Dispossessing the Public: Privatization of Open Public Spaces in Lima, Peru By Daniela Chong Lugon Bachelor of Architecture, Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru (PUCP) (2012) Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in City Planning at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY September 2020 © 2020 Daniela Chong Lugon. All Rights Reserved The author hereby grants to MIT the permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of the thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created. Author_______________________________________________________________________________ Department of Urban Studies and Planning June 22, 2020 Certified by ___________________________________________________________________________ Lawrence J. Vale Associate Dean, School of Architecture and Planning Ford Professor of Urban Design and Planning Thesis Supervisor Accepted by___________________________________________________________________________ Ceasar McDowell Professor of the Practice Chair, MCP Committee Department of Urban Studies and Planning Dispossessing the Public: Privatization of Open Public Spaces in Lima, Peru By Daniela Chong Lugon Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning on June 22, 2020, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in City Planning. Abstract The Metropolitan Area of Lima has on average 3.6m2 of green area per person, for a total of 10 million inhabitants. Although this is not the most accurate metric, it is the most available proxy to measure and understand the magnitude of open public space in the city. In addition, it is not equitably distributed: districts with higher socioeconomic levels and larger municipal budgets have greater area and higher quality public spaces. In a context of inequitable distribution on quantity and quality, one of the biggest threats that public spaces face is their privatization, a process in which a space is dispossessed from the public and transformed for a private or restricted use. From sidewalks, streets, parks, and plazas, to natural spaces such as beaches and the coastal lomas natural ecosystems, in recent years, these unprotected areas have become shopping centers, supermarkets, parking lots, private clubs, formal and informal housing, amusement parks, synthetic grass courts, and other infrastructure that has altered at some degree its openness, ownership, accessibility, and function. This shift from public to private spaces ultimately reduces the opportunity of all citizens to have available open public spaces, increases social fragmentation, and ultimately deepens issues of social injustice and spatial inequalities. In such a scenario, this thesis examines the conditions under which open public spaces are privatized and identifies the mechanisms. Through different case studies and interviews, I create three types that attempt to explain the different forms in which privatization develops to expose the motivations behind it, the processes of how it happens, the actors who are involved, and the manifestations it has in the built environment. The first type is Concession for Development, and takes place when public space is rented to private entities in the form of concessions with the excuse of bringing development and improvement. The second is Appropriation for Livelihood, and occurs when public space is informally appropriated to fulfill a basic need such as housing or a productive activity. The third is Enclosure for Control, and results when public space is enclosed and its access is restricted in order to provide safety or facilitate its management. I analyze and expose the structural governance conditions and flaws in current planning processes — formal and informal, top-down and bottom-up — that lead to privatization in order to help create awareness about how and why this invisible phenomenon takes place and who is most affected by it. Finally, this thesis proposes recommendations that can help Lima and other Peruvian cities promote the protection and preservation of public spaces and also encourage a more equitable distribution. Thesis Advisor: Lawrence Vale, Associate Dean, School of Architecture and Planning & Ford Professor of Urban Design and Planning, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, MIT Reader: Sharif Kahatt, Professor at Department of Architecture and Urbanism, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) Acknowledgements These past two years at DUSP have been an amazing journey. The courses, projects, and the process of writing a thesis were challenging, yet incredibly rewarding. I want to thank the people who supported and guided me throughout this process. To Larry, my advisor, I feel honored to have had the opportunity to work with you. Your thorough revisions, feedback, and comments helped me to constantly improve my research and work. Thank you for your continuous support, guidance, and encouragement, you have helped me grow as a person and as a professional. To Sharif, thank you for being my ground wire to Lima and for providing me enriching advice filled with wisdom that only grows from experience and local insights. To all the DUSP community, thank you for all the moments and memories shared and for the most interesting discussions I have ever been part of, they have fed my soul and brain. To the DUSP latines, older and younger generations, you have all been very special in my journey through MIT. To my peers Nati, Vane, Diego, and Dani, I would not have been able to do this without you! Thank you to the Casa Latina crew, former, and current: Mechi, Jess, Mori, Fio, and Luismi, you gave me the best home and companionship along these past two years. To my family, thank you for their constant support and cheers although the distance and for always believing in me. Last but not least, I want to thank Humberto, for the edits and uncovering my typos, for your support 24/7, and for your constant encouragement to be better. I couldn’t have done this without you. 3 Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................... 8 1.1 Research Question...................................................................................................................... 10 1.2 Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 11 Case Studies Selection ..........................................................................................................................12 Semi-structured interviews and site visits ...............................................................................................12 Limitations ...........................................................................................................................................15 Literature Review ......................................................................................................... 16 2.1 Public Spaces Theories ............................................................................................................... 16 Definitions of Public Space ...................................................................................................................16 The Role of Public Space ......................................................................................................................17 2.2 Privatization Theories ................................................................................................................. 17 Definition of Privatization .....................................................................................................................17 Other Forms of Privatization ................................................................................................................19 Privatization of Public Spaces in Lima, Peru..........................................................................................20 2.3 Metropolitan Governance Theories ............................................................................................ 21 Governance Structures and Models ......................................................................................................21 The Challenges of Effective Metropolitan Governance ..........................................................................22 Context.......................................................................................................................... 24 3.1 Lima’s Governance Structure and Challenges ............................................................................. 24 3.2 Lima’s Urban Transformation and the Role of Public Spaces ..................................................... 26 3.3 Lima’s Public Spaces and their Governance ................................................................................ 27 Types of Privatization and Case Studies ..................................................................... 30 4.1 Building a Typology of Privatization ........................................................................................... 30 Criteria to Classify Types ......................................................................................................................30 4.2 Privatization Types ....................................................................................................................