UNIVERSIDAD PONTIFICIA COMILLAS FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS HUMANAS Y SOCIALES Degree in International Relations Final Degree Project The Renewed Right to the City in Latin America Slum Upgrading and Placemaking Author: Natalia Meléndez Fuentes Coordinator: Dr. Heike Clara Pintor Pirzkall Madrid, April 2018 Table of Contents 1. Purpose and Motivation 1 2. Introduction 1 3. State of Affairs 2 4. Objectives and Research Questions 8 5. Methodology 9 6. Theoretical Framework 11 6.1. On the Formal and the Informal 11 6.2. Renewing the Right to the City: 16 The Art of Placemaking in Latin America 7. Regional Background: Birth and life of the Latin American Slum 18 8. Analysis and Discussion 22 8.1. Regularization framework and coverage of basic needs: 23 Pró-Favela Program (Brazil) 8.2. Community participation and organization: 25 Villa El Salvador (Peru) 8.3. Access to credit, transparency and good governance: 28 PRODEL (Nicaragua) 8.4. Cost-recovery and budget control mechanisms: 30 Self-Management Program (Mexico) 8.5. Political will and social capital: 31 Rosario Habitat Program (Argentina) 8.6. Sustainability and monitoring: 33 Neighborhood Improvement Program (Bolivia) 8.7. Strong intermediary structure: 36 Popular Habitat Program (Costa Rica) 8.8. Integral and multidisciplinary approach: 37 PUI Nororiental Initiative (Colombia) 8.9. Bridging the gap between a development project & social progress: 40 PROUME (Guatemala) 8.10. Equity, esteem and inclusion: 41 Library Parks, Schools and Metrocable System (Colombia) 9. Conclusion and proposals 44 10. Bibliography 49 10.1. Primary Sources 49 10.2. Bibliographic References 49 2 11. Abbreviations and Acronyms 60 12. Glossary of terms 61 13. Annexes 64 13.1. Annex 1: Manfred Max-Neef’s Fundamental Human Needs 64 13.2. Annex 2: Population Data 68 13.3. Annex 3: By-Country Sheets: Recent National Slum and Housing 70 Policies in Latin American countries 13.4. Annex 4: Names of Slum Upgrading Programs Studied Prior to 85 Selecting the Representative Case Studies 13.5. Annex 5: Meléndez’s Pyramid of Slum Upgrading 88 13.6. Annex 6. Case Studies Sheets: Slum upgrading programs whose 89 elements constitute Melendez’s Pyramid for Slum Upgrading 13.7. Annex 7: Names of Informal Settlements All Over Latin America 141 13.8. Annex 8: Interview to Slum-Upgrading Expert 142 3 1. Purpose and Motivation The decision to embark on a research project on the present topic, was mainly motivated by two factors. First, having peers in the field of architecture introduced us to deep discussions, which inspired further reflection and learning upon the subject. These peers, to whom we are deeply grateful, have taught us how to look at global problems through socio-spatial lenses; an approach that enriches thought and is more integral at its core. The utmost importance of architecture and urbanism in developmental sciences was recognized by the illustration of the transcendence of these two fields in our daily lives, as they affect virtually all human dimensions, decisions, and actions. Through this final degree project, we modestly aim to present such relevance to our readers. Second, the past five years of university studies have nurtured many areas of knowledge within the field of International Relations. Brainwork led us to interrelate them and conceive a bigger picture on the present global state of affairs. Such acquired more-critical eye inspired a special concern for slums, given the increasingly alarming situation of informality in world cities. This negative picture hints a lack of sufficient research on finding more effective solutions to the slum question. Therefore, we have wished to harness this project as a stepping stone to conduct research on the topic. For we aspire to pursue a career in the field of Development Cooperation and deem cities and urban challenges as key issues in development agendas. 2. Introduction The present project reviews the condition of urban informality in Latin America and recommends a methodology to better address the slum question. This document is organized into six sections. First, the ‘State of Affairs’ compiles information on the present scenario of slums: a general overview of their challenges and how they are addressed. Second, the section of ‘Objectives and Research Questions’ establishes the lines that led our research activity and what we intended to accomplish through it. Third, in the “Methodology” we define the tools used and the process followed to achieve our objectives and answer our questions. Fourth, regarding the ‘Theoretical Framework’, this section engages in a discussion on concepts and literature review on urban informality, complemented with our own body of theory on slum upgrading. Fifth, we present the specificities of Latin America in dealing with slums and slum upgrading in the ‘Regional Background’. Sixth, our ‘Discussion and Analysis’ illustrates the practical effectiveness of what was theoretically displayed. At this stage, we examine the main findings of our research and critical reflection. Special focus is put into the essential human needs that slum upgrading should satisfy and into expounding our recommended methodology to achieve that. To this latter purpose, we have selected the ten Latin American slum upgrading programs that we consider to best illustrate this satisfaction of needs. Finally, the ‘Conclusion’ culminates the study by presenting the general lessons of our research, which in itself constitutes a proposal for future practices on the field. 1 3. State of Affairs There are a billion squatters in the world today, that is one in eight people. This figure is projected to increase to 1.5 billion by 2030 if the demographic, urban planning, and economic distribution dynamics do not change significantly (UN-Habitat, 2016: 2). Numbers continuously swelling, the slum problem remains a critical factor for the persistence of poverty in the world, reducing the efficiency of economic growth and stunting the human potential of many. Slums are a clear manifestation of many global deficiencies (e.g., unequal distribution or malfunctioning housing sectors). Their prevalence is not of poverty’s exclusivity, but can also be found in developed urban landscapes. On the face of this alarming situation, tackling the slum problem has been an integral part of the global development agenda for almost forty years. To begin with, a ‘slum household’ is a group of individuals living in an urban area, deprived of one or more of the following: lack of access to improved water source, lack of access to improved sanitation facilities, lack of sufficient living area, lack of housing durability and lack of security of tenure (UN-Habitat, 2006: 1). This definition was included in Goal 71 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which are eight international development objectives adopted by all UN members in the year 2000. The MDGs are a global compromise to reduce poverty and deprivation through collaborative action. Such joint action is the result of three influential happenings: the WB’s World Development Reports (1990-ongoing); the UNDP’s Human Development Reports (1990-ongoing); and the resume of UN Summits and Conferences (1990-ongoing). These events brought poverty back to the global agenda and devised strategies to eradicate it (Hulme, 2009: 9). In 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) replaced the MDGs, setting a renewed global agenda of seventeen social and economic development objectives to advance further in the fight against poverty. The challenge of slums was also reflected in the SDG Declaration, this time in Goals 11 and 162. The continuous presence of the slum question in the development agenda, indicates the importance globally assigned to the eradication of urban poverty. Nonetheless, it is necessary to note the inadequacies in the statistical base for measuring and monitoring progress on MDG and SDG targets. The bar for progress is set low, which allows ‘improved’ services to be recorded as ‘adequate’ or ‘significant’. The reasoning behind this is mainly economic: as settlements meet the low criteria to qualify as ‘adequate’ they stop requiring further urgent investment (Satterthwaite, 2016: 112; Satterthwaite, 2013). This large understatement of deficiencies is deceiving in establishing how much progress has been actually made and which is the real and current situation. 1 MDG 7: “To have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers” (UN General Assembly, 2000). 2 SDG 11: “By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums”; SDG 16: “To promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels” (UN General Assembly, 2015). 2 The presence of slums mainly finds its causes in rapid urbanization, elitist city planning, massive rural-urban migration, lack of land affordability, weak governmental institutions, discriminatory legal frameworks, and highly protected financial systems (Ferguson & Navarrete, 2003: 202; Esteves, 2012: 159; Rakodi, 1993: 207-215). Although the weak welfare state in most countries vastly exacerbates and contributes to the problem, the market logic equally resonates in the formation and persistence of urban informality (TECHO, 2015: 135). The industrialization stage of the last two centuries led cities to absorb a myriad of workers with no planning for their inclusion. Unable to afford properly serviced areas, the majority of the working class established spontaneous settlements on the peripheries in a quest to address their ‘right to the city’ and to housing. The lack of services in these areas is mainly due to the authorities’ inability to keep pace with rapid urban growth (Irazábal, 2009: 34). Their informal living, adjacent to economic opportunities, allows slum dwellers to make four contributions to national economies. These four aspects enable a kind of economic growth that makes formal cities richer and slum residents more vulnerable, their poverty perpetuated (Fernandes & Figueiredo, 2016: 185).