- Mumbai
- Cape Town
- Bogotá
- Curitiba
- México DF
- القاهرة | Cairo
Submitted by Carlin Carr — Mon, 09/23/2013 – 00:00
Carlin Carr, Mumbai Community Manager
The Dharavi Redevelopment Plan (DRP) stands physically at the center of the city and metaphorically at the nexus of a debate over the future of redevelopment. On the one hand is the government’s grand scheme to join hands with private developers to rehouse the poor in free 225-square-foot flats, using the leftover space to construct luxury buildings that can be sold at market rates. Activists who stand opposed to this model say the DRP fails to acknowledge that the issue is more complex: the one-square kilometer is also home to thousands of small-scale businesses, often sharing spaces with residential plots. The mixed-use, low-rise settlement is a typology that many neighborhoods all over the world envy.
The diverging stances can be traced to the early days of the DRP when no one knew much about Dharavi. The lack of accurate figures on who lives there, where they came from, and what services are available continues to this day — decades later — to be cause for speculation, despite many exercises in counting.
In a new book, Dharavi: The City Within, Kalpana Sharma traces the history of Dharavi in her essay, “A House for Khatija.” In it, she explains that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited the slum in 1985 — and, afterward, allotted Rs. 100 crore ($15million) to redevelop the area. The committee he appointed to draft a proposal — which was headed by Charles Correa, one of India’s most renowned architects — had essentially no data on which to base their ideas, since no mapping had ever been attempted there. Surprisingly, the committee thought a detailed exercise in data collection was too “painstaking,” and opted instead to hire the Hyderabad Remote Sensing Agency to do an aerial survey. From above, Dharavi looks like a sheet of cookies that have baked into one; it’s hard to distinguish where one house ends and another begins. The committee counted a population of 250,000 in Dharavi.
The real numbers were obviously much higher, and the National Slum Dwellers Federation (NSDF) and its partner organization SPARC knew this was a gross underestimation. Together, NSDF/SPARC launched a community-led census where they trained residents and, importantly, had them report back to their neighborhoods on a daily basis. Sharma says that transparency is extremely important in these exercises, as is trust. Households are more willing to give information to neighbors they know than to government-sent enumerators. Data from ration cards, voter registration lists, and rent lists also helped inform the final outcome. Not only did this survey produce vastly different numbers — calculating the population of the area at more than 600,000 in 1986 — but a bigger picture emerged as well: “…although Dharavi was being looked upon as one slum even by the planners, the residents did not see themselves as part of one settlement. Instead, each settlement had a distinct identity,” writes Sharma.
Importantly, the community-led survey informed the people, empowering them to better understand their position in the future of their settlement. The map that emerged told the story of land ownership, where businesses were and how long certain communities had lived on that land. With their new information in hand, residents formed a committee, Dharavi Vikas Samiti, which continues to fight for the community’s rights to this day.
The two very different approaches to collecting data in Dharavi illuminate the larger diverging viewpoints on the area’s future. Yet, the community-led exercise continues to be an important milestone, as residents could then begin to develop a narrative around what their own future should be, not simply based off of anecdotal ideas but hard evidence.
Photo credit: Senorhorst Jahnsen
Submitted by Tariq Toffa — Mon, 09/23/2013 – 00:00
Tariq Toffa, Cape Town Community Manager
Today at least two trajectories in contemporary mapping practices can be identified in South Africa (SA). The first is a ‘quantitative’ mapping (i.e. mapping more), necessitated by the scale and complexity of the modern city. The second — and less mainstream — trajectory is ‘qualitative’, engaging lived realities and needs on the ground rather than at a distance.
In an upgrading project of the informal settlement on Sheffield Road in the township of Philippi, on the periphery of Cape Town, a ‘qualitative’ practice was explored with some success. Formed in 1993, the dense settlement is strung out along a flood-prone road reserve and hence does not qualify for a government subsidy (see fig. 1). The upgrading of the settlement (2010-11) developed as the result of a successful partnership between a capacitated community, the South African SDI alliance (an alliance of NGOs affiliated to Shack/Slum Dwellers International and led by local NGO Ikhayalami), the City of Cape Town Informal Settlement Department and the University of Cape Town (UCT). The primary aim was to provide subsidised upgrading of shelters, ‘blocking-out’ of the settlement, and to deliver water and sewerage infrastructure in partnership with the City of Cape Town.
Ikhayalami’s primary focus area of upgrading informal shelters using affordable technical solutions was offset by a research/mapping and community engagement process coordinated and led by architect and urban designer Sadiq Toffa of UCT’s School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics in 2010. The process sought not to impose a foreign solution upon the community, but rather to respect, research and map the existing agency and structures already developed by the community (social, technical, and environmental), and to workshop these issues to develop expertise and proposals.
The method entailed making a measured-up planning survey and door-to-door interviews, thus making visible the sophisticated social and organisational systems at work on the ground. This included different social/functional spaces, responses to drainage and flooding, self-businesses, and the locations of larger families who would be difficult to relocate (see fig. 2 and 3). The concept of formations of ‘clusters’ of shelters also developed as opposed to a more conventional perimeter block type, which would have destroyed much of the local organisation. Adjustable models were built thereof to involve end-users in the design of their own environments, and community savings were also organised at cluster-level, building a collective and ownership (see fig. 4).
Sheffield Road marks a turn-around from the 2004 landmark “N2 Gateway Project,” a widely criticised, top-down upgrade of the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Cape Town. Sheffield Road, alternatively, is a landmark because it represents a partnership between the City of Cape Town, NGOs, and the community that resulted in the first successful bottom-up in situ upgrade. In the end, 13 ‘clusters’ were ‘blocked-out’, 169 shelters were upgraded, and 19 additional flushing toilets, 3 taps, and 4 drains were fitted — all without the uprooting of residents which the former project entailed.
Despite successes and lessons learned, many critical challenges remain. Different goals and methodologies exist amongst various stakeholders, creating cause for friction. Other obstacles include time and budgetary constraints; but for the spatial disciplines, crucially, also the pedagogical, intellectual and social research skills needed to undertake such work — the intensive yet unglamorous social science nature of the research/mapping being painfully at odds with typically individualistic and product-oriented disciplines. New urban questions will either create rethinking of conventional pedagogy, methodology, and modes of practice, or it is a new market for business as usual.
Images: Fig. 1: Aerial view (Ikhayalami). Fig. 2: A washing and drying area (Ikhayalami). Fig. 3: ‘Qualitative’ research/mappings (courtesy of Sadiq Toffa). Fig. 4: (Bolnick 2011)
Submitted by Jorge Bela — Mon, 09/23/2013 – 00:00
Jorge Bela, Gestor Comunitario de Bogotá
La concesión de subsidios a las poblaciones más desfavorecidas, sobre todo en el ámbito de los servicios públicos, es un mecanismo ampliamente utilizado en América latina para combatir la fuerte desigualdad social. En Colombia se ha utilizado un mecanismo singular: la división de las ciudades en estratos. Esta idea, que se empezó a considerar en los años 80, se comenzó a aplicar en las grandes ciudades a partir de la aprobación en 1994 de la ley de Servicios Públicos. Aunque el marco legal es estatal, las ciudades tienen un amplio margen a la hora de escoger los criterios concretos para determinar la estratificación dentro de sus perímetros urbanos. Bogotá se dividió en 6 estratos, el máximo permitido por la ley. El estrato 6 refleja un mayor poder adquisitivo, y el 1 el menor poder adquisitivo de la ciudad. Los residentes de los estratos 5 y 6 pagan una sobretasa en los servicios públicos, que se utiliza para subsidiar, de forma decreciente, los costes de los servicios para los residentes en estratos 1 a 3. En el estrato 4 los residentes pagan el precio real de los servicios. También se aplica una sobretasa si se supera un volumen máximo establecido.
Es muy importante recalcar que en la metodología utilizada para determinar los estratos no se tienen en cuenta los ingresos de los ciudadanos, sino una serie de características propias de los edificios en los que residen, observados al nivel de las manzanas en las que se ubican. Mediante un cuestionario se obtienen los datos referentes a las características físicas exteriores de la manzana y el nivel de desarrollo del entorno. Todos los datos se procesan utilizando un modelo estadístico, obteniéndose de esta forma el estrato correspondiente a cada vivienda. Los edificios comerciales o industriales no forman parte del sistema, y no reciben calificación.
El sistema de estratificación ofrece algunas ventajas claras: esquiva los problemas derivados de la alta fluctuación de los ingresos, especialmente marcada entre las poblaciones con menor poder adquisitivo. También es inmune al alto grado de fraude en la declaración de ingresos, muy frecuente entre las poblaciones con mayores recursos. Al utilizarse en conjunción con un tope máximo de consumo subsidiado, evita de forma efectiva los abusos. En este sentido el programa se considera un éxito, y ha permitido el acceso a los servicios públicos a amplios sectores de la población que de otra forma no los hubieran podido pagar.
Sin embargo, la estratificación tiene asociado el riesgo de la segregación de la población. El concepto de estrato ha sido asumido por parte de la población, y se suma al de barrio o clase social para calificar, y en algunos casos estigmatizar, a ciertos sectores de la población. También puede tener un impacto significativo en la movilidad geográfica dentro de la ciudad, ya que los residentes de los estratos subsidiados pueden ser renuentes a mudarse a estratos más altos debido a los elevados costos que la mudanza supone. Esto puede tener la consecuencia de alejar a un número importante de ciudadanos de sus lugares de trabajo, con la consiguiente sobrecarga en el transporte público, muy deficitario en Bogotá. Una vez más se comprueba como políticas públicas bien encaminadas tienen consecuencias imprevistas.
Foto: Secretaría de Planeación, Bogotá
Jorge Bela, Bogotá Community Manager
Subsidies are one of the most widely used tools in the fight against social inequality in Latin America. Utilities are often subsidized in one way or another. Colombia adopted a unique formula for the distribution of subsidies: the official stratification of housing. Under this system cities are legally divided in different layers or estratos (strata, in a literal translation). This idea originated in the 1980s, and was implemented with the enactment of the 1994 Ley de Servicios Publicos (a law regulating the utilities in Colombia). Under this law cities have considerable say in determining the specific criteria by which stratification is implemented. Bogotá was divided into six different layers, the maximum number allowed by law. Layer 6 represents the wealthiest areas in the city, while layer 1 represents the poorest sectors. Under the system, residents in layers 5 and 6 pay a surcharge in their utilities bill. This surcharge is used directly to subsidize the utilities to residents of layers 1, 2 and 3. Residents in layer 4 areas pay the real cost of the services. There is also a surcharge for heavy users of resources, to be paid once they reach their monthly maximum allowance.
A key aspect of this system is that the methodology used to determine the layer in which a housing unit is included does not take into consideration the income level of its inhabitants. Only physical characteristics of the buildings and its surroundings are considered. The data is collected by surveys. The city block is the unit used for the survey and the analysis. Once the data regarding the buildings and the level of development of the area in which the block is located is obtained, it is analyzed using complex statistical methods. The result is the assignation of a layer for each residential building. Commercial or industrial buildings are not included in the analysis.
The stratification system offers some clear advantages overs subsidy systems that take into account the income of their beneficiaries. It obviates the wide fluctuations in income over short periods of time, characteristic in lower income populations. It is also able to overcome the widespread fraud in income reporting, especially severe in the wealthier population. If used with a cap in subsidized consumption, it is unlikely to promote abuse. In Bogotá the program is widely credited with giving access to utilities to lower income sectors that would have been unable to afford it otherwise.
Stratification, nevertheless, has associated with it the risk of furthering segregation within the city. The concept of “layer” has permeated the perceptions of Bogotanos and often joins barrio or social class to identify and in occasion stigmatize certain sectors. It also has an impact in geographical mobility within the city, as the beneficiaries of subsidies are reluctant to move to buildings that might have a higher layer classification, as the cost of utilities would go up significantly. Many choose to remain in lower layer areas, further away from their workplaces, thus worsening the public transportation crisis that already plagues Bogotá. Once again, it becomes apparent that well-intentioned policies often bring about unintended consequences.
Photo credit: Secretaría de Planeación, City of Bogotá
Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Mon, 09/23/2013 – 00:00
Catalina Gomez, Coordenadora da Rede em Curitiba
A discussão desta semana sobre processos de mapeamento destaca o trabalho de Curitiba e sua metodologia de mapeio das comunidades beneficiadas pelos programas de melhoria de bairros. Aquele processo está liderado principalmente pelo governo local; as comunidades participam também mais com um papel de verificação de informação e apresentação de sugestões. Para algumas pessoas esta é uma abordagem de “cima para baixo”; para outras, existe um valor importante no amplo conhecimento das comunidades carentes por parte da Prefeitura e do papel fundamental dos assistentes sociais nas comunidades. Qual é sua opinião?
Similar a Rio e São Paulo, Curitiba, vem implantando programas de urbanização de favelas faz vários anos com o objetivo de melhorar as condições físicas e sociais dos bairros mais carentes da cidade. Estas iniciativas são lideradas pela Companhia de Habitação Popular de Curitiba (COHAB), responsável pela política e as intervenções de habitação da cidade.
Segundo estudos recentes sobre programas de melhoria de bairros no Brasil, existem duas etapas chave na fase inicial do melhoramento; a primeira é a definição das comunidades que serão intervindas assegurando que sejam apropriadas ambiental e economicamente para melhora continua; a segunda é o aprofundamento das condições de vida dos bairros que serão intervindos para assegurar que suas necessidades sejam tomadas em conta.
1. A escolha das áreas de intervenção é liderada pela COHAB em coordenação com a Secretaria Municipal de Planejamento e a Fundação de Ação Social (FAS). O trabalho conjunto destas instituições assegura uma melhor coordenação da todas as instituições envolvidas na melhoria de bairros. Estas instituições determinam os critérios de seleção das comunidades, considerando o orçamento disponível e critérios técnicos como as condições ambientais e sociais das áreas estudadas.
2. O mapeio das áreas de intervenção também é liderado pela COHAB, que conta com varias fontes de informação para aprofundar seu conhecimento das áreas de intervenção. Algumas destas fontes incluem a última versão do censo que tem boa informação de assentamentos informais. A FAS também gera informações estratégicas, por exemplo, com o Cadastro Único de Programas Sociais pode gerar mapas de concentração de pobreza na cidade. FAS também administra dados que permitem o mapeamento da infraestrutura e serviços sociais, tais como os postos de saúde, as escolas, os centros de referencia de assistência social, entre outras facilidades.
Embora todas estas informações disponíveis sejam atualizadas e relativamente adequadas, ainda falta a conexão com as pessoas. Por isso, COHAB, junto com a FAS e ONGs locais envolvem as comunidades desde as etapas iniciais para que elas mesmas complementem o mapeamento e confiram as informações coletadas. O principal vínculo entre o governo local e a sociedade civil são os trabalhadores e assistentes sociais da COHAB e da FAS, que operam continuamente nas comunidades. Eles asseguram que os diversos membros das comunidades estejam bem informados de todas as etapas do processo de melhoramento do bairro e facilitam o dialogo para que suas sugestões sejam escutadas durante todo o ciclo de projeto.
Foto: COHAB
Catalina Gomez, Curitiba Community Manager
This week’s discussion of mapping practices will focus on Curitiba and the way it conducts the mapping of communities for neighborhood upgrading interventions. The mapping process is led by the local government and involves the communities, mostly for verification of information and to address their main needs. Some may see this as a “top down approach”; others see the value added in the governments’ adequate knowledge of communities and the key role of social workers. We welcome your thoughts on this issue — please join the conversation below.
Like Rio and São Paulo, Curitiba has also been implementing urban upgrading interventions for years, aiming to improve the physical and social conditions of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. These initiatives have been led by Curitiba’s Public Housing Company, known as COHAB (Companhia de Habitação Popular de Curitiba), a municipal public entity responsible for all housing projects.
According to recent research on slum upgrading in Brazil, there are two key initial steps that are pivotal for the intervention’s success. First is the process of defining where to conduct the interventions, to ensure that these areas are environmentally and economically appropriate for continuous improvement. The second key step is to deepen the understanding of the conditions of each neighborhood, in order to address their specific needs in the urbanization process. Here are additional details about each of these steps:
1. Area selection: COHAB determines the areas of intervention, in collaboration with the Secretariat of Planning and the public entity responsible for social assistance work known as Fundação de Ação Social (FAS) By working together, these organizations bring knowledge of the city as a whole and ensure coordinated responses from the various government agencies involved in the upgrading process. These institutions define adequate neighborhood selection criteria, taking into account the available budget as well as technical aspects, such as environmental and social conditions.
2. Mapping the area of intervention: This process is also led by COHAB, which uses varied sources of information to deepen its knowledge about each neighborhood. Some of these sources include the latest version of the census, which has reliable socio-economic data about informal settlements. FAS provides strategic data from the Cadastro Unico, the national registry of social programs, which allows the areas of concentrated poverty to be mapped. In addition, FAS manages systems that enable easy mapping of social infrastructure and public services available in a specific area, such as family health posts, schools, social assistance centers, and youth training facilities.
But even with all this available, updated, and illustrative information, data is data and it tends to miss the “human connection.” That is why COHAB, in coordination with FAS and local NGOs and civic organizations, also involves communities, at the early stages of the upgrading process, to supplement the mapping project and to address information gaps. The main links between the local government and civil society are the numerous social workers from COHAB and FAS, who operate on an ongoing basis in the intervened communities, making sure that the residents are fully informed of each part of the urbanization process, and channeling their inputs and suggestions throughout the full project cycle.
Photo credit: COHAB
Submitted by Maria Fernanda Carvallo — Mon, 09/23/2013 – 00:00
María Fernanda Carvallo, Gestor Comunitario de Mexico D.F.
El mapeo comunitario acerca a las personas a su entorno para conocer su historia, necesidades y las propias narrativas de la comunidad para incidir en su desarrollo. En este sentido, el departamento de Ciencias del Comportamiento y del Desarrollo de la Universidad de las Américas en la Ciudad de México, desarrolló un mapeo comunitario para identificar la incidencia del entorno en la comunidad de Nezahualcóyotl, basado en la teoría ecológica de Urie Bronfenbrenner, quien sustenta que los sistemas y el ambiente local influyen el cambio de conducta en el sujeto y esto a su vez en el cambio de desarrollo en el entorno. Este estudio, realizado por Suzette Aglot, describió el proceso relacional entre el sujeto y la comunidad de San Agustín Atlapulco, y definió los factores que hacen vulnerable a esta comunidad. Así mismo, de acuerdo a la autora, una de las herramientas del análisis de la salud comunitaria es el proceso de mapeo ecológico social. Este proceso intenta representar las interrelaciones entre condiciones y eventos que tienen lugar en el ambiente inmediato del individuo (v.gr., la casa, la familia, y los amigos), así como en ambientes más amplios y distantes (v.gr., el trabajo, la escuela, los hospitales y la distribución de bienes y servicios del que toma parte).
Para llevar a cabo el estudio, se realizó una etnografía por medio de la identificación del contexto geográfico y de fuentes de información y observación (v.gr., miembros de la comunidad, visitas a la localidad y obtención de información bibliográfica). Además, los diversos insumos se analizaron de acuerdo a los diferentes sistemas del enfoque de Bronfenbrenner.
En primera instancia, la observación directa de la comunidad permitió identificar lo precario de los recursos de esta localidad que vive en carencia económica y social, así como la falta de infraestructura pública y de servicios. Por otra parte, en el entorno directo de la comunidad, se identificó que los vínculos significativos de los pobladores son la familia y los amigos. Es importante notar que la comunidad de Nezahualcóyotl no está conformada por gente oriunda; sino por emigrantes, lo cual crea grupos basados en semejanzas, y a veces grupos poco flexibles y en algunos casos exclusivos. De manera consecuente, en el entorno social se viven sesgos de atención a los diferentes grupos, lo cual genera problemas sociales y de salud (v.gr., alto índice de delincuencia y alcoholismo). Por otro lado, la comunidad no cuenta con escuelas de nivel medio superior en adelante que fungen como ámbitos naturales de encuentro. Esta falta de ámbito natural hace que los jóvenes requieran a utilizar otros sitios de reunión, como las tiendas de abarrotes que facilitan el consumo de drogas legales.
En este sentido, debido a que la localidad en estudio no comparte un mismo origen, se encuentran pocos indicadores de tradiciones compartidas. Esto genera la dificultad para establecer un proceso identitario y de mayor vulnerabilidad para la manifestación y solución de conflictos de carácter social.
El ejercicio del mapeo comunitario bajo un modelo ecológico, permitió identificar las variables faltantes de cohesión social, las cuales pueden generarse y fortalecerse a través de talleres de empoderamiento para generar estrategias de habilitación social, y de desarrollo local y comunitario. Si bien el entender, el entorno de una comunidad y sus lazos sociales dan muestra de un perfil psicosocial, y también permite la identificación de sus necesidades prioritarias para convertirse en una comunidad autogestiva de participación social y apoyo mutuo.
Fotos: Mexico Quarterly Review
María Fernanda Carvallo, Mexico City Community Manager
Community mapping brings people closer to their environment to understand its history, needs, and development. The Department of Social and Developmental Sciences of the Universidad de las Américas of Mexico City developed a community mapping project based on Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory to identify the impact of the environment in the Nezahuacóyotl community. Bronfenbrenner’s theory states that systems and the local environment influence the subject’s change in behavior, which in turn changes the development of the environment. Suzette Aglot conducted a study in San Agustín Atlapulco, located in Nezahualcóyotl, to describe this process between the subject and the community, as well as the factors that make the community vulnerable. According to Aglot, the process of social ecological mapping is a tool of community health analysis. This process attempts to represent the interrelations between conditions and events that take place in the immediate environment of the individual (e.g., home, family and friends), as well as in broad and distant environments (e.g., work, school, hospitals).
To carry out the study, an ethnography was done by identifying the geographic context, observation, and sources of information (e.g., community members, local visits, and obtaining bibliographic information). In addition, the various inputs were analyzed according to the different systems of Bronfenbrenner’s approach.
The observation of the community identified the precariousness of resources in this town living in social and economic deprivation and with limited public infrastructure and services. The study also concluded that family and friends were significant links for the inhabitants. It is important to note that the Nezahualcóyotl community is not made up of native people, but of migrants. This means that groups form based on similarities, but they are sometimes inflexible, and in some cases fully exclusive. The biases in the different groups lead to health and social problems, like high crime rates and alcoholism. The community lacks secondary education schools that would serve the youth as common meeting places. Consequently, the youth use grocery stores as alternative meeting locations, facilitating the consumption of legal drugs.
Since the residents of the community do not share the same origin, there are few indicators of shared traditions. This makes it difficult to establish a self-identification process, and increases vulnerability for the expression and resolution of social conflicts.
The ecological community mapping model has made it possible to identify the missing social cohesion variables, which can now be developed and strengthened through empowerment workshops, in order to produce social adaptation tools and community strategies. Additionally, a community’s environment and its social ties are evidence of a psychosocial profile that identifies the main needs of the community so that it can become self-managed with social participation and mutual support.
Photos: Mexico Quarterly Review
Submitted by Mohamed Adel — Mon, 09/23/2013 – 00:00 
Mohamed Adel, Cairo Community Manager
منصة المبادرات العمرانية بالقاهرة، موقع أطلقه مختبر عمران القاهرة للتصميم والدراسات “كِلَسّتَر” مؤخراً باللغتين العربية والإنجليزية، “تضم المنصة مبادرات متعددة في الهندسة المعماريّة والفنون والتنمية العمرانيّة والمبادرات الحقوقية وتلك متعددة التخصصات التي تتناول موضوعات تتعلّق بالمدينة والبيئة العمرانيّة والمساحات العامّة في القاهرة.” عبر استخدام خريطة تفاعلية تتيح للمستخدمين إضافة مبادرات جديدة كنوع من الخرائط التعاونية.
تعود بداية الخرائط التعاونية في مصر على الأرجح مع انطلاق خريطة التحرش الجنسي في ديسمبر/ كانون الأول 2010، وتهدف الخريطة المبنية على منصة يوشاهيدي المجانية والمفتوحة المصدر إلى رصد التحرش الجنسي في مصر من خلال تقارير تُرسل عبر الموقع الإلكتروني للخريطة أو عبر رسائل المحمول النصية. تؤمن المبادرة بإمكانية “…أن تساعد كثيرا في دعم العمل وجها لوجه مع المجتمع لتعبئة الجمهور للتحدث ضد التحرش الجنسي.” في العام الماضي حصلت المبادرة على لقب أفضل استخدام للتكنولوجيا للمصلحة العامة من جوائز أفضل المدونات (بوبز) من مؤسسة دويتشه فيله.
تبعت عدة مبادرات خريطة التحرش الجنسي معتمدين على منصة يوشاهيدي لأغراض مختلفة تعددت من رصد أماكن تظاهرات ثورة 25 يناير أو رصد أماكن انقطاع الكهرباء وحتى رصد الجرائم وأعمال الفساد والرشاوي. انتشرت الخرائط التعاونية ليس فقط في مصر بل في مختلف البلدان العربية أيضاً.
تعد منصة المبادرات العمرانية بالقاهرة تجربة فريدة جداً حيث تتيح المنصة لأي شخص يستطيع الوصول للإنترنت رصد، تعديل أو مجرد إضافة بيانات المبادرات دون توقيعها على الخريطة حيث كثير من المبادرات لا مكان لها على الاطلاق (تنشر المعلومات والبيانات بعد مراجعتها). بالإضافة إلى دليل إلكتروني، شيء أشبه بدليل يلوبيدجز الشهير؛ لكن أكثر إنفتاحاً للمجتمع بالإضافة إلى تقويم أو أجندة برامج وفعليات، وهو أمر كانت لفترة طويلة تقوم به بعض المدونات أو المواقع، وتم بناء هذا الدليل نتيجة تفاعل بين المبادرات والمنظمات والأفراد العاملين في المساحات العامة.
أقامت كلستر لقاءات سابقة لإطلاق الموقع مع الأفراد والمنظمات. جمع اللقاء الأول بين المؤسسات والمنظمات المعنية في القاهرة لعدة جلسات للتوصل إلى الفرص والتحديات المحتملة التي تواجه المبادرات العمرانية وتمت دعوة الحضور للمشاركة في إعداد دليل منصة المبادرات العمرانية.
جمع اللقاء الثاني المعماريين والفنانين المرتبطين بشكل مباشر بالمساحات والفراغات العامة للحديث حول القوانين واللوائح التي تحكم الممارسات في المساحات العامة وحقوق المجتمع، كذلك قضايا الفعليات الثقافية في المساحات أو الساحات العامة والتعاون بين الفنانين والمعماريين في هذا الشأن.
تم إطلاق النسخة التجريبية للموقع يوم 30 من مارس/ آذار، 2013. الموقع متميز، جذاب ولافت للإنتباه بألوان متعددة تمثل مختلف أنواع المبادرات التي تتضمن أكاديمية/ بحثية، المطورون العقاريون، الفن/ الثقافة، مبادرات حقوقية، مدونات/ إعلام، الهندسة المعمارية/ العمران، هيئات حكومية، وكالات دولية، مساحات عامة؛ يمكن للمستخدمين ترتيب المبادرات بواسطة الإسم، مجال التخصص، الأنشطة، أو الموارد.
تتضمن التصنيفات أيضاً تنمية المجتمع، الأفلام، التراث، حق السكن، الأدب، الموسيقى، التواصل، الفنون الحركية، التصوير، الحيز العام، الاستدامة، التكنولوجيا، والفنون الحركية.
في مراجعة مُبكرة للخريطة وموقع المنصة نُشرت في 15 من مايو/أيار 2013، علق محمد الشاهد: “على الرغم من كون الألوان المختلفة لتوقيع المبادرات جذابة للوهلة الأولى إلا أنها لا توضح على الفور الاختلاف في الوظائف”.
يضيف: “ربما من المفيد إضافة تصنيف بلون آخر للمتاحف الرسمية والأماكن والساحات الثقافية الأخرى التي تديرها الدولة بعضها خالية وقد تستخدمها المبادرات المستقلة لإجراء فعليات وبرامج. تؤكد الخريطة الحالية لمنصة المبادرات العمرانية بالقاهرة على حجب هذه الإمكانيات الخفية عبر تسليط الضوء فقط على الأماكن الفنية والثقافية المستقلة النشطة والفعالة.”
بمجرد زيارة الموقع الآن، يظهر لنا على الفور مفتاح للألوان الموجودة على الخريطة لتوضيح دلالات هذه الألوان ووظائف كل منها.
تتيح المنصة للمبادرات والمنظمات إدارة ومتابعة البيانات الخاصة بهم ونشر الفعليات عبر حسابات مُفعلة للمستخدمين، كما يوجد على الموقع دليل خطوة بخطوة لاستخدام نظام إدارة المحتوى الخاص بالمنصة لتحميل المعلومات.
بدعم من مؤسسة فورد والمجلس الثقافي البريطاني، رغم حداثتها وكونها في طورها الأول تعتبر منصة المبادرات العمرانية بالقاهرة قاعدة بيانات فريدة من نوعها تصنف المبادرات والمنظمات وتقدمها للمهتمين خاصة المهتمين بمجال العمران والمساحات العامة في القاهرة بالإضافة إلى أجندة فعليات يتم تحديثها لمتابعة ماذا يحدث وأين يحدث. يستحق هذا المشروع المُبشر مزيد من الانتباه والدعم حتى يصبح أكثر إنفتاحاً للعامة ويكون أداة رائدة للمنفعة والمصلحة العامة.
Mohamed Adel, Cairo Community Manager
The Cairo Urban Initiatives Platform (CUIP) is a newly-launched bilingual Arabic/English online platform produced by the Cairo Lab for Urban Studies, Training and Environmental Research (CLUSTER). It “includes the multiple architecture, art, advocacy, urban development, and interdisciplinary initiatives addressing issues related to the city, the urban environment and public space in Cairo,” and uses an interactive map that allows users to list new initiatives in a crowdmapping project.
Crowdmapping in Egypt started in December 2010 with the launch of Harassmap, which maps sexual harassment in Egypt through reports sent via website and text messages, based on the free and open-source Ushahidi platform. This initiative “… help[s] support face-to-face community action to mobilize the public to speak up against sexual harassment.” Last year, Harrasmap was awarded Best Use of Technology for Social Good from Deutsche Welle’s The Bobs (Best of Online Activism).
Other mapping initiatives were created following Harassmap, and are based on the Ushahidi platform, with purposes ranging from mapping the January 25th protests to Egypt Blackouts to crime and corruption. These initiatives are not only based in Egypt, but in the entire Arab World.
CUIP is a unique experiment as anyone with Internet access can map, edit, or add initiatives (information is published upon review). The platform even incorporates projects without a precise location. CUIP offers an online directory, somewhat similar to the well-known YellowPages, but more open to community. It includes a calendar of events (which for a long time only existed on some blogs and websites) based on further interaction between initiatives, organizations, and individuals that work with public space.
Prior to the launch of the website, Cluster held meetings with individuals and organizations. Their first program brought stakeholders in Cairo together for multiple sessions in order to come up with the probable opportunities and challenges facing urban initiatives, and ended with an invitation to participants to create CUIP’s directory.
The second program brought architects and artists in direct engagement with public space to address the involved laws and regulations governing practice in public space and community rights, issues of cultural events in public space, and collaboration between artists and architects in public space.
Beta launch took place on March 30, 2013. The website was designed to be interesting and catchy, with different colors for each type of initiative, including academia/research, real estate developers, art/culture, advocacy, discursive media, architecture/urbanism, governmental institutions, international agencies and public spaces. Users can also sort initiatives by name, focus, activity, or resource. Categories also include crafts, cultural development, film, heritage, literature, music, networking, performing arts, photography, public space, sustainability, technology, and visual arts.
In an early review of the program published on 15 May 2013, Mohamed Elshahed commented: “The color coding system while attractive at first impression doesn’t immediately translate into a clear distinction of theme or function”.
He adds: “It would be useful to include perhaps another color-coded category for official museums and other state-managed cultural spaces some of which sit empty and could potentially be used for events and programs by independent initiatives. The current map perpetuates the invisibility of this latent potential by only highlighting the active and energetic independent arts and culture scene.”
Visiting the platform now, one can see that the color legend appears immediately to notify the user about the color coding system.
CUIP allows initiatives and organizations to manage and maintain their own data and to post events through confirmed user accounts. There is a step-by-step guide for using the platform content management system to upload information.
Supported by the Ford Foundation and the British Council, CUIP is in its early phase but is already considered a unique and robust database, listing initiatives and organizations for anyone who deals with urbanism and public spaces in Cairo, and with an updated events calendar. This project has big potential and deserves to receive more attention and support in order to become more open to the public and to be a pioneering tool for social good.
Photo credit: CUIP