Land titles have a big impact on the lives of the poor: without them, residents of informal or marginalized communities are in constant fear of relocation or demolition, and are prevented from benefiting from the land’s productive uses. Housing tenure gives slum residents a guaranteed right to the land and their properties, and enables them to make investments that improve their living conditions. The following articles describe four initiatives in Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, and Bangalore that are working to resolve the tricky issue of land titling. Read on to learn more, and then join the discussion below.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Jorge Bela, Gestor Comunitario de Bogotá
Uno de los principales frenos al desarrollo de los asentamientos irregulares es la falta de títulos de propiedad por parte de sus ocupantes. En Colombia, donde los conflictos armados que se prolongan desde hace décadas han sumado un número significativo de desplazados por la violencia a los flujos migratorios observados en toda Latinoamérica, este problema tiene una especial gravedad. Para atajar este problema en el año 2005 se aprobó una ley que permitía la transferencia gratuita de predios fiscales, o de titularidad pública, que hubieran sido ocupados antes de 2001. El alcance de esta ley deja fuera del proyecto de titulación a los asentamientos edificados sobre predios de propiedad privada.
Uno de los proyectos mas exitosos dentro de este programa se está realizando en Bogotá. Se trata de un asentamiento informal extendido sobre 70 hectáreas en las localidades Álvaro Uribe Uribe y Suba, y en el que vivían más de 5.000 familias. El proyecto fue lanzado en 2008 y en la actualidad se han entregado ya 4.200 títulos. El proyecto es singular por su tamaño, es el mayor de Colombia, y por el alto porcentaje de éxito conseguido con el mismo. Alejandro Quintero, coordinador del Grupo de Titulación y Saneamiento Predial del Ministerio de Vivienda considera que el proyecto constituye un modelo a seguir en otras ciudades, y ya tienen previsto aplicarlo en a Cúcuta y Melgar.
Los terrenos eran propiedad del Estado colombiano, lo que requirió una serie de actos legales para facilitar su cesión: incluso el Presidente tuvo que emitir un acto administrativo para ceder en primera instancia la propiedad al ministerio de vivienda, quien con posterioridad lo transfirió a la Alcaldía de Bogotá. Fue la Alcaldía, a través de a Secretaría Distrital del Habitat quien se encargó del complejo proceso de entrega de títulos. A pesar de la dificultad jurídica de la operación y de la diferente orientación política de las administraciones local y nacional, la relación entre ambas ha sido fluida en este proyecto, según afirmó Alejandro Quintero.
Aunque la asignación de títulos es relativamente costosa, pues se requiere un certificado de plano predial, el avalúo del inmueble y otros gastos, gran parte de estos se cubrieron gracias a un préstamo del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, que acompañó al Ministerio de la Vivienda en este proyecto. Aunque los habitantes de los asentamientos en un principio recibieron las visitas de los funcionarios, que se acercaban a sus viviendas para recabar datos, con recelo, pronto se solventaron estos problemas de confianza. Las viviendas ubicadas en zonas de alto riesgo, como quebradas, o en el ámbito de seguridad de la cárcel de la Picota, fueron excluidas, y sus habitantes incluidos en un proceso de reubicación. Tampoco se entregaron títulos a las personas que hubieron obtenido la vivienda mediante fraude o extorsión, ni a las que excedían de un valor de 79.000.000 COP (unos 40.000US).
Al tiempo que se entregaban los títulos, se realizó un proyecto de regulación urbanística y otro de mejoramiento de viviendas. Para Alejandro Quintero los efectos de todas estas intervenciones han sido rotundos: los habitantes de los 14 barrios que resultaron tienen una mayor calidad de vida, gozan de una mayor seguridad jurídica, quedan más lejos de la pobreza al tener un patrimonio que les permite respaldar actividades económicas, y generan ingresos fiscales nuevos para Bogotá. Para el 15 de noviembre han organizado un Foro Internacional de Titulación en el que esperan intercambiar experiencias con otros países de la región.
Jorge Bela, Bogotá Community Manager
Lack of property titles is one of the most significant barriers to development and poverty reduction in informal settlements. This problem is particularly serious in Colombia, where people displaced by several decades of armed conflict have joined the large number of immigrants for economic reasons in creating the largest number of informal settlements in Latin America. A law enacted in 2005 sought to tackle, at least partially, this problem by allowing for free transfer of property to informal residents. The scope of the law was limited to settlements established on public land before 2001, thus excluding all settlements on private land.
One of the most successful programs undertaken under this law is in its final stages of implementation in Bogotá. It covered a huge informal settlement, 70 hectares in total, over the Usme and Álvaro Uribe wards, with over 5,000 families living there. The project was launched in 2008, and 4,200 property titles have been issued so far. The project is unique because of its size and the high rate of success. Alejandro Quintero, coordinator of the group in charge of the project in the Ministerio de la Vivienda, believes it can serve as a model for other cities, and Ministerio is in the process of launching similar ones in Cúcuta and Melgar.
The settlement’s land was owned by the central Colombian Government, which presented unique legal challenges. A Presidential decree was necessary first to transfer the property to the Ministerio de la Vivienda, which in turn transferred it to the City of Bogotá. The City, through its Secretaría Distrital del Habitat was then in charge of the complex process of issuing individual titles to settlers. Despite the legal difficulties and the fact that the city and national governments were controlled by opposing political parties, the cooperation between them has been mostly smooth, according to Mr. Quintero.
Even if the land is transferred for free, there are significant expenses associated with the process, which can be prohibitive for settlers. It is necessary, for example, to issue certificates of land registry, and to make price appraisals for each house. The Inter American Development Bank gave a loan to the Ministerio de la Vivienda to cover these costs, thus further facilitating the process. Although the residents were initially reluctant to provide the exhaustive information necessary to obtain the titles, soon a trusting relationship was established between then and the authorities. Houses located in high-risk areas, such as riverbanks, or too close to the Picota jail — the largest in Bogotá — were demolished, and the affected families where included in a relocation program. People who had obtained their houses through violence or fraud, as well as houses worth over 79,000,000 COP (about $40,000), were also excluded from the process.
At the same time that the titles were being issued, urban planning and housing improvement projects were implemented. Alejandro Quintero believes that the result of all these initiatives has been clear: the inhabitants of the 14 neighborhoods resulting from the mass regularization of the informal settlements enjoy higher living standards, have stronger legal protection, are further away from poverty as they now have assets they can use to back economic activities, and generate new fiscal income for the city. On November 15th, the Ministerio de Vivienda will hold a seminar in order to share this experience with other countries in the region.
Catalina Gomez, Coordenadora da Rede em Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro está avançando na expansão efetiva da titulação de terras e beneficiando a sua população mais vulnerável. Esta direção positiva é o resultado da implementação do programa habitacional Minha Casa Minha Vida e do programa de melhoramento de bairros Morar Carioca.
Minha Casa Minha Vida está focado em apoiar famílias de baixa renda na aquisição de moradia nova e na provisão do seu título de posse. O programa foi criado em 2009 e conta com a liderança e financiamento do Ministério das Cidades. Este ministério tem construído mais de um milhão de unidades habitacionais no Brasil e tem previsão de entregar mais dois milhões até 2014. Especificamente no Rio, Minha Casa Minha Vida é liderado em parceria pelas secretarias de habitação dos governos estadual e municipal; até hoje já fizeram entrega de mais de 60 mil moradias novas construídas em espaços regularizados, garantindo condições legais, habitacionais e ambientais adequadas.
Morar Carioca complementa estes esforços focando-se no apoio da população que mora em assentamentos irregulares por médio de intervenções de melhoramento de bairros, expansão de serviços sociais e a promoção da regularização fundiária e a entrega de títulos de posse. O programa que foi lançado a partir de 2010 é liderado pela Secretaria Municipal de Habitação em coordenação com outras instituições.
Especificamente sobre os processos de regularização e titulação realizados pelo Morar Carioca, vale ressaltar a complexidade daqueles processos; eles envolvem vários procedimentos burocráticos que levam meses em concluir, tais como: (i) registro das terras e seu uso; (ii) pesquisa e registro socioeconômico dos beneficiários; (iii) preparação da documentação legal e delimitação; e (iv) autorização dos títulos de posse. Todos estes trâmites são feitos com um número limitado de pessoal especializado, o que ressalta a necessidade de fortalecer os recursos humanos nesta área.
Embora a regularização fundiária e a titulação sejam processos complexos e longos, Morar Carioca tem conseguido avançar na entrega de resultados com mais de 50 mil famílias beneficiadas com títulos de posse. Parte do sucesso do processo é a criação de varias unidades de informação nas comunidades beneficiarias que providenciam assistência e apoio para as famílias durante o ciclo de regularização e titulação.
Ainda com os resultados bem sucedidos destes programas, existem dois desafios principais. O primeiro destaca a necessidade de reduzir os tempos de regularização e titulação para que sejam mais efetivos e menos burocráticos. O segundo, ainda mais complexo é a necessidade de fortalecer os direitos dos cidadãos que não tem documentação legal de propriedade suas terras e estão sendo expulsas para dar espaço às obras relacionadas com a Copa e as Olimpíadas.
Foto: Secretaria de Estado de Habitação de Rio de Janeiro
Catalina Gomez, Rio de Janeiro Community Manager
Rio de Janeiro is actively moving forward with the expansion of effective land titling for its most vulnerable citizens. This positive trend is the result of the implementation of programs such as Minha Casa Minha Vida, the national housing program, and Morar Carioca, the city’s urban upgrading program.
Minha Casa Minha Vida (My House My Life) supports low-income, first-time home buyers with the provision of affordable and flexible home-buying schemes, as well as though the provision of land titles upon the receipt of their new homes. The program, which was launched in 2009, is funded by the Ministry of the Cities; since then it has delivered more than one million houses throughout Brazil, and is expected to deliver two million more by 2014. In Rio, Minha Casa Minha Vida is implemented in partnership between the state and municipal housing secretariats. To date, these institutions have delivered more than 60,000 new units (and have announced 40,000 more for next year), all which have been constructed in formal spaces, with adequate legal, urban, and environmental conditions.
Morar Carioca complements these efforts by supporting residents of informal settlements. The program works to upgrade neighborhood conditions, expand social services, and conduct regularization and titling services. Morar Carioca has been in place since 2010 and is led by the city’s Secretariat of Housing, in coordination with other local government bodies.
With regard to the land regularization procedures and title provisions provided by Morar Carioca, it is worth noting that these processes aren’t as straightforward as many would think; they involve various bureaucratic procedures that sometimes take months to complete. These steps include (i) registering land extension and use; (ii) carrying out socio-economic profiles and registry of beneficiaries; (iii) preparing legal paperwork for land delimitation; and (iv) authorizing and issuing proper land titles. All of these tasks are carried out by a limited number of officers, demonstrating the need to strengthen related human and technical capacities in this field.
Although land regularization and titling are complex and time-consuming processes, Morar Carioca is moving forward with the delivery of land titles and legal tenure services. As of June 2013, there have been around 50,000 families who have benefited from land regularization and legal tenure services. Pivotal to the program’s successful land regularization process has been the establishment of information desks in each beneficiary neighborhood, so that residents can receive guidance on the regularization procedures and further completion of the titling process.
Although these two programs are well established and have been effective in delivering successful results, there are two main challenges ahead. The first is the need to make land regularization procedures more effective and less bureaucratic. The second is the need to properly address the rights of residents, including those without legal documentation. This is particularly relevant in a context of reported displacements of low-income families without proper land tenure in order to make room for World Cup and Olympic Games facilities.
Photo credit: Secretaria de Estado de Habitação de Rio de Janeiro
Tariq Toffa, Johannesburg Community Manager
In South Africa, the government’s response to the characteristically peri-urban poverty of informal settlement (between 1.7 million and 2.5 million households) has occurred within the paradigm of individual title (subsidised housing), the conventional route for informal settlement upgrading in the country. Despite well-intentioned policies, however, this ownership model is far removed from lived realities; where many households are condemned to either waiting patiently for state-subsidised housing or to land occupation, while others cannot access the state subsidy, such as foreign nationals and the poor-but-not-poor-enough-to-qualify. In the longer term, the model could even be said to lock poor people into marginal locations.
Reflecting global trends over the last decade, however, a more flexible approach is also emerging, as represented by the Urban LandMark (Urban Land Markets Programme Southern Africa) programme, which advocates for opening up more officially recognised channels of land supply as a primary means for improving the pro-poor access to and functioning of urban land markets, and the benefits that flow from it. Based in Pretoria, the programme was set up in 2006 with funding from the UK’s Department for International Development (UKaid), and is now hosted at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa.
While an emphasis on individual ownership rights represents one approach to tenure; a second approach emphasises the administrative and legal mechanisms to tenure security as a first step towards official recognition. The Urban LandMark model, in seeking to realistically provide increasing levels of security during the period between informal settlement of an area and the delivery of ownership (through the housing subsidy), incorporates elements of both views. This incremental approach is probably the most distinctive feature of the model.
A second and integral aspect of this approach is context specificity. By recognising existing local practices in land management (how land is accessed, held, traded, etc.), more appropriate responses that enhance community agency are built. Co-funded by the Cities Alliance Catalytic Fund with UKaid, Urban LandMark researched little-understood, local practices in six poorer urban areas in Southern Africa in order to provide guidance on incrementally securing different routes to tenure in informal settlement upgrading (or “regularisation”). In Johannesburg, from 2009 the City worked closely with Urban LandMark in the City’s Regularisation programme. Tenure security was provided to informal settlements through legalising the land use, allowing them to be upgraded in situ in an incremental way until they can be formally developed. This legal innovation entailed an amendment to the zoning scheme, and resulted in some 23 settlements being declared as transitional areas in 2009.
A third important — though not emphasised — aspect of the incremental approach is the potential role accorded to space; for recognising local practices also means engaging the socio-spatial relationships that underpin them. Since municipal registers of informal settlement occupants have already been found to play a role in the land market, by linking it to the actual spaces through which practice occurs (e.g. layout plans), they may become an important hybrid resource for tenure security, and economic and social functions.
Although the delivery of ownership will likely remain a national objective for some time, given the magnitude of informal settlements, alternative approaches remain crucial. However, land use and allocation in Southern Africa remains a highly political issue. It remains to be seen how perceptions of interim-focused models will fare in the long term, against the evidence of past provisions and current expectations of formal housing.
Fig. 1: Different routes to greater tenure security. Fig. 2: Street and shack numbering: one mechanism for incrementally securing tenure. Both photos by Urban LandMark.
Carlin Carr, Bangalore Community Manager
Housing tenure can have a transformative impact on the lives of the poor. The security of ownership rights opens pathways for slum dwellers themselves to upgrade their living environments without fear of relocation or demolition. Beyond improved structural environments, tenure security also leads to improved health conditions, education levels and income levels. In this sense, housing tenure’s ripple effects make it one of the single most important aspects of improving the lives of slum dwellers.
Yet housing tenure is a complicated issue. India’s most recent policy to tackle urban poverty and create “slum-free cities,” Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), recognizes the importance of tenure in creating inclusive cities, but has run into obstacles. RAY’s main tenet is “the security of tenure through entitlement.” In order to enforce this, the policy states that no Central Government support will be given to states which do not give legal entitlement to slum dwellers. The progressive mandate, however, has been less than well received from local governments, leaving RAY in a state of stagnation. “Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) has failed to take off, with states expressing reluctance to comply with mandatory provisions for availing central funds under the scheme such as according property rights to slum dwellers and earmarking 25% of the municipal budget for spending in colonies and slums where the urban poor live,” says a 2012 article in the Hindustan Times. Policymakers have had to revisit the strict mandates to encourage movement with the scheme.
At meeting of over 100 policymakers, academics and practitioners at the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology in Ahmedabad, the participants broke down into working groups and devised strategies and recommendations for providing land tenure in RAY’s policy on slum-free cities. Here are a few key recommendations:
- Review land ownership patterns: It’s essential to start from a point of identification in the land tenure process. Many tenure issues arise from slums being on private lands or on public lands designated for other uses. It’s important to advocate for bringing all parties — owners and residents — together to negotiate the process and devise mechanisms and strategies for residents to gain rights to tenure.
- Provide tenure at the slum level: Giving land tenure at the slum level rather than the individual level reduces the likelihood that the tenure will be misused.
- Ensure basic services are available: Whether the slum has tenure rights or not, basic services should be extended to all the slums. There was a consensus by the group that there should be universal coverage of basic services in all the slums.
- Involve the community in the process: While “community participation” has become a great buzzword around urban poverty policies and interventions, there are few, if any, institutional mechanisms in place to ensure the participatory process. The CEPT working group suggests that the community must be involved from data collection to the design of the scheme — be it tenure rights or otherwise — to monitoring of the intervention once it’s in place.
RAY is set to launch now and will be in the implementation phase from 2013-2022. The coming decade will be one to watch in India. RAY’s success, in the end, can only be measured by whether India’s cities have become more inclusive and equitable — not simply if they are slum-free.
Photo credit: University of Salford Press Office
Menyelesaikan masalah banjir rutin (dan kemacetan jalan) bisa merupakan tes akhir bagi setiap gubernur Jakarta. Sejak hari pertama di kantornya Jokowi dan Ahok telah menjadikan penanganan banjir sebagai prioritas utama. Mereka sangat menyadari dampak banjir yang dapat mematikan dan membuat Jakarta menjadi lumpuh. Diantara berbagai cara mengurangi dampak banjir adalah mengembalikan fungsi dam dam yang semula merupakan daerah penampungan air. Baca lebih lanjut.
Migrasi masyarakat pedesaan ke daerah perkotaan merupakan fenomena umum. Dengan alasan keterdesakan ekonomi mereka hijrah ke kota demi perbaikan kesejahteraan keluarga. Umumnya mereka datang karena telah memiliki saudara atau teman yang sudah lebih dahulu tinggal di kota. Kerap para pendatang mengalami kebingungan karena harus menyesuaikan diri di wilayah baru perkotaan. Keruwetan kota dan sistem nilai yang berbeda membuat mereka tidak nyaman dengan kehidupan kota. Di tempat yang baru mereka juga dibenturkan dengan kendala ekonomi dan kesulitan mencari pekerjaan seperti yang mereka harapkan. Bantuan kelompok pendatang yang sudah mandiri di kota yang berasal dari daerah yang sama kerap menjadi solusi atas permasalahan bagi mereka yang baru sampai di kota. Ikatan persaudaraan dan bantuan ekonomi yang ditawarkan oleh kelompok ini membantu para pendatang untuk menyesuaikan diri secara budaya dan ekonomi dengan kehidupan dan tantangan di kota. Baca lebih lanjut atau bergabung dalam diskusi.
Sejarah Indonesia terlibat dalam Kerjasama Selatan-Selatan (KSS) atau dikenal dengan South-South Cooperation (SSC) dimulai sejak pelaksanaan Konferensi Asia Afrika di Bandung pada tahun 1955. Konferensi ini memiliki peran penting dalam mendorong kerjasama yang saling menguntungkan antar negara-negara berkembang. Pertemuan ini merupakan cikal bakal terbentuknya Gerakan Non-Blok pada tahun 1961 dan Kelompok 77 tahun 1964. Salah satu hasil dari kerjasama mereka adalah pembentukan Pusat gerakan Non Blok untuk Kerjasama Teknis Selatan-Selatan (Non-Aligned Movement Centre for South-South Technical Cooperation – NAM-CSSTC) dalam rangka mempercepat pembangunan di negara-negara berkembang atas inisiatif Indonesia dan Brunei Darussalam. Sejak tahun 1981 Pemerintah Indonesia mulai aktif mengadakan kerjasama teknis dengan membentuk Indonesian technical Cooperation Program (ITCP) yang bertujuan untuk berbagi pengalaman dan pengetahuan Indonesia tentang pembangunan yang dianggap sukses di Indonesia melalui program pelatihan dan pertukaran ahli di Indonesia dengan dukungan dari negara lain dan donor internasional. Baca lebih lanjut atau bergabung dalam diskusi.
SEA GAMES merupakan perhelatan akbar olah raga se-Asia Tenggara yang diikuti oleh 11 negara dan pertama kali diselenggarakan pada tahun 1959 di Bangkok, Thailand. Indonesia sendiri sudah 4 kali menjadi tuan rumah SEA GAMES yaitu pada tahun 1979, 1987, 1997, dan 2011. Tentunya terpilihnya Indonesia menjadi penyelenggara Sea Games merupakan kebanggaan tersendiri dan diharapkan akan memberi dampak positif dari sisi ekonomi dan turisme misalnya. Pelaksanaan SEA GAMES ke 26 ini dilaksanakan di dua tempat yaitu Jakarta dan Palembang. Jakarta pada umumnya menjadi tuan rumah tunggal dalam pelaksanaan Sea Games, namun kini menggandeng Palembang sebagai pelaksana Sea Games berdasar atas kesiapan kota tersebut dan komitmen pemerintah Palembang dalam melaksanakan event besar ini. Baca lebih lanjut atau bergabung dalam diskusi.
Salah satu dampak yang tidak direncanakan dari kebijakan pembangunan ekonomi dan strategi rekayasa politik Orde Baru Suharto adalah fenomena menggelembungnya sektor informal di perkotaan. Secara akademik istilah sektor informal diperkenalkan pada tahun 1970an sebagai kelanjutan dari diskusi luas tentang isu-isu “urban bias” dan “why poor stay poor” argument utama dari Michael Lipton. Baca lebih lanjut.
Fenomena anak jalanan (Anjal) merupakan permasalahan sosial yang hadir terutama di kota-kota besar. Menurut data Kementerian Sosial RI (Kemensos) saat ini di Indonesia secara keseluruhan terdapat sekitar 4,5 juta anak terlantar. Untuk Jakarta sendiri anak terlantar mencapai lebih dari 230.000 anak. Mereka dengan mudah ditemui setiap traffic light, halte bis, pasar dan berbagai tempat-tempat umum lainnya. Umumnya mereka bekerja sebagai pengamen, penyemir sepatu, peminta-minta maupun penjual makanan kecil di jalanan dan bahkan beberapa dari mereka membentuk geng yang kerap membuat onar dan meresahkan masyarakat. Baca lebih lanjut atau bergabung dalam diskusi.
Selama sebulan terakhir, dimulai pada 2 Juni sampai 3 Juli 2013 yang lalu, Kota Jakarta sedang mengadakan rangkaian perayaan hari ulang tahun yang ke-486. Dengan mengusung tema “Jakarta Baru, Jakarta Kita”, perayaan ulang tahun Kota Jakarta tahun ini terasa berbeda. Dalam merayakan HUT Jakarta tahun 2013 ini, Gubernur DKI Jakarta Joko Widodo lebih banyak menggelar acara yang konsepnya terbuka dan melibatkan masyarakat. Pria yang akrab disapa Jokowi ini mengharapkan, dengan acara-acara yang jenis itu, akan semakin timbul rasa cinta warga terhadap Kota Jakarta. Dari rasa kecintaan ini akan timbul kesadaran untuk menjaga, merawat dan memajukan kota. Jokowi mengungkapkan mulai 2013 dan selama ia menjabat sebagai gubernur, tidak akan ada lagi kesan maupun kondisi eklusif dalam perayaan HUT Kota Jakarta. Semua lapisan warga harus merasa gembira merayakannya. Baca lebih lanjut.
Dibawah kepamongan Sandyawan Sumardi, seorang sosial aktivis, sebuah komunitas miskin yang tinggal di bantaran sungai Ciliwung di wilayah yang paling padat penduduk di Jakarta telah melakukan perjuangan untuk memperoleh kembali hak-haknya sebagai warganegara dan sebagai manusia. Ciliwung adalah nama sungai yang membelah kota Jakarta, selalu membawa banjir dimusim hujan karena wilayah pegunungan diatas Jakarta telah berubah dari hutan dan resapan air menjadi vila-vila indah bagi kaum elit. Di tengah-tengah kemelaratan dan lingkungan yang buruk warga miskin dan lemah ini ternyata mampu membentuk Ciliwung Merdeka sebuah platform untuk bergerak dan untuk menyampaikan aspirasi sosial dan politik mereka sebagai warga kota dan warganegara. Baca lebih lanjut.
The Undugu society of Kenya, a prominent organization in the sector, divides Nairobi’s street children into four categories: first there are children who work and live on the street full-time, living in groups in temporary shelters; second there are children who work in the streets by day but go home to families in the evening (this category constitutes the majority of street children in Kenya); third there are children who are on the streets occasionally, such as on the weekends or during school holidays; finally there are “street families”, children whose parents are also on the streets. Nairobi’s street youth, known as chokora (scavengers), can be seen by day walking through the streets with a sack slung over their shoulder, looking through trash cans.
I make my money by carrying a gunnia (gunny sack) and picking up plastic, paper and metal. This gives me enough to get some food. I also eat what I find on the streets and in dustbins. We all pick out the good food, put it in tins and cook it in the evening on a fire. We try to sleep in abandoned houses or construction sites but most of the time we are kicked out and have to make do with bags and cartons. As time goes by you get used to sniffing glue, everyone on the streets sniffs glue or uses something else. We use this for many reasons: because we get cold, because we don’t have shelter, because we are hungry and because the mosquitoes are disturbing us.
MO: How do you feel these organisations could improve the work they do?
You make a distinction between the pavement dwellers and the homeless. Does the government make this distinction?
Daerah kumuh atau permukiman miskin merupakan fenomena umum di kota besar dunia terutama di Negara-negara miskin dan sedang berkembang. Akibat tingginya urbanisasi dan terbatasnya lapangan perkerjaan menyebabkan tingginya tingkat kemiskinan di kota. Mereka yang tidak mampu mencari tempat tinggal layak hidup sebagai tunawisma yang berpindah-pindah dan menempati bantaran sungai, pinggiran rel kereta api, bawah jembatan tol, tanah-tanah kosong baik disekitar pabrik maupun di pusat kota dan membangun gubuk liar yang kerap menggangu ketertiban umum dan pemandangan. Minimnya pengawasan dari pemerintah di masa lalu menyebabkan kian merebaknya jumlah pemukiman liar dan membentuk perkampungan kumuh. Berdasar hasil Survey RW Kumuh 2011 oleh BPS DKI Jakarta terdapat 392 RW yang dinyatakan kumuh di wilayah DKI Jakarta.
Kedua program tersebut dipastikan akan membawa dampak besar bagi puluhan ribu keluarga yang tinggal di sekitar waduk dan sungai. Bantaran sungai Ciliwung misalnya telah dihuni lebih dari 30.000 KK yang sudah bertahun-tahun menetap dan mencari nafkah diwilayah tersebut. Tidak berbeda dengan mereka yang tinggal di sekitar Waduk Pluit yang ditempati sekitar 10.000 KK. Lokasi strategis merupakan alasan utama mereka menempati sekitar waduk dan sungai ditambah keterbatasan akses terhadap hunian yang terjangkau merupakan faktor pendorong mereka menempati wilayah tersebut.
Pembangunan Rusunawa nantinya akan dibebankan pada APBN sedangkan anggaran relokasi warga berasal dari APBD Jakarta. Pemprov DKI juga secara aktif merangkul perusahaan swasta dan pemerintah melalui program CSR-nya untuk ikut serta dalam penanganan pemukiman kumuh di Jakarta beberapa. Lebih lanjut, berdasar keterangan Menteri Permukiman Rakyat, Dian Faridz, konsep Rasunawa tidak akan seperti rumah susun terdahulu namun akan diperbaiki dan dilengkapi dengan sekolah, ruang terbuka hijau, puskesmas dan fasilitas sosial lainnya seperti lapangan olah raga, sanggar tari dan tempat beribadah. Nantinya masyarakat yang menghuni di Rasunawa tersebut juga akan di subsidi oleh pemprov DKI.
Una de las principales problemáticas de la Cd. de México es la falta de vivienda, pues si bien es mucha la demanda por parte de los habitantes, el uso de suelo para el desarrollo habitacional es muy escaso.
Algunas otras alternativas de solución para dar acceso a las viviendas en la Cd. de México surgen por parte de la sociedad civil. Por ejemplo, la organización TECHO, que busca superar la situación de pobreza en los asentamientos precarios, a través de la acción conjunta de sus pobladores y jóvenes voluntarios. En la fase inicial de intervención se insertan en los asentamientos y desarrollan un diagnóstico en el que se identifican y caracterizan las condiciones de vulnerabilidad; al igual que un primer acercamiento de los jóvenes voluntarios que promueven la participación de la comunidad. En una segunda fase se gestionan soluciones, entre ellas en el ámbito de habitabilidad; se construyen viviendas de emergencia que responden a una necesidad prioritaria, la vivienda de emergencia de TECHO es un módulo prefabricado de 18 metros cuadrados que se construye en dos días con la participación masiva de jóvenes voluntarios y familias de la comunidad. Este proceso se realiza con un enfoque comunitario, que promueve la organización y participación de la comunidad. En una tercera fase, se promueve la implementación de soluciones definitivas en los asentamientos precarios, como la regularización de la propiedad, servicios básicos, vivienda, infraestructura comunitaria y desarrollo local. TECHO articula y vincula pobladores de asentamientos organizados con instituciones de gobierno para exigir sus derechos.
De acordo com a Prefeitura de Rio, entre os motivos que levam as pessoas às ruas, estão alcoolismo e drogas (26 por cento), conflitos familiares (24 por cento), desemprego (18 por cento) e o trabalho de rua (10 por cento). Preocupa que só 20 por cento da população em situação de rua tenham documentação civil básica e que cerca de 80 por cento tenham algum tipo de dependência química, seja de álcool ou de drogas. O que fazer para atender esta população?
Fortunately, free medical services brought to them by various NGOs and government bodies give them a chance to benefit from this luxury. Programs like the Urban Health Program, run by Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK), The People’s Health Center, a non-governmental community healthcare center, directly serve the needs of the homeless living at high risk. Services are charged according to people’s incomes and clinics are located all over the city, with sub-centers in Dhaka’s slums. The hospital has a wide network of referral hospitals, specialized clinics, and preventive healthcare programs. When the government evicted slums where GK operated because of gang violence and drug trades, they launched mobile clinics that continued to provide primary healthcare for slum residents. GK also introduced health insurance for their patients – a concept novel to Dhaka’s poor.
Another NGO, the Jaago Foundation runs health campaigns for the students of their volunteer-run, free school. Students come from Mohammedpur, which has the largest slum population in Dhaka. Dental care is one of the most expensive medical services in Bangladesh, normally reserved for the wealthy. Jaago’s A Healthy Child, A Healthy Smile program brought in two dentists, who conducted dental check-ups for all 473 students. On International Women’s Day, free health checks and medicine were offered to the entire slum. With the collaboration of student volunteers, corporate banks and private doctors, Jaago has been successful in ensuring that the small population they reach are encouraged to follow a strict dental hygiene regime.
These organizations have started a movement where more well-off citizens can contribute beyond the scope of the projects themselves. The doctor leading the A Healthy Child, A Healthy Smile has offered to provide free dental check up at her own clinic for the children she served through Jaago’s program. In a way, these programs have created a snowball effect, involving the private sector in making private medical care available to the homeless. Jaago’s annual fundraiser on Children’s Day involves student volunteers selling fruit and flowers to raise money and awareness about street children. As these projects expand, hopefully more private practitioners will be encouraged to open their doors to this altruistic movement.
As our learnings from 2013 illustrate, much progress has been made over the past year with respect to inclusive urban planning and poverty alleviation. But there is still much more to do in 2014. Some cities in the URB.im network will begin work on large-scale “greening” initiatives, such as Cali‘s ambitious Green Corridor project or Jakarta‘s plans to expand green areas by 30 percent. Other cities are experiencing a surge in citizen participation: online activism is transforming urban spaces in São Paulo, and popular protest in India has led to promising reforms that are expected to reduce political corruption. What will it take for initiatives such as these to succeed and grow, and what challenges will confront them? Read on to learn more, and then add your thoughts to the discussion below.
De acordo com a pesquisa “Ativismo Online: 2013 o ano do Brasil,” esse foi o ano que mostrou aumento histórico dessa forma de ativismo no país. Campanhas de sucesso foram capazes de mudar micro-realidades, chamando atenção para causas locais. Ao contrário das caras campanhas mundiais das grandes organizações — como a Greenpeace e o WWF — a tendência atual se refere à escala do cotidiano. Habitantes descobriram nas petições online um canal para participação popular.
P2KH merupakan kolaborasi antara pemerintah pusat, pemerintah kota, masyarakat dan dunia usaha dalam menciptakan kota hijau. Program ini sendiri merupakan tindak lanjut dari 10 Prakarsa Bali dari Forum Sustainable Urban Development (SUD). Kota yang berkomitmen mewujudkan kota hijau dalam kerangka program ini diharuskan menyusun rencana aksi kota hijau (RAKH) yang mulai dijalankan tahun 2012. Sebagai pembagian peran maka dalam hal ini pemerintah pusat wajib memberikan bantuan dan bimbingan teknis, pelatihan dan dukungan program. Untuk pelaksanaan program seperti implementasi fisik, sosialisasi, penjaringan aspirasi masyarakat dan replikasi program menjadi tanggung jawab pemerintah kota bersama dengan masyarakat dan dunia usaha terutama untuk implementasi dan advokasi kegiatan.
How can cities integrate informal economic activity with urban planning to improve living standards while promoting growth? How can we blend private sector initiatives with public services and infrastructure to engender smart, sustainable approaches that tap the productive power of poor and marginalized communities? And how can such efforts be woven into the fabric of institutions, policymaking, and governance? In cities around the world, social sector innovators are looking to public-private partnership projects to provide an answer. Read on to learn about proposals and initiatives in Mumbai, Jakarta, Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, and Dhaka, and then join the conversation below. (This conversation is hosted in partnership with OECD on the occasion of the OECD Workshop on Inclusive Growth. Follow #inclusivegrowth on Twitter.)
Yet Mumbai’s municipal corporation has made little effort to incorporate the rag pickers into the city’s system. “There is a great need for official support to this unappreciated activity that saves at least 10-15 percent in transportation costs daily to the city, adding up to millions of rupees a year,” says Almitra H. Patel, Member, Supreme Court Committee for solid waste management.
Fifteen percent of Mumbai’s garbage never gets collected, and only about 10-15 percent of the waste collected gets separated at source. This standard international practice of separating wet and dry waste before it heads to the dumping grounds would not only help rag pickers — who lose money on recyclable waste that has been dirtied and mixed — but would also help the city. Separating at source “could have helped the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) handle the city’s refuse more efficiently — drastically reducing the amount that needs to be dumped at landfills, and promoting micro-management of waste at societies, schools and hospitals,” says the first in a series of articles the Hindustan Times has recently dedicated to investigating waste management in the city.
She also suggests these other steps:
Separating at source is a waste management practice that the entire city should be taking part in. On a municipal level, Mumbai could follow in Bangalore’s footsteps: the city has recently made the practice official policy. Citizens, too, would be motivated by daily collections of separated materials by professional-looking municipal waste collectors. Models are out there for Mumbai to follow; the city corporation needs to be proactive about drafting and implementing a comprehensive waste management plan that recognizes the activities already happening on the ground and working with their existing “green soldiers” to make the city greener and cleaner.
Persentase rumah tangga yang mengakses air minum layak terutama di perkotaan mengalami tren yang terus menurun. Menurut data Biro Pusat Statistik 2011 pada tahun 1993 sekitar 50 persen penduduk di perkotaan memiliki akses terhadap air minum layak, pada triwulan 2011 persentasenya menjadi 40 persen. Hal ini tentu menjadi perhatian kita bersama apalagi di kota besar seperti Jakarta.
Di sisi timur Sungai Ciliwung, pada tahun 1998 rasio cakupan pelayanan hanya 52 persen. Pada tahun 2009, rasio cakupan pelayanan mencapai 59,67 persen. Meski demikian, peningkatan cakupan pelayanan tidak sesuai dengan target yang harusnya dicapai oleh kedua mitra swasta tersebut. Dalam konsesi awal target yang harus dicapai adalah 75 persen pada tahun 2008, target dilonggarkan setelah negosiasi menjadi hanya 68 persen. Meski sudah dilonggarkan, target tersebut tak juga mampu dipenuhi.
Enter Esther Passaris, part Greek, part Kenyan, brought up in the coastal city of Mombasa, who has spent the better part of a decade harnessing the power of Kenya’s businesses to create projects with a positive social impact. Until her recent attempt to gain a seat as women’s representative for Nairobi during the past Kenyan elections, Passaris was best known for spearheading the Adopt-a-light business model in Kenya.
There was also a problem related to access in the densely populated slums. This was overcome by involving community administrators and leaders in the planning process, who helped to identify ideal locations and also to coordinate the compensation of families that would have to be relocated as a result of the project.
A participação privada no projeto está ainda em processo de consolidação. Tem sido de grande importância que a Prefeitura tenha desenvolvido um marco legal claro, um organismo executor misto e vários tipos de incentivos para a participação privada mais garantindo retornos importantes para os moradores do Porto Maravilha.
El proceso de urbanización conlleva la sinergia de diversos actores para hacer frente a la demanda de las ciudades en rumbo hacia el desarrollo. Por ejemplo, la inversión del sector privado para la planeación y mejoría del desarrollo urbano. En este sentido, la Ciudad de México es evidencia de la participación privada que mejoró el transporte público y la movilidad de los capitalinos. A partir del año 2000 en el D.F. se abrió la puerta a la inversión privada y poco a poco se fue consolidando esta estrategia para atraer el capital privado a favor de la ciudad. En el 2008, el Gobierno del Distrito Federal incorporó una nueva figura de inversión: los Proyectos de Prestación de Servicios a Largo Plazo (PPS).
La Secretaría de Obras del Gobierno del Distrito Federal afirmó en el 2012 que los nuevos esquemas de inversión pública-privada (PPS) propiciaron un mayor avance en materia de infraestructura de los últimos 30 años, con un monto de 60 mil millones de pesos. El esquema de inversión permitió destinar recursos público-privados para consolidar el transporte público y la movilidad. Por ejemplo, se amplió la cobertura de la red del Metrobús, de 20 a 95 kilómetros y el carril se amplió de 40 a 134 kilómetros, mientras que se desarrollaron más de 70 estaciones y terminales. Similarmente, se construyó la Línea 12 del Metro, catalogada como la obra más grande de América Latina.
After the Bangladesh independence war in 1971, many private actors, such as garment factories and educational institutions, played a significant role in developing Bangladesh’s infrastructure and economy. In August 2010, the Policy and Strategy for Public Private Partnership (PPP) was issued by the Government of Bangladesh to assist the development of public infrastructure and services: “The PPP program is part of the Government’s Vision 2021 goal to ensure a more rapid, inclusive growth trajectory, and to better meet the need for enhanced, high-quality public services in a fiscally sustainable manner.” The PPP office was established under the Prime Minister’s office to assist with the development of public-private partnership projects within international standards. In order to promote financial responsibility and sustainability of these public-private partnerships, the PPP unit was established under the Ministry of Finance. Thanks to these policies, public-private partnerships have indeed been effective in reducing the illiteracy rate in Bangladesh.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the world population is growing at an alarming rate, and if not tempered, the world will face serious problems. Rapid urbanization and population growth therefore pose a challenge that social policies must address. Read more or join the discussion.
Monsoon clouds moved over Mumbai last week, opening up into a deluge. It’s the start of the rainy season in India — a welcome relief from the summer heat and a time to recharge water levels that had dropped to drought levels. While most people celebrate the wet months ahead, the season also brings with it a number of public health and safety hazards. Malaria is among the deadly diseases that raise alarms for public health officials, and it is slum dwellers who are most widely affected. Read more or join the discussion.
Dengue fever is an infectious disease caused by a virus and transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti. It is currently one of the most common public health problems around the world, especially in tropical and subtropical areas. Dengue fever has four main types, in Brazil the most common ones are the classic dengue fever and the dengue hemorrhagic fever. The former is a light virus that with cold-like symptoms. The latter is a much more complex disease that can lead to nasal, urinary, and intestinal hemorrhages, compromised organs, and even death. Read more or join the discussion.
A short man wearing a hooded coat pushes back the door to a small shed. Lying by the door, his closed eyes caught in the path of a dusty ray of sunshine, a young man of about twenty stirs. The man lying next to him scratches his arm and wraps himself tighter in his jacket. Next to them another four men are stretched out on the packed earth, unaware of the intrusion. This is Mathare and these men, like many others in shacks on either side of them, have rented a piece of floor to have a place to rest for the night. They might not have blankets and a mattress to lie on, but the warmth of their bodies is enough to stave off the worst of the cold. Read more or join the discussion.
Mexico City is ravaged every year by the seasonal flu. But in 2009, a new strain of swine flu emerged in the city, alarming enough for the World Health Organization to deem the pandemic a level 5 alert. Read more or join the discussion.
Demam berdarah dengue (DBD) pertama kali ditemukan pada tahun 1968 di DKI Jakarta dan Surabaya dan hingga kini telah menyebar ke seluruh wilayah Indonesia. Kasus demam berdarah di Indonesia merupakan nomor dua tertinggi di dunia dan tertinggi di wilayah Asia Tenggara dengan angka kematian mencapai 1.125 kasus di tahun 2011. Baca lebih lanjut atau bergabung dalam diskusi.
Individuals, organizations, and governments around the world are developing creative ways to promote and uphold the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In recognition of Human Rights Day on December 10th, this conversation highlights solutions to issues ranging from discrimination against refugees to lack of access to sanitation. These solutions — which include online monitoring systems, a thriller feature film, in-home toilets, and activist photography — raise awareness and provide much-needed services for vulnerable communities. Read on to find out more about these initiatives from Nairobi, Jakarta, Dhaka, and Mumbai, and then share your thoughts in the discussion below.
While Eastleigh, a neighborhood in the east of Nairobi that houses most of the city’s Somali immigrants, has borne the brunt of most of these attacks, residents have also experienced a rise in hostility from local Kenyans and harassment at the hands of the police.
In an attempt to address these three symbiotic challenges, a movie is currently being produced by Cultural Video Foundation (CVF), a Nairobi-based film production company that is run by Cavallo and fellow-filmmaker Alessandra Argenti, with the support of an Italian NGO called the International Committee for the Development of Peoples (CISP) and funding from the European Union.
In Cavallo’s view, in order to prevent future terrorist attacks in Kenya and Somalia, it is essential to find a way for refugee communities and the police to work together on reporting suspicious activities and building trust where at the moment there is none.
Wazi FM was initially conceived as a twelve-episode TV series. Unfortunately, due to budgetary constraints, this was later cut down to a one-off feature film. CVF remains optimistic that they will succeed in broadening the reach of the show and that at some point it will be picked up by a local television channel brave enough to broadcast such a controversial message, or by an international distributor that is keen on covering sensitive topics of this kind.
The Wahid Institute (WI) berdiri tahun 2004 yang dibentuk sebagai upaya menyebarkan pemikiran islam moderat mantan presiden RI K.H Abdurrahman Wahid dalam mendorong terciptanya demokrasi, multikulturalisme dan toleransi baik di Indonesia maupun di dunia. Beberapa program yang menjadi wilayah kerja WI adalah advokasi kebijakan publik dan minoritas; kampanye islam demokrasi dan pluralisme; pemberdayaan akar rumput; serta monitoring isu keagamaan. Dalam hal monitoring isu keagaan ini WI telah mengembangkan pernangkat lunak untuk memantau isu-isu kekerasan dan konflik atas nama agama bernama Pemantauan Kebebasan Beragama dan Berkeyakinan. Kategori yang terangkum dalam perangkat tersebut termasuk diantaranya intoleransi dan diskriminasi atas dasar agama; kemajuan jaminan perlindungan kebebasan beragama/berkeyakinan serta pelanggaran kebebasan beragama/berkeyakinan. Jadi pada dasarnya perangkat ini bukan hanya melaporkan tindak kekerasan dan pelanggaran dalam beragama namun juga mencatat inisiatif-inisiatif masyarakat yang berupaya melindungi kebebasan masyarakat dalam beragama dan berkeyakinan.
রোহিঙ্গা উদ্বাস্তুদের প্রতি ঢাকাভিত্তিক সরকারি প্রতিদ্বন্দ্বিতার মুখে কিছু সৃষ্টিশীল সচেতনতামূলক পদক্ষেপ নেয়া হয়েছে। বিশেষ করে ফটোগ্রাফির মাধ্যমেএকটি বিশাল প্রচারণা শুরু হয়েছে ঢাকা, বাংলাদেশের অন্যান্য অঞ্চল এবং সারা বিশ্বের মানুষের জন্য, এটি দেখানর জন্য যে রোহিঙ্গা কারা এবং এদের অধিকার রক্ষার জন্য কি করা যেতে পারে ।
বাংলাদেশের প্রায় সব রাজনৈতিক, অর্থনৈতিক এবং সংবাদমাধ্যমের মতে ঢাকা মানবাধিকার লঙ্ঘনের প্রতিবাদের জন্য আন্তর্জাতিক সম্প্রদায়ের কাছে একটি শক্তিশালী স্থান। প্রামানিক আলোকচিত্রী সাইফুল হক অমি ঢাকার বাইরে কাজ করেন এবং ২০০৯ সাল থেকে তিনি রোহিঙ্গা সমস্যার প্রতি মনোনিবেশ করেন। অমি নিজেকে একজন আলোকচিত্রী বলার চেয়ে সামাজিক কর্মী হিসাবে বর্ণনা করেন। এখন পর্যন্ত তিনি “বাংলাদেশে আড়ম্বরহীন রোহিঙ্গা শরণার্থী বর্জন ও অস্বীকার” নামে একটি আলকচিত্রের প্রদর্শনী করেছেন। অমি বাংলাদেশের শরণার্থী শিবিরের এই সকল ছবি ব্যবহার করেন উদবাস্তু মানুষের জীবনের কাহিনী তুলে ধরার জন্য যারা নিজেরা নিজেদের কষ্টের কথা বলতে পারে না। উদাহরণস্বরূপ, সাম্প্রতিককালে তিনি এশিয়ান ইউনিভার্সিটি ফর উইমেন-এ (যেখানে ১৪ টি দেশের মেয়েরা পড়াশোনা করছে) তার রোহিঙ্গা শিবিরের আলোকচিত্রগুলো দেখান এবং বর্ণনা করেন যে কেন রোহিঙ্গা শরণার্থীদের সাহায্য করা গুরুত্বপূর্ণ এবং কেন এখানে আন্তর্জাতিক সাহায্য প্রয়োজন।
অমির কাজ দেখায় যে রোহিঙ্গাদের মানবাধিকার রক্ষা একটি চরম অস্বীকৃত সমস্যা এবং শহর কেন্দ্রিক এই প্রচারণা প্রমান করে যে এটির দ্রুত সমাধান জরুরি, যদিও এই প্রচারণা এখনো সরকারের সিদ্ধান্তের বিরধিতা করতে রোহিঙ্গাদের উপর উপযুক্ত রাজনৈতিক মনোযোগ আকর্ষণ করতে পারে নি। তারপরও সৃজনশীল উপায়ে রোহিঙ্গা সমস্যার সমাধানের চেষ্টা, যা অনেক নাগরিকদের দৃষ্টি আকর্ষণ করে, একটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ পদক্ষেপ। বিশ্বের সকল আলোকচিত্রীরা এবং অন্যান্য মিডিয়ার সদস্যরা তাদের গৃহীত আলোকচিত্রসমূহ অন্যান্য প্রমান প্রদর্শনীর মাধ্যমে সংখ্যালঘু জাতিদের প্রতি বৈষম্যর বিরুদ্ধে কাজ করতে পারে যখন সরকার নীরব থাকে।
Photo credits: Saiful Huq Omi
What is the current situation in Mumbai?
Linking informal settlements and poor neighborhoods to the dynamic city center is crucial in urban areas across the world. Only by having access to the opportunities of the formal city can the urban poor pull themselves out of poverty. The following accounts from Nairobi, Mumbai, Jakarta, Rio de Janeiro, and Mexico City present examples of solutions, including transportation projects, employment initiatives, and the peaceful relocation of street vendors. Read on to learn more, and then join the discussion below.
Over the past year, the Nairobi URB.im bureau has attempted to challenge the dominant discourse, preferring instead to present a more nuanced portrait of slum dwellers – a label that in itself evokes a homogenous image of the people it describes. Articles documenting tales of enlightened youth, inspired artists, political activists, promising children and no-nonsense Grannies, have been juxtaposed to the more harsh realities that undoubtedly many urban poor inhabit.
So how does someone living in a marginalised informal settlement succeed in securing a formal job in, for example, the city centre? Mainly in the same way that anyone else would: by getting qualified and submitting a resumé that details why they are the right candidate for the position. However, like everyone else in the world, sometimes educated and/or trained people need the help of an agency to put them in contact with prospective employers.
Middle class families living in the suburbs may continue to commute to the southern financial district for white collar jobs, while studies show that the poor find work closer to home. These jobs include domestic help — drivers, maids, and cooks — hawkers, vegetable vendors, shoe polishers, and other micro-businesses. “Regardless of where they live, the poor, on average, commute shorter distances than the non-poor, implying that they work closer to home than non-poor households. The fact that the poor work closer to home than the non-poor could be due to commuting costs: rail and bus fares are a higher percent of income for the poor than the non-poor,” says a World Bank study on transport and poverty in Mumbai. The study also reveals that over 60 percent of the poor walk to work.
Jakarta, seperti kota-kota besar lainnya di Indonesia, dalam perkembangannya mengalami masalah dengan kondisi dualistik. Selain berdiri bangunan-bangunan megah dan moderen, juga berkembang pesat kegiatan Pedagang Kaki Lima (PKL) yang beragam jenisnya. Jakarta, dengan tingginya konsumsi masyarakat urban, menjadi magnet bagi PKL untuk mengadu nasib.
Devido ao desenvolvimento urbano e à dinâmica própria da cidade, a maior parte dos bairros de baixa renda está relativamente perto de varias “centralidades”, que são áreas residenciais ou comerciais que atraem atividade económica. Aquilo que estes bairros precisam não é só receber melhoras nas condições de vida dentro das comunidades, mais a melhoria das conexões com as “centralidades” para melhorar o aceso a emprego, serviços sociais e outros.
Parte da solução a necessidade de integrar os bairros de baixa renda com a “cidade formal” é melhorando o transporte e a mobilidade destas áreas. Em resposta, a Prefeitura promove a construção de meios alternativos de transporte como teleféricos e elevadores públicos nas comunidades com difícil acesso, sejam por que são muito extensas como o Complexo do Alemão, ou pela sua localização nos altos morros como Cantagalo. A cidade também está promovendo a integração e expansão do sistema público de transporte para oferecer a seus moradores, especialmente aqueles de baixa renda, mecanismos eficientes, confortáveis e econômicos de transporte.
O apoio dos moradores de bairros carentes na capacitação e procura de emprego e a outra parte da solução. Atualmente, a cidade tem oito Centros Públicos de Emprego, Trabalho e Renda, localizados além do centro da cidade, nas áreas com maior concentração de área carentes, como Jacarepaguá e Campo Grande. Estes centros recebem diariamente pessoas interessadas em cadastrar gratuitamente seus currículos e fazem vínculos com as empresas que procuram candidatos de acordo com a necessidade e o perfil. Estes centros também providenciam assistência na procura de emprego, na preparação para uma entrevista, etc. Também oferecem cursos profissionalizantes em varias práticas. Por exemplo, no mês passado, cerca de 5.300 vagas foram oferecidas para cursos gratuitos de operador de telemarketing, pintor de obras ou de automóveis e operador de computador, entre outros. Estes cursos fazem parte do Programa Nacional de Acesso ao Ensino Técnico e ao Emprego (Pronatec), que oferece além do curso, o material didático e uma bolsa de transporte e alimentação para todos os beneficiários.
Cifras nacionales del CONEVAL afirman que para el año 2008 4.8 millones de personas vivían en pobreza multidimensional en México extrema en las zonas urbanas, es decir, presentaban en promedio 3.7 carencias sociales a la vez, es decir, de acuerdo a CONEVAL las personas tenían falta de acceso a 3 de las siguientes oportunidades sociales: falta de acceso a educación, salud, seguridad social, calidad de la vivienda, servicios básicos en la vivienda y alimentación. En este contexto, el propósito principal del Programa Hábitat es contribuir a la superación de la pobreza y al mejoramiento de la calidad de vida de los habitantes de zonas urbanas marginadas, por medio del fortalecimiento y mejora de la organización y participación social, así como del entorno urbano de dichos asentamientos. En este sentido, se vinculan las áreas marginadas con oportunidades de desarrollo social para la población vulnerable. La población sujeta a este programa reside en zonas que presentan alta concentración de hogares en situaciones de pobreza patrimonial, es decir insuficiencia del ingreso disponible para adquirir la canasta alimentaria, así como realizar los gastos necesarios en salud, vestido, vivienda, transporte y educación, y que presentan además déficit de infraestructura, equipamiento y servicios urbanos.