begonia (plus a cameo from their son). It is an open day for the historic buildings. Long walk back to Pocitos to get some exercise. Pleasant streets.
Sunday 7th October 2013
Boat back to Buenos Aires. Meet Craig Allchin at Hotel Magnolia on Julian Alvarez in Palermo Soho. Watch local El Clasico football match with River Plate vs Boca Juniors (0-1) at a bar with Caroline.
Monday 8th October 2013
Walk the Palermo area. Visit Fredy Garay’s studio in the afternoon to discuss Puerto Madero and Metropolitan Planning.
Tuesday 9th October 2013
Visit Andres Borthagaray at offices of ‘City on the Move’ (or L’ Institut pour la ville en mouvement’) with a brilliant view overlooking Plaza de Mayo.
Then lunch in La Boca with Silvana Giudici and her colleagues. Walk La Boca and visit the museum.
Back in central Buenos Aires meet with Francisca Rojas of BID and discuss the Metropolitan Development Program she coordinates.
Wednesday 10th Ocober 2013
‘Farewell’ lunch at CPAU with colleagues and friends including representative from the Australian embassy and Arq. Jorge Horacio Lestard, the President of CPAU.
Farewell lunch at CPAU
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Great walk of the city including shopping area around Florida and Parque San Martin, with David and Craig Allchin.
Thursday 10th October 2013
Great visit and tour of the informal settlement of Villa Hidalgo in the San Martin local government area, with Cecilia Larivera and the locals.
Borrow bikes from Daniel and take in more sights at Puerto Madero and the areas around Plaza de Mayo.
Final dinner at the restaurant at Museo Evita. My wonderful Argentinian friends and colleagues in attendance.
Friday 11th October 2013
Fly to Sydney.
Argentina and Uruguay Urban Planning Study Tour Reflections 38 www.sgsep.com.au
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