FROM OPEN SEWER TO OPEN (RE)SOURCE PARTICIPATORY SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING FOR FAVELA PICA-PAU IN RIO DE JANEIRO Leonel Lima Ponce candidate, MS in Urban Environmental Systems Management Pratt Institute Programs for Sustainable Planning and Development
Demonstration of Professional Competency 06 May 2013 Advisors: Jaime Stein, Alec Appelbaum, Evren Uzer Technical Advisor: David Seiter Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
ii From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
Acknowledgements A participatory planning process is nothing without an engaged community. Before anything else, I would like to thank the residents of Pica-Pau for allowing me the privilege of working with them towards a sustainable vision for their community. Special thanks to Irenaldo Honório da Silva for his tireless and swift work in the organization of each activity and workshop, and his dedication to a harmonious relationship between nature and city; to resident Transect Walk guides: Geraldo, Natalia, Paulo, Sebastião, Karolayne, Marissa, and Zilá, as well as interviewees for their invaluable input and abundant energy; to Ministério Semear Church in Brás de Pina for their tremendous hospitality in hosting our workshop, especially at such short notice; and to workshop participants for their willingness to step out of their comfort zone, believe in the participatory process, and fight for a better future for all in their community.
This project could not be realized without the help of Catalytic Communities, specifically Theresa illiamson.W Your boundless enthusiasm, incisive input, and intricate network of committed citizens provided critical guidance in this path towards my future career. No workshops would have been conducted had it not been for the inspiring leap of faith of Catherine Osborn, Gloria Jimenez, and Sarah De Rose, who accompanied me in each step of this adventure. Additional thanks to Roseli Franco and CatComm volunteers and interns, who provided tremendous feedback and encouragement throughout my visit to Rio de Janeiro.
I would also like to thank Arqhos for their technical support in Rio de Janeiro, specifically Celso Girafa and Jonas Godinho for their dedication to a participatory design process and willingness to share crucial site documentation.
I want to acknowledge Alec Appelbaum, Evren Uzer, and David Seiter, whose discerning commentary, inspirational insight, and belief in this project directed its growth and continued success, and whose contributions pushed this initiative forward seamlessly in the face of ever-changing conditions. And I cannot forget my fellow faculty and colleagues at Pratt Programs for Sustainable Planning and Development, who inspired me each and every day during my entire graduate studies, and who have, are, and I know will continue to revolutionize our communities and environment.
I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my family and friends, specifically to my parents, my sister Beatriz, and Dane, Benny, Jonathan, Lacey, and Roxanne, who helped me stay afloat and prosper as I redirected my life towards this new and important mission. I can only hope my friendship has provided as much for you as yours have for me.
Finally, I would like to dedicate this work to Jaime Stein, my program coordinator and personal motivator. Your constant guidance and encouragement during the last two years has reshaped me as a professional, an academic, and a human being. Your unwavering support enabled me to take on tremendous challenges at each step of the way, and strive to make a meaningful change in this ever unforgiving world. Your enthusiasm reignited my hope in a sustainable and prosperous future for all, which I take with me on this journey as my guiding belief. I am forever thankful to you.
iii Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
Contents Acknowledgements iii
1. Abstract 7
2. Background 9 2.1. Favelas in Rio de Janeiro: History 2.2. Infrastructural Deficit and Environmental Impacts 2.3. Cultural, Social, Economic Assets 2.4. Mega-Events, “Pacification,” and Redevelopment Programs 2.5. Sociopolitical and Participatory Deficit
3. Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures: A Response to the Needs of Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas 15 3.1. Community Assets and Benefits: Fixing the Participatory Deficit 3.2. Natural Assets and Benefits: Fixing the Environmental Deficit 3.3. Participatory and Sustainable Process: Co-Benefits
4. Project Client 19 4.1. Community + Ecosystem = Client 4.2. Identifying a Potential Client: Pica-Pau Favela in Rio de Janeiro 4.3. Client Selection Criteria
5. Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning: Favela Pica-Pau 31 5.1. Participatory Strategies 5.2. Preliminary Meetings 5.3. Transect Walk 5.4. Community Workshop 5.5. “City as Play” 5.6. Review of Transect Walks 5.7. Screening of “Favela as a Sustainable Model” 5.8. Sustainable Infrastructures Catalog 5.9. Community Visioning Session 5.10. Preliminary Evaluations & Reassessments
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6. Implementation 49 6.1. Continuity 6.2. Replicability
7. Bibliography 55 7.1. References 7.2. Raw Data
Appendices 61 Appendix A: Visit and Workshop Agenda Appendix B: Meeting Minutes, CatComm Meetings Appendix C: Meeting Minutes, Visit to Pica-Pau Community (23 March 2013) Appendix D: Transect Walk Materials Appendix E: Community Visioning Workshop Products
v Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
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1. Abstract
No urban setting exemplifies the current global human condition more than Rio de Janeiro’s informal communities, or favelas. Self-built and often ignored by government agencies, policies, and services, these communities are predominantly identified by their environmental and sociopolitical infrastructural deficits. In no place is this more apparent than in faltering wastewater systems, the subhuman environmental conditions of which are exacerbated by a lack of voice and political representation within the community and are emblematic of the city and country’s socioeconomic stratification. Yet, the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games bring with them an opportunity for transformation, which is coming to favelas through urbanization programs such as Morar Carioca. Still, a problem remains: how can informal communities take ownership of these opportunities?
In order to overcome their principal infrastructural deficits, favelas must leverage their environmental and community assets and advance natural systems through participatory processes, which generate Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures that empower communities and enhance ecosystems.
Through my Demonstration of Professional Competency studies, I conducted a series of participatory planning activities with the residents of favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro. Designed to leverage environmental and community assets, and to evaluate and improve the process itself, the month-long excursion, its preceding research, and analysis of results has reinforced the catalytic potential of this development strategy. Though site specific, these explorations and the lessons learned reassert that by engaging citizens and ecosystems with each other in the visioning of a community’s future, an efficient and holistic framework for urban development in the 21st century emerges.
7 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
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2. Background
Figure 2.1: A street fair in favela Pica-Pau, in Cordovil DSC_0399. 2012. Photograph. Album - Visit to Pica-Pau in Cordovil, Rio De Janeiro. Flickr. Comp. Catalytic Communities. Yahoo!, 03 Dec. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.
1 Grimm, Nancy B. “Global Change and the Ecology of Cities.” Science 319 (2008): 756-59. Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science, 8 Feb. 2008. Web. 25 Nov. 2011.
9 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 systems4. As more informal communities continue to emerge and grow, governments of cities such as Rio de Janeiro are left to scramble to remedy the deleterious impact on the quality of life of its constituents, as well as the health of their host environments and natural resources. 2.1. Favelas in Rio de Janeiro: History
Informal settlements, or favelas, have played an intrinsic role in the history and development of Rio de Janeiro city and its culture. Rio’s favelas are well-known for their ties to the beginnings of samba and traditional Brazilian Carnaval celebrations, and home to many of the city’s most famous cultural figures. But favelas are also vilified, even in feature films such as 2002’s City of God, as the settings for Rio and Brazil’s internal drug wars, host to drug trafficking kingpins and foci of intense and violent battles between traffickers and the police5. Caught in the midst of opportunity and misery, cultural richness and abject poverty, favelas exemplify the socioeconomic and cultural multiplicity of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil.
In Brazil, and specifically Rio de Janeiro, favelas have been stigmatized and pushed to the outskirts of society from their genesis in the late 1800’s. The first favela, Providência, was established by soldiers returning from the Canudos War in the Northeast of the country. They were promised land upon their return to the capital of Rio de Janeiro, but were forced into an agreement with a coonel to squat on a parcel of his land in 1898; soon, they were joined by others seeking available land, such as freed slaves and European immigrants. These underserved demographics concentrated in favelas as they spread throughout the city; their communities were themselves underserved by government, either ignored by policy or evicted when convenient. From 1940 to 2000, 7 million homes were financed in some manner in Brazil; over 28 million units, however, were built and financed by owners and residents without any support from governmental institutions6. This trend was exemplified in Rio’s favelas, where self-built dwellings comprise the majority of the housing stock. Without the provision of affordable housing by market forces, policy decisions by the city did not discourage settlement. During the military dictatorship in the 1970’s, a policy of displacement was adopted in earnest, as the poor and homeless were criminalized and marginalized; increased removals, again, did not resolve the continued demand for affordable housing. In 1988, the federal Brazilian Constitution recognized the rights of favelados, including a clause in the document allowing adverse possession of a home and the land beneath it after 5 years of residence. With no municipal provisions for affordability and a lack economic growth in the city, favelas multiplied rapidly in the following decade. Current estimates show over 1.4 million people, or nearly 1/4 of Rio de Janeiro’s residents, living in informal settlements today7. 2.2. Infrastructural Deficit and Environmental Impacts
Informal communities in Rio de Janeiro are typically built by their own residents on illegally acquired, public land. The settled property is not connected to public utility services, and sometimes sited far away from existing systems. In order to acquire basic services such as water and electricity, favelados improvise their own connections to the existing grid, tapping into electrical wires or water supply pipes to supply their individual homes. These taps, or gatos, exemplify the tenuous balance between “honest” tax-paying citizens, and “thieves” living in favelas; the latter frequently portrayed as the public face of favelas. Little attention is paid
4 Jensen, Lois, ed. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2011. 5 City of God (Cidade De Deus). Dir. Kátia Lund and Fernando Meirelles. O2 Filmes, 2002. DVD. 6 Magalhães, Sérgio. “Sobre a Democratização De Cidade. A Experiência Da Política Habitacional Do Rio De Janeiro.” Urbanismo: Dossiê São Paulo - Rio De Janeiro. Campinas and Rio De Janeiro, Brazil: PUC-Campinas/PROURB-UFRJ, 2003. 113-36. Print. 7 Wiliamson, Theresa. “Favelas at the Vanguard: Rethinking Our Assumptions in Sustainable Development.” Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY. 24 Oct. 2012. Lecture.
10 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013 to the socioeconomic stratification and lack of opportunity that has led to informal settlements, or to the lack of service provision by the city’s utility companies that has motivated these improvisations. Perhaps the most serious infrastructural deficit in Rio’s favelas exists in wastewater and sanitation. Only 76% of the population of the state of Rio de Janeiro is connected to sewage treatment systems; the problem is most severe in the poorest rural areas, and favelas within Rio de Janeiro municipality. Most favelas are not yet connected to the municipal sewage treatment system. Residents’ illegal wastewater connections can lead to a multitude of open sewers and sewage outfalls at local streams, canals, and other water bodies8.
Figure 2.2: Rio Salgado, in Rio de Janeiro’s North Zone, or Zona Norte. Figure 2.3: Effluent reaching the Guanabara Bay. Houses along the bank of the river dump raw sewage directly into its waters. Unknown. N.d. Photograph. Rio De Janeiro. Ambiental Sustentável. 24 Nov. 2011. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.
These infrastructural failures are deeply connected to the ecosystem and climate of Rio de Janeiro. The city is bisected by a stretch of the Mata Atlântica, a tropical alluvial rainforest and one of the world’s designated biodiversity hotspots9, within a humid subtropical climate zone10. Historically, favelas were settled at the edges of the forest and the city, or in landfilled historic marshlands and mangroves, land that was perceived as having low value. These settlements encroach upon the existing ecosystem to provide low-quality housing stock, creating a mutually detrimental existence. The wet summer season, particularly March, yield significant rainfall and major weather events11, and favelas usually take the brunt of the ensuing deluge. Positioned on eroding hillsides in what was once forest, or in paved-over wetlands that no longer allow for water infiltration, favelas suffer significant damage from landslides, powerful flows of water, and flooding during these storms. Due to the lack of appropriate physical infrastructure, solid waste and wastewater produced by these communities
8 Cavallieri, Fernando, and Soraya Oliveira. A Melhoria Das Condições De Vida De Habitantes De Assentamentos Precários No Rio De Janeiro. Issue brief no. 20061202. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil: IPP (Rio de Janeiro City Planning Department), 2006. Coleção Estudos Cariocas. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.
11 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 is dispersed back into the environment, causing local and regional public health problems, and the severe pollution and degradation of nearby ecosystems surrounding Guanabara Bay. Federal and local governments have committed to resolving the problem, initiating programs to improve the impact of failing wastewater and sanitation systems on the city. Over US$ 452 million have been loaned from the Inter-American Development Bank to undertake an initiative to incorporate 359,000 new households to the existing sewage system, and thus improve the quality of surrounding water bodies12. Additionally, the state of Rio has vouched to provide improved wastewater systems to 96% of its citizens by the year 203013. 2.3. Cultural, Social, Economic Assets
The physical presence of favelas has, in many cases, aggravated Rio de Janeiro’s infrastructural and environmental degradation. But these valuable communities have played a key role in the cultural and social heritage of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil. The country’s most identifiable cultural asset of Brazil, its samba music played during Carnaval celebrations each year, has deep roots within favelas. Some of the most traditional Samba Schools in Rio de Janeiro, like Mangueira and Salgueiro, were formed along the hillsides of these informal communities14. In recent decades, a musical style called Favela Funk has gained tremendous popularity amongst Rio de Janeiro’s youth. Though originally based on the lives of drug traffickers and other criminals, the music also offers a snapshot into the struggles of favela residents, giving outsiders a glimpse into daily life of informal communities through stripped-down, danceable beats15.
Culturally vibrant and socially active, Rio de Janeiro’s favelas often exhibit more activity on its streets than formal neighborhoods do. Mixed-use development along larger roads, and pedestrian-oriented streets create low-rise, high density neighborhoods that provide more opportunities for social interactions. Those who work in shops in favelas usually live in the same community, showing a potential for live-work spaces that reduce strain on the city’s transportation resources. Constant social interactions lead to solidarity and collective action; in some cases, neighbors assist each other on home renovations and improvised public infrastructure repairs16. Local informal economies in favelas generate considerable revenue, especially in large communities. Some of the larger favelas, like Rocinha, are now destinations for national and foreign enterprises, such as Bob’s (a local fast food restaurant), Brasimac (an electronics retail store), and even McDonald’s17. The wealth of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas is now being recognized by outsiders and the government, but this attention comes with its own costs.
12 Campêlo, Gabriela. “BID Vai Emprestar US$ 452 Milhões Para Melhorar Esgoto Na Baía De Guanabara.” Web log post. Ambiental Sustentável. N.p., 24 Nov. 2011. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.
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2.4. Mega-Events, “Pacification,” and Redevelopment Programs
The upcoming FIFA Soccer World Cup in 2014 and Olympic Games in 2016 have heavily influenced investment, development, and ultimately the treatment of favelas and their residents by the federal, state, and municipal governments. Following infrastructural and housing programs by previous administrations, designed to improve conditions in the most visible and notorious favelas18, the current government deemed favela improvements necessary to showcase Rio de Janeiro’s worth as a host city. A series of programs intended to “urbanize” and “pacify” these communities has caused tremendous change in their physical and socioeconomic makeup, implemented via top-down, government-led initiatives. The federal PAC program, started in 2007 by the ruling Workers’ Party (PT) to instigate infrastructural and economic improvements for all Brazilians, includes a series of projects in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, such as a cable car system in Alemão favela completed in 201119. These development projects, however, could only be completed after some resolution to Rio’s prevalent drug trafficking problem. Thus, the municipal government created “pacification” forces under the title of UPP (Pacification Police Unit), to systematically evict drug gangs from informal communities in advance of public works. After each eviction, a social division of the UPP works with residents and city agencies to support capital and infrastructural improvements through social services and programs for transforming favelas, purportedly opening connections between the informal and formal city.
Figure 2.4: A Morar Carioca community facility project in Rio de Janeiro. Figure 2.5: Forced removals have become common in RIo’s favelas. morar-carioca-ex. 2011. Photograph. Programa Morar Carioca, Rio De DSC_0372. 2012. Photograph. Graves Violações De Direitos Humanos Janeiro. UPP Social. Secretaria Municipal De Habitação - Rio De Janeiro, No Largo Do Tanque, Em Jacarepaguá, Rio De Janeiro. Comitê Popular 2012. Web. 06 May 2013.
A recent program formed by Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes, the city’s Housing Secretariat (SMH), and its Planning Department (IPP) has become the official mechanism for the urbanization of favelas. Morar Carioca, which roughly translates to “to reside as a citizen of Rio de Janeiro (carioca)”, has been formed to streamline and administer improvements projects in Rio’s favelas, in order to adhere to the International Olympic Committee’s Social Legacy requirements. Stated program goals include “...the improvement of living
18 Magalhães, Sérgio. “Sobre a Democratização De Cidade. A Experiência Da Política Habitacional Do Rio De Janeiro.” 19 Ponce, Leonel L. “Cable Car System Crowns Urban Revitalization Project in Rio de Janeiro’s Alemão Favelas.” Weblog post. Inhabitat, N.p. 07 Oct. 2011. Web. 20 Apr. 2013.
13 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 conditions of low-income populations residing in precarious settlements, conforming with...... Rio de Janeiro’s Master Plan for Sustainable Urban Development,” and a pledge “...to accompany all actions [in the program] with social work developed to attend to the populations residing in settlements subject to the program.“20 With an estimated budget of R$ 8 billion (roughly US$ 4 billion), to be partially financed by loans from the Inter- American Development Bank, the program aims to improve conditions in all favelas with over 100 housing units by the year 202021. 2.5. Sociopolitical and Participatory Deficit
Through a design competition conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Architects (IAB), forty architecture firms were chosen to plan and design the Morar Carioca projects; each firm was assigned to a favela or favela cluster22. The program, as delineated in its charter, has provisions for public participation in the form of “assemblies and meetings inside communities, and of presentations and debates open to organized civil society and to citizens.“23 Each project team must include at least one social worker and one anthropologist to ensure the consideration of community-specific cultural and social needs. During initial project phases, the municipality of Rio de Janeiro contracted community development NGO iBase to conduct a “social diagnosis” of the initial ten projects, including focus groups, documentary filming, and resident surveys designed to reveal each community’s priorities24.
While these provisions seemingly represented a departure from the municipality’s usual exclusion of public process in its projects, specifically in favelas, the implementation of these measures have failed to accomplished stated goals. Public meetings and assemblies were hosted at the project team’s convenience (usually during working hours), and in a surprise move, the city of Rio de Janeiro suspended its contract with iBase in October of 201225. Thus, an innovative participatory process was completely removed from all Morar Carioca projects. But these complications do not signify the end of public participation and innovation in the redevelopment of favelas. The continued influx of investment and attention furnished by Mega Events and Morar Carioca provides an opportunity to improve upon existing urban infrastructure models, in planning, implementation, and maintenance, in hopes of creating vibrant, sustainable communities in Rio de Janeiro.
20 Municipality of Rio de Janeiro. “Decreto Nº 36388 de 29 de Outubro de 2012.” Morar Carioca Charter. Diário Oficial do Município do Rio de Janeiro (Official Diary of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro); year XXVI, No 155, 30 October 2012: p.4-9. 21 Municipal Housing Secretariat of Rio de Janeiro. “Morar Carioca: Conheça o Programa.” Web. 15 Mar. 2013.
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3. Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures: A Response to the Needs of Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas + =
Figure 3.1: Community Participation + Natural Systems = Sustainable Infrastructures Graphic by Leonel Lima Ponce. 2013.
RIo de Janeiro is in a position, at the confluence of economic growth, Mega-Event investment, and impending environmental crisis, to decide the direction of its development. Given this opportunity, how can informal communities properly leverage the social and environmental assets of their current condition, so as to improve the quality of life of their residents? How can we reassess current methods of development in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas to ensure the inclusion of its residents and ecosystems, and thus provide a democratic and sustainable model of urbanity?
By applying community participation to democratically introduce performative natural systems, sustainable infrastructures and solutions for underrepresented populations in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas can be achieved. These, in turn, can become flexible models for worldwide implementation. But first, the assets to be leveraged and their respective potential benefits must be understood, so as to identify possible communities for implementation. 3.1. Community Assets and Benefits: Fixing the Participatory Deficit
In order to empower a target community, a participatory process draws from and enhances existing social and cultural resources. Before embarking upon a participatory process, it is important to understand the distinct challenges posed by specific projects and communities. Certain community assets that are crucial to participatory work, such as grassroots leadership, are more prevalent in some societies and populations than others. Careful and thorough engagement can ensure that optimal conditions are met for participation.
15 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
Preliminary steps in the formation of a participatory process include the establishment of trust with community members, leveraging transparency of process to demonstrate an agenda algined with that of the community. Trust is already strong in some smaller favelas, where residents leave their doors unlocked without fear, due to an unspoken code of privacy and respect26. While larger favelas tend to nurture less trusting neighbors, residents must still learn to rely in one another to strengthen their community against threats such as removals and failing infrastructure. Once trust is established, an existing spirit of collaboration, acquired through cohabitation, can be directed towards engagement in a project. Many informal settlements have built housing or public infrastructure through mutirões27, or community actions, while others engage in community “social action” events that provide missing public health and civil services to neighbors in need28.
Once a community is engaged in a participatory process, its cumulative knowledge can be tapped into to formulate resident priorities, leading to participatory diagnoses and solutions. In Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, this body of knowledge includes first-hand experiences with infrastructural failures, perceptions of government and institutional programs, and construction experience implemented in the assembly of each home. Wide-ranging information and skills currently utilized to resolve personal issues can be combined to formulate cohesive diagnoses and holistic solutions to communal concerns. But to implement large-scale change and empower a community in the sociopolitical realm, government officials must be made accountable for all constituent communities. Strong leadership must be established from within, challenging municipal agencies to respond to knowledgeable, engaged, strong communities capable of providing their own solutions. This type of leadership is prevalent in favelas, which have repeatedly faced down the threat of removals, and have for the most part persevered.
A participatory process can empower the human residents of a community, leveraging and combining their strengths in order to overcome collective socioeconomic and infrastructural problems. While this strategy can build decades of resistance, a properly prepared community cannot account for the long-term stress of climate change, population influx, and physical infrastructural deficits on its supporting natural systems through a participatory process alone. In order to nurture a truly sustainable community, natural and environmental assets must be leveraged in concert with community assets to reduce and reverse the destructive impact of human residents on their habitat. 3.2. Natural Assets and Benefits: Fixing the Environmental Deficit
Much like human communities, natural environments host a variety of assets that, if properly leveraged, can enhance the quality of life of organisms within a habitat. Historically, and especially since the Industrial Revolution, the physical development of cities has been accompanied by the destruction of natural ecosystems. But with the aid of participatory processes, we can begin to incorporate natural processes, systems, their performance, and the resultant habitats to enhance the performance of existing, or missing, infrastructural systems. These systems incorporate vernacular, pre-industrial techniques reliant on natural processes for functionality into high-tech materials and novel applications, suited for urban settings and enhanced performance rivaling conventional infrastructures.
26 Favela as a Sustainable Model. Dir. Emily Sasson. Youtube. Catalytic Communities, 26 June 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2013.
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Processes such as biofiltration are incorporated into constructed wetlands and subsurface irrigated gardens, leading to the productive landscapes that yield agricultural crops29. The incorporation of natural systems such as rain gardens and other green infrastructure can transform underutilized land into public open space, forming amenities from previously underutilized or flood-prone areas30. Once established, natural systems can perform regenerative functions that improve public health and reduce related costs in health care. According to researchers, a fully functional subsurface constructed wetland system can treat 95% of suspended solids and 99% of coliform in sewage without the use of additional chemicals31. The performance of remediative systems can be leveraged to reclaim the health of residents and their habitat. Once habitat is re-established, ecosystem health increases around each intervention. With enough natural systems interventions in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, the fragmentation that threatens Mata Atlântica can be reversed, promoting lasting biodiversity in the region.
Figure 3.2: Example of a mutirão, or sweat equity construction. Figure 3.3: Diagram of subsurface flow constructed wetlands. 268191. 2009. Photograph. Mutirão Na Praça Do Conjunto Palmeira, White, Sarah. 96388display. Digital image. University of California - UNCFA Fortaleza. Banco Palmas. Banco Palmas, 21 Dec. 2009. Web. 3 May News. University of California, 5 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.
3.3. Participatory and Sustainable Process: Co-Benefits
Generally, the incorporation of existing local resources into a cohesive project creates immediate advantages. The total value of a project is maximized by pooling resources, thereby minimizing costs to each participant. This incentivizes further collaboration, while putting less of a monetary and labor burden on each participant. A potential drawback of pooling resources is the risk of “free riders,” which increases as an infrastructure project
29 Nelson, M., F. Cattin, M. Rajendran, and L. Hafouda. “Value-adding through Creation of High Diversity Gardens and Ecoscapes in Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetlands: Case Studies in Algeria and Australia of Wastewater Gardens® Systems.” Lecture. IIth International Conference on Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control. Vikram University, Indore, India. Nov. 2008. Wastewater Gardens. Wastewater Gardens ®, 30 Nov. 2008. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.
17 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 approaches a public good by generating common benefits32. But in the case of a distributed environmental service, such as wastewater and sanitation, the benefits are transferred to each resident through lower risk of infection and transmission of disease. Thus a positive externality, or co-benefit, provided by one resident engaged in the process of planning, designing, and maintaining a project, will be enjoyed by all; yet the positive externalities supplied to any “free rider” would still help the community as a whole, still providing a significant social marginal benefit.
In addition to minimized direct costs to each resident and natural system, municipal agencies and investors can spend fewer financial resources on holistic, localized infrastructural projects than on conventional systems. This is especially true of operational and maintenance costs; municipal wastewater treatment systems include many pumping, chemical treatment, and mechanical treatment stations that constantly consume energy in the operation of expensive pieces of machinery, with high replacement costs. Energy consumption of constructed wetland wastewater treatment systems can be as low as 15% that of traditional sewage treatment plants33. Building and planning natural systems through a participatory process can potentially generate co-benefits like local participation, job training and creation. Lower design and construction costs can also emerge from this process. Construction materials utilized in natural systems tend to be less costly and more readily available than those in large-scale, municipal infrastructural systems34.
Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure projects combine resources to holistically increase value and defray costs. However, what sets them apart is the enhanced quality of these projects beyond financial value, such as improved quality of life for installation users. Intrinsic knowledge of site from residents, combined with environmental and technical knowledge from engineers, architects and other team members through a collaborative process, yield benefits beyond those resultant from a physical project. Mutual educational opportunities abound in a participatory process that promotes information sharing, leading to a better educated and empowered public within and outside a target community. This knowledge can be compiled and presented in training programs geared towards new, green jobs. Through an iterative process of integration of community participation and natural systems, a new paradigm can emerge, where various assets are combined to expand the scope and impact of each project, producing holistic solutions that incorporate the needs and tools of all community and environmental stakeholders. These inclusive projects, as a byproduct of their breadth, create benefits beyond their primary intent, leaving lasting impacts on communities and ecosystems.
32 Keohane, Nathaniel O., and Sheila M. Olmstead. Markets and the Environment. Washington, DC: Island, 2007. Print. 33 Nelson, Mark; H. T. Odum, M. T. Brown, and A. Alling. ““Living off the Land”: Resource Efficiency of Wetland Wastewater Treatment.” Advances in Space Research 27.9 (2001): 1547-556. Wastewater Gardens. Wastewater Gardens ®, 26 Sept. 2001. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.
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4. Project Client
Figure 4.1: Irenaldo Honório da Silva, President of Favela Pica-Pau’s Residents’ Association, stands on a footbridge over the Irajá River. site visit photo, Pica-Pau No Cordovil, Rio De Janeiro. Personal photographs by Leonel Lima Ponce. 2013.
Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures present an opportunity to integrate existing resources and processes into a novel approach of urban environmental systems management. But to move towards implementation, this concept must be tested through implementation a pilot project. A client must be identified and vetted through a set of criteria to determine feasibility and appropriateness of an experiment. A trusting relationship can then be built with a client through an honest participatory process. 4.1. Community + Ecosystem = Client
In conventional infrastructure projects, a client is defined by project scope, and the financial relationships affected by it. In this model, contractors and product manufacturers consider utility production, distribution, and management companies and agencies as their clients; the latter then identify municipalities, and individual customers as their clients. In order to transform infrastructure projects into participatory and sustainable models, the concept of a client must change as well.
Since Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures leverage the assets of community and ecosystems in order to mutually improve their quality, such a project logically serves both community and ecosystem as clients. In this model, each client is not merely an agent who receives a service or pays a fee, but also an engaged
19 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 participant that provides services and resources, manages and monitors performance, and participates in all steps of planning, design, construction and operation of an infrastructural application. A community engages through participatory processes, which can extend into community stewardship and ownership of projects; an ecosystem participates as project client via the provision of ecosystem services and the regulation of system performance through natural processes and their limits. An engaged and comprehensive client base, inclusive of ecosystems and communities, facilitates a holistic project that is enhanced by its own development in a self- sustainable manner. 4.2. Identifying a Potential Client: Pica-Pau Favela in Rio de Janeiro
COMMUNITY CLIENT
ECOSYSTEM (SITE)
Figure 4.1: Community members and their host ecosystem are both considered as clients in a Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures process. Graphic by Leonel Lima Ponce. 2013.
To conduct a pilot Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure planning project, I first was required to search for a specific, and appropriate, client. Through speculative conversations with Theresa Williamson, a pre-existing contact and Executive Director of Catalytic Communities, a favela advocacy NGO, the Pica-Pau community was established as a prospective client demonstrative of the deficits and assets targeted to proceed with project implementation.
20 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
4.2.1. General Characteristics
Pica-Pau favela was founded in the early 1950’s35, in the neighborhood of Cordovil, in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro city. Cordovil is loosely bordered by Avenida Brasil, one of Rio’s major thoroughfares, to the East and North, the Irajá River to the South, and Avenida Meriti, a local main road, to the West. Ilha do Governador, an island that is occupied primarily by Rio de Janeiro’s international airport, sits just on the other side of Avenida Brasil, in the polluted Guanabara Bay36.
Guanabara Bay
PICA-PAU
Niterói Rio de Janeiro
Figure 4.1: Location of Pica-Pau, in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, near the Guanabara Bay. Google Maps/ NOAA. “Rio de Janeiro.” (Orthographic photography). Graphics by Leonel Lima Ponce
Pica-Pau is a relatively small favela, covering approximately 38,000 square meters37, and located within landfilled mangroves. Its Southern edge is bound by Schulz Wenk Avenue, along the Irajá River. The river itself is canalized and stretches over eight kilometers from its source at the Inhaúma neighborhood to its mouth at the Guanabara Bay38, near Ilha do Governador. Its Eastern neighbor is a cryogenic equipment manufacturing facility, which belongs to industrial enterprise White Martins39. At its Northeast corner, and the main access point into the community, Pica-Pau abuts a series of access roads and ramps to and from Avenida Brasil. This location is uphill from the river and Southern portion of the favela, and at the intersection between its 35 Arqhos Consultoria e Projetos. “Morar Carioca: Cordovil - Diagnóstico Local, Cordovil.” Report. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 2012. 36 “Mapas Digitais Do Rio De Janeiro.” Map. Rio Prefeitura - Instituto Pereira Passos. Municipality of Rio De Janeiro, 2012. Web. 18 Feb. 2013.
21 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 two central roads, Aricambú and Amaetinga. Aricambú Street bisects the community form Northeast to West, and functions as its main public space. Amaetinga bounds the favela to the North, climbing uphill from East to West40. The steep territory between these two roads is populated by dozens of closely sited masonry homes. Narrow alleys and concrete stairways meander up, down and around these structures. Between Aricambú and Schulz Wenk Avenue by the river, slightly wider alleys connect larger, more established homes41.
sewage treatment plant Governor’s Island (airport) PICA-PAU
Cordovil Guanabara Bay sewage ~3 km treatment plant
Figure 4.1: Map of Cordovil and surrounding neighborhoods, Rio de Janeiro. Nearby sewage treatment plants shown. “Mapas Digitais Do Rio De Janeiro.” Map. Portal-GEO. Prefeitura Do Rio De Janeiro, 2012. Web. 22 Feb. 2013.
Due to its strategic location, Pica-Pau is a densely populated community. The exact number of residents is difficult to account for due to lack of housing titles43, personal documentation and incomplete counts. Official estimates from the IBGE municipal census of 2010 account for 2,300 persons housed in 545 units44; however, a more recent count done for the Morar Carioca program’s local diagnostic report reports 660 units, housing
40 “Mapas Digitais Do Rio De Janeiro.” Map. Rio Prefeitura - Instituto Pereira Passos. 41 Arqhos Consultoria e Projetos. “Morar Carioca: Cordovil - Diagnóstico Local, Cordovil.” 42 Pica-Pau community residents. “Pica-Pau Community VIsioning Workshop.” Personal testimonies. Rio de Janeiro, 6 Apr. 2013. 43 Da Silva, Irenaldo H. Personal interview. Rio de Janeiro, 23 Mar. 2013. 44 IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).“Censo Demográfico 2010: Aglomerados Subnormais.”
22 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
Figure 4.1: Sewerage survey of favela Pica-Pau, 1:500 scale. Arqhos Consultoria e Projetos. “Morar Carioca: Cordovil - Diagnóstico Local, Cordovil.”
23 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 just over 2,500 people45. The population of Pica-Pau comes from a variety of origins, ranging from fishermen native of Northeast Brazil46 who settled on swampy landfill decades ago, to new residents who have arrived from surrounding areas in the face of speculation and rising rents in the metropolitan area47. Average income in this community is low, and there is a lack of cultural facilities, technical and secondary education for youth, as well as a high index of drug trafficking activity and addiction amongst youth48. In order to mitigate some of these systemic social and cultural deficits, a strong Residents’ Association was formed in 1966, with the latest iteration operated by Irenaldo Honório da Silva for the last two decades. For the pilot Pariticpatory Sustainable Infrastructures project, Irenaldo and the Pica-Pau Residents’ Association were selected as representative for a potential community client. 4.2.3. Ecosystem: Existing Infrastructure
Identifying an ecosystem to serve as a sustainable project client is not a simple task in a dense urban environment, even in a verdant city such as Rio de Janeiro. Within the boundaries of favela Pica-Pau, the original mangrove ecosystem has been completely covered up and transformed. In fact, over 90% of the community is paved, with the exception of vegetated areas on steep terrain49. At the Southern edge of the community, the Irajá River represents Pica-Pau’s most immediate connection to an existing ecosystem. The river, although canalized, empties out on the Guanabara Bay, introducing over 12% of the pollution incident upon this major water body50. The bay itself is home to some of the few remaining stretches of mangrove in the city of Rio de Janeiro. This fledgling alluvial habitat serves as the potential ecosystem client for a Community Sustainable Infrastructure project in favela Pica-Pau. 4.3. Client Selection Criteria
Favela Pica-Pau demonstrated itself as a potential client representative of both community and ecosystem, but how did I select it as an optimal client? A set of selection criteria were formulated to properly choose a potential client for this project. These criteria enable the project to move from conception, through various iterations and obstacles, resolving a set of problems for a community and site, and eventually setting a path and example for future projects. Five crucial criteria were chosen to determine Pica-Pau’s merit as a project client: partnerships, infrastructural need, potential impact, opportunity for intervention, and community buy-in and organization. 4.3.1. Partnership: Catalytic Communities and Pica-Pau Residents’ Association
Participatory community work demands the acquisition of a fair amount of trust and local knowledge. Although a native of Rio de Janeiro, I am a foreign resident with minimal direct exposure to and contacts within the city’s favelas. I established an early need to form local partnerships to move the project forward. Through pre-research, a few potential partners were discovered, organizations that worked as engaged partners with informal communities, and attempted to leverage local assets for the enhanced visibility and empowerment its residents.
45 Arqhos Consultoria e Projetos. “Morar Carioca: Cordovil - Diagnóstico Local, Cordovil.” 46 Carter, Kacey. “Haverá Um Desastre, E a Prefeitura Sabe.” Web log post. Rio On Watch. Ed. Roseli Franco. Catalytic Communities, 01 Aug. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.
24 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
Catalytic Communities (CatComm), a non-governmental organization founded by urban planner Dr. Theresa Williamson in 2000, produced work most relevant to my project. CatComm is a Non-Governmental Organization that works in the destigmatization and empowerment of informal communities in Rio de Janeiro, showcasing the potential of favelas as solution generators for Rio de Janeiro’s problems. In addition to their work as media and advocacy consultants and information conduits to informal communities, the organization has partnered favela leaders with technical experts and students working on community development projects. CatComm’s initial work, done in 2001-2009 was an open database of grassroots projects in favelas51. By reporting on the infrastructural needs, and social, economic, and environmental assets of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, CatComm possessed valuable background information and local connections necessary to identify a target community and advance a Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure proposal.
Figure 4.6: A pre-existing partnership between Catalytic Communiies and Irenaldo Honório da Silva of the Pica-Pau Residents’ Association facilitated the project’s progress. Images: Park, Christina. Photograph. New York. 2009. Catalytic Communities Logo. Digital image. Catalytic Communities. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2013.
During telephone conversations with Dr. Williamson in late 201252, a number of favelas were identified as potential clients for the project. One community, however, exhibited optimal need, potential, opportunity, and organization necessary to follow through with the project. Pica-Pau, officially known as favela Cordovil, was selected as our target client. 4.3.2. Infrastructural Need
A needs-based approach, it was decided, would provide the most underserved communities with the necessary resources to dramatically improve quality of life. Favela Pica-Pau was featured as a community in dire need of infrastructure improvements in CatComm’s 2012 short film “Favela as a Sustainable Model,” which was exhibited that June at the United Nations’ Rio+20 Summit53. According to the film, open and overflowing sewers, “areas of risk” of erosion, and public health issues were prevalent throughout the favela. It was determined that Pica-Pau’s wastewater systems, and the resultant infrastructural deficit, would serve as the focus of the project.
51 “CatComm Today.” Catalytic Communities. Catalytic Communities, 2012. Web. 06 May 2013.
25 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
Pica-Pau’s water supply is provided by state utility company CEDAE, via a pumping station by the Irajá River. The system pumps water to the lower elevations of the community, and up to Aricambú Street. Water pressure issues, mainly the result of poor maintenance on the pumping station, have forced residents to insert their own pumps into the system. This is costly solutions, especially in areas of higher elevation, between Aricambú and Amaetinga Streets54. From anecdotal visual evidence compiled by CatComm, I deduced that many houses utilize “caixas d’água”, or rooftop water collection basins, to complement the municipal water supply55.
Figure 4.7: Infrastructural failures in favela Pica-Pau Infrastructural failures, Pica-Pau No Cordovil, Rio De Janeiro. Personal photographs by Leonel Lima Ponce. 2013.
A combined wastewater and stormwater system bisects Pica-Pau on Aricambú Street, eventually dumping all collected fluids into the Irajá River. The river, in turn, empties out into the Guanabara Bay. Sewer conduits and catchbasins are in a state of disrepair; concrete basin covers lay shattered along the system. In addition to this formal system, residents have installed informal above ground sewerage, especially in the sloped area between Aricambú and Amaetinga. The additional load on aging combined sewer pipes results in a system overload, causing outfalls and surface flow of storm and wastewater during severe weather events56. Existing sewage treatment plants, no closer than 3km away, are located in separate sewersheds and watersheds from favela Pica-Pau, which drains directly into the adjacent Irajá River. Exacerbated by surface water runoff, erosion and subsequent landslides have become a serious issue, specifically in the area between Amaetinga and Aricambú streets. According to municipal geological department GEORIO, at least ten erosion-related “accidents” have occurred in the last fifteen years. In order to mediate the situation, the municipal government has built a series of concrete retaining walls, removing residents from their homes in the process57.
Residential solid waste is officially collected along the perimeter of Pica-Pau by the municipal sanitation company, COMLURB. However, collection is not provided inside the favela; neither is the typical street cleaning and sweeping service that the agency manages throughout the city. No trash receptacles are present within the boundaries of the favela; according to an official survey, only two dumpsters exist on the periphery.
54 Arqhos Consultoria e Projetos. “Morar Carioca: Cordovil - Diagnóstico Local, Cordovil.” 55 Dorado, Rexy J., Jonathan O’Farrell, Nicholas O’Farrell, and Isabelle Robinson. “Visit to Pica-Pau in Cordovil: Photo Album.” Flickr. Catalytic Communities, 23 June 2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.
26 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
As a result, garbage accumulates throughout the community, particularly along the bottom of steep slopes58. Additional infrastructural issues regarding electricity, mobility, accessibility and public services were noted in various surveying documents produced by government agencies and consultants. However, it was determined that the most serious water and sanitation issues could be dealt with first, yielding processes and results that could be utilized to leverage potential solutions for these additional concerns as part of a holistic, replicable project.
Pica Pau (official boundaries): Est. Area a: 3,8000 m2 Est. Population (2010) b: 2,300 Estimated Cordovil favela complex (subject to Morar Carioca project) Est. Area a: 235,000 m2 Est. Population (2010) b: 12,000
2,300-12,000 PEOPLE AFFECTED
Figure 4.8: Map of communities subject to Morar Carioca in Cordovil and surrounding neighborhoods, Rio de Janeiro “Mapas Digitais Do Rio De Janeiro.” Map. Portal-GEO. Prefeitura Do Rio De Janeiro, 2012. Web. 22 Feb. 2013.
4.3.3. Potential Impact
Infrastructural need was determined for Pica-Pau; but dozens of other informal communities suffer from similar deficits. The potential to create a wide impact on the most community and environmental assets possible emerged as an important factor in confirming our client choice. This specific favela is not large, officially housing around 2,500 people. However, Pica-Pau’s unique position as a part of a project in the Morar Carioca favela development program creates a platform for the development of future community-based infrastructural proposals. By engaging with the design team led by architecture office Arqhos, incorporation of participatory proposals into official city agenda becomes a possiblity. The project that includes favela Pica-Pau will serve a
58 Arqhos Consultoria e Projetos. “Morar Carioca: Cordovil - Diagnóstico Local, Cordovil.”
27 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 total population of over 12,000 people59 in surrounding communities, expanding the potential immediate impact of incorporation. Additionally, full inclusion of Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures into the Morar Carioca program could impact hundreds of thousands of people.
At the minimum, a comparison can be made between the two parallel processes, engaging the public in a dialogue towards democratic urbanization processes. To this end, the pre-existing partnership between Irenaldo and the Residents’ Association, and Theresa and CatComm enhances the potential for project publicity. Consideration must also be paid to the geographic positioning of favela Pica-Pau; its locaiton near the international airport and Avenida Brasil enhances its immediate visibility as a pilot project to both local residents and international visitors. At the edge of the Guanabara Bay, one of Rio de Janeiro’s most crucial natural resources, this client represents a crucial opportunity to serve important local and regional ecosystems, with tremendous potential for impact on the reclamation of the city’s disappearing wetlands and mangroves. 4.3.4. Opportunity
The Morar Carioca program provides a platform for multiplying the potential of a Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure project in favela Pica-Pau, but is there an opportunity to achieve this potential? While the redevelopment of Rio de Janeiro’s informal communities has been an ongoing process spanning decades, it has not been inclusive. Favelas adjacent to affluent and tourist-driven Zona Sul (South Zone) of Rio de Janeiro have garnered attention for their problems and subsequent improvement projects, while places such MAR./APR. 2013 SITE DESIGN SURVEY PROJECT TEAMS CONSTRUCTION + DESIGN CHOSEN DIAGNOSIS
PARTICIPATORY NATURAL PLANNING SYSTEMS WORKSHOPS INCORPORATION
Figure 4.9: Morar Carioca timeline for Cordovil project, and opportunities for insertion of a Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure planning process. graphics by Leonel Lima Ponce. 2013.
59 IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).“Censo Demográfico 2010: Aglomerados Subnormais.”
28 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013 as Cordovil and Pica-Pau remain out of the public eye. Recently, improvement projects have been clustered around Olympic Games infrastructure, and on cheap land in the city’s outskirts60. In the past year, due to additional pressure from the Olympic Legacy requirements on Rio de Janeiro’s capital improvements projects, the Morar Carioca program has included favelas in the Cordovil neighborhood for possible infrastructural and housing improvements61.
The current timeline for the particular Morar Carioca project in Cordovil illustrates additional opportunities for the development of a parallel, participatory and sustainable process. Although the faced bureaucratic complications with Morar Carioca, removing signs designating future projects such as Cordovil62. While these developments do not bode well for the timely continuation of official urbanization projects, they create an opportunity to address Pica-Pau as a client through a participatory planning process. without jeopardizing potential integration into official timelines. To take advantage of this window, I traveled to Rio de Janeiro in March and April of 2013, and conducted a series of participatory planning workshops in hopes of incorporating natural systems into sustaiable solutions for favela Pica-Pau. 4.3.5. Community Buy-In and Organization
Once the needs and potential of Pica-Pau community were established, it was crucial to assess its residents’ interest in participating. In order for any participatory process to function successfully, a community must be effectively engaged from the beginning through strong leadership and a willing public. During our initial conversation in late 2012, Theresa underscored the strength of the leadership at Pica-Pau, specifically Irenaldo Honório da Silva, President of the Residents’ Association63. Irenaldo, active at his post since 1994, has advocated for his community at municipal agencies to improve housing rights, and collaborated with local religious and social institutions to conduct events promoting public health, youth education, and drug rehabilitation. He has participated in various conferences at the municipal, state and national levels as an advocate for Pica-Pau and other informal, underrepresented communities64.
Irenaldo and the Association have been particularly strong proponents of environmental education and activism in the community and the city. From 1999 to 2001, he conducted an after-school environmental education program in the community, sponsored by the Municipal Environmental Secretariat. He has represented Cordovil communities in discussion about the continuation of the United Nations’ Agenda 21 for sustainable development, and has supported youth-led programs to educate residents about solid waste sorting and recycling. Irenaldo believes in the need to strike a harmonious balance between the natural environment and the city, especially since they are intricately connected in Rio de Janeiro. However, he also notes that social trends in Pica-Pau and Rio de Janeiro as a whole have led to an impasse in progress towards this harmony. According to him, government agencies have continually stalled in their initiatives to improve environmental and socioeconomic conditions for underserved populations. However, these citizens have not organized and rallied behind these injustices, instead fracturing into engaged and disengaged citizen groups.
60 Cummings, Jason. “Confronting the Favela Chic: Gentrification of Informal Settlements in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.” Thesis. Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Department of Urban Planning and Design, 2013. Personal FTP Site. Jason Cummings, Apr. 2013. Web. 29 Apr. 2013. 61 Muniz, Erivelton. “Arquitetos Apresentam Diagnóstico Do Complexo De Favelas Cordovil.” Instituto De Arquitetos Do Brasil – Rio De Janeiro. IAB-RJ, 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.
29 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
Irenaldo believes that half of the responsibility lies with the city and he other half with its citizens. Through this skepticism, he hopes that the Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures project will galvanize Pica-Pau’s residents to take up their share of the effort, and pressure the municipal government to do their part as well65.
Due to strength in organizing, its potential and opportunity as a Morar Carioca target community, and its dire sanitation infrastructure needs, Pica-Pau is an ideal client, from a community and ecosystem perspective, to undertake a Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure planning process.
65 Da Silva, Irenaldo H. Personal interview. Rio de Janeiro, 23 Mar. 2013.
30 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
5. Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning: Favela Pica-Pau
Figure 5.1: Residents of favela Pica-Pau construct models of infrastructural solutions during the April 6, 2013 Community Visioning Workshop Williamson, Theresa. IMG_4354. 2013. Photograph. Pica-Pau Community Visioning Workshop, Rio De Janeiro. Comp.Catalytic Communities.
Once Pica-Pau was established as a robust client, it was necessary to construct a strategy and agenda for implementation of a participatory process. Extensive research into existing participatory activities led to an menu of options for field work in Rio de Janeiro. However, an order and scope of work had to be established to cultivate engagement in an accessible manner to residents. 5.1. Participatory Strategies 5.1.1. Initial Expectations and Iterative Assessment
My initial hope for this project, as discussed in preliminary conversations with the client, was to collaborate with the residents of Pica-Pau, its host ecosystem, Catalytic Community and others to propose and analyze a participatory process that could be utilized to engage communities globally in the diagnosis, planning, and resolution of physical, environmental, and social infrastructural deficits. This participatory process could be implemented through holistic infrastructural proposals, physical interventions and solutions within Pica-Pau,
31 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 and a Master Plan to be incorporated into the Morar Carioca project in the area. Eventually, a potential would emerge for incorporation of a participatory and sustainable redevelopment agenda at the city level. However, this idealized process was continually adapted and developed according to realities in the field.
In order to prioritize a realistic and actionable path through original project objectives, an iterative assessment was conducted to adapt the scope and expected outcomes during my time in the field. Through routine conversations and correspondence with project advisors, as well as meetings with I narrowed the focus of my work for the duration of my visit to fit within the priorities, availability, and capacity of the client, along with personal limitations66. As documented below, outcomes of this initial project phase were limited to diagnostic work and general community visions. This information provides a valuable tool for incorporation into future participatory processes, continuing Pica-Pau’s Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure planning process towards implementation and replication. 5.1.2. Ordering Activities, Fostering Engagement
From conception, this participatory project strove to engage residents of a community in the most meaningful way possible, regarding resident empowerment, project feasibility, and implementation potential and impact. To ensure mutual participation and engagement, activities were ordered in a specific manner. Designated preliminary tasks were open-ended, allowing participants to freely and creatively express their opinions. These activities occurred in familiar settings and utilized common objects, processes and tools, in order to establish a comfortable environment for participants. Introductory actions analyze existing conditions, leading to diagnostic explorations. From these open and exploratory experiences, participants were engaged towards result oriented activities, employing novel tools and settings to formulate empowering, innovative solutions. This progression transpired through an iterative process, a series of activities and workshops over the course of several weeks.
For my initial visit to Rio de Janeiro, specific tasks were selected and ordered according to the above criteria. Preliminary meetings were set up to understand the limitations of the Pica-Pau community and its leadership, as well as Catalytic Community and its volunteers and collaborators. Transect Walks, a series of community- guided mapping excursions through the site, followed. These excursions acclimated a subset of residents to the participatory process and technical support team, within the boundaries and experiences of their quotidian, while gathering diagnostic field data. Upon assimilation of this information by the technical team, a Community Visioning Workshop was hosted with a larger subsection of the community. This Workshop followed a similar progression as the entire process: an open physical modeling activity called “City as Play” encouraged participants to diagnose existing problems and create solutions without much guidance or inhibition, using simple objects and toys. A Sustainable Infrastructures Catalog, along with inspirational videos and images of successful natural systems, were then presented to the audience to introduce possibilities and alternate visions to incorporate with community contributions. From these inputs, participants worked together to assimilate the diagnostic and technical information into visionary, novel, participatory solutions. 5.1.3. Documentation
The comprehensive documentation of process and product is integral to the success of any pilot project. A log of goals, assumptions, expectations, obstacles, activities, and results provides the necessary material to conduct a proper assessment of the success of such a project. Additionally, documentation could serve as a tool to ensure more extensive participation, as utilizing multiple media to gather community input can
66 Appelbaum, Alec. Personal conversations. Online. April 2013.
32 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013 document information that a singular person or could not capture. Thus, for the Favela Pica-Pau Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure planning process, members of the project’s technical team, consisting of myself and a few volunteers from Catalytic Communities, documented each activity and meeting through a variety of media, including photography, voice recording, video, written notes, and drawing. Residents contributed with interviews, written documentation, and drawings whenever possible. Much of the information gathered has been applied in the following analysis, and will be made available through an online database for future reference, encouraging a free and open exchange of information beyond the extents of the project itself. 5.2. Preliminary Meetings 5.2.1. Meeting with Catalytic Communities
Throughout my stay in Rio de Janeiro, I participated in weekly Catalytic Communities meetings hosted by Theresa Williamson; the gatherings were held on March 18 and 25, and April 1 and 8. These meetings provided me with updates on CatComm volunteers and their work in other favelas, and furnished a platform to explore the Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure project concepts with a new audience. Feedback received from employees, interns, volunteers, and Theresa Williamson herself proved crucial in directing the scope of the work and determining potential partnerships for this and future projects. Activities performed each week were shared with those in attendance, so as to explicate the process and findings and request suggestions. Volunteers were recruited to help document and conduct participatory activities in the field. Their availability and capacity to collaborate was determined, and a core team was assembled to accompany me to favela Pica- Pau each week67 (See Appendix B). 5.2.2. Meeting with Irenaldo Honório da Silva (Pica-Pau Residents’ Association)
Before becoming involved with a significant cross section of the Pica-Pau community, I arranged a face-to-face meeting with Irenaldo Honório da Silva, the President of the favela’s Residents’ Association, on March 23rd, 2013. The primary goal of the meeting was to align my personal objectives and priorities for a Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure planning process with those of the community and its leadership. Irenaldo was asked to speak first, and explain the principal wastewater issues of the community. The interconnectivity of wastewater, water, stormwater, and sanitation systems and respective infrastructural deficits became clear immediately prompting an expansion of project scope from the original concentration on purely wastewater. Particular emphasis was placed on flooding, risk of landslides, overflowing sewerage, solid waste accumulation, and disease.
The main concept behind the Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure project was presented to Irenaldo, who understood and approved it, and pledged to facilitate the execution of suggested activities. The process was divided into two Saturdays in order to attract the widest audience; a majority of workers and students would be free and in Pica-Pau on these days. Transect Walks were scheduled for the 30th of March, and a larger Workshop was tentatively set up for the 6th of April. Tasks were designated for the organization of subsequent events; Irenaldo assumed the responsibilities of community advertising and recruitment for Transect Walk guides, and logistical planning of the larger Workshop. The technical support team agreed to purchase and supply the necessary materials, organize activities, and document proceedings68 (See Appendix C).
67 Williamson, Theresa. Catalytic Cummunities Staff Meetings: Mar. 18, 25; Apr. 3, 10. Rio De Janeiro: n.p., 2013. Meeting Minutes. 68 Da Silva, Irenaldo H. Personal interview. Rio de Janeiro, 23 Mar. 2013.
33 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
After the formal meeting, an introductory walk through the favela was conducted with Irenaldo. Preliminary observations were made about principal infrastructural issues and opportunities; the assumed physical and social infrastructural deficits were confirmed as severe and intertwined. This initial analysis reinforced the interconnected ecosystem and site as a client, and validated the need for a thorough, inclusive, and varied process. Each subsequent activity preserved this priority, beginning with the Transect Walks on March 30th. 5.3. Transect Walk
Transect Walks are tours of a community, guided by its own residents. These tours are used to identify community resources, assets, issues, and opportunities from an inclusive perspective. An eventual Transect Diagram is made, displaying the community’s own priorities in a geographically and topically coherent manner. The objective of Transect Walks is to understand residents’ perspective of their own environment, and thus leverage this site-specific knowledge of everyday surroundings into an empowering mapping and planning tool69. 5.3.1. Process
To guarantee a broad and complex analysis of the site, a wide variety of guides were selected, inclusive of all ages, tenures in the favela, daily routines, and genders in order to create a variety of routes to traverse. The transects, as defined by the project team, would be delineated according to each guide’s routine path through the community, in order to maximize familiarity with infrastructural failings affecting the quotidian of Pica- Pau70. Irenaldo identified seven guides in addition to himself, ranging from 13 to 58 years old and consisting of four men and four women. Resident guides had tenures in the community ranging from eight to over 40 years, including one who has lived there for her entire 13 years of life. They live throughout community, with more representation along Aricambú Street. Some community volunteers had intrinsic knowledge of the most streets, while others knew only paths along their daily routine71.
A specific iconography was designed for the Walks, with the intent of capitalizing on knowledge acquired during the previous week’s informal site walk. Icons were designed for each recognized infrastructural problem, such as overflowing wastewater catchbasins, flooding, and occasions of landslides. Opportunities and assets related to these infrastructural complications were also converted into symbols, such as existing vegetation and empty lots. Much like the community guides, these icons were designed with broad impact in mind. Simple designs communicated concepts in an easily intelligible manner; color coding allowed participants and others to quickly identify issues by category, such as water, wastewater, and solid waste systems72. Through simple and comprehensive graphics, the Transect Walk process can be easily replicated with minimal need for specialized skillsets.
On the morning of March 30, 2013, a technical team consisting of a mapper (myself) and three documentation assistants from Catalytic Communities met with Pica-Pau’s selected community guides to conduct a series of Transect Walks. During a briefing into the days activities, a decision was made by participants to abandon the usual format of individually-guided walks, and instead conduct a single walk with all guides. The group commenced walking through Amaetinga Street and proceeded through each zone of the favela, in a methodical and sweeping path. Each path was delineated by the mapper, who noted infrastructural issues, 69 “Transect Walk and Diagramming: Procedures and Examples.” World Bank. N.p., July 2007. Web. 06 Mar. 2013.
34 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013 assets, and opportunities on the map as directed by the guides, using the predetermined iconography. Guides noted physical conditions on the ground, such as a broken water pipe or an existing pile of garbage; diagnosed temporary conditions, such as localized flooding; explained informal adaptations to these challenges, such as the use of water pumps; and identified space for design interventions73. Certain locations merited more attention from the residents, whether due to a high concentration of issues or personal value to residents. At various points during the walk, resident bystanders volunteered information or were invited to contribute. These informal interviews infused the product with site-specific information unknown to our guides, and led the team to locations outside of public streets and alleys that may present critical risks or opportunities to the Pica-Pau community.
Figure 5.2: A simple iconography was design for maximum intelligibility graphics by Leonel Lima Ponce. 2013.
Upon completion and documentation of the walks, I met with Irenaldo and remaining participants to discuss how the gathered information should be utilized during the following week’s workshop. From my suggestion, a decision was made to review the Transect Walk process and documents with the larger workshop crowd, highlighting emergent priorities and patterns. In the week after Transect Walks, these priorities were designated with the same iconography as the transect maps and incorporated into a Transect Diagram matrix74. 5.3.2. Products
Through the Transect Walk process, a series of Transect Maps were generated, documenting a democratic diagnosis of infrastructural issues affecting the Pica-Pau community. These maps located specific problems and infrastructural trends along delineated paths through the favela. After the conclusion of the walks, priority concerns and problems of each distinct zone and type of infrastructure in the favela were laid out in a matrix, called a Transect Diagram. Five zones or transects were identified, and placed on one axis; these included Amaetinga Street, “Alta” Pica-Pau (steep upper portions of the community between Amaetinga and Aricambú,) Aricambú Street, “Baixa” Pica-Pau (alleys in the lower portion of the favela between Aricambú Street and the river,) and Schulz Wenk Avenue along the Irajá River. Each of these areas exhibited distinct problems, and
73 Pica-Pau community residents. “Pica-Pau Transect Walk.” Personal interview. Rio de Janeiro, 30 Mar. 2013. 74 Ponce, Leonel L. Transect Walk Diagram. 4 Apr. 2013. Raw data. Rio De Janeiro.
35 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 common problems of varying priority. On the other axis, infrastructure categories under analysis were listed, such as water supply and quality, wastewater system, and solid waste problems. Using the Transect Walk iconography, priority concerns of each zone and infrastructure type were entered into the matrix 75. 5.3.3. Initial Results
The main issues found in Amaetinga Street were a need for multiple pumps to provide water supply, the presence of an open stormwater ditch that gets filled with garbage and sewage, and the dangerous flushing of stormwater during weather events. Instances of dengue fever and other mosquito and water-related diseases were plentiful at the ditch; ruptured water and wastewater pipes, suggesting possible contamination of drinking water. Sewage was dumped directly onto an empty lot behind a house, where banana trees and other vegetation indicated potential for phytoremediation. An abandoned food distributor’s refrigeration facility, which had been inhabited by squatters, was identified as a possible preschool and day care; it could incorporate pilot sustainable infrastructure projects76.
Figure 5.3: Group Transect Walk in favela Pica-Pau Figure 5.4: Infrastructure mapping in favela Pica-Pau Osborn, Catherine. DSC_0577. 2013. Photograph. Pica-Pau Transect Osborn, Catherine. DSC_0572. 2013. Photograph. Pica-Pau Transect Walk 23 March, Rio De Janeiro. Comp. Catalytic Communities. Walk 23 March, Rio De Janeiro. Comp. Catalytic Communities.
Just South of Amaetinga, in “Alta” Pica-Pau, similar problems were seen. Open sewage combined with stormwater, flowing through stairs and alleys, and causing landslides. As pointed out by our guides, many of the public works built to retain the eroding hill have failed, leading to the destruction of residences. Water pumps were used to bring water to each household in an entangled network of above-ground PVC piping; a similar system was in use for sewerage. Broken pipes in both systems may be the cause of contamination, as residents claimed to drink only bottled water. Alleys and vestigial spaces accumulated garbage and sewage, with reported cases of vermin and disease77. Opportunities for intervention were available at vegetated empty lots on sites of recent ladslides, denominated “areas of risk” by the official Morar Carioca survey78.
75 Ponce, Leonel L. Transect Walk Diagram. 4 Apr. 2013. 76 Ponce, Leonel L., and Community Residents. Transect Walk Maps. 30 Mar. 2013. Raw data. Favela Pica-Pau, Rio De Janeiro. 77 Ponce, Leonel L., and Community Residents. Transect Walk Maps. 30 Mar. 2013. 78 GEORIO (Rio de Janeiro Municipal Geotechnical Institute).”Morar Carioca Local Diagnostic: Cordovil. Geological-Geotechnical Risk Report.”
36 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
The main street and public space of Pica-Pau favela, Aricambú street, may also be its pivotal infrastructural improvement zone. Clogged sewers and frequent flooding have caused residents to repeatedly raise the finished floor level of their homes to avoid constant nuisance and cleaning79. The flooding, according to residents, had gotten progressively worse as a result of public works by the city of Rio de Janeiro, specifically a new access road to Avenida Brasil that dumps water from the highway directly into the community80. Worsening the condition along this artery, combined storm and wastewater flowed down from the hill and settled at the edges of Aricambú Street, paticularly at the end of Aricambú Alley. The polluted waters could be remedied with proper maintenance of catchbasins, which consistently have solid waste removed from them by concerned citizens81. The flow of water eroded the street’s pavement. Informal water supply systems serving inhabitants of the upper portions of Pica-Pau affected the spatial quality of the main avenue, as exemplified by “The Rock,” a retaining wall covered with water pumps sending water to the upper reaches of the community. Potential assets along Aricambú included improvised public spaces, illustrate of communal activity that can be leveraged to achieve an engaged resident client base.
Figure 5.5: Portion of Transect Map of Aricambú Street and surrounding alleys, favela Pica-Pau. Ponce, Leonel L., and Community Residents. “Pica-Pau Transect Map: Aricambú #1(30 March 2013).” Map. 2013.Print.
79 Ponce, Leonel L., and Community Residents. Transect Walk Maps. 30 Mar. 2013. Raw data. Favela Pica-Pau, Rio De Janeiro. 80 Pica-Pau community residents. “Pica-Pau Transect Walk.” Personal interview. Rio de Janeiro, 30 Mar. 2013. 81 Ponce, Leonel L., and Community Residents. Transect Walk Maps. 30 Mar. 2013.
37 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
The network of narrow alleys meanders between Aricambú Street and the Irajá River, or “Baixa” Pica-Pau, exhibited similar problems as the main avenue. According to interviewees, the lack of space made floodwaters more violent and deeper than in other areas of the favela, as evidenced by one more step in front of their homes than in open low-lying areas. Infiltration of water from below was a problem for some residents, leading to mold and possible poor air quality82.
Figure 5.6: Transect Diagram of favela Pica-Pau’s water, wastewater, and solid waste infrastructure. Ponce, Leonel L. “Pica-Pau Transect Diagram (30 March 2013).” Chart. 2013.Print.
Schultz Wenk Avenue, along the Irajá River, represents the Southern boundary of favela Pica-Pau. It is situated at the lowest elevation, near the destination for the community’s environmental pollution: the river itself. The main problems in this zone included piles of solid waste left along the banks of the canal, and the pollution that pervaded through the canal itself. With help from our guides, we counted five combined sewer outfalls along the short 1/4-kilometer border between the community and the river83. Two large pipes appeared to be outfall locations for the combined sewer system that serves Pica-Pau. The Irajá River itself, though lined with fruit trees, emitted a constant smell of raw sewage; on hot days, according to our guides, the water
82 Pica-Pau community residents. “Pica-Pau Transect Walk.” Personal interview. Rio de Janeiro, 30 Mar. 2013. 83 Ponce, Leonel L., and Community Residents. Transect Walk Maps. 30 Mar. 2013.
38 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013 bubbles over, and people can hardly walk along the road or work due to the stench. Opportunities noted along this section of favela Pica-Pau included construction for a “River Treatment Unit” (UTR) along and within the Irajá River, designed to improve the quality of water in the Guanabara Bay downstream84. 5.4. Community Workshop
On April 6th, 2013, one week after the Transect Walks, a Community Visioning Workshop was conducted. Hosted by the Ministério Semear Church in neighboring Brás de Pina, the event drew over 80 total participants85. A series of activities were conducted to further diagnose the environmental infrastructural deficit in favela Pica-Pau, and begin to conceptualize possible visions for the community’s future. 5.5. “City as Play”
As attendees entered the hall, they were encouraged to engage in “City as Play,” a participatory planning activity designed by American planner James Rojas. Participants walk into a room, and are asked to build their visions for a community together. Each participant or group of participants is asked to engage in free play with the objects, creating models to respond to a key question with the available materials. A discussion ensues around each model; the inclusive and playful process encourages people of all ages to participate, and bypasses some reservations people may have towards writing or drawing their ideas. The familiar, everyday objects used put players at ease, and the temporal nature of the models emphasizes that these are preliminary thoughts, not final decisions to be followed to theminutest detail86. 5.5.1. Process
During the April 6th workshop, Pica-Pau residents arrived at the church to face a table piled with colorful objects, found in the households of CatComm members or purchased at popular discount market streets in the center of town. Items ranged from plastic bottles and fake plants, to popsicle sticks and colorful ribbons. As Pica-Pau’s residents streamed in, they were asked to play with these articles, in order to answer a single question: How can Pica-Pau resolve its problems, especially water, sewage, and waste?
The activity happened during the first half hour to 45 minutes of the event, while late arrivals filled the space. This encouraged the crowd to participate while becoming acclimated to the setting and the event. With the assistance of our technical support team, participants were encouraged to collaborate, but not required to do so. A few models were created; between fifteen and twenty attendees actively participated. Two larger models were incrementally developed by multiple people, while 4 or 5 smaller models were worked on by individuals. When a critical mass of expected workshop attendees had arrived, “City as Play” participants explained their designs to the group, thus initiating our discussion87.
84 Hoffmann, Sandra. “Secretaria Do Ambiente Inicia Construção Da UTR Do Rio Irajá.” Web log post. Governo Do Estado Do Rio De Janeiro, Secretaria Do Ambiente (Rio de Janeiro State Environmental Secretariat.) Governo Do Estado Do Rio De Janeiro, 28 Nov. 2012. Web. 30 Apr. 2013.
39 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
5.5.2. Products
The primary models constructed during “City as Play” interpreted specific areas of the community, Schulz Wenk Avenue and Amaetinga Street. The former proposed covering the fetid Irajá River and its sewage outfalls with public green space dedicated to leisure and health activities. The latter model diagnosed a variety of problems through a detailed mock-up of the existing condition. During the process, boxes and strips of colored fabric and paper were quickly appropriated and transformed into buildings; markers and masking tape were used as labels to explicate types of facilities and infrastructures. Explicit objects such as soccer goalposts and plastic plants were preferred to abstract items like straws and popsicle sticks. Linear street scenes, not individual houses, were typical of even smaller models build by single individuals88. 5.5.3. Initial Results
Figure 5.7: Workshop participants make models during the “City as Play” Figure 5.8: Models were inspired by current diagnoses and visions for the exercise. future. Williamson, Theresa. IMG_4346. 2013. Photograph. Pica-Pau Community De Rose, Sarah. 100_0099. 2013. Photograph. 6 April 2013 Pica-Pau Visioning Workshop, Rio De Janeiro. Comp.Catalytic Communities. Community Visioning Workshop, Rio De Janeiro. Comp. Catalytic Communities.
The “City as Play” exercise yielded interesting results, as residents initially produced diagnostic models, which were progressively transformed into solutions during the activity. Participants formed a kinetic design that utilized infrastructural improvements to construct a narrative from a forgotten favela with significant deficits, towards an empowered, developed, educated, and healthy community. The first residents to engage in this activity were a couple of adult male residents of Schulz Wenk Avenue. Their model quickly developed into a soccer field, an open green space they explained could span the Irajá River. A box labeled “day care” anchors the development, and one labeled “technical school” sits adjacent to it. Labels for garbage containers are placed along the edge of the space, along with potted fake plants. According to its creators, covering over the Irajá resolves a major need for space in the community, and allows for the provision of amenities currently lacking inside Pica-Pau, like leisure spaces, educational facilities, and a recycling co-operatives.
The model designed for Amaetinga Street was constructed by a husband, a wife, and their child, along with a few other residents. Using a dark mat, they laid out a linear paved street flanked by various boxes designated as buildings; some of these buildings have additional boxes on top, demarcated as typical “caixas d’água” for
88 Pica-Pau residents. “City as Play” Physical Models. 6 Apr. 2013. Raw data. Ministério Semear Chruch, Brás De Pina, Rio De Janeiro.
40 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013 water storage. Potted plastic plants were placed along each side of the street, and a large egg carton labeled “sewage” sat on one edge of the table. This carton, claimed the model-makers, represented the act of covering an open sewage ditch that currently runs down their street. Straws were assembled into a proposed bridge to connecting Pica-Pau to amenities on the other side of Avenida Brasil89. 5.6. Review of Transect Walks
After the introductory activity, residents were presented with process and results from the previous week’s Transect Walks, a brief description of that day’s activities, a summary of the iconography and maps, and an report on the content of the Transect Diagram. Intended to build a sense of trust with workshop participants through transparency of overall process, this conversation yielded broader participation and a re-evaluation of community priorities. Primary among these crucial concerns was the common fear of removal. Many houses in the community have been marked for removal, and a significant number of attendees at the workshop thought a representative from the city-contracted architecture would show up and perhaps be able to answer some of these questions. Instead of letting this swift change in topics derail the project, I emphasized the power of Pica Pau acquiring an understanding of its own infrastructural deficit, as well as learning a set of tools that can help them engage in an even dialogue and demand specific answers from city officials. Theresa Williamson strengthened the connection between the two seemingly divergent priorities and processes, vouching to conduct a participatory housing advocacy and rights workshop at Pica-Pau in the near future90. Our willingness to engage and assimilate the most urgent concerns from community members into the participatory process enhanced its effectiveness; workshop participants were deeply engaged in following activities. 5.7. Screening of “Favela as a Sustainable Model”
During a lunch break succeeding the Transect Walk presentation, workshop attendees were shown a screening of Catalytic Community’s “Favela as a Sustainable Model.” This film served as a bridge between problems and solutions, and featured favela Pica-Pau as a representative of the infrastructural problem symptomatic of many informal communities in Rio de Janeiro. Other informal communities were shown as examples of sustainable living, making the connection between the workshop participants’ current condition and what their future may hold91. 5.8. Sustainable Infrastructures Catalog
In order to be inclusive of ecosystem as a client in the visioning of Pica-Pau’s possibilities, I designed a Sustainable Infrastructures Catalog, and presented it to community members during the workshop. This Catalog was originally conceived as a guidebook documenting various sustainable and natural wastewater infrastructure systems, explaining their principal characteristics, performance in relation to sewage, co-benefits, restrictions to installation, costs, installation requirements, optimal conditions, etc. Each technology or project would be properly placed within a diagram showing each stage of sewage treatment and its co-benefits; users of this guide could use the diagram to plan out how to best treat their own sewage, learning how each intervention fit into the full system. This illustrated guide would explain, in a simple and direct way, a path for the transformation of a community through natural infrastructure systems (beginning with wastewater).
89 Pica-Pau residents. “City as Play” Physical Models. 6 Apr. 2013. 90 Ponce, Leonel L., Catalytic Communities, and Pica-Pau residents. Pica-Pau Community Visioning Workshop observations. 6 Apr. 2013. 91 Sasson, E. “Favela as a Sustainable Model.” Film. Catalytic Communities. Rio de Janeiro, May 2012.
41 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
Through conversations with my technical advisor David Seiter, it was decided that, much like the Transect Walk symbols and materials, the Sustainable Infrastructures Catalog would consist of simple bits of information, stripped down to introduce concepts and projects to community members92. While in Rio de Janeiro, it became clear to me that time constraints would not permit me to develop a detailed illustrated catalog. I set about drawing a chart that included a few natural systems deemed most appropriate for favela Pica-Pau’s situation, a list of their own priority issues to be resolved by each technology, the main obstacles to implementation of each, and potential projects and visions beyond the resolution of water and sanitation problems. The information was arranged in a matrix, with the following system categories pictured: cisterns, biofilters, green roofs, on-grade green infrastructure (bioswales/rain gardens), constructed wetlands, wetland and mangrove reclamation, septic tanks and systems, dry composting toilets, and biodigestors. Iconography from the Transect Walks was mimicked to ensure continuity of graphical language. Major difficulties pictured included space requirements for each intervention, as well as construction and maintenance labor; new opportunities identified encompassed urban farming and green job creation93.
The abbreviated Sustainable Infrastructures Catalog was presented orally during the workshop, as participants settled into groups for the following activity. Discussion was encouraged to clarify doubts about catalog content; one resident in particular began a query about green roofs, their cost, their functionality, and the feasibility of incorporation into an informal settlement. The matrix was then placed in public view, and made available to Workshop participants during the succeeding visioning activity. The catalog did not serve as the only option for residents, but as a tool that could be incorporated into community designs and visions as deemed appropriate. I volunteered to assist groups with any questions as they began the last stage of the April 6th workshop, a Community Visioning Session94. 5.9. Community Visioning Session
In advance of the Sustainable Infrastructures Catalog presentation, workshop participants were placed into groups according to their place of residence, and asked to envision their own futures of favela Pica-Pau. These community visions were to originate from the discussion centered around water and sanitation infrastructure, but could include any other concerns of the community. The goal of this activity was to foster an analytical, collaborative attitude amongst a community, and to emerge with major priorities and common objectives for its inclusive development. 5.9.1. Process
Participants were broken off into groups dependent on their place of residence; each table corresponded to a priority area identified during the Transect Walks. A minimum of one facilitator was assigned per table, and I moved from table to table to clarify any general or infrastructural doubts during the process. Before the beginning of the exercise, I sat at each table and explained the visioning tasks to its members. Each group was instructed to (1) list a set of priority infrastructural and general problems with their part of the community, and Pica-Pau as a whole; (2) make a comprehensive list, with input from all group members, of corresponding opportunities, ideas, and solutions; (3) prioritize these ideas through an internal democratic process, finally illustrating how these could be implemented. Participants were encouraged to use any materials and methods necessary, including writing, drawing, and using items form the “City as Play” activity.
92 Seiter, David. Personal interview. Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, 12 Feb. 2013 93 Ponce, Leonel L. Sustainable Infrastructures Catalog Matrix. 5 Apr. 2013. Raw data. Rio De Janeiro. 94 Ponce, Leonel L., Catalytic Communities, and Pica-Pau residents. Pica-Pau Community Visioning Workshop observations. 6 Apr. 2013.
42 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
The roundtables began discussions almost immediately after my visit to each group. Residents engaged in serious dialogue, which sometimes persisted through the presentation of the Sustainable Infrastructures Catalog. The discussion proceeded for about an hour. Some documented discussions centered around common infrastructural problems for each group members, gearing the conversation toward a group diagnosis. Some tables hosted debates about the merits of various social programs and leadership roles in ameliorating habits and services around failing infrastructure, thus improving their participatory deficit. At the end of this activity, each group elected a spokesperson to summarize their process and findings. Additionally, I made a personal request for each speaker to evaluate the workshop and their hopes for its outcomes95.
Figure 5.9: Sustainable Infrastructure Catalog matrix, presented to Pica-Pau residents during the April 6 workshop. Ponce, Leonel L. “Pica-Pau Sustainable Infrastructures Catalog (6 April 2013).” Chart. 2013.Print.
5.9.2. Products
As indicated during the visioning workshop proceedings, each group utilized different representation techniques to express a variety of opinions and priorities, provide additional diagnoses of problems, and incorporate sustainable, natural systems infrastructural solutions (Appendix F). The residents of Amaetinga produced an enumerated list, combining social project proposals, necessary infrastructural improvements, and descriptions of problematic sites; one group member drew an image of her house, and the infrastructural problems along the street. “Alta” Pica-Pau’s roundtable created an illustrated document pinpointing specific 95 Ponce, Leonel L., Catalytic Communities, and Pica-Pau residents. Pica-Pau Community Visioning Workshop observations. 6 Apr. 2013.
43 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 infrastructural problems for the houses of all residents present; a list of priority issues was separated between water, solid waste, and other types of infrastructure; solutions were color coded for emphasis; and finally, a manifesto emphasizing the need for continuation was written. The Aricambú Street group divided their work into separate “Issues” and “Solutions” pages, categorizing by infrastructure and listing the presented Sustainable Infrastructures Catalog systems for review. Participants from “Baixa” Pica-Pau, like those from Amaetinga, wrote a succinct list of various priority issues, problematic sites, and social project proposals. Workshop attendees at the Schulz Wenk Avenue and Rio Irajá table drew a diagrammatic plan of their street, highlighting a proposed large-scale infrastructural intervention and its intended programatic uses96. 5.9.3. Initial Results
A set of core proposals for the future of favela Pica-Pau emerged from the group sessions, incorporating physical, environmental, social, and economic assets to paint a holistic and prosperous vision for the community. The most utopian design proposal, present in the community’s mind from the initial Transect Walk event, was the plan to cover up a stretch of the Irajá River to generate space for necessary public spaces and amenities. In the diagram created by nearby residents, some amenities include sports courts, day care and technical schools, a public health center, solid waste collection and recycling center, as well as gardens and green space97. By appropriating a space that currently contributes negatively to the health of the community and ecosystem, and creating social and environmental assets, this proposal attempts to turn the most urgent problems of favela Pica-Pau into its most empowering and prosperous solution.
A few resident-generated interventions incorporated natural systems from the Sustainable Infrastructures Catalog. Various proposals, in Amaetinga specifically, include proposals for vegetated, green infrastructure in place of existing impermeable ditches and empty lots. Of particular interest is a proposal by the Aricambú group to construct a community cistern underneath the existing soccer court98. At the entrance to the community, the play surface is located at a higher elevation than a significant portion of the favela; installing
Figure 5.10: For the Community Visioning Session, attendees were split Figure 5.11: Workshop participants plan visions for Pica-Pau’s future. into groups according to the location of their residence. Williamson, Theresa. IMG_4404. 2013. Photograph. Pica-Pau Community Williamson, Theresa. IMG_4404. 2013. Photograph. Pica-Pau Community Visioning Workshop, Rio De Janeiro. Comp.Catalytic Communities. Visioning Workshop, Rio De Janeiro. Comp.Catalytic Communities. 96 Pica-Pau residents. Community Visioning Session documents. 6 Apr. 2013. Raw data. Ministério Semear Chruch, Brás De Pina, Rio De Janeiro. 97 Pica-Pau residents. Community Visioning Session documents. 6 Apr. 2013 98 Pica-Pau residents. Community Visioning Session documents. 6 Apr. 2013.
44 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013 a cistern and filtration system here could provide more readily accessible and potable water to the majority of Pica-Pau’s population, in addition to detaining large amounts of stormwater and reducing some of the persistent flooding.
Pica-Pau’s residents understand that although these physical proposals can transform the livelihood of their families and neighbors, fully functioning and sustainable projects can only be accomplished with the support of a social and economic framework. Visions for social programs shared during the workshop can serve as guidelines towards sustainable management of new, physical infrastructures and amenities. Residents of Amaetinga proposed a network of “street managers” charged with care of each street through management of programs such as cooking oil collection and recyclable sorting, in addition to establishing relationships with haulers and recyclers for environmentally responsible disposal of these products. Every group emphasized the importance of education in the commuity, not only through secondary school, but through the establishment of day care centers and technical schools designed to occupy, prepare and develop the community’s youth for employment and careers outside of criminal activities. The Aricambú contingent suggested that a microfinance
Figure 5.12: Documents created by Pica-Pau residents during Community Visioning Sessions include priority infrastructure issues and solutions. Pica-Pau community residents. “Pica-Pau Visions: Alta Pica-Pau (6 April 2013).” Drawing. 2013.Print.
45 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 and financial counseling center be established with the assistance of the several industrial enterprises in the area, to train Pica-Pau’s residents to finance the construction and maintenance of the project, as well as generate new jobs and companies, and manage family finances99. 5.10. Preliminary Evaluations & Reassessments
All materials from Pica-Pau’s Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures planning process have undergone preliminary analysis, in conjunction with initial assessments of the process. While the physical products of a participatory process are invaluable and full of information, they must be assimilated into a digestible format for the purposes of gathering quantitative data. However, due to the timing of the participatory planning workshops in Rio de Janeiro and the end of my coursework, preliminary, mostly qualitative evaluations have been made of these documents. What follows is a summary of these findings, as well as general reassessments aimed at improving the participatory process itself. 5.10.1. Transect Walk Evaluation
While Transect Walks conducted in Pica-Pau proved successful via the collection of crucial diagnostic data, some factors and modifications in the process, influenced the final result. The community guides’ varied ages, backgrounds, tenures, and routines led to an interesting array of input into the transect maps. While a group walk enhanced the complexity of each transect map, it did not necessarily engage each guide with their most well-known path, as originally anticipated. Depth was a strength at the beginning of the process, due to the volume of conditions discussed by the group; but by the end of the day, only three residents remained in the group, which caused a decrease in number of data points acquired100. For the duration of the activity, however, our guides’ intimate knowledge of the site and its existing infrastructure proved the value of community input into an official surveying or diagnostic process. Clear distinctions arose between transect map results and information contained in survey maps created for the Morar Carioca project. An example of this is the disparity in the number of sewer outfall locations observed in the Transect Walks (five101) and accounted for in the official survey, without direct community input (two102).
The breadth and depth of environmental infrastructural deficit found during the walks demonstrated the nearly complete failure of water, wastewater, and solid waste systems in favela Pica-Pau. In merely an afternoon of mapping, community guides noted three significant open sewers (in addition to the polluted Irajá River), over 50 water pumps to amend insufficient water supply, seven areas at risk of landslides, and 16 solid waste dumping sites, amongst other conditions103. Some of the guides, not privy to conditions in areas on the hillside, were vocally open about their shock at the subhuman quality of living along these alleys104. In fact, if not for informal interventions by residents like water pump installations, current dilapidated infrastructure would falter in absence of immediate public investment.
This complex mixture of formal and informal intervention becomes an obstacle to systematic improvements; a multiplicity of interventions, materials, and conditions, visible and unknown, make the task of infrastructural upgrades and rehabilitation much more challenging. Transect Walks are an ideal tool to simplify this task,
99 Ponce, Leonel L., Catalytic Communities, and Pica-Pau residents. Pica-Pau Community Visioning Workshop observations. 6 Apr. 2013. 100 Ponce, Leonel L., Catalytic Communities, and Pica-Pau residents. Pica-Pau Transect Walk observations. 6 Apr. 2013. Raw data. Rio De Janeiro. 101 Ponce, Leonel L., and Community Residents. Transect Walk Maps. 30 Mar. 2013. 102 Arqhos Consultoria e Projetos. “Morar Carioca: Cordovil - Diagnóstico Local, Cordovil.” 103 Ponce, Leonel L., and Community Residents. Transect Walk Maps. 30 Mar. 2013. 104 Pica-Pau community residents. “Pica-Pau Transect Walk.” Personal interview. Rio de Janeiro, 30 Mar. 2013.
46 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013 leveraging in-depth community knowledge of site to provide more data inputs into a site diagnosis, thereby facilitating the design of solutions that take into account how current deficits affect the population. Many potential wastewater infrastructural solutions, specifically at a scale that can make a difference for a community of 2,500 people, occupy vast expanses of space. The lack of large empty lots and other public space within the community is the key physical barrier to sustainable infrastructure proposals, a condition made vividly clear during the Transect Walks. 5.10.2. Community Visioning Workshop Evaluation
The most playful portion of the Community Visioning Workshop, “City as Play” generated the lowest level of engagement. This may have been a result of poor placement of materials, at the front of the hall, opposite from the front door; if the activity were conducted in the center of the room, timid attendees may have provided more input. Although some children participated, under a quarter of attendees played with found objects. Residents generally listened and pitched in during discussions of materials, and were especially engaged with their smaller groups during the Visioning Session. By that time, though, only thirty-five or so participants out of the original 80 or more remained in the room, most of them women.
While full participation was not accomplished as hoped for in the design of our Community Visioning Workshop, engaged participants contributed to a seamless, cohesive, and constructive process. Testimonies at the conclusion of proceedings detail a general approval for the workshop’s group activities; specifically, residents were thankful for a rare opportunity to share stories and ideas about Pica-Pau’s physical and social deficits with each other. Many identified the event as an overdue chance to pool the favela’s knowledge and resources, and an enlightening view into commonalities in the lives of previously unknown neighbors. These new bonds manifested themselves in the process, with groups proposing solutions attending the needs of the entire community, beyond physical interventions. Examples of these concepts included “street managers” for environmental programs, and microfinancing education and implementation. Members of favela Pica-Pau intrinsically understand the necessity of a holistic approach, inclusive of environmental, economic, social, and cultural initiatives is necessary to produce actual improvements for their community, forming a supporting framework for physical development projects. Workshop participants also seemed to comprehend their responsibility to the larger community, and the need for leadership and accountability in proposing their own solutions. Various testimonies included rallying cries to begin proposed social programs as soon as possible, in order to remedy admitted inaction on the part of the speakers, their neighbors, and government officials. These collaborative and responsible attitudes, cultivated by the community on its own terms, made it easier to conduct the workshops and achieve impressive preliminary result, as residents bought into the process and worked together without difficulty105.
Diagnoses identified and solutions proposed by the community during workshop activities trended towards two extremes; some projects attempted to resolve specific problems such as water infiltration in individual houses, while others imagined utopian large-scale interventions like a multi-use public space bridging the Irajá River106. These divergent proposals show, on the one hand, the intimate connection Pica-Pau’s residents have with their homes and infrastructural failures, and on the other, an ambitious desire to drastically improve their current
105 Ponce, Leonel L., Catalytic Communities, and Pica-Pau residents. Pica-Pau Community Visioning Workshop observations. 6 Apr. 2013. 106 Pica-Pau residents. “City as Play” Physical Models. 6 Apr. 2013.
47 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 condition. In order to bridge these two desires, more participatory events must be conducted. But first, the activities themselves, and the manner in which they were conducted, must be reassessed to identify possible opportunities for improvement in performance and engagement. 5.10.3. Participatory Process Reassessments
The primary limitation in favela Pica-Pau’s Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure planning process as conducted was a result of my inherently inflexible travel and academic timelines. Due to availability limitations by the community and volunteers, and limitations on agenda and materials development on my part, four weeks was not enough time move beyond broad visions, qualitative data analysis, and preliminary community engagement107. These limitations prevented the recalibration of activities designed to remedy other shortcomings in the process, such as the split in demographics between a male-dominated Transect Walk and a predominantly female group during the Visioning Workshop108. Close attention must be paid to lack of representation by certain sectors of the community in each activity, and in the case of youth, in the process as a whole.
Although I set out to isolate wastewater infrastructure deficits and physical natural systems solutions throughout my visit, participants became more engaged in the process when socioeconomic and political issues were included in the conversation. The young female Transect Walk guides were energetic in their explanations of recycling programs, and residents of Amaetinga passionately explained the need for solid waste pickup and resident accountability during Visioning Sessions109. To accommodate public desire to incorporate social justice and economic development goals into the infrastructural process, thereby formulating comprehensive community plans geared towards real improvement, social and legal support organizations must be given the opportunity to contribute. Similarly, employment opportunities that can ensure the financial sustainability of Pica-Pau and its residents could be facilitated by the presence of training and development professionals in the development of a plan. By tying long-term physical improvements with the day-to- day realities and struggles of the community can ensure wider and more meaningful participation for the continuation of the Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure planning process.
Wider engagement of the ecosystem as a client, much like its human community counterpart, is essential to move forward with a sustainable plan for Pica-Pau. While the initial intent of this study was to provide extensive infrastructural analysis and proposals to use as a political and design tool, it was apparent throughout the process that crucial steps in community input, acclimating, prioritizing, and visioning must precede more technical and detailed analysis and solutions. However, these steps must not be forgotten, for they apply feasibility and implementation to the potential discovered in the just concluded exercises. Separate workshops dedicated to determining proposal feasibility, and compiling a comprehensive vision, designing specific interventions, and determining monitoring, maintenance, and social programming strategies can provide a more cohesive vision of detailed implementations and their impact on the community. A group of experienced technical experts, such as planners, architects, engineers, ecologists, horticulturalists, climatologists, hydrlogists, and so onis necessary to develop this project further. But these conventional experts must be dedicated to a participatory planning process, in order to advance mutual education and improve the physical projects, the knowledge base of Pica-Pau’s residents, and perhaps most importantly, give the community additional opportunities to contribute to these various fields with their own knowledge. 107 Appelbaum, Alec. Personal conversations. Online. Apr. 2013. 108 Ponce, Leonel L., Catalytic Communities, and Pica-Pau residents. Pica-Pau Community Visioning Workshop observations. 6 Apr. 2013. 109 Pica-Pau community residents. “Pica-Pau Community VIsioning Workshop.” Personal testimonies. Rio de Janeiro, 6 Apr. 2013.
48 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
6. Implementation
MORAR CARIOCA PROCESS
INCORPORATION
PARTICIPATORY + SUSTAINABLE PROCESS
PARALLEL PLAN COMMUNITY-BUILT INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS
Figure 6.1:Flexible strategies for implementation give more options to the residents of Pica-Pau graphics by Leonel Lima Ponce. 2013.
Improvements can and should be made in the Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure process, especially as it continues, advancing the empowerment of the community and improvement of its physical, environmental, sociopolitical, and socioeconomic situation. But for this strategy to take hold, and lead to fruitful improvements in residents’ lives, actual solutions must be implemented. As Kelly Christina, a resident of the hilly sections of the community in most dire need of improvements, exclaimed during the workshop: We want to continue beyond April 6th, 2013. We want to go beyond paper, beyond projects. WE WANT SOLUTIONS!110
110 De Jesus, Kelly C. T. “Pica-Pau Community Visioning Workshop.” Personal Testimony. 6 Apr. 2013. Ministério Semear Chruch, Brás De Pina, Rio De Janeiro.
49 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
6.1. Continuity
Real solutions for favela Pica-Pau, in the form of implementation of projects and programs, and measurable improvements in the quality of life of its residents, will not come without continuity of the participatory process inclusive of natural systems. After initial evaluation of the concluded activities, it became clear that while flawed, the workshop and participatory setting provided the optimal mechanism for future engagement the community. 6.1.1. Continued Community Engagement
During discussions within the Community Visioning Workshop, the fear of housing removals symptomatic of current actions by the city of Rio de Janeiro came to the forefront as a primary concern of residents. Theresa Williamson volunteered to conduct a workshop on housing rights and strategies to combat displacement, with the technical support of housing movement advocates and public defenders. This session has been developed to be deployed throughout the city as part of an initiative by a coalition of social justice advocates from the whole state of Rio de Janeiro, called Casa Fluminense; it provides a crucial opportunity to continue engagement with our community client in Pica-Pau. Preserving a working relationship with the Residents’ Association and individual citizens is essential to moving the Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures process forward, and this workshop tentatively scheduled for May of 2013 is an opportunity to do so while engaging broader, urgent social concerns.
Springboarding from this event, a series of meetings, workshops, and community sessions can galvanize the community and move the process towards implementable solutions. Through proper scheduling and phasing, we hope to introduce components of the project and process in an intelligible and educational manner, to provide mutual education and empowerment opportunities along with palpable project evolution. Also in the middle of 2013, the technical team will host a meeting to review and revisit community visions with residents. The team will present a fully developed and analyzed set of data from the March and April 2013 events, denote possible feasibility and technical concerns, and show some case studies of visions that expand on priorities previously demonstrated by community members. The following event, a Natural Systems Design Workshop, will elaborate on the preliminary Sustainable Infrastructures Catalog document, providing detailed technical information in a format that can be easily understood and applied by residents. A construction component can be incorporated into this event, in order to provide tangible evidence of progress in the community, and inspiration for further community-built interventions.
After a period of data compilation and synthesis, a set of events and working sessions will be organized to create a Sustainable Pica-Pau Comprehensive Community Plan, towards the end of this year. The scope of the plan will depend on the scope of experimentation of the design workshops. Similar plans have been formulated by some favelas in Rio de Janeiro, with the support of academic and non-governmental institutions111. This comprehensive plan would include social and economic frameworks for project implementation, taking into account the community and environmental assets and challenges of the community. In early 2014, we plan to run Maintenance and Monitoring Workshops, directed towards stewardship of pilot constructions established during the Design Workshop. These sessions will demonstrate to citizens of Pica-Pau how they can properly maintain sustainable infrastructure projects, showcasing actual projects in the community as case-studies.
111 Plano Popular Da Vila Autódromo: Plano De Desenvolvimento Urbano, Econômico, Social, E Cultural. Rep. Rio De Janeiro: Associação De Moradores E Pescadores Da Vila Autódromo, 2012. Rio Sem Remoções. Comitê Popular Copa E Olimpíadas Rio, 15 Aug. 2012. Web. 22 Dec. 2012.
50 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
Monitoring of system performance and co-benefits will be introduced to the community, providing a possible advocacy tool to show government officials the proven potential of Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures in an underserved community.
SITE RFP DESIGN SURVEY PROJECT + TEAMS CONST. + DESIGN BIDS CHOSEN DIAGNOSIS
CATCOMM TIBA INSTITUTE PUBLIC DEFENDERS UFRJ / PUC STUDIO X ARQHOS IBASE BOTANIC GARDENS
Figure 6.2:Current and future partnerships, leveraged at each stage of the Morar Carioca process, are necessary to maintain progress in the Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures project for favela Pica-Pau. graphics by Leonel Lima Ponce. 2013.
6.1.2. Additional Partnerships
The preceding workshops maintain the community invested, and builds collective knowledge and power, but can only properly function with a strategic and extensive network of partnerships. This starts with organizations that have already shown significant interest and investment in the project and favela Pica-Pau. Catalytic Communities has demonstrated interest in using the project’s participatory process in their future work, in addition to including its activities in an Favela Community Development Toolkit currently in its nascent stages. Theresa Williamson has volunteered the organization’s services in the administration and application of future workshops, in addition to its own Housing Rights and Removals Workshop scheduled for this May. Community development NGO iBase, former collaborators on the Morar Carioca social accountability project112, can provide a wealth of demographic, social, and cultural information about the Pica-Pau favela. Their participation could also mean an influx of planning professionals with extensive experience in participatory processes necessary for future events; initial contact has been made between iBase and Catalytic Communities, and can hopefully be nurtured into a working relationship. Arqhos, the architecture and planning firm that manages the municipality’s Morar Carioca project in Cordovil and Pica-Pau, is another possible partner; through my 112 Grzybowski, Cândido, and Itamar Silva. Letter to Residents of Grouping 16 of Morar Carioca Program (Cordovil). 21 Feb. 2013. MS. Rio De Janeiro, RJ. On behalf of iBase.
51 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 initial meetings with the design team, the firm expressed interest in incorporating community input into their official proposals. Their documentation and surveys facilitated diagnostic exercises this March; continued collaboration between Arqhos and the Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures team could promote feasible results more in tune with realistic conditions, leading to mutual benefits for the professionals and residents.
To expand the impact and innovative potential of this project, new partnerships must be formed with a variety of actors that can work to produce cohesive solutions with our community and ecosystem clients. Advocates of urban equity and community development, such as public defenders, Columbia University’s Studio-X Rio, and local universities UFRJ and PUC can facilitate workshops, provide technical support or data, and engage with the general public and government agencies on public policy utilizing information gleaned form the process. Environmentally sustainable design and planning actors working in and around RIo de Janeiro, such as Tibá Institute, the Institute of Brazilian Architects (IAB), the local botanical gardens, green roof proponents EcoTelhado, and SolarCITIES Biogas, can provide technical expertise to facilitate design workshops, charrettes, and construction projects; advancing the project from conception to physical installations that rehabilitate the local ecosystem.
Outside collaborations can enhance the overall quality and feasibility of a Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures project, but the principal and only crucial bond is that of the community and ecosystem, our two client bases. Continued support of the project from the Residents’ Association, as well as other local organizations, is critical to the continuation of the initiative. Furthermore, and increasingly equitable model of participation can be established within Pica-Pau, to increase engagement between distinct events run by outsiders. The creation of a Sustainable Development Community Council would accomplish this and other important objectives: members could demand accountability from the technical team, provide consistent on- the-ground presence, and claim ownership of the project. Social programs suggested and developed during the formal participatory process can be advanced by this entity, providing a model for community-based project management to complement the work of Irenaldo and the Residents’ Association. Continuous engagement of and by community members will raise awareness levels in relation to environmental deficits and natural solutions in the favela, potentially predicating a more symbiotic relationship between Pica-Pau’s ecosystems and community member. 6.1.3. Funding
Financing these future endeavors will require creative aggregation of a variety of funding opportunities. During our last meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Theresa and Williamson and I discussed the possibility of countinuing the Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures work, and possible funding streams to run more workshops and pay interns properly. Crowdsourcing via Kickstarter or other platforms is an option, which would require a visually engaging story in the form of a video illustrating the challenges, opportunities, and previous workshops explained above, in additions to a plan for future engagement and implementation. Foundation funding may also be available for the entire project, perhaps through UN-HABITAT. Additionally, future partners may have funding to conduct specific projects, which can be placed within our process in Pica-Pau. 6.1.4. Flexibility of Implementation
As delineated above, many routes can be undertaken in the organization of future participatory processes for favela Pica-Pau. Flexibility, as evidenced during my visit to the community, is crucial to any plans in the rapidly changing social, political, environmental, and economic landscape of Rio de Janeiro. Thus, it is imperative to
52 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013 apply a strategy of flexible paths to project implementation. the Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure was originally intended to provide communities with a comprehensive infrastructural plan that could be inserted as a standard component of the Morar Carioca development process. Although this technique is still a plausible way to move towards execution of proposals, especially with a collaborative partner in Arqhos, a sustainable plan of implementation must look at other options. One possibility is to employ this comprehensive plan as an advocacy tool, a counter-proposal to be pursued by the community itself, and leveraged in the courtroom to demand accountability of the Morar Carioca charter’s participatory requirements113 and legislative housing rights provisions. Yet even a parallel plan, once comprehensive, becomes bulky and difficult to pass and bring to fruition in its entirety. Thus it is crucial that a modular infrastructure plan is proposed, built through phased individual projects that prove the efficacy and pertinence of Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures. Breaking down the plan into smaller and more manageable projects allows individual residents to proceed with their own interventions, or community-led endeavors, incentivizing the Pica-Pau community to take charge of its own future. 6.2. Replicability
In embracing the Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure planning process, favela Pica-Pau has embarked on a path to approach its potential as a sustainable community. This community can become a prototype and inspiration for other informal communities in Rio de Janeiro, and beyond. Its current condition demonstrates the severity of socioeconomic and sociopolitical disparities in the city, which has led to severe environmental and participatory deficits in infrastructure. If an informal community, so underserved and at such high environmental risk, can transform itself by leveraging its own assets, then other populations can themselves take on similar endeavors. Urban migration around the world has instigated analogous conditions throughout the developing world, producing similar opportunities for sustainable and participatory interventions. This population influx, while straining resources, also provides a human community that is knowledgeable of natural systems and understanding of the need to coexist with ecosystems. Through the replication of Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure projects, emulating favela Pica-Pau’s transformation can be accomplished by leveraging the significant and varied assets of informal communities. By multiplying the impact of natural systems solutions through participatory process across a multitude of communities, understanding and referencing inspiring precedents such as Pica-Pau, informal communities can take control of their place in the urban realm: from a principal purported cause of environmental and socioeconomic degradation in urban centers, to catalysts for holistic solutions to the challenges posed by 21st century cities. Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures in Pica-Pau can improve the quality of life of residents through existing assets and collaboration, while engaging with ecosystems to provide an example for holistic, sustainable solutions that is replicable around the world.
113 Municipality of Rio de Janeiro. “Decreto Nº 36388 de 29 de Outubro de 2012.”
53 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
54 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
7. Bibliography
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58 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
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Appendices Appendix A: Visit and Workshop Agenda
Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 Community Workshop Proposal: 12 March, 2013
Participatory Sustainable Infrastructures: Pica-Pau, Cordovil, Rio de Janeiro Community Events and Organizing Meetings Proposal
1. prior to visit to Rio de Janeiro
March 6-8 (on one day, teleconference) *review of initial proposal, with Theresa Williamson of Catalytic Communities *call to Irenaldo Honório da Silva of Pica-Pau, to arrange logistics
March 6-17 *continued development of methods and materials for workshops
2. in Rio de Janeiro
March 18-20 (one day event, on most feasible day for participants)
Organizing Meeting 1: Strategizing with Catalytic Communities Goals: Assess workshop content/schedule for feasibility, capacity, coordination, challenges Establish additional partners/volunteers Establish conduct guidelines to respect the client and community Assess possible outcomes and deliverables of project Establish primary stance on municipal government, existing redevelopment project
Allotted time: 2-3 hrs.
Participants: Leonel Lima Ponce, student, Pratt Institute Theresa Williamson, Executive Director, Catalytic Communities (?) Roseli Franco, Institutional Director, Catalytic Communities Catherine Osborn, Morar Carioca Intern, Catalytic Communities staff members, Catalytic Communities staff members, interested collaborators
Outcomes: Draft agendas for all events List of possible volunteers to call Draft concepts of final deliverables and outcomes
*individual meetings with interested volunteers (all days)
March 20-22 (events on one or two separate days, depending on availability/weather)
Community Event 1: Planning Meeting with Residents' Association/Community Resource Map Goals: Introduce team members and client community Establish general community issues & priorities Align project goals with community goals Schedule subsequent community events Identify community members to guide Transect Walks Revise stance on municipal government and existing redevelopment project Review possibility of acquiring geotechnical and infrastructural surveys from City
Allotted time: 3-3.5 hrs.
Participants: Leonel Lima Ponce, student, Pratt Institute Irenaldo Honório da Silva, President, Pica-Pau Residents' Association members, Pica-Pau Residents' Association
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61 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 Community Workshop Proposal: 12 March, 2013
(?) Theresa Williamson, Executive Director, Catalytic Communities (?) Roseli Franco, Institutional Director, Catalytic Communities Catherine Osborn, Morar Carioca Intern, Catalytic Communities
Description: Part A: Introductory and Planning Meeting (1 hr.) 1. Participant Introductions 2. Leonel to present general idea for project 3. Pica-Pau members to discuss related issues (sanitation, infrastructure, Morar Carioca, etc)
coffee break
Part B: Preliminary Community Mapping and Transect Walk Preparation (1-1.5 hrs.) 1. Leonel to explain Transect Walks 2. Group to generate preliminary Community Infrastructure/Resource Maps 3. Goup to determine preliminary routes to be taken on Walks 4. Group to identify potential resident guides/local analysts for Walks 5. Group to determine logistics for Walks
Part C: Visioning Workshop Preparation (1-1.5 hrs.) 1. Leonel to explain different components of workshop, goals 2. Group to determine most feasible and effective tools to use 3. Group to determine logistics for Workshop 4. Group to determine outreach strategy for Workshop participants
Outcomes: Schedule of Community Events List of Transect Walk resident guides, routes, ad symbols Preliminary Community Infrastructure/Resource Maps List of Volunteers for Visioning Workshop List of Materials to procure for Visioning Workshop Workshop Agenda
Community Event 2: Transect Walks Goals: Understand scope of sanitation infrastructural issues and opportunities in Pica-Pau Understand other infrastructural issues and opportunities in Pica-Pau Learn residents' perspective of their community, infrastructure, and related issues Empower residents as valid participants in dialogue and information gathering
Allotted time: 4-8 walks, 45 min. - 1hr. per walk
Participants: Leonel Lima Ponce, student, Pratt Institute (facilitator/photography) 5-8 Pica-Pau residents (guides/local analysts) Irenaldo Honório da SIlva, President, Pica-Pau Residents' Association (guide) volunteer 1: video/photography (C. Osborn / CatComm comm. journalism intern?) volunteer 2: notes/facilitator (C. Osborn / planning/architecture/engineering student?)
Description: Part A: Transect Walks Transect Walks are tours of a community, guided by its own residents. These tours are used to identify community resources, assets, issues, and opportunities from an inclusive perspective. From a previously agreed upon community map, various routes and local "community analysts" guides are chosen. Using a list of symbols, and with the help of facilitators and note takers, the community analysts point out various specific physical and social aspects of their environment, stopping at key features and borders of the community and/or zones to record distances and impressions. 1. Quick introductions/explanation of process 2. Transect Walk 3. Review of Walk 4. Quick Draft Transect Diagram (time allowing)
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62 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 Community Workshop Proposal: 12 March, 2013
Part B: Transect Diagram (made after all walks are completed) Prepare an illustrative diagram of the walk using the information gathered. On the top, show the different zones identified by the guides. Down the side, list the features and areas of interest (plants, land use, problems, drainage system, and so on) and then fill in the details of what was observed.
Materials: Large sheets of paper (Leonel) Markers/pens (Leonel) Notebooks (Leonel) Cameras: photo/film (Leonel, Catalytic Communities)
Outcomes: Footage / Recording of Transect Walks Field Notes Transect Diagram Revised Community Infrastructure/Resource Maps
March 24-25 (all days) *compose transect diagrams and revise community resource maps *analyze information gained from Transect Walks *individual meetings with interested volunteers *research visits for more site and systems information
March 26-28 (one day event, on most feasible day for participants; optionally via teleconference, individually)
Organizing Meeting 2: Workshop Planning w/ Volunteers/Facilitators Objectives: Analyze information gained from Transect Walks Finalilze details of Workshops Brief volunteer facilitators on roles for workshop Allotted Time: 2-3 hrs. Participants: Leonel Lima Ponce, student, Pratt Institute Irenaldo Honório da Silva, President, Pica-Pau Residents' Association volunteers/facilitators Theresa Williamson, Executive Director, Catalytic Communities Roseli Franco, Institutional Director, Catalytic Communities Outcomes: Final Workshop Agenda Final Volunteer Facilitator List FInal Materials List and associated tasks
March 26-28 or April 2-3 (one-day event, on best day for community)
Organizing Meeting 3: pre-Workshop Briefing/Prep with Community Leaders & Volunteers Objectives: Prepare Visioning Workshop Brief volunteer facilitators on roles for workshop Finalilze details of Workshops
Allotted Time: 1 hr.
Participants: Leonel Lima Ponce, student, Pratt Institute Irenaldo Honório da Silva, President, Pica-Pau Residents' Association (?) Catherine Osborn, Morar Carioca Intern, Catalytic Communities volunteers/facilitators
Description: Set up necessary materials for "City as Play" Workshop Prepare room for participants Divide up tasks/groups for Design & Visioning Workhop
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63 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 Community Workshop Proposal: 12 March, 2013
Community Meeting 3: Visioning Workshop Objectives: Refine community description of resources, assets, issues, opportunities Diagnose common issues and biggest challenges Understand residents' broad visions for the community Show residents possible systems/components that may be incorporated into visions With residents, work on comprehensive design and visions Evaluate results and process
Allotted Time: 5.5-6.5 hrs. Participants: Leonel Lima Ponce, student, Pratt Institute Irenaldo Honório da Silva, President, Pica-Pau Residents' Association Theresa Williamson, Executive Director, Catalytic Communities Roseli Franco, Institutional Director, Catalytic Communities volunteers/facilitators Pica-Pau residents Description: Part A: City as Play (45 min. - 1hr.) A conceptual, simple model of the community is placed in the center of the room, with various found objects scattered around it. Participants walk into the room, and are asked to build their visions for the community together. Alternative: Found objects are placed in a pile on a table in the center of the room. They are also given blank sheets of paper, on which each participant or group of participants is asked to design their ideal city with the given materials. Participants then explain their designs to the group (see part B).
Part B: Discussion of Previous Community Exercises (1 hr.) Residents are asked to describe their thought process and results for the previous diagnostic exercises. Participants in the Transect Walks will talk about what they witnessed and reported upon, and participants of the City as Play explain their designs.
lunch (30 - 45 min.)
Part C: Presentation: Sustainable Infrastructure Catalog (30 min.) Presentation of various sustainable sanitation/wastewater technologies, as well as their optimal spatial conditions, costs and benefits, and how they fit together into a full system. This information will be presented orally, but be available to Workshop participants in graphic format during following activities. The catalog will not serve as the only option for residents, but as an option that can be incorporated into their designs and visions as appropriate. (catalog under development by Leonel Lima Ponce)
Part D: Design & Visioning Workshop (1.5-2 hrs.) Participants will break off into groups of 4-6 people, along with one or two facilitators. Each group will be given a packet of information on Pica-Pau community, including maps, photographs, and a copy of the Transect Diagrams previously created. Each group will also be able to access information presented earlier in the workshop, as well as available expertise from facilitators. After an initial visioning project to incorporate each group's individual ideas, groups will present their designs. A discussion will follow, where a core set of goals and visions for sustainable infrastructure for Pica- Pau community can be agreed upon via a vote.
coffee break (15 min.)
Part E: Evaluation (1 hr.) Participants will discuss what they have learned from the workshop, both about their community and about sanitation/other infrastructure. They may speak to what they think the strengths and weaknesses of the process were,
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Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 Community Workshop Proposal: 12 March, 2013
or to the challenges posed by trying to implement their designs. A short informal survey may be conducted in order to assess the success of the workshop.
Materials: Found objects (volunteers, participants?) Base model or card stock for City as Play (Leonel) Butcher/note-taking paper for each group (Leonel) Markers (Leonel) Packet of information/maps for Workshop, including catalog (Leonel)
Outcomes: Cohesive list of sustainable/infrastructure goals and visions for Pica-Pau Various design options to be incorporated into a Sustainable Infrastructure Plan List of concerns to be considered in implementation of project
April 3-4 *debrief with participants and volunteers, gather data and documentation
3. after visit to Rio de Janeiro
Pica-Pau project:
Development of a Pica-Pau Community Sustainable Sanitation/Infrastructure Plan Community review of above plan (additional workshops?) Revision of plan by team Publish plan (find a way to influence existing Morar Carioca process)
Future projects:
Review and assess community engagement processes Make plans for other infrastructural systems identified by Pica-Pau community Identify other communities that may want to try out the process
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65 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
Appendix B: Meeting Minutes, CatComm Meetings B.1 - 25 March 2013 (excerpts) Presença: Sophie (Georgetown student; til July; profiles showing that aspects of the community can't be replicated in public housing); Madeleine (Swedish; til May; writing); Catherine (since Sept; write for ROW; research land rights/upgrading); Nathan (exchange student at PUC, school at UCSB; writing articles); Stuart (Ph.D. student at U Texas; Fulbright through Dec; writing about community media production in favelas); Felicity (a year w/ CC; coordinate ROW; work w/ community journalists; write); Theresa; Anna (intern; since Sept; research municipal politics; coordinating annual favela perceptions survey); Martin (research on health inequalities comparing neighborhoods in Rio; reporting on community health programs); Gloria (new; working on CC Annual Report and other docs); Leonel (studying at Pratt in NY; project on community-based sustainable infrastructure in Pica-Pau); Jamie (PhD student; residents drawing maps in Providência); Sarah (Montreal; interned 2 years ago; translating since; now back in Rio and helping out again)
Individual Updates [...] Catherine [...] NEXT UP: Finishing Morar Carioca piece; Inclusive Urbanism Event
Leonel
Saturday - assess situation physically on the ground in Pica-Pau and chat with Irenaldo to see what activities/workshops there were; as well as possibilities for intervening with MC process. Talked about sanitation/waste problem and social issues like people taking responsibility for their actions and the city too. Dialogue about everyone having a stake in it and the community being in dialogue with the city. Disappointed they weren't. Architects disappointed too. Willing to meet and talk about it and maybe incorporate some ideas into their project. Presented project briefly (idea of having sustainable natural solutions instead of canalizing everything and throwing sewage into overburdoned sewage plants). Talks about mixing nature and urbanity as necessary. Began talking about activities and prefaced saying not just about creating a plan but about providing tools (transect walks, 'city as play' game, catalogue of infrastructures people could draw ideas from, designing workshop). Talked about logistics - transect walks next Saturday. Workshops following Saturday - 6th. Now Irenaldo seeing who would like to do transect walks (5-6 guides).
Need people to go along and help document: ● Person holding map and noting points of interest (Leonel) ● Document the conversation (Gloria) ● Film (Sarah)
Information can be used in conjunction with technical surveying to create a map of a place that documents the assets of the community as they perceive it. And plan for future action/development.
- transect walks w/ different people from different parts of the community from different backgrounds/perspectives
City is doing "river treatment centers" on canals leading to the Bay. One is in Irajá.
[...]
66 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
B.2 - 1 April 2013 (excerpts) Presença: Felicity, Theresa, Rose, Sophie, Nate, Catherine, Gloria, Sarah, Anna, Leonel
Pauta: XNovo site XJimmy videos XAnnual Report XImpact Criteria XUpdates/next steps XPerceptions survey XSteve V. / MIT article / Gramacho XLeonel's project
[...] OUR VISION Favela as a Solution Current Policies in Rio Our Propositions [...]
Catherine Last week: Finished more edits on Morar Carioca article Wrote up most of article @ participatory urbanism event at Studio X Transect walk @ Pica-Pau Next Steps: Participatory urbanism article up; photos to Leonel; Charette on Saturday; community toolbox piece on transect walk [...]
Leonel Sábado foram Leonel, Catherine, Sarah e Gloria - fizeram caminhadas de mapeamento. Decidiram ir todos juntos numa caminhada enorme pela comunidade toda. 10-12 pessoas. Tem que ser mais um dia de caminhadas. Ter muitas pessoas legal porque tinha opiniões variadas incorporadas e trouxe mais atenção dos moradores. foi 11-15:30 sábado Diálogo s/ problemas da comunidade sábado. Conversa começando com 'brincadeira' de Cidade p/ brincar. [...] Gloria Annual report work Accompanied transect walk [...] Sarah Accompanied transect walk Next up: Charrette next week; translations; write @ 'City as Play'; Providência w/ Jamie [...]
67 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
B.3 - 8 April 2013 (excerpts)
Presença: Felicity, Theresa, Rose (Skype), Gloria, Sarah, Madeleine, Stacy, Stuart, Sophie, Leonel, Nate, Anna, Catherine, Kate S-G, Jimmy Chalk Pauta: [...] [...] Leonel Next Steps:
1. Finish paper/report: Background info Issues as community, city, Leonel identifies them Need to have the community identify Solutions Participatory process Summary of a vision that they have for the different areas Final conclusions about process, what worked, what didn't & next steps given their vision/constraints/politics
2. Create catalogue of solutions
3. Skeleton of a plan
Leonel returns for another meeting to take process forward. With actual technical team/entity that would be able to carry project forward.
When Theresa goes to do resistance strategy
Vibe of outspoken people changed over 4 hours. "Dona da Rua" woman - initally saying "these solutions are OK but we can't make them work b/c of ..." Leonel said don't be afraid of suggesting things that could make it work. Flip in people incredible.
Need to work on the negative dialogue.
68 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
Appendix C: Meeting Minutes, Visit to Pica-Pau Community (23 March 2013)
Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 notes: Pica-Pau visit, 23 March, 2013
Community Meeting 1: Visiting the Pica-Pau Community meeting minutes
1 Participants 1.1 Leonel Lima Ponce, student, Pratt Institute PSPD 1.2 Irenaldo Honório da Silva, President, Pica-Pau no Cordovil Residents' Association 1.3 Catherine Osborn, Morar Carioca and housing impacts intern, CatComm 2 Brief discussion of community's issues (Irenaldo) 2.1 Flooding & Sewage 2.1.1 New access road to Avenida Brasil, adjacent to community, diverts stream of water directly down to main street of Pica-Pau. Community floods every time it rains. 2.1.2 In Pica-Pau, unlike most of Rio de Janeiro, sewers and stormwater drains are combined, and regularly overflow during rain events. The situation is exacerbated by narrow pipes and small catch basins, some of which are thoroughly outdated and built of clay. 2.1.3 Irajá River, an open air canal, runs at south edge of community. When it rains, the canal receives sewage from Pica-Pau and nearby communities. During our visit, the Irajá seemed to be composed mostly of sewage, and the smell of sewage was prevalent on the adjacent street. Irenaldo commented that when it gets hot, the water begins to bubble and the air smells strongly of various noxious fumes. He says there is a high ration of respiratory diseases in Pica-Pau, including tuberculosis and asthma. 2.1.4 There is a public works project currently underway at the Irajá River. Irenaldo says it is a water treatment project, to happen within the river. He says the city's water secretariat had placed a demonstration of the project next to the canal, in order to educate the public as to the nature and efficacy of their intervention. Yet he and others are still unsure of what the project will do, how much water it will treat, and where the water will go. 2.1.5 Many houses, alleys, and stores have raised the level of their ground floor in order to prevent some flooding. This is done by basically adding 6-8 inches of concrete to the previous foundation, and reflooring the space, or adding speed bumps to keep water from immediately flowing in. A temporary and perhaps dangerous solution. 2.2 Solid Waste 2.2.1 Irenaldo says that solid waste is a tremendous problem for the community, as well as an intensifying factor to the sewage problems in the community. There is no collection by the city within the community, and most people leave trash bags either just outside of their homes or in whatever city-issued dumpsters are found at times on the edges of the community. Access by vehicles is difficult for pickup. 2.2.2 It is Irenaldo's belief that the problems of the community, and that of solid waste especially, is half the responsibility of government, and half that of
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Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 notes: Pica-Pau visit, 23 March, 2013
people themselves. He believes Pica-Pau's residents too often only think of themselves, and have no concern for what happens outside their door, but that if they are galvanized and educated, they can form a united front. As president of the residents' association, he claims to have been able to form some of these bonds and common causes. 2.3 Landslides 2.3.1 Landslides are an issue in case of too much rain in the area, especially in the upper portions of Pica-Pau. These residences are precariously built upon a rock outcropping rising up from what was historically a wetland and mudflats. Houses have been razed completely, and several are on the brink. 3 Brief presentation of project (Leonel) 3.1 Core Principles 3.1.1 Participation of community in own development as catalyst for social inclusion, with the intent of providing tools of community engagement that can be replicated or incorporated into other processes. 3.1.2 Use of flexible model of environmentally and economically sustainable materials, methods, and processes, in order to provide tools for the community to promote sustainable, participatory development. 3.1.3 Opportunity for insertion into parallel municipal redevelopment process >>> potential for replication to other systems and communities. Must leave enough flexibility to either insert project into city process, or create grassroots, phased projects (in case of political inaction). 3.2 Presented Materials 3.2.1 Brief presentation based on midterm slides, translated 3.3 Asks/Needs for Implementation of Workshops 3.3.1 Agenda for workshops 3.3.1.1 Transect Walks: Saturday, March 30 3.3.1.2 Visioning Workshop: Saturday, April 6 3.3.2 Recruitment of workshop participants 3.3.2.1 Transect Walk community guides: differnet walks of life, different ages and daily routines/routes 3.3.2.2 Workshop volunteers: from church and other community leaders 3.3.2.3 Workshop participants: variety of residents 3.3.3 Space for visioning workshop: sports court at the entrance to community, where all community-wide events are held. 3.3.4 Documents and maps from city surveys, research. 3.3.5 Assessment of political climate and relationships with community 4 Comments and suggestions from Irenaldo and Catherine 4.1 Principles: Agreement about the need to galvanize and include communities. The idea is to include culture and education into any social event, or to envelop any
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cultural and educational task into a social event. We will work to promote a block party to host our main visioning workshop. Irenaldo will try to create a raffle, to draw additional interest from a larger proportion of the population. 4.2 Irenaldo shares the belief that harmony must be struck between the environment and the city, as they are intricately connected in a city like Rio de Janeiro. Thus, he is interested in exploring natural solutions that not only help the community's infrastructure, but also the remaining natural landscape in the surrounding area, such as the wetlands. 4.3 Irenaldo has a background in education and community organizing and advocacy. He understands the concepts of participation, as well as some strategies, and is interested in the participation tools. He has participated locally, as a tutor, in a youth environmental education program the city ran between 1999 and 2001. He has represented Cordovil communities in city-wide discussions about the continuation of Agenda 21, and in various informal community redevelopment forums. Irenaldo is skeptical of the current municipal government and its willingness to spend the money it recieves from international foundations ("Where does the money go?"), but understands the need for a multi-pronged approach that engages the community, the government, private actors, and the environment. 4.4 Local NGO iBase conducted a community survey to be included in the Morar Carioca development project, but their contract was cut before implementing the study into the process. 4.5 Contacts at ARQHOS, the architecture office working on the city's Morar Carioca redevelopment project, are dissatisfied with the way the project is going. Of specific concern is the removal of all signs delineating the study area for the project, and the lack of responsiveness from government officials. In a meeting last week, the city's surveying agent tried to assure the design team and community that the plan would go ahead, but the architects would still like to have a conversation with us to consider any parallel proposals for incorporation. They will also reach out to the sanitation and sewerage engineer on the project. 4.6 Socially, Irenaldo believes there is a distinct division within the favela: "favelados", or those with a mindset of taking what the government hands out without the wish to gain more or try anything different, and "comunitários", or those who a trying to make something better of themselves and of their communities by challenging and working with the city government. He says he tends to work with the latter most, but tries reaching out to all members from time to time. In our walk following our meeting, he demonstrated a willingness to talk to anyone, at any time. He believes that "those poor in spirit are easy to control", and seems intent on strengthening the community's overall spirit through his life and work. 4.7 Resources from Irenaldo 4.7.1 Contacts at iBase that may have survey done for Morar Carioca project. This is important, because estimates on the population of the community vary widely, and impact the volume of sewage to be considered for any project. 4.7.2 Sources for technical information (maps, etc)
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Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 notes: Pica-Pau visit, 23 March, 2013
4.7.2.1 CREA: Reginal Council of Engineering and Agriculture 4.7.2.2 Rio de Janeiro Environment Secretariat 4.7.3 Books on community engagement and participation 4.8 Next Steps 4.8.1 Irenaldo to contact specific community members to act as Transect Walk guides, and send a list during the week. 4.8.2 Leonel to specify some preliminary routes, to ensure ample geographic coverage of community through walks. 4.8.3 Irenaldo to set times for walks with each participant, at their convenience 4.8.4 Leonel to search for technical info at city offices. 4.8.5 Catherine to make contact with architecture team, help set up meetings 4.8.6 Catherine to find out more about iBase's role and materials 4.8.7 Leonel to continue to prepare materials for workshop, including sourcing technical data from city and other sources. 4.8.8 Leonel to assemble technical support team for main workshop, with the help of Catalytic Communities. 4.8.9 Irenaldo to set date, space for main visioning workshop, and to make initial contact with possible volunteers 5 Walk through the community: Additional Observations 5.1 Irajá River was clearly polluted. The water seemed to have a viscosity that hinted at it being composed of mostly sewage, specifically at the surface. Construction crews were working on the water treatment project. A contractor told us that the plan is to treat the water alongside the canal, and that no sewage would have to be transported to a treatment plant. The construction seemed to consist of pumps that cycled the polluted canal water back against the current, in a semi-closed loop, and passed it through various treatment chambers, installed under the sidewalk. The water was then dumped back near where it was first introduced into the system. While interesting in its concepts of localized and small-scale treatment, the system (pending further research) seems to be too small, and too maintenance-heavy to be truly sustainable without additional treatment elsewhere. This project is being done in conjunction with a municipal project to clean the waters of Guanabara Bay, which the Irajá dumps into. 5.2 Residents and commercial tenants along the Irajá River have to constantly deal with its stench and the resultant polluted air. But they seem to have some cursory knowledge of the project, but no concrete ideas. One store owner, Vando, thinks that the city's project will pump water to a small treatment plant 3 km away, and is clearly annoyed at the disruption from construction. He believes the city should worry about waste pickup, and neighbors should be more concerned about banding together and putting pressure on government for transparency and for action. He says residents are in constant fear of eviction or removal in light of these public works, and that they should be involved in the process. 5.3 Community members, Irenaldo and Vando included, seem to be pushing an idea of creating open and public spaces bridging the canal. Space is a big concern in
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Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 notes: Pica-Pau visit, 23 March, 2013
this community, but any project on top of the polluted Irajá should take pollution and treatment into consideration as part of the initial project. Proposals for bridging programs I heard during my visit in included a library, playing fields, and a day care. The community has ideas, they need a voice, collaboration with technical support teams, and the cooperation of local government. 5.4 While community leadership in Pica-Pau is considerable strong, neighboring informal settlements are not as organized. We visited a small community a couple of blocks away, and they claimed to be unable to self-organize, that no one had taken leadership. The size of the community may impact this lack of organization. Irenaldo made a comment about the need to band together, since all of these communities will be impacted by the same city projects, and are subject to the same local infrastructural and environmental threats. Yet, according to him, leadership must come from within each community in order to band together into a collective. 5.5 Public works within Pica-Pau were constructed in fits and starts, with some initial projects made in the early 1980's, and not much more done by the city until recently. Those early official sewers are outdated and overburdened, and during our visit, after some rain, some of the catch basins were clearly at capacity. Water also puddled everywhere, increasing the risk of communicable diseases. Some of the infrastructure has been maintained by the community itself, with various catch basin covers being repaired in haphazard ways as was possible by neighbors. 5.6 In order to stop the flow of water, residents have constructed speed bumps on their streets, and progressively raised the level of their houses. This is an unsustainable solution, especially given that this land was landfilled atop a mudflat, and more weight could cause disturbances to the soil conditions below (pending verification of city maps). Not only that, with increasingly strong storms (on one day in the beginning of March, Rio got more rain than for the entire month last year), flooding will only increase, leading to a constant and expensive process of rebuilding and readapting. 5.7 In the upper reaches of the favela, the situation is much more precarious than below. Houses are made of brick and concrete, but piled essentially atop each other. This "area of risk" will be the most difficult to resolve, and people may need to be relocated. During our visit, we were shown a complicated, self-built maze of water pumps and water sewage lines meandering up the rock outcropping to the community's promontory. These projects were clearly built by each resident, and mostly without coordination. 5.8 Precarious even in their original construction, these water systems are being destroyed along with houses whenever a landslide occurs. I witnessed various cracked PVC pipes, both for sewage and for water, some in dangerous proximity to each other. The risk of contamination and waste of drinking water is tremendous. To remedy this, some people have roof rainwater collection tanks (some issued by the city). But they are not well maintained and also pose a risk of mosquito-borne diseases. 5.9 The social life in the favela represents perhaps the biggest opportunity for the continuation of this project. While having lunch on the main street with Irenaldo and his friends, we witnessed a cacophony of activity, with various groups of
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Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 notes: Pica-Pau visit, 23 March, 2013
friends playing music, dancing and eating in the street, news of the best new samba party giving out free beers, and general joking around and bickering between friends. Favelas have a reputation for crime and illicit activities, and while this may be true even of Pica-Pau, in general people seem to just be living out their lives, but in a more communal and public way than most. This convivial nature (out of necessity?) means that they are used to sacrificing, negotiating, and finding common ground in their day to day lives, qualities that lend themselves well to finding solutions for the greater good.
6 Images from visit
damaged catch basin typical alley in flat portion of Pica-Pau
homemade stormwater system typical alley in Pica-Pau 1st floor raised to prevent flooding
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74 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 notes: Pica-Pau visit, 23 March, 2013
the Irajá River, and its flanking road polluted waters of the Irajá
street flanking the Irajá construction materials for city local water treatment
the banks of the Irajá demonstration water pumps demolished house, upper Pica-Pau
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75 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 notes: Pica-Pau visit, 23 March, 2013
view from upper Pica-Pau sewer and water system in precarious upper Pica-Pau
rupture sewerage pipe in upper Pica-Pau water, sewerage, and electricity (for pumps) meet
electircal and water connection to pump a series of small water pumps built into rock outcrop
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76 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013 notes: Pica-Pau visit, 23 March, 2013
poorly managed rainwater collection water pumps in an alley
sewage puddling after a storm, lower Pica-Pau the access ring to Av. Brasil diverts water to Pica-Pau
drains meant to catch all of the water from access road before entering community
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77 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
Appendix D: Transect Walk Materials D.1 - Iconography
WATER PUMP......
SEWERAGE CATCHBASIN
(OVERFLOW)......
“WATER BOX”: OVERHEAD
WATER STORAGE CONTAINER ......
WATER/SEWERAGE BROKEN PIPES ......
SPEED BUMP
(MODIFIES WATER FLOW)......
FLOODING AREAS......
DISEASES (DENGUES, TB, ETC.)......
SMELLS......
ELEVATED FIRST FLOORS
(TO EVADE FLOODING)......
78 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
...... SOLID WASTE (DUMPING)
...... DUMPSTER
“AREAS OF RISK” (LANDSLIDES,
...... FALLING STRUCTURES)
...... EMPTY LOTS
ABANDONED
...... HOUSE/BUILDING
TREES
...... (INFILTRATION, ETC)
79 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
D.2 - Transect Maps
80 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
81 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
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83 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
retorno Av. Brasil (campo de futebol)
Zona 1: Rua Aricambú
Zona 3: Alta Pica-Pau White Martins
Zona 2: Rua Amaetinga Zona 4: Baixa Pica-Pau
Zona 5: Av. Schulz Wenk
Rio Irajá
84 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
85 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
D.3 - Transect Diagram
86 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
87 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
Appendix E: Community Visioning Workshop Products E.1 - Sustainable Infrastructures Catalog Matrix
88 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
89 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
E.2 - Community Visions
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93 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
94 From Open Sewer to Open (Re)source: Participatory Sustainable Infrastructure Planning for Favela Pica-Pau in Rio de Janeiro 06 May 2013
95 Leonel Lima Ponce Pratt Institute PSPD - MS in UESM: Demonstration of Professional Competence, Spring 2013
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