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Widya Anggraini, Jakarta Community Manager

Bagi kebanyakan orang Jakarta identik dengan kota macet, kota polusi, kota mall atau kota banjir. Sedikit atau bahkan hampir tidak ada yang menyebut Jakarta sebagai kota Hijau. Sebutan ini bukan tanpa alasan mengingat kondisi Jakarta saat ini yang kian macet, polusi udara yang parah, pembangunan yang banyak menyalahi penggunaan lahan dan tingkat urbanisasi yang tinggi dan munculnya kam. Kondisi ini membuat masyarakat merindukan kehadiran ruang terbuka hijau atau taman-taman di pusat kota yang berfungsi sebagai tempat rekreasi, olahraga, serta interaksi sosial. Hal-hal inilah yang menjadi harapan masyarakat di tahun 2014 yang ingin melihat lebih sedikit pembangunan mall dan lebih banyak taman kota. Secara kebijakan, pemerintah telah merespon dengan mengeluarkan undang-undang Penataan Ruang yang secara tegas mengamanatkan bahwa 30% dari wilyah kota berwujud Ruang Terbuka Hijau (RTH). Undang-undang ini kemudian diterjemahkan kedalam sebuah program bernama Program Pengembangan Kota Hijau (P2KH).

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.

Dalam rencana kerja yang telah disusun terdapat dua strategi yang kini pemerintah Jakarta terapkan, yaitu penerusan kondisi sesuai peran Jakarta saat ini dan transformasi fisik serta perubahan perilaku masyarakat yang lebih sadar lingkungan. Dalam hal transformasi fisik dan perlilaku masyarakat telah disiapkan 5 strategi mendasar yaitu:

• Meningkatkan kemampuan tenaga perencana ekonomi lingkungan. Untuk ini sudah dilakukan kerjasama dengan UNDP dan World Bank dalam hal penyediaan training dan workshop terkait isu-isu perubahan iklim.

• Menerapkan program pencegahan meliputi bagaimana menumbuhkan kesadaran masyarakat tentang efek perubahan cuaca. Kegiatan seperti car free day sudah dimulai dan dilakukan tiap hari minggu. Kemudian menggalakkan kegitan Bike to Work untuk mengurangi polusi. Tahun-tahun mendatang Jakarta berharap ada sekitar 30% dari total pekerja akan menggunakan sepeda.

• Mendorong masyarakat untuk lebih aktif dalam program-program perubahan lingkungan (climate change). Dalam hak ini pemerintah akan mendorong para perencana di Dinas Tata kota Jakarta untuk bekerjasama dengan komunitas dalam menciptakan masyarakat yang lebih ramah lingkungan seperti mendorong komunitas membuat lebih banyak taman.

• Menambah jumlah ruang hijau publik. Untuk mengupayakan penambahan ruang terbuka hijau, sejak tahun 2011 telah dibuka lebih banyak ruang hijau dan kini telah mencapai 6% dari target 30%.

• Menambah jumlah kendaraan ramah lingkungan. Pemerintah juga akan terus mengupayakan penambahan fasilitas transportasi ramah lingkungan contohnya MRT yang sedang dalam proses pengerjaan dan transformasi model bis Trans Jakarta yang menggunakan bahan bakar ramah lingkungan dan terintegrasi dalam system transportasi perkotaan.

Dengan demikian di tahun 2014 akan mulai terlihat rintisan berbagai kegiatan yang akan membawa Jakarta menuju kota Hijau (Green City) baik melalui pembukaan lebih banyak ruang hijau, inovasi transportasi ramah lingkungan dan masyarakat yang kiat sadar untuk berperan serta dalam menciptakan lingkungan yang bersih dan hijau.

Foto: Yudho

Widya Anggraini, Jakarta Community Manager

For most people, Jakarta is associated with traffic, pollution, shopping centers, or floods. Rarely do people identify Jakarta as a green city. This is unsurprising considering the city’s increasing traffic jams and air pollution, the rapid land development in violation of city plans, and growing slums. These circumstances have led Jakartarians to long for the presence of green open space or public parks that could function as locations for recreational, exercise, and social activities. This is the hope of Jakarta’s residents for 2014: less shopping malls, more public parks. In terms of city ordinance, the government has responded to the people by passing the Spatial Planning Bill, which strictly states that 30 percent of the city must consist of green open space. This bill then was translated into a project called the Green City Expansion Project (P2KH).

P2KH is a collaborative project between the central government, the city government, local residents, and the business community. The program is a continuation of the Ten Bali Initiatives from the Sustainable Urban Development Forum. Cities that are committed to achieving the green city status within the framework of the program are required to draw up a Green City Action Plan, which Jakarta started in 2012. As a part of the arrangement, the central government provides the cities with technical supervision, training, and program support. The project execution – physical implementation, dissemination, communal feedback, and program replication – is the responsibility of the city government, along with the residents and the business community, especially regarding implementation and advocacy.

The work plan consists of two strategies being implemented by the government of Jakarta: Jakarta’s physical transformation, and raising community awareness about the environment. In terms of physical and communal behavior transformation, five fundamental strategies have been prepared:

• Increasing the capacity of environmental and economic policymakers. This strategy has been conducted in cooperation with the UNDP and the World Bank in terms of providing workshops and trainings about climate change issues.

• Implementing preventive programs, including ways to raise public awareness about the effects of climate change. Events like car-free days have been started and now happen weekly. Biking to work initiatives are promoted to reduce congestion and pollution. In coming years, 30 percent of Jakarta’s workers are expected to commute by bike

• Encouraging the local community to be more active in climate change awareness events. To accomplish this, the government is encouraging policymakers at the Jakarta Urban Planning Agency to collaborate with the community to create a more environmentally-friendly society, for example through the creation of parks.

• Increasing the number of public green spaces. In adherence to the green open space plan, there has been an expansion of green areas since 2011, which has now reached six percent of the city (the target being 30 percent).

• Increasing the number of environmentally friendly vehicles. The government will continue increasing the amount of environmentally-friendly public transport options. Examples include the MRT project and the TransJakarta bus model, which runs eco-friendly fuels.

2014 will therefore witness the expansion of projects that will lead Jakarta towards its goal of being a green city, including through the expansion of green areas, innovations in eco-friendly transportation, and an increasingly aware community to participate in promoting a green society.

Photo: Yudho

Jorge Bela, Gestor Comunitario de Bogotá

Bogotá ha ganado el premio a liderazgo urbano en su categoría de transporte. Los premios, de los cuales este año se celebra su primera edición, son otorgados por el grupo C40 y por Siemens, a través de su fundación Crystal. El premio de liderazgo en transporte busca identificar proyectos o iniciativas que mejoren la situación medioambiental, medidos en términos de fomento de cambio en los modos de transporte y de la reducción de la emisión de gases causantes del efecto invernadero.

Para los conocedores de la situación actual en Bogotá la recepción del premio supone inicialmente una sorpresa. La ausencia de metro y la presencia de busetas sin ningún control de emisiones son dos realidades que saltan inmediatamente a la vista. El sistema Transmilenio, que ha servido de modelo de transporte rápido mediante autobuses a varias ciudades del mundo, se encuentra a tope de su capacidad y los proyectos de ampliación se han visto ralentizados por problemas de corrupción, retrasos y sobrecostes.

Aunque la situación actual dista mucho de ser buena, el premio se ha otorgado a un proyecto actualmente en marcha y que puede redundar en una mejora significativa de la situación medioambiental. En primer lugar, está previsto que 200 autobuses híbridos comiencen a circular por Bogotá a partir del 15 de diciembre. Los buses, marca Volvo, son fabricados en Brasil y ensamblados en Colombia. Podrán circular tanto por los carriles de alta velocidad del Transmilenio como por rutas convencionales, pues tienen puertas a ambos lados. Está previsto que circulen por la Carrera 7º, una de las principales de la ciudad y por la que en la actualidad solo circulan busetas y coches particulares. Una vez que los autobuses híbridos comiencen a circular por esta carrera, sus elevados niveles de contaminación descenderán de forma significativa. Estos buses no necesitan conectarse a la red eléctrica para recargarse.

La segunda iniciativa tomada en consideración para otorgar el premio es el lanzamiento de un programa piloto de taxis completamente eléctricos, es decir, de emisión cero. Este programa piloto contempla hasta un máximo de 50 taxis, de los cuales 12 ya han sido presentados y comenzarán a circular en los próximos días. Para su recarga se están construyendo estaciones de recarga específicas. En Bogotá hay más de 50.000 taxis, un número elevadísimo, sobre todo si consideramos que este modo de transporte es el que genera más gases de efecto invernadero por pasajero de todos los existentes. La hipotética sustitución de un número significativo de los taxis impulsados por gas gasolina a otros eléctricos tendría un impacto considerable.

Aunque no se consideró a la hora de otorgar los premios, Bogotá está finalizando los estudios previos para la construcción del metro y está planificando una ampliación significativa del Transmilenio, sustituyendo de esta forma a las contaminantes busetas. Si todos estos proyectos llegan a buen puerto, en pocos años la situación ambiental de Bogotá mejorará dramáticamente. Esperemos que así sea.

Fotos: Miguel Matus

Jorge Bela, Bogotá Community Manager

Bogotá just won the City Climate Leadership Award for transportation. The award, still on its first edition, is sponsored by the C40 group and Siemens, through its Crystal Initiative. The leadership award in transportation seeks to identify projects or initiatives aimed at improving the environmental quality of the cities for which they are intended. The methodology used to measure such improvement is based on modal shift or the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG).

For anyone familiar with the current situation of transportation in Bogotá the award might come as a surprise. It is striking considering the lack of a metro system and the still widespread presence of small buses (busetas, as locals call them), which seem to be free of any emissions controls, as they spew thick clouds of black smoke. Even if the rapid bus transportation system, Transmileno, has been very successful and even taken as a model by large cities elsewhere in Latin America and Asia, it is now operating at full capacity. Expansion projects have been plagued by corruption, delays, and cost overruns.

Even if the current situation is far from ideal, the award was granted to a project, currently being implemented, with a considerable potential to improve the environmental conditions in Bogotá. The project seeks to introduce hybrid buses and zero emissions taxis by the end of 2013. To this end, 200 hybrid buses have been purchased and are expected to start running in late December. These Volvo buses are built in Brazil and assembled in Colombia, and they do not need to recharge in the grid. They can be used in Transmilenio express lanes as well as in regular streets, as they have doors on both sides. They will first be deployed on a new line that crosses the city from south to north, including a long stretch on 7th Avenue, one of Bogota’s most emblematic. Once the hybrid buses replace the highly polluting minibuses which now serve 7th Avenue, the air quality in the area will improve significantly.

The zero emissions taxi pilot project plans to introduce 50 electric taxis. The first 12 taxis have already been officially presented by authorities and are expected to start operating in the next few weeks. Charging stations are being built in strategic locations, and the first one is already operating. Taxis generate the highest volume of GHG per passenger of all transportation modes, and Bogotá has more than 50,000 of them. The replacement of a significant number of gasoline or natural gas taxis by electric units would have a considerable impact on overall city pollution.

Although it was not taken into consideration for the awards, Bogotá is in the final planning stages for its first metro system. It is also planning to substantially expand the Transmilenio system. These two mega-projects will all but eliminate the highly polluting busetas from most of the city. If all of these projects are successfully implemented, the environmental situation in Bogotá will have improved dramatically. Let’s hope that it does.

Photo credit: Miguel Matus

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)

Latin America is the most urbanized region in the world, with an average urbanization rate of 80 percent. Many of the region’s cities are developing quickly and becoming important economic, cultural and touristic hubs. In spite of this growth and development, and the fact that poverty rates have been declining, 25 percent of Latin America’s urban residents still live in poverty. URB.im would like to encourage the debate around solutions to tackle poverty, foster inclusion and promote broader channels of participation, to bring about more just and inclusive cities in Latin America.

Join the conversation with our four panelists: Enrique Betancourt, Co-founder of Contextual and Former Deputy Director of Social Policies, Office of the President (Mexico); Paula Moreno, Former Minister of Culture and President, Corporación Manos Visibles (Colombia); Angela Franco, Vice-President of Research at the Universidad del Valle (Colombia); and Jorge Barbosa, Director, Favela Observatory (Brazil).

Con una tasa de urbanización del 80 por ciento, América Latina es la región más urbanizada del planeta. Varias ciudades de la región se están desarrollando rápidamente y se están consolidando como importantes centros económicos, culturales y turísticos. A pesar de dicho crecimiento y desarrollo, y aunque la pobreza ha venido disminuyendo, se estima que el 25 por ciento de los habitantes de las ciudades Latinoamericanas viven en condiciones de pobreza. URB.im quiere generar un espacio de intercambio de experiencias y reflexiones sobre esfuerzos de reducción de pobreza y la promoción de la inclusión y la participación social, los cuales están contribuyendo a que las ciudades Latinoamericanas sean más justas e incluyentes.

Únanse a la conversación con nuestros cuatro participantes invitados: Enrique Betancourt, Cofundador de Contextual y Ex Director Adjunto de Política Social de la Presidencia (México); Paula Moreno, Exministra de Cultura y Presidenta, la Corporación Manos Visibles (Colombia); Angela Franco, Vicerrectora de Investigaciones de la Universidad del Valle (Colombia); y Jorge Barbosa, Director, Observatorio de las Favelas (Brasil).

América Latina é a região mais urbanizada do planeta com uma taxa de urbanização de 80 por cento. Varias cidades da região estão se desenvolvendo rapidamente e estão se tornando importantes centros econômicos, culturais e turísticos. Embora aquele crescimento e desenvolvimento, é o fato que a pobreza vem diminuindo, ainda o 25 por cento da população das cidades Latino-americanas experimentam condições de pobreza. URB.im gostaria de incentivar o debate em torno às soluções no combate da pobreza e da exclusão e dos mecanismos para ampliar os cais de participação das cidades Latino-americanas para que sejam mais justas e inclusivas.

Participe na conversação com nossos quarto debatedores: Enrique Betancourt, Cofundador de Contextual e Ex-assessor Presidencial de Politicas Sociais (México); Paula Moreno, Ex-ministra de Cultura e Presidente, Corporación Manos Visibles (Colombia); Angela Franco, Vice-presidente de Pesquisa da Universidad del Valle (Colombia); e Jorge Barbosa, Diretor, Observatório de Favelas (Brasil).

Enrique Betancourt, Co-founder of Contextual and Former Deputy Director of Social Policies, Office of the President (Mexico)

Latin America is the most urbanized of all developing regions. On its own, this fact could mean good news, as historically, cities have been able to reduce poverty rates and gender inequality, and have achieved substantial improvements in access to education, justice, and health services, among other benefits.

However, the quantitative data is insufficient to explain the challenges that Latin American cities are facing. The quality and speed with which the urbanization process has taken place complements this picture, explaining why urbanization was characterized by inequality, socioeconomic segregation, and precarious provision of social services and basic infrastructure. The scenario is even less encouraging when considering the institutional weaknesses in most of our region’s local governments, which are further and further away from meeting demand for social services and policies. When reviewing the region’s history of urban development and demographic trends, the violence that characterizes most cities in the region should not surprise us (42 of the 50 most violent cities in the world are in Latin America).

The future of Latin America’s development is closely linked to the quality with which its social and physical spaces are planned and managed.

In this debate I intend to advocate for the need for a much broader urban paradigm than the one proposed by the urban development practice at the end of the twentieth century, which focuses on planning the uses, densities, housing, and basic infrastructure.

The central proposal of my argument rests on the fact that urban issues should not be considered only a vertical of public policy like education, health, culture, sports, or economic development, but as cross-cutting policy, which would allow the “territorializing” (focusing on the territory) of other public policies.

This focus on the territory is based on three fundamental premises:

• Work from the intersection of the social strata, space, and their corresponding vertical public policy areas (such as health, education, etc.).

• Align national and sub-national policies to plan and manage on three simultaneous scales: regional, urban/metropolitan, and neighborhood.

• Define the mechanisms that allow the implementation of urban policies under a clear framework of social participation that prioritizes the public good and technical solutions over mere politics.

Enrique Betancourt is the cofounder of Contextual, an agency that develops creative solutions to urban problems through collaborative processes. His work focuses on the intersection between research, public policy design, and implementation. Previously, Enrique was the Head of the National Center for Crime Prevention and Citizen Participation, as well as the Deputy Director of Social Policy at the Office of the Presidency of Mexico. He studied architecture at the Universidad de las Américas Puebla, holds a Masters in Urbanism from Harvard University, and is a Yale World Fellow.

Enrique Betancourt, Cofundador de Contextual y Ex Director Adjunto de Política Social de la Presidencia (México)

América Latina es la región en vías de desarrollo más urbanizada del mundo. El hecho en sí mismo podría anunciar buenas noticias, pues las ciudades han llegado, a lo largo de la historia, acompañadas de reducciones importantes en índices de pobreza, desigualdad de género y mejoras sustanciales respecto al acceso a educación, justica y servicios de salud entre otros beneficios.

Sin embargo el dato cuantitativo resulta insuficiente para explicar el reto que representa la vida en las ciudades de nuestra región. La calidad y la velocidad con la que ha sucedido el proceso de urbanización complementan el panorama y terminan por explicar como éste último se ha caracterizado por la desigualdad, la segregación socioeconómica y la precariedad en la provisión de servicios sociales e infraestructura básica. El escenario resulta menos alentador ante la clara debilidad institucional de la mayoría de los gobiernos locales de la región, quienes se encuentran cada vez más lejos de poder satisfacer la demanda de servicios y políticas sociales. Ante la revisión de la historia de desarrollo urbano y tendencias demográficas no debería sorprender mucho la violencia que caracteriza a la mayoría de las ciudades de la región. (42 de las 50 ciudades mas violentas del mundo son Latinoamericanas).

El futuro del desarrollo de América Latina esta íntimamente ligado a la calidad con la que se planifiquen y gestionen los espacios sociales y físicos de sus ciudades.

En este debate me propongo abogar por la necesidad de un paradigma urbano mucho más amplio que el propuesto por la noción de desarrollo urbana de finales del siglo XX centrada prioritariamente en la planeación de los usos, las densidades, la vivienda y la infraestructura básica.

La propuesta central de mi argumento radica en la necesidad de que los asuntos urbanos no sean considerados únicamente como un área de política pública vertical más como lo son la educación, salud, cultura, deporte, desarrollo económico, sino un política transversal que permita la territorialización de las otras políticas públicas.

Esta territorialización supondría tres premisas fundamentales:

• Trabajar desde la intersección de las capas sociales, espaciales y las correspondientes a cada área de política vertical (salud, educación, etc.)

• Alinear políticas nacionales y sub-nacionales para planear y gestionar en 3 escalas simultaneas: regional, la urbana / metropolitana y la barrial.

• Definir mecanismos que permitan la operación táctica de políticas urbanas bajo un marco definido de participación social que priorice el bien público y las soluciones técnicas por encima de las meramente políticas.

Enrique Betancourt es cofundador de Contextual, una agencia que desarrolla soluciones creativas a problemas urbanos a través de procesos colaborativos. Su trabajo se centra en la intersección que existe entre la investigación, el diseño de políticas públicas y su implementación. Anteriormente fue Titular del Centro Nacional de Prevención del Delito y Participación Ciudadana y Director Adjunto de Política Social en la Oficina de la Presidencia del Gobierno de México. Es Arquitecto por la Universidad de las Américas en Puebla, Maestro en Urbanismo por la Universidad de Harvard y Yale World Fellow.

Paula Moreno, Former Minister of Culture and President, Corporación Manos Visibles (Colombia)

One of the most critical challenges in increasingly urbanized Latin American cities is how to enforce social integration as a strategy to reduce urban violence and promote greater social cohesion and resilience among its citizens. The dynamics of public space not only as a symbol of physical welfare but also as a determinant of equal social relations is a major challenge to be addressed. I would like to mention the case of Medellin, a Colombian city with both a complex history in terms of violence, illegal networks, and segregation, and at the same time the most dynamic cultural and economic nodes, with opportunities for structural social change in the medium term.

Medellin is the clearest example of urban transformation in recent years in Colombia. First, the city’s government has showed continuous political support for and prioritization of social integration. Second, the city has developed comprehensive urban interventions that prioritize social integration as a tool to tackle violence and social degradation. These interventions take the form of urban upgrading programs, which invest not only in improving the physical conditions of low-income neighborhoods, but also in their social capital. Today, after almost a decade of sustained public interventions, one of the most critical components of Medellin’s scheme is not only the architectural icons or the modern transportation systems that the city has built, but the incubation of strengthened social networks that nurture and sustain the physical intervention, and also generate the social fabric to prevent violence and to shape a common project for the city.

Throughout the years, the quality of physical transformation has been complemented by social policies to map and effectively empower social networks. The building capacity strategy, mainly supported by the public administration but also by national and international organizations (e.g. Paisa Joven of GTZ, Picacho Corporation (Ford Foundation) or the projects of Fundación Social or Fundación Suraméricana) strengthened the capacities and roles of commune leaders and organizations. Visible grassroots leaders with administration leadership positions have access to top public and private universities (e.g. EPM Fund), and create a knowledge base that integrates their own territorial views into the academy and the public decision-making process through schemes like participatory security and budgeting. This social architecture, built upon bridging organizations with political advocacy, economic alternatives, and social mobility with a major territorial attachment, has become a major force in tackling criminal networks in the city. (Two examples of bridging organizations of this type are Son Batá and la Elite Hip Hop.)

Paula Moreno is an industrial engineer with experience in social project management, design and implementation of public policies. She was the youngest minister in the history of Colombia and the first Afro-Colombian women to hold a ministerial office. In 2010 she was selected by the Council of the Americas as one of the most influential young leaders in the region for her work on effectively understanding diversity, and by the Black Mayors Association as one of the most influential Black leaders in the world. She founded and is currently serving as president of the Visible Hands Corporation, an NGO focused on practices of effective inclusion for youth at risk and ethnic communities in Colombia. Ms. Moreno holds a Master’s Degree in Management Studies from the University of Cambridge and was a United States Fulbright scholar for the program of urban and regional planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Paula Moreno, Exministra de Cultura y Presidenta, la Corporación Manos Visibles (Colombia)

Uno de los desafíos más importantes en el crecimiento de las ciudades latinoamericanas, es cómo promover la integración social como una estrategia para reducir la violencia urbana, además de cómo generar una mayor cohesión social y resiliencia entre sus ciudadanos. La dinámica del espacio público no es sólo un símbolo del bienestar físico, sino también es un factor determinante de las relaciones sociales de igualdad—y se convierte en un desafío importante de abordar. Me gustaría mencionar el caso de Medellín, una ciudad colombiana con una complejidad histórica importante en términos de violencia, redes ilegales y segregación; al mismo tiempo, tiene los nodos culturales y económicos más dinámicos del país y ofrece oportunidades para el cambio social estructural a medio plazo.

Medellín es el ejemplo más claro de la transformación urbana de los últimos años en Colombia. En primer lugar, el gobierno de la ciudad ha mostrado un apoyo político continuo y también ha mostrado prioridad a la integración social. en segundo lugar, la ciudad ha desarrollado intervenciones urbanas integrales que dan prioridad a la integración social como una herramienta para hacer frente a la violencia y a la degradación social. Estas intervenciones se enfocan en programas de mejoramiento urbano, que no sólo invierten en la mejora de las condiciones físicas de los barrios de bajos ingresos, sino también en su capital social. Hoy en día, después de casi una década de intervenciones públicas sostenidas, los componentes más relevantes de Medellín no son sólo los iconos arquitectónicos o los sistemas de transporte modernos que la ciudad ha construido, sino también la incubación de las redes y organizaciones sociales fortalecidas que promueven y mantienen la intervención física, y que también generan el tejido social para prevenir la violencia, y contribuyen a dar forma a un proyecto común para la ciudad.

A través de los años, la calidad de la transformación física se ha complementado con las políticas sociales para formar y capacitar más efectivamente las redes y organizaciones sociales. El desarrollo de la estrategia de capacidad no es únicamente apoyada por la administración pública, sino también por organizaciones internacionales como por ejemplo Paisa Joven de la GTZ y Corporación Picacho de la Fundación Ford, (o los proyectos de la Fundación Social y de la Fundación Suramericana), los cuales fortalecen las capacidades y las funciones de los líderes de las comunas y de las organizaciones sociales locales. Los líderes que son visibles con base social y con posición de liderazgo en la administración, tienen acceso a las mejores universidades públicas y privadas (v.gr., el Fondo EPM). Ellos crean una base de conocimientos integrados a través de sus propios puntos de vista territoriales y crean el proceso de decisiones públicas a través de esquemas como: la seguridad y la creación de presupuestos en forma participativa. Esta es una arquitectura social para crear alianzas entre organizaciones con incidencia política y alternativas económicas. Además, funciona para crear otro tipo de movilidad social con una mayor vinculación territorial que se ha convertido en una fuerza importante para hacer frente a los ciclos de redes criminales en la ciudad.

Paula Moreno es ingeniera industrial con experiencia en gestión de proyectos sociales, diseño e implementación de políticas públicas. Ella fue la primera mujer afrocolombiana en ocupar un cargo ministerial y la más joven en la historia de Colombia. En 2010 fue seleccionada por el Consejo de las Américas como una de las líderes jóvenes y más influyentes de la región por su trabajo en la comprensión de la diversidad. La Black Mayors Association también la destaca como una de las líderes negras más influyentes en el mundo. Ella fundó y es la presidenta de la la Corporación Manos Visibles. La organización es una ONG centrada en las prácticas de inclusión efectiva para los jóvenes en situación de riesgo y de las comunidades étnicas en Colombia. Paula tiene una Maestría en Estudios de Gestión por la Universidad de Cambridge y fue una becaria Fulbright en los Estados Unidos para el programa de planificación urbana y regional en el Instituto de Tecnología de Massachusetts (MIT).

Angela Franco, Vice-President of Research at the Universidad del Valle (Colombia)

One of the biggest challenges we face in Latin America and the Caribbean is the reduction of poverty. We must seek equity levels to counterbalance the disturbing situation of social inequality that characterizes our countries. In this context, urban planning plays a central role. This is because improving the quality of life of families in poverty is directly related to the urban policies of inclusion and neighborhood upgrading, and has a direct relationship with competitive strategies and natural resource management.

Nevertheless, while it seems clear that public policies aimed at these purposes should occupy the front lines of government agendas, the reality is that there is much talk and little is done. But why?

First, I consider that the processes of social inclusion, being long-term processes, are not attractive to those in power who, in the case of Colombia, have four years to show results for their management. Unfortunately, we have seen that there have been few leaders who initiate a program and leave the results to another. Second, the high investment and complexity involved in implementing a program of poverty reduction and neighborhood upgrading is a challenge that only a few people want to take on.

Perhaps this is the result of the indifference of the citizens and their willingness to go along with the projects undertaken by those in power. For example, complaints are not common when the tax money is invested in road infrastructure conducive to private vehicles. It’s a quick way to show immediate results to taxpayers. Neither are there frequent questions from civil society on major social housing schemes, which contribute little to the quality of life of the poorest and least of urban quality.

However, some recent governments in Colombia have shown great commitment and have faced the problem of poverty and social inequality seriously. We should keep in mind the lessons learned from the governments of Antanas Mockus and Enrique Peñalosa in Bogotá, during which civic culture, public space, and school infrastructure left a positive balance in reducing the “social distance” and increasing tolerance and security.

In Medellin, Sergio Fajardo and the subsequent politicians set the goal to change the HDI in the marginal sectors, focusing investments on accessibility, school infrastructure, and the development of programs to create jobs and opportunities.

In Cali, the current mayor Rodrigo Guerrero is designing strategies to direct investment towards informal settlements and the most segregated areas of the city. As a result of the current local government work, the Ford Foundation included Cali in the Just Cities initiative. Now the city is challenged to take this opportunity to reduce inequality and poverty rates. But more important than defining projects and investments, all local actors should seek the empowerment of civil society, unions, academia, and all other stakeholders related to urban development. This empowerment would ensure that proposed projects transcend the current administration and become a navigation chart to achieve a profound change in the city and for its citizens.

Angela Franco is Vice-President of Research at the University Del Valle in Cali, Colombia. She is an architect and an urban planner and holds a MSc in Sociology. Her research projects are focused on informal settlements, urban segregation, and urban renewal processes in downtown areas. In 2012 she did a fellowship in the Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies at MIT, where she was working on international development good practices to explore new topics of analysis and applied research in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Angela Franco, Vicerrectora de Investigaciones de la Universidad del Valle (Colombia)

Uno de los mayores desafíos que enfrentamos en América Latina y el Caribe es la reducción de la pobreza. Nuestros esfuerzos se deberían concentrar en procurar mejores niveles de equidad para contrarrestar la alarmante situación de desigualdad social que caracteriza a nuestros países. En este contexto, la planificación urbana tiene un rol central, dado que la acción de mejorar la calidad de vida de las familias que viven en situación de pobreza está directamente relacionada con las legislaciones urbanas de inclusión y el mejoramiento de barrios; además, tiene una relación directa con las estrategias de competitividad y la administración de recursos naturales.

Sin embargo, aunque parece evidente que las políticas públicas dirigidas a estos fines deben estar al frente de las agendas de los gobiernos, la realidad es que se habla mucho y se hace poco, pero ¿por qué?

En primer lugar, considero que los procesos de inclusión social, al ser procesos a largo plazo, no son atractivos para los gobernantes que, en el caso de Colombia, tienen cuatro años para mostrar resultados de su administración. Desafortunadamente, hemos visto como pocos líderes inician un programa para dejarle los resultados a otro. En segundo lugar, la alta inversión y la alta complejidad involucrada en un programa de reducción de pobreza y de mejoramiento de barrios es un reto que sólo pocos quieren asumir.

Tal vez este es el resultado de la indiferencia de los ciudadanos y de su conformidad a los proyectos llevados a cabo por aquellos en posiciones de poder. Por ejemplo, hay muy pocas quejas cuando el dinero de los impuestos se invierte en la infraestructura vial, que beneficia a los vehículos privados. Estas inversiones son una forma rápida de mostrar resultados inmediatos para los contribuyentes. Tampoco, hay cuestionamientos por parte de la sociedad civil sobre los programas de vivienda, los cuales contribuyen poco a la calidad de vida de los más pobres y de los que viven una vida de poca calidad urbana.

Sin embargo, algunos gobiernos locales recientes en Colombia han mostrado un gran compromiso y se han enfrentado seriamente al problema de la pobreza y de la desigualdad social. Se debe tener en cuenta las lecciones aprendidas de los alcaldes Antanas Mockus y de Enrique Peñalosa en Bogotá, durante los cuales la cultura cívica, el espacio público y la infraestructura escolar dejaron un equilibrio positivo en la reducción de la “distancia social” y en el aumento de la tolerancia y de la seguridad.

En Medellín, el alcalde Sergio Fajardo, y los gobernantes siguientes, fijaron la meta de cambiar el Indice de Desarrollo Humano (IDH) en los sectores marginales, centrándose en mayor parte en las inversiones de materia de accesibilidad, la infraestructura escolar y el desarrollo de programas para crear empleos y oportunidades laborales.

En Cali, el alcalde actual, Rodrigo Guerrero, está diseñando estrategias para la inversión directa hacia los asentamientos informales y las áreas más segregadas de la ciudad. En consecuencia de la labor actual de los gobiernos locales, la Fundación Ford incluyó a Cali en la iniciativa, Ciudades Justas. Ahora la ciudad tiene el reto de tomar esta oportunidad para reducir los índices de la desigualdad y de pobreza. Y más que definir inversiones, es más importante que todos los actores locales busquen el empoderamiento de la sociedad civil, los sindicatos, las universidades y demás actores relacionados con el desarrollo urbano. Dicho empoderamiento aseguraría que los proyectos propuestos trasciendan la administración actual y se conviertan en una carta de navegación para lograr un cambio profundo en la ciudad y en los ciudadanos.

Angela Franco es Vicerrectora de Investigaciones de la Universidad del Valle en Cali, Colombia. Es arquitecta, urbanista y tiene Maestría en Sociología. Sus proyectos de investigación se centran en asentamientos informales, la segregación urbana y los procesos de renovación urbana en las áreas del centro de la ciudad. Durante el año 2012 obtuvo una beca de investigación en el Programa Especial de Estudios Urbanos y Regionales en MIT donde trabajó en el desarrollo de buenas prácticas y nuevos temas de análisis y de investigación aplicada en la región de Latinoamérica y el Caribe.

Jorge Luiz Barbosa, Director, Favela Observatory (Brazil)

The territories of our social life are becoming increasingly complex and diverse, especially when we live in cities that keep growing due to concentrated urbanization. The relationship between city, neighborhood, and the day-to-day seems to be a nostalgic experience rather than a reality. In this new urban condition, pluralized identities and new practices emerge to symbolically appropriate space and time. Therefore, the utopia of a more generous city invites us to promote an alternative political space for democracy and citizenship.

To realize the multiple possibilities of a city, the social and political qualities of public space are pivotal. In addition to the State and the Market, there are other dimensions to consider for life in society. In this sense, the role of civil society as a political instrument is necessary to renew the public sphere.

Aristotle considered the human being to be endowed by words. According to him, the use of words contributed to the shift of human beings from “animalistic” to civilization. The doxa (opinion) was the expression of building the community ethos (koinonía) of autonomous and collective beings. This expression led to the construction of an ethical subject in action, with its own space: the Polis.

For us, a serious public sphere is a space of visibility for an individual and for others. But this is only possible if words and actions are used in the exercise of rights. In this vein, the concept of citizenship gains relevant emancipatory elements in the practice of rights, especially regarding the return to the territory of the public political sphere.

The return to the territory is pivotal to political practice once the day-to-day of all beings, all actions, and all human intentions are integrated in established times and spaces. Within a territory, it is possible to recognize collective interests and mobilize joint forces of change.

When trying to determine an agenda to overcome social inequalities, we need to identify the stakeholders that create change. This leads us to recognize that new collective subjects must assume a key role in building effective citizenship policy, especially with regard to overcoming inequalities due to ethnicity, race, gender, and sexual orientation.

Various civil society organizations have a key role in the political process described, especially those working in areas marked by deep social inequalities and reduced participation in the public sphere. The Favela Observatory has been working through its various modes of intervention (urban policy, human rights, education, culture, arts, and communication) to place unprivileged and excluded territories at the center of the political construction of the right to the city, ensuring new actors in these new spaces of political participation.

Jorge Luiz Barbosa is a Professor at the Federal Fluminense University, Director of the Favela Observatory, and co-author of the following books: Favela: Joy and Pain in the City, What is a Favela, Anyway?, The New Carioca, and Cultural Grounds.

Jorge Luiz Barbosa, Diretor do Observatório das Favelas (Brasil)

Os territórios de nossa vida social são cada vez mais complexos e diversos, sobretudo quando vivemos em metrópoles agigantadas pela urbanização concentrada. A relação cidade / bairro / cotidiano do passado parece ser mais uma experiência nostálgica do que uma realidade ainda próxima. Nesta nova condição urbana revelam-se identidades pluralizadas e práticas inteiramente novas de apropriação material e simbólica do espaço e do tempo. Portanto, a utopia de uma cidade mais generosa ainda pulsa e nos convida a promover outro campo político para a democracia e a para a cidadania.

Para a realização das múltiplas possibilidades do viver a cidade se faz indispensável a qualidade social e política do espaço público. Para além do Estado e do Mercado há outras dimensões para pensar a construção de referências para a vida em sociedade. Nesse sentido, a retomada do papel da sociedade civil como instância política é necessária e inadiável para instituir uma renovada esfera pública.

Aristóteles considerava o homem como um ser dotado da palavra. Segundo ele, a partilha das palavras contribuía para o ser humano aceder da animalidade à civilidade, pois a doxa (opinião) era a expressão própria da construção do ethos comunitário (koinonía) de sujeitos autônomos e coletivos. Essa partilha, que conduzia a constituição do sujeito ético em ação, possuía um lugar próprio: a Pólis.

A esfera pública seria, para nós, um espaço da visibilidade de si e do outro. Ou seja, do domínio da alteridade como campo da política. Todavia, só possível de existência tangível com a corporificação da palavra e da ação no exercício de direitos à liberdade. Nesta senda, a concepção cidadania ganha elementos emancipatórios fundamentais como prática de direitos, dentre eles, o retorno ao território com esfera pública da política.

O retorno ao território é o fundamento da prática política, uma vez que o cotidiano de todos os sujeitos, de todas as ações e todas as intenções humanas possui a sua integralidade em espaços/tempos demarcados. No território é possível reconhecer os interesses coletivos, promover pertencimentos e de mobilizar forças plurais de mudança.

E, quando tratamos da elaboração de uma agenda de superação das desigualdades sociais precisamos identificar os atores de sua criação e efetivação. Essa posição nos conduz a reconhecer que novos sujeitos coletivos devem assumir um papel principal na construção política de efetivação de cidadania, sobretudo no que diz respeito à superação de desigualdades que se reproduzem com recortes étnicos, raciais, etários, de gênero e de orientação sexual.

As diferentes organizações da sociedade civil terão um papel fundamental no processo político em destaque, principalmente as que atuam em territórios marcados por profundas desigualdades sociais e de reduzida participação na esfera pública. O Observatório de Favelas vem se empenhando, por meio de seus diferentes campos de atuação (política urbana, direitos humanos, educação, cultura, artes e comunicação), em colocar os territórios populares na centralidade construção política do Direito à Cidade, afirmando novos atores em novos cenários de participação política.

Jorge Luiz Barbosa é Professor da Universidade Federal Fluminense, Diretor do Observatório de Favelas e Co-autor dos Livros: “Favela: Alegria e dor na Cidade”; “O que é favela, afinal?”; “O novo carioca”; e “Solos Culturais”.

Submitted by Editor — Sun, 11/17/2013 – 23:00

Latin America is the most urbanized region in the world, with an average urbanization rate of 80 percent. Many of the region’s cities are developing quickly and becoming important economic, cultural and touristic hubs. In spite of this growth and development, and the fact that poverty rates have been declining, 25 percent of Latin America’s urban residents still live in poverty. URB.im would like to encourage the debate around solutions to tackle poverty, foster inclusion and promote broader channels of participation, to bring about more just and inclusive cities in Latin America.

Join the conversation with our four panelists: Enrique Betancourt, Co-founder of Contextual and Former Deputy Director of Social Policies, Office of the President (Mexico); Paula Moreno, Former Minister of Culture and President, Corporación Manos Visibles (Colombia); Angela Franco, Vice-President of Research at the Universidad del Valle (Colombia); and Jorge Barbosa, Director, Favela Observatory (Brazil).

Con una tasa de urbanización del 80 por ciento, América Latina es la región más urbanizada del planeta. Varias ciudades de la región se están desarrollando rápidamente y se están consolidando como importantes centros económicos, culturales y turísticos. A pesar de dicho crecimiento y desarrollo, y aunque la pobreza ha venido disminuyendo, se estima que el 25 por ciento de los habitantes de las ciudades Latinoamericanas viven en condiciones de pobreza. URB.im quiere generar un espacio de intercambio de experiencias y reflexiones sobre esfuerzos de reducción de pobreza y la promoción de la inclusión y la participación social, los cuales están contribuyendo a que las ciudades Latinoamericanas sean más justas e incluyentes.

Únanse a la conversación con nuestros cuatro participantes invitados: Enrique Betancourt, Cofundador de Contextual y Ex Director Adjunto de Política Social de la Presidencia (México); Paula Moreno, Exministra de Cultura y Presidenta, la Corporación Manos Visibles (Colombia); Angela Franco, Vicerrectora de Investigaciones de la Universidad del Valle (Colombia); y Jorge Barbosa, Director, Observatorio de las Favelas (Brasil).

América Latina é a região mais urbanizada do planeta com uma taxa de urbanização de 80 por cento. Varias cidades da região estão se desenvolvendo rapidamente e estão se tornando importantes centros econômicos, culturais e turísticos. Embora aquele crescimento e desenvolvimento, é o fato que a pobreza vem diminuindo, ainda o 25 por cento da população das cidades Latino-americanas experimentam condições de pobreza. URB.im gostaria de incentivar o debate em torno às soluções no combate da pobreza e da exclusão e dos mecanismos para ampliar os cais de participação das cidades Latino-americanas para que sejam mais justas e inclusivas.

Participe na conversação com nossos quarto debatedores: Enrique Betancourt, Cofundador de Contextual e Ex-assessor Presidencial de Politicas Sociais (México); Paula Moreno, Ex-ministra de Cultura e Presidente, Corporación Manos Visibles (Colombia); Angela Franco, Vice-presidente de Pesquisa da Universidad del Valle (Colombia); e Jorge Barbosa, Diretor, Observatório de Favelas (Brasil).

Enrique Betancourt, Co-founder of Contextual and Former Deputy Director of Social Policies, Office of the President (Mexico)

Latin America is the most urbanized of all developing regions. On its own, this fact could mean good news, as historically, cities have been able to reduce poverty rates and gender inequality, and have achieved substantial improvements in access to education, justice, and health services, among other benefits.

However, the quantitative data is insufficient to explain the challenges that Latin American cities are facing. The quality and speed with which the urbanization process has taken place complements this picture, explaining why urbanization was characterized by inequality, socioeconomic segregation, and precarious provision of social services and basic infrastructure. The scenario is even less encouraging when considering the institutional weaknesses in most of our region’s local governments, which are further and further away from meeting demand for social services and policies. When reviewing the region’s history of urban development and demographic trends, the violence that characterizes most cities in the region should not surprise us (42 of the 50 most violent cities in the world are in Latin America).

The future of Latin America’s development is closely linked to the quality with which its social and physical spaces are planned and managed.

In this debate I intend to advocate for the need for a much broader urban paradigm than the one proposed by the urban development practice at the end of the twentieth century, which focuses on planning the uses, densities, housing, and basic infrastructure.

The central proposal of my argument rests on the fact that urban issues should not be considered only a vertical of public policy like education, health, culture, sports, or economic development, but as cross-cutting policy, which would allow the “territorializing” (focusing on the territory) of other public policies.

This focus on the territory is based on three fundamental premises:

• Work from the intersection of the social strata, space, and their corresponding vertical public policy areas (such as health, education, etc.).

• Align national and sub-national policies to plan and manage on three simultaneous scales: regional, urban/metropolitan, and neighborhood.

• Define the mechanisms that allow the implementation of urban policies under a clear framework of social participation that prioritizes the public good and technical solutions over mere politics.

Enrique Betancourt is the cofounder of Contextual, an agency that develops creative solutions to urban problems through collaborative processes. His work focuses on the intersection between research, public policy design, and implementation. Previously, Enrique was the Head of the National Center for Crime Prevention and Citizen Participation, as well as the Deputy Director of Social Policy at the Office of the Presidency of Mexico. He studied architecture at the Universidad de las Américas Puebla, holds a Masters in Urbanism from Harvard University, and is a Yale World Fellow.

Enrique Betancourt, Cofundador de Contextual y Ex Director Adjunto de Política Social de la Presidencia (México)

América Latina es la región en vías de desarrollo más urbanizada del mundo. El hecho en sí mismo podría anunciar buenas noticias, pues las ciudades han llegado, a lo largo de la historia, acompañadas de reducciones importantes en índices de pobreza, desigualdad de género y mejoras sustanciales respecto al acceso a educación, justica y servicios de salud entre otros beneficios.

Sin embargo el dato cuantitativo resulta insuficiente para explicar el reto que representa la vida en las ciudades de nuestra región. La calidad y la velocidad con la que ha sucedido el proceso de urbanización complementan el panorama y terminan por explicar como éste último se ha caracterizado por la desigualdad, la segregación socioeconómica y la precariedad en la provisión de servicios sociales e infraestructura básica. El escenario resulta menos alentador ante la clara debilidad institucional de la mayoría de los gobiernos locales de la región, quienes se encuentran cada vez más lejos de poder satisfacer la demanda de servicios y políticas sociales. Ante la revisión de la historia de desarrollo urbano y tendencias demográficas no debería sorprender mucho la violencia que caracteriza a la mayoría de las ciudades de la región. (42 de las 50 ciudades mas violentas del mundo son Latinoamericanas).

El futuro del desarrollo de América Latina esta íntimamente ligado a la calidad con la que se planifiquen y gestionen los espacios sociales y físicos de sus ciudades.

En este debate me propongo abogar por la necesidad de un paradigma urbano mucho más amplio que el propuesto por la noción de desarrollo urbana de finales del siglo XX centrada prioritariamente en la planeación de los usos, las densidades, la vivienda y la infraestructura básica.

La propuesta central de mi argumento radica en la necesidad de que los asuntos urbanos no sean considerados únicamente como un área de política pública vertical más como lo son la educación, salud, cultura, deporte, desarrollo económico, sino un política transversal que permita la territorialización de las otras políticas públicas.

Esta territorialización supondría tres premisas fundamentales:

• Trabajar desde la intersección de las capas sociales, espaciales y las correspondientes a cada área de política vertical (salud, educación, etc.)

• Alinear políticas nacionales y sub-nacionales para planear y gestionar en 3 escalas simultaneas: regional, la urbana / metropolitana y la barrial.

• Definir mecanismos que permitan la operación táctica de políticas urbanas bajo un marco definido de participación social que priorice el bien público y las soluciones técnicas por encima de las meramente políticas.

Enrique Betancourt es cofundador de Contextual, una agencia que desarrolla soluciones creativas a problemas urbanos a través de procesos colaborativos. Su trabajo se centra en la intersección que existe entre la investigación, el diseño de políticas públicas y su implementación. Anteriormente fue Titular del Centro Nacional de Prevención del Delito y Participación Ciudadana y Director Adjunto de Política Social en la Oficina de la Presidencia del Gobierno de México. Es Arquitecto por la Universidad de las Américas en Puebla, Maestro en Urbanismo por la Universidad de Harvard y Yale World Fellow.

Paula Moreno, Former Minister of Culture and President, Corporación Manos Visibles (Colombia)

One of the most critical challenges in increasingly urbanized Latin American cities is how to enforce social integration as a strategy to reduce urban violence and promote greater social cohesion and resilience among its citizens. The dynamics of public space not only as a symbol of physical welfare but also as a determinant of equal social relations is a major challenge to be addressed. I would like to mention the case of Medellin, a Colombian city with both a complex history in terms of violence, illegal networks, and segregation, and at the same time the most dynamic cultural and economic nodes, with opportunities for structural social change in the medium term.

Medellin is the clearest example of urban transformation in recent years in Colombia. First, the city’s government has showed continuous political support for and prioritization of social integration. Second, the city has developed comprehensive urban interventions that prioritize social integration as a tool to tackle violence and social degradation. These interventions take the form of urban upgrading programs, which invest not only in improving the physical conditions of low-income neighborhoods, but also in their social capital. Today, after almost a decade of sustained public interventions, one of the most critical components of Medellin’s scheme is not only the architectural icons or the modern transportation systems that the city has built, but the incubation of strengthened social networks that nurture and sustain the physical intervention, and also generate the social fabric to prevent violence and to shape a common project for the city.

Throughout the years, the quality of physical transformation has been complemented by social policies to map and effectively empower social networks. The building capacity strategy, mainly supported by the public administration but also by national and international organizations (e.g. Paisa Joven of GTZ, Picacho Corporation (Ford Foundation) or the projects of Fundación Social or Fundación Suraméricana) strengthened the capacities and roles of commune leaders and organizations. Visible grassroots leaders with administration leadership positions have access to top public and private universities (e.g. EPM Fund), and create a knowledge base that integrates their own territorial views into the academy and the public decision-making process through schemes like participatory security and budgeting. This social architecture, built upon bridging organizations with political advocacy, economic alternatives, and social mobility with a major territorial attachment, has become a major force in tackling criminal networks in the city. (Two examples of bridging organizations of this type are Son Batá and la Elite Hip Hop.)

Paula Moreno is an industrial engineer with experience in social project management, design and implementation of public policies. She was the youngest minister in the history of Colombia and the first Afro-Colombian women to hold a ministerial office. In 2010 she was selected by the Council of the Americas as one of the most influential young leaders in the region for her work on effectively understanding diversity, and by the Black Mayors Association as one of the most influential Black leaders in the world. She founded and is currently serving as president of the Visible Hands Corporation, an NGO focused on practices of effective inclusion for youth at risk and ethnic communities in Colombia. Ms. Moreno holds a Master’s Degree in Management Studies from the University of Cambridge and was a United States Fulbright scholar for the program of urban and regional planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Paula Moreno, Exministra de Cultura y Presidenta, la Corporación Manos Visibles (Colombia)

Uno de los desafíos más importantes en el crecimiento de las ciudades latinoamericanas, es cómo promover la integración social como una estrategia para reducir la violencia urbana, además de cómo generar una mayor cohesión social y resiliencia entre sus ciudadanos. La dinámica del espacio público no es sólo un símbolo del bienestar físico, sino también es un factor determinante de las relaciones sociales de igualdad—y se convierte en un desafío importante de abordar. Me gustaría mencionar el caso de Medellín, una ciudad colombiana con una complejidad histórica importante en términos de violencia, redes ilegales y segregación; al mismo tiempo, tiene los nodos culturales y económicos más dinámicos del país y ofrece oportunidades para el cambio social estructural a medio plazo.

Medellín es el ejemplo más claro de la transformación urbana de los últimos años en Colombia. En primer lugar, el gobierno de la ciudad ha mostrado un apoyo político continuo y también ha mostrado prioridad a la integración social. en segundo lugar, la ciudad ha desarrollado intervenciones urbanas integrales que dan prioridad a la integración social como una herramienta para hacer frente a la violencia y a la degradación social. Estas intervenciones se enfocan en programas de mejoramiento urbano, que no sólo invierten en la mejora de las condiciones físicas de los barrios de bajos ingresos, sino también en su capital social. Hoy en día, después de casi una década de intervenciones públicas sostenidas, los componentes más relevantes de Medellín no son sólo los iconos arquitectónicos o los sistemas de transporte modernos que la ciudad ha construido, sino también la incubación de las redes y organizaciones sociales fortalecidas que promueven y mantienen la intervención física, y que también generan el tejido social para prevenir la violencia, y contribuyen a dar forma a un proyecto común para la ciudad.

A través de los años, la calidad de la transformación física se ha complementado con las políticas sociales para formar y capacitar más efectivamente las redes y organizaciones sociales. El desarrollo de la estrategia de capacidad no es únicamente apoyada por la administración pública, sino también por organizaciones internacionales como por ejemplo Paisa Joven de la GTZ y Corporación Picacho de la Fundación Ford, (o los proyectos de la Fundación Social y de la Fundación Suramericana), los cuales fortalecen las capacidades y las funciones de los líderes de las comunas y de las organizaciones sociales locales. Los líderes que son visibles con base social y con posición de liderazgo en la administración, tienen acceso a las mejores universidades públicas y privadas (v.gr., el Fondo EPM). Ellos crean una base de conocimientos integrados a través de sus propios puntos de vista territoriales y crean el proceso de decisiones públicas a través de esquemas como: la seguridad y la creación de presupuestos en forma participativa. Esta es una arquitectura social para crear alianzas entre organizaciones con incidencia política y alternativas económicas. Además, funciona para crear otro tipo de movilidad social con una mayor vinculación territorial que se ha convertido en una fuerza importante para hacer frente a los ciclos de redes criminales en la ciudad.

Paula Moreno es ingeniera industrial con experiencia en gestión de proyectos sociales, diseño e implementación de políticas públicas. Ella fue la primera mujer afrocolombiana en ocupar un cargo ministerial y la más joven en la historia de Colombia. En 2010 fue seleccionada por el Consejo de las Américas como una de las líderes jóvenes y más influyentes de la región por su trabajo en la comprensión de la diversidad. La Black Mayors Association también la destaca como una de las líderes negras más influyentes en el mundo. Ella fundó y es la presidenta de la la Corporación Manos Visibles. La organización es una ONG centrada en las prácticas de inclusión efectiva para los jóvenes en situación de riesgo y de las comunidades étnicas en Colombia. Paula tiene una Maestría en Estudios de Gestión por la Universidad de Cambridge y fue una becaria Fulbright en los Estados Unidos para el programa de planificación urbana y regional en el Instituto de Tecnología de Massachusetts (MIT).

Angela Franco, Vice-President of Research at the Universidad del Valle (Colombia)

One of the biggest challenges we face in Latin America and the Caribbean is the reduction of poverty. We must seek equity levels to counterbalance the disturbing situation of social inequality that characterizes our countries. In this context, urban planning plays a central role. This is because improving the quality of life of families in poverty is directly related to the urban policies of inclusion and neighborhood upgrading, and has a direct relationship with competitive strategies and natural resource management.

Nevertheless, while it seems clear that public policies aimed at these purposes should occupy the front lines of government agendas, the reality is that there is much talk and little is done. But why?

First, I consider that the processes of social inclusion, being long-term processes, are not attractive to those in power who, in the case of Colombia, have four years to show results for their management. Unfortunately, we have seen that there have been few leaders who initiate a program and leave the results to another. Second, the high investment and complexity involved in implementing a program of poverty reduction and neighborhood upgrading is a challenge that only a few people want to take on.

Perhaps this is the result of the indifference of the citizens and their willingness to go along with the projects undertaken by those in power. For example, complaints are not common when the tax money is invested in road infrastructure conducive to private vehicles. It’s a quick way to show immediate results to taxpayers. Neither are there frequent questions from civil society on major social housing schemes, which contribute little to the quality of life of the poorest and least of urban quality.

However, some recent governments in Colombia have shown great commitment and have faced the problem of poverty and social inequality seriously. We should keep in mind the lessons learned from the governments of Antanas Mockus and Enrique Peñalosa in Bogotá, during which civic culture, public space, and school infrastructure left a positive balance in reducing the “social distance” and increasing tolerance and security.

In Medellin, Sergio Fajardo and the subsequent politicians set the goal to change the HDI in the marginal sectors, focusing investments on accessibility, school infrastructure, and the development of programs to create jobs and opportunities.

In Cali, the current mayor Rodrigo Guerrero is designing strategies to direct investment towards informal settlements and the most segregated areas of the city. As a result of the current local government work, the Ford Foundation included Cali in the Just Cities initiative. Now the city is challenged to take this opportunity to reduce inequality and poverty rates. But more important than defining projects and investments, all local actors should seek the empowerment of civil society, unions, academia, and all other stakeholders related to urban development. This empowerment would ensure that proposed projects transcend the current administration and become a navigation chart to achieve a profound change in the city and for its citizens.

Angela Franco is Vice-President of Research at the University Del Valle in Cali, Colombia. She is an architect and an urban planner and holds a MSc in Sociology. Her research projects are focused on informal settlements, urban segregation, and urban renewal processes in downtown areas. In 2012 she did a fellowship in the Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies at MIT, where she was working on international development good practices to explore new topics of analysis and applied research in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Angela Franco, Vicerrectora de Investigaciones de la Universidad del Valle (Colombia)

Uno de los mayores desafíos que enfrentamos en América Latina y el Caribe es la reducción de la pobreza. Nuestros esfuerzos se deberían concentrar en procurar mejores niveles de equidad para contrarrestar la alarmante situación de desigualdad social que caracteriza a nuestros países. En este contexto, la planificación urbana tiene un rol central, dado que la acción de mejorar la calidad de vida de las familias que viven en situación de pobreza está directamente relacionada con las legislaciones urbanas de inclusión y el mejoramiento de barrios; además, tiene una relación directa con las estrategias de competitividad y la administración de recursos naturales.

Sin embargo, aunque parece evidente que las políticas públicas dirigidas a estos fines deben estar al frente de las agendas de los gobiernos, la realidad es que se habla mucho y se hace poco, pero ¿por qué?

En primer lugar, considero que los procesos de inclusión social, al ser procesos a largo plazo, no son atractivos para los gobernantes que, en el caso de Colombia, tienen cuatro años para mostrar resultados de su administración. Desafortunadamente, hemos visto como pocos líderes inician un programa para dejarle los resultados a otro. En segundo lugar, la alta inversión y la alta complejidad involucrada en un programa de reducción de pobreza y de mejoramiento de barrios es un reto que sólo pocos quieren asumir.

Tal vez este es el resultado de la indiferencia de los ciudadanos y de su conformidad a los proyectos llevados a cabo por aquellos en posiciones de poder. Por ejemplo, hay muy pocas quejas cuando el dinero de los impuestos se invierte en la infraestructura vial, que beneficia a los vehículos privados. Estas inversiones son una forma rápida de mostrar resultados inmediatos para los contribuyentes. Tampoco, hay cuestionamientos por parte de la sociedad civil sobre los programas de vivienda, los cuales contribuyen poco a la calidad de vida de los más pobres y de los que viven una vida de poca calidad urbana.

Sin embargo, algunos gobiernos locales recientes en Colombia han mostrado un gran compromiso y se han enfrentado seriamente al problema de la pobreza y de la desigualdad social. Se debe tener en cuenta las lecciones aprendidas de los alcaldes Antanas Mockus y de Enrique Peñalosa en Bogotá, durante los cuales la cultura cívica, el espacio público y la infraestructura escolar dejaron un equilibrio positivo en la reducción de la “distancia social” y en el aumento de la tolerancia y de la seguridad.

En Medellín, el alcalde Sergio Fajardo, y los gobernantes siguientes, fijaron la meta de cambiar el Indice de Desarrollo Humano (IDH) en los sectores marginales, centrándose en mayor parte en las inversiones de materia de accesibilidad, la infraestructura escolar y el desarrollo de programas para crear empleos y oportunidades laborales.

En Cali, el alcalde actual, Rodrigo Guerrero, está diseñando estrategias para la inversión directa hacia los asentamientos informales y las áreas más segregadas de la ciudad. En consecuencia de la labor actual de los gobiernos locales, la Fundación Ford incluyó a Cali en la iniciativa, Ciudades Justas. Ahora la ciudad tiene el reto de tomar esta oportunidad para reducir los índices de la desigualdad y de pobreza. Y más que definir inversiones, es más importante que todos los actores locales busquen el empoderamiento de la sociedad civil, los sindicatos, las universidades y demás actores relacionados con el desarrollo urbano. Dicho empoderamiento aseguraría que los proyectos propuestos trasciendan la administración actual y se conviertan en una carta de navegación para lograr un cambio profundo en la ciudad y en los ciudadanos.

Angela Franco es Vicerrectora de Investigaciones de la Universidad del Valle en Cali, Colombia. Es arquitecta, urbanista y tiene Maestría en Sociología. Sus proyectos de investigación se centran en asentamientos informales, la segregación urbana y los procesos de renovación urbana en las áreas del centro de la ciudad. Durante el año 2012 obtuvo una beca de investigación en el Programa Especial de Estudios Urbanos y Regionales en MIT donde trabajó en el desarrollo de buenas prácticas y nuevos temas de análisis y de investigación aplicada en la región de Latinoamérica y el Caribe.

Jorge Luiz Barbosa, Director, Favela Observatory (Brazil)

The territories of our social life are becoming increasingly complex and diverse, especially when we live in cities that keep growing due to concentrated urbanization. The relationship between city, neighborhood, and the day-to-day seems to be a nostalgic experience rather than a reality. In this new urban condition, pluralized identities and new practices emerge to symbolically appropriate space and time. Therefore, the utopia of a more generous city invites us to promote an alternative political space for democracy and citizenship.

To realize the multiple possibilities of a city, the social and political qualities of public space are pivotal. In addition to the State and the Market, there are other dimensions to consider for life in society. In this sense, the role of civil society as a political instrument is necessary to renew the public sphere.

Aristotle considered the human being to be endowed by words. According to him, the use of words contributed to the shift of human beings from “animalistic” to civilization. The doxa (opinion) was the expression of building the community ethos (koinonía) of autonomous and collective beings. This expression led to the construction of an ethical subject in action, with its own space: the Polis.

For us, a serious public sphere is a space of visibility for an individual and for others. But this is only possible if words and actions are used in the exercise of rights. In this vein, the concept of citizenship gains relevant emancipatory elements in the practice of rights, especially regarding the return to the territory of the public political sphere.

The return to the territory is pivotal to political practice once the day-to-day of all beings, all actions, and all human intentions are integrated in established times and spaces. Within a territory, it is possible to recognize collective interests and mobilize joint forces of change.

When trying to determine an agenda to overcome social inequalities, we need to identify the stakeholders that create change. This leads us to recognize that new collective subjects must assume a key role in building effective citizenship policy, especially with regard to overcoming inequalities due to ethnicity, race, gender, and sexual orientation.

Various civil society organizations have a key role in the political process described, especially those working in areas marked by deep social inequalities and reduced participation in the public sphere. The Favela Observatory has been working through its various modes of intervention (urban policy, human rights, education, culture, arts, and communication) to place unprivileged and excluded territories at the center of the political construction of the right to the city, ensuring new actors in these new spaces of political participation.

Jorge Luiz Barbosa is a Professor at the Federal Fluminense University, Director of the Favela Observatory, and co-author of the following books: Favela: Joy and Pain in the City, What is a Favela, Anyway?, The New Carioca, and Cultural Grounds.

Jorge Luiz Barbosa, Diretor do Observatório das Favelas (Brasil)

Os territórios de nossa vida social são cada vez mais complexos e diversos, sobretudo quando vivemos em metrópoles agigantadas pela urbanização concentrada. A relação cidade / bairro / cotidiano do passado parece ser mais uma experiência nostálgica do que uma realidade ainda próxima. Nesta nova condição urbana revelam-se identidades pluralizadas e práticas inteiramente novas de apropriação material e simbólica do espaço e do tempo. Portanto, a utopia de uma cidade mais generosa ainda pulsa e nos convida a promover outro campo político para a democracia e a para a cidadania.

Para a realização das múltiplas possibilidades do viver a cidade se faz indispensável a qualidade social e política do espaço público. Para além do Estado e do Mercado há outras dimensões para pensar a construção de referências para a vida em sociedade. Nesse sentido, a retomada do papel da sociedade civil como instância política é necessária e inadiável para instituir uma renovada esfera pública.

Aristóteles considerava o homem como um ser dotado da palavra. Segundo ele, a partilha das palavras contribuía para o ser humano aceder da animalidade à civilidade, pois a doxa (opinião) era a expressão própria da construção do ethos comunitário (koinonía) de sujeitos autônomos e coletivos. Essa partilha, que conduzia a constituição do sujeito ético em ação, possuía um lugar próprio: a Pólis.

A esfera pública seria, para nós, um espaço da visibilidade de si e do outro. Ou seja, do domínio da alteridade como campo da política. Todavia, só possível de existência tangível com a corporificação da palavra e da ação no exercício de direitos à liberdade. Nesta senda, a concepção cidadania ganha elementos emancipatórios fundamentais como prática de direitos, dentre eles, o retorno ao território com esfera pública da política.

O retorno ao território é o fundamento da prática política, uma vez que o cotidiano de todos os sujeitos, de todas as ações e todas as intenções humanas possui a sua integralidade em espaços/tempos demarcados. No território é possível reconhecer os interesses coletivos, promover pertencimentos e de mobilizar forças plurais de mudança.

E, quando tratamos da elaboração de uma agenda de superação das desigualdades sociais precisamos identificar os atores de sua criação e efetivação. Essa posição nos conduz a reconhecer que novos sujeitos coletivos devem assumir um papel principal na construção política de efetivação de cidadania, sobretudo no que diz respeito à superação de desigualdades que se reproduzem com recortes étnicos, raciais, etários, de gênero e de orientação sexual.

As diferentes organizações da sociedade civil terão um papel fundamental no processo político em destaque, principalmente as que atuam em territórios marcados por profundas desigualdades sociais e de reduzida participação na esfera pública. O Observatório de Favelas vem se empenhando, por meio de seus diferentes campos de atuação (política urbana, direitos humanos, educação, cultura, artes e comunicação), em colocar os territórios populares na centralidade construção política do Direito à Cidade, afirmando novos atores em novos cenários de participação política.

Jorge Luiz Barbosa é Professor da Universidade Federal Fluminense, Diretor do Observatório de Favelas e Co-autor dos Livros: “Favela: Alegria e dor na Cidade”; “O que é favela, afinal?”; “O novo carioca”; e “Solos Culturais”.

Submitted by Editor — Sun, 11/17/2013 – 23:00

Sebagai ibukota negara dengan penduduk sekitar 10 juta jiwa, Jakarta menjadi kota dengan kepadatan lalu lintas yang tinggi. Kemacetan menjadi pemandangan sehari-hari bagi warga Jakarta. Meskipun begitu, transportasi publik tetap menjadi pilihan warga Jakarta untuk beraktifitas sehari-hari.

Salah satu transportasi publik andalan yang dikelolal oleh Pemda Jakarta adalah sistem bus rapd transit (BRT) TransJakarta atau yang sering disebut sebagai busway. Sejak dioperasikan pada awal tahun 2004, TransJakata terus berkembang dengan menambah jumlah armada dan koridor. Dengan tarif flat Rp 3500 untuk setiap perjalanan, bus TransJakarta selalu disesaki penumpang setiap harinya karena terjangkau dan relatif memiliki waktu tempuh yang lebih singkat karena memiliki jaur tersendiri (busway).

Sejak awal 2012, Badan Layanan Umum Transjakarta dan pemerintah daerah meluncurkan bus Angkutan Perbatasan Terintergrasi Busway atau disebut APTB untuk melayani masyakarat di kota-kota sekitar Jakarta (Bodetabek: Bogor – Depok – Tangerang – Bekasi) yang hendak naik bus Transjakarta menuju ke tempat kerja ataupun tempat-tempat menarik seperti objek wisata, mall dan lain-lain.

Meskipun memiliki jumlah penumpang yang tinggi, namun sistem TransJakarta masih jauh dari sempurna. Para penumpang sering mengeluhkan waktu tunggu yang cukup lama dan bus yang penuh sesak karena kurangnya jumlah armada, terutama di jam-jam sibuk. Sistem tiket yang masih manual serta jalur busway juga sering dilewati oleh kendaraan lain, sehingga bus TransJakarta pun terjebak kemacetan karena kurang tertibnya pengguna jalan lain. Pembangunan halte dan jalur busway pun sering menimbulkan kontroversi karena dianggap mematikan angkutan umum lain dan menggusur jalur hijau / median pembatas jalan. Berbagai permasalahan ini coba terus diatasi oleh pemerintah DKI dengan menambah jumlah armada serta sterilisasi jalur busway.

Melihat kebutuhan yang tinggi dari masyarakat Jakarta akan sistem transportasi rapid transit yang nyaman dan dapat diandalkan, maka TransJakarta diharapkan terus berbenah hingga dapat memberikan pelayanan transportasi publik yang terbaik di ibukota.

Photo credit: TransJakarta

As manifestações promovidas pelos brasileiros no mês de Junho repercutiram em todo o mundo. “Acordamos” diziam os cartazes. Com o desejo de ter maior participação nas decisões de políticas públicas e contra algumas medidas realizadas no âmbito municipal, estadual e nacional, os jovens mostraram sua indignação com o poder público brasileiro. Leia mais.

The Brazilian protests in June were broadcast worldwide. “We have awoken” was written on posters. In search of a stronger voice on the decisions of public policies and against some measures taken by the government (city, state and federal), the youth showed their resentment. Read more.

Submitted by Editor — Tue, 09/17/2013 – 00:00

In recent years, Brazil has become an international point of reference with respect to social policies and programs, given its significant improvements in poverty alleviation and in generating greater opportunities for low-income populations. Programs like Bolsa Familia, the conditional cash transfer that currently benefits 13 million families, and the Food Acquisition Program, which has contributed to reducing food insecurity through the promotion of family agriculture initiatives, are key interventions that many countries are interested in learning from, with the intention of implementing them in their own contexts. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Mon, 09/09/2013 – 00:00

Recentemente Brasil tem-se tornado uma referência internacional em politicas e programas sociais devido a seus resultados importantes na redução da pobreza e na geração de oportunidades para as populações mais vulneráveis. Programas como Bolsa Família, o esquema de transferências de renda que beneficia a mais de 13 milhões de famílias, além do Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos, que tem contribuído na redução da insegurança alimentar por meio de iniciativas de agricultura familiar, são alguns dos principais programas de interesse para outros países. Leia mais o discutir.

In recent years, Brazil has become an international point of reference with respect to social policies and programs, given its significant improvements in poverty alleviation and in generating greater opportunities for low-income populations. Programs like Bolsa Familia, the conditional cash transfer that currently benefits 13 million families, and the Food Acquisition Program, which has contributed to reducing food insecurity through the promotion of family agriculture initiatives, are key interventions that many countries are interested in learning from, with the intention of implementing them in their own contexts. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Mon, 09/09/2013 – 00:00

As the host of next year’s World Cup, all eyes are on Brazil. The attention on the country’s planning of this event has risen due to the recent protests and concerns about the costs of infrastructure required to host the tournament. Although the event is still almost a year away, there are already a number of lessons that other countries, cities, and decision-makers can learn from the Brazilian experience. Read more or discuss.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Mon, 08/19/2013 – 00:00

Como país sede da Copa 2014, a expetativa mundial esta focada no Brasil. A atenção pelo processo de planejamento do evento tem crescido devido aos protestos e preocupações relacionadas com os altos custos da infraestrutura necessária, especialmente os estádios. Embora a Copa ainda não tenha acontecido, existem algumas lições para países, cidades e planejadores urbanos sobre a experiência Brasileira no planejamento do evento. Leia mais o discutir.

As the host of next year’s World Cup, all eyes are on Brazil. The attention on the country’s planning of this event has risen due to the recent protests and concerns about the costs of infrastructure required to host the tournament. Although the event is still almost a year away, there are already a number of lessons that other countries, cities, and decision-makers can learn from the Brazilian experience. Read more or discuss.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Mon, 08/19/2013 – 00:00

Even though Rio de Janeiro offers good coverage of basic public education, there are important gaps in terms of quality. Historically, low-income and violent neighborhoods in Rio have suffered from the highest school drop-out rates and the worst scores in standard tests. But this situation is changing, and faster than expected, thanks to the “Schools of Tomorrow” program, known locally as Escolas do Amanhã. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Mon, 08/05/2013 – 00:00

Embora Rio de Janeiro apresente boas taxas de cobertura de ensino básico, ainda existem importantes desafios na melhora da qualidade. Historicamente os bairros de baixa renda e aqueles afetados pela violência são aqueles que apresentam maiores taxas de evasão escolar e pior desempenho no Índice de Educação Básica (IDEB). Felizmente, esta situação está mudando principalmente com o apoio do programa Escolas do Amanhã. Leia mais o discutir.

Even though Rio de Janeiro offers good coverage of basic public education, there are important gaps in terms of quality. Historically, low-income and violent neighborhoods in Rio have suffered from the highest school drop-out rates and the worst scores in standard tests. But this situation is changing, and faster than expected, thanks to the “Schools of Tomorrow” program, known locally as Escolas do Amanhã. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Mon, 08/05/2013 – 00:00

Brasil vem avançando a partir de 1950 na expansão da proteção básica para todos seus trabalhadores. Entre os avanços mais importantes estão à aprovação de um conjunto de leis e normas para garantir um salario mínimo para todos os trabalhadores formais, além de outros benefícios, como o seguro de desemprego, beneficio de maternidade, aceso a um fundo de popança, feiras remuneradas e bolsas de transporte e alimentação. Leia mais o discutir.

Since the 1950s, Brazil has been taking important steps to ensure the basic protection of all its workers. The most relevant advances include the approval of a series of laws and regulations that ensure formal workers a minimum wage, and a number of benefits, including unemployment benefits, maternity leave, access to a pension fund, and paid time off, and sometimes transportation and meal subsidies. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Mon, 07/15/2013 – 00:00

Since the 1950s, Brazil has been taking important steps to ensure the basic protection of all its workers. The most relevant advances include the approval of a series of laws and regulations that ensure formal workers a minimum wage, and a number of benefits, including unemployment benefits, maternity leave, access to a pension fund, and paid time off, and sometimes transportation and meal subsidies. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Mon, 07/15/2013 – 00:00

Brazil has joined the group of countries that are experiencing massive protests concerning various public issues. In Brazil, these include the increased cost of public transportation, as well as concerns over the high costs of stadiums and World Cup infrastructure. Over the past few weeks, Rio and São Paulo have been the epicenters of clashes between protesters and the police. Some of these protests have been violent and have generated worry over a possible increase in violence throughout the country. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Mon, 07/01/2013 – 00:00

Latin America is the most urbanized region in the world, with an average urbanization rate of 80 percent. Many of the region’s cities are developing quickly and becoming important economic, cultural and touristic hubs. In spite of this growth and development, and the fact that poverty rates have been declining, 25 percent of Latin America’s urban residents still live in poverty. URB.im would like to encourage the debate around solutions to tackle poverty, foster inclusion and promote broader channels of participation, to bring about more just and inclusive cities in Latin America.

Join the conversation with our four panelists: Enrique Betancourt, Co-founder of Contextual and Former Deputy Director of Social Policies, Office of the President (Mexico); Paula Moreno, Former Minister of Culture and President, Corporación Manos Visibles (Colombia); Angela Franco, Vice-President of Research at the Universidad del Valle (Colombia); and Jorge Barbosa, Director, Favela Observatory (Brazil).

Con una tasa de urbanización del 80 por ciento, América Latina es la región más urbanizada del planeta. Varias ciudades de la región se están desarrollando rápidamente y se están consolidando como importantes centros económicos, culturales y turísticos. A pesar de dicho crecimiento y desarrollo, y aunque la pobreza ha venido disminuyendo, se estima que el 25 por ciento de los habitantes de las ciudades Latinoamericanas viven en condiciones de pobreza. URB.im quiere generar un espacio de intercambio de experiencias y reflexiones sobre esfuerzos de reducción de pobreza y la promoción de la inclusión y la participación social, los cuales están contribuyendo a que las ciudades Latinoamericanas sean más justas e incluyentes.

Únanse a la conversación con nuestros cuatro participantes invitados: Enrique Betancourt, Cofundador de Contextual y Ex Director Adjunto de Política Social de la Presidencia (México); Paula Moreno, Exministra de Cultura y Presidenta, la Corporación Manos Visibles (Colombia); Angela Franco, Vicerrectora de Investigaciones de la Universidad del Valle (Colombia); y Jorge Barbosa, Director, Observatorio de las Favelas (Brasil).

América Latina é a região mais urbanizada do planeta com uma taxa de urbanização de 80 por cento. Varias cidades da região estão se desenvolvendo rapidamente e estão se tornando importantes centros econômicos, culturais e turísticos. Embora aquele crescimento e desenvolvimento, é o fato que a pobreza vem diminuindo, ainda o 25 por cento da população das cidades Latino-americanas experimentam condições de pobreza. URB.im gostaria de incentivar o debate em torno às soluções no combate da pobreza e da exclusão e dos mecanismos para ampliar os cais de participação das cidades Latino-americanas para que sejam mais justas e inclusivas.

Participe na conversação com nossos quarto debatedores: Enrique Betancourt, Cofundador de Contextual e Ex-assessor Presidencial de Politicas Sociais (México); Paula Moreno, Ex-ministra de Cultura e Presidente, Corporación Manos Visibles (Colombia); Angela Franco, Vice-presidente de Pesquisa da Universidad del Valle (Colombia); e Jorge Barbosa, Diretor, Observatório de Favelas (Brasil).

Enrique Betancourt, Co-founder of Contextual and Former Deputy Director of Social Policies, Office of the President (Mexico)

Latin America is the most urbanized of all developing regions. On its own, this fact could mean good news, as historically, cities have been able to reduce poverty rates and gender inequality, and have achieved substantial improvements in access to education, justice, and health services, among other benefits.

However, the quantitative data is insufficient to explain the challenges that Latin American cities are facing. The quality and speed with which the urbanization process has taken place complements this picture, explaining why urbanization was characterized by inequality, socioeconomic segregation, and precarious provision of social services and basic infrastructure. The scenario is even less encouraging when considering the institutional weaknesses in most of our region’s local governments, which are further and further away from meeting demand for social services and policies. When reviewing the region’s history of urban development and demographic trends, the violence that characterizes most cities in the region should not surprise us (42 of the 50 most violent cities in the world are in Latin America).

The future of Latin America’s development is closely linked to the quality with which its social and physical spaces are planned and managed.

In this debate I intend to advocate for the need for a much broader urban paradigm than the one proposed by the urban development practice at the end of the twentieth century, which focuses on planning the uses, densities, housing, and basic infrastructure.

The central proposal of my argument rests on the fact that urban issues should not be considered only a vertical of public policy like education, health, culture, sports, or economic development, but as cross-cutting policy, which would allow the “territorializing” (focusing on the territory) of other public policies.

This focus on the territory is based on three fundamental premises:

• Work from the intersection of the social strata, space, and their corresponding vertical public policy areas (such as health, education, etc.).

• Align national and sub-national policies to plan and manage on three simultaneous scales: regional, urban/metropolitan, and neighborhood.

• Define the mechanisms that allow the implementation of urban policies under a clear framework of social participation that prioritizes the public good and technical solutions over mere politics.

Enrique Betancourt is the cofounder of Contextual, an agency that develops creative solutions to urban problems through collaborative processes. His work focuses on the intersection between research, public policy design, and implementation. Previously, Enrique was the Head of the National Center for Crime Prevention and Citizen Participation, as well as the Deputy Director of Social Policy at the Office of the Presidency of Mexico. He studied architecture at the Universidad de las Américas Puebla, holds a Masters in Urbanism from Harvard University, and is a Yale World Fellow.

Enrique Betancourt, Cofundador de Contextual y Ex Director Adjunto de Política Social de la Presidencia (México)

América Latina es la región en vías de desarrollo más urbanizada del mundo. El hecho en sí mismo podría anunciar buenas noticias, pues las ciudades han llegado, a lo largo de la historia, acompañadas de reducciones importantes en índices de pobreza, desigualdad de género y mejoras sustanciales respecto al acceso a educación, justica y servicios de salud entre otros beneficios.

Sin embargo el dato cuantitativo resulta insuficiente para explicar el reto que representa la vida en las ciudades de nuestra región. La calidad y la velocidad con la que ha sucedido el proceso de urbanización complementan el panorama y terminan por explicar como éste último se ha caracterizado por la desigualdad, la segregación socioeconómica y la precariedad en la provisión de servicios sociales e infraestructura básica. El escenario resulta menos alentador ante la clara debilidad institucional de la mayoría de los gobiernos locales de la región, quienes se encuentran cada vez más lejos de poder satisfacer la demanda de servicios y políticas sociales. Ante la revisión de la historia de desarrollo urbano y tendencias demográficas no debería sorprender mucho la violencia que caracteriza a la mayoría de las ciudades de la región. (42 de las 50 ciudades mas violentas del mundo son Latinoamericanas).

El futuro del desarrollo de América Latina esta íntimamente ligado a la calidad con la que se planifiquen y gestionen los espacios sociales y físicos de sus ciudades.

En este debate me propongo abogar por la necesidad de un paradigma urbano mucho más amplio que el propuesto por la noción de desarrollo urbana de finales del siglo XX centrada prioritariamente en la planeación de los usos, las densidades, la vivienda y la infraestructura básica.

La propuesta central de mi argumento radica en la necesidad de que los asuntos urbanos no sean considerados únicamente como un área de política pública vertical más como lo son la educación, salud, cultura, deporte, desarrollo económico, sino un política transversal que permita la territorialización de las otras políticas públicas.

Esta territorialización supondría tres premisas fundamentales:

• Trabajar desde la intersección de las capas sociales, espaciales y las correspondientes a cada área de política vertical (salud, educación, etc.)

• Alinear políticas nacionales y sub-nacionales para planear y gestionar en 3 escalas simultaneas: regional, la urbana / metropolitana y la barrial.

• Definir mecanismos que permitan la operación táctica de políticas urbanas bajo un marco definido de participación social que priorice el bien público y las soluciones técnicas por encima de las meramente políticas.

Enrique Betancourt es cofundador de Contextual, una agencia que desarrolla soluciones creativas a problemas urbanos a través de procesos colaborativos. Su trabajo se centra en la intersección que existe entre la investigación, el diseño de políticas públicas y su implementación. Anteriormente fue Titular del Centro Nacional de Prevención del Delito y Participación Ciudadana y Director Adjunto de Política Social en la Oficina de la Presidencia del Gobierno de México. Es Arquitecto por la Universidad de las Américas en Puebla, Maestro en Urbanismo por la Universidad de Harvard y Yale World Fellow.

Paula Moreno, Former Minister of Culture and President, Corporación Manos Visibles (Colombia)

One of the most critical challenges in increasingly urbanized Latin American cities is how to enforce social integration as a strategy to reduce urban violence and promote greater social cohesion and resilience among its citizens. The dynamics of public space not only as a symbol of physical welfare but also as a determinant of equal social relations is a major challenge to be addressed. I would like to mention the case of Medellin, a Colombian city with both a complex history in terms of violence, illegal networks, and segregation, and at the same time the most dynamic cultural and economic nodes, with opportunities for structural social change in the medium term.

Medellin is the clearest example of urban transformation in recent years in Colombia. First, the city’s government has showed continuous political support for and prioritization of social integration. Second, the city has developed comprehensive urban interventions that prioritize social integration as a tool to tackle violence and social degradation. These interventions take the form of urban upgrading programs, which invest not only in improving the physical conditions of low-income neighborhoods, but also in their social capital. Today, after almost a decade of sustained public interventions, one of the most critical components of Medellin’s scheme is not only the architectural icons or the modern transportation systems that the city has built, but the incubation of strengthened social networks that nurture and sustain the physical intervention, and also generate the social fabric to prevent violence and to shape a common project for the city.

Throughout the years, the quality of physical transformation has been complemented by social policies to map and effectively empower social networks. The building capacity strategy, mainly supported by the public administration but also by national and international organizations (e.g. Paisa Joven of GTZ, Picacho Corporation (Ford Foundation) or the projects of Fundación Social or Fundación Suraméricana) strengthened the capacities and roles of commune leaders and organizations. Visible grassroots leaders with administration leadership positions have access to top public and private universities (e.g. EPM Fund), and create a knowledge base that integrates their own territorial views into the academy and the public decision-making process through schemes like participatory security and budgeting. This social architecture, built upon bridging organizations with political advocacy, economic alternatives, and social mobility with a major territorial attachment, has become a major force in tackling criminal networks in the city. (Two examples of bridging organizations of this type are Son Batá and la Elite Hip Hop.)

Paula Moreno is an industrial engineer with experience in social project management, design and implementation of public policies. She was the youngest minister in the history of Colombia and the first Afro-Colombian women to hold a ministerial office. In 2010 she was selected by the Council of the Americas as one of the most influential young leaders in the region for her work on effectively understanding diversity, and by the Black Mayors Association as one of the most influential Black leaders in the world. She founded and is currently serving as president of the Visible Hands Corporation, an NGO focused on practices of effective inclusion for youth at risk and ethnic communities in Colombia. Ms. Moreno holds a Master’s Degree in Management Studies from the University of Cambridge and was a United States Fulbright scholar for the program of urban and regional planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Paula Moreno, Exministra de Cultura y Presidenta, la Corporación Manos Visibles (Colombia)

Uno de los desafíos más importantes en el crecimiento de las ciudades latinoamericanas, es cómo promover la integración social como una estrategia para reducir la violencia urbana, además de cómo generar una mayor cohesión social y resiliencia entre sus ciudadanos. La dinámica del espacio público no es sólo un símbolo del bienestar físico, sino también es un factor determinante de las relaciones sociales de igualdad—y se convierte en un desafío importante de abordar. Me gustaría mencionar el caso de Medellín, una ciudad colombiana con una complejidad histórica importante en términos de violencia, redes ilegales y segregación; al mismo tiempo, tiene los nodos culturales y económicos más dinámicos del país y ofrece oportunidades para el cambio social estructural a medio plazo.

Medellín es el ejemplo más claro de la transformación urbana de los últimos años en Colombia. En primer lugar, el gobierno de la ciudad ha mostrado un apoyo político continuo y también ha mostrado prioridad a la integración social. en segundo lugar, la ciudad ha desarrollado intervenciones urbanas integrales que dan prioridad a la integración social como una herramienta para hacer frente a la violencia y a la degradación social. Estas intervenciones se enfocan en programas de mejoramiento urbano, que no sólo invierten en la mejora de las condiciones físicas de los barrios de bajos ingresos, sino también en su capital social. Hoy en día, después de casi una década de intervenciones públicas sostenidas, los componentes más relevantes de Medellín no son sólo los iconos arquitectónicos o los sistemas de transporte modernos que la ciudad ha construido, sino también la incubación de las redes y organizaciones sociales fortalecidas que promueven y mantienen la intervención física, y que también generan el tejido social para prevenir la violencia, y contribuyen a dar forma a un proyecto común para la ciudad.

A través de los años, la calidad de la transformación física se ha complementado con las políticas sociales para formar y capacitar más efectivamente las redes y organizaciones sociales. El desarrollo de la estrategia de capacidad no es únicamente apoyada por la administración pública, sino también por organizaciones internacionales como por ejemplo Paisa Joven de la GTZ y Corporación Picacho de la Fundación Ford, (o los proyectos de la Fundación Social y de la Fundación Suramericana), los cuales fortalecen las capacidades y las funciones de los líderes de las comunas y de las organizaciones sociales locales. Los líderes que son visibles con base social y con posición de liderazgo en la administración, tienen acceso a las mejores universidades públicas y privadas (v.gr., el Fondo EPM). Ellos crean una base de conocimientos integrados a través de sus propios puntos de vista territoriales y crean el proceso de decisiones públicas a través de esquemas como: la seguridad y la creación de presupuestos en forma participativa. Esta es una arquitectura social para crear alianzas entre organizaciones con incidencia política y alternativas económicas. Además, funciona para crear otro tipo de movilidad social con una mayor vinculación territorial que se ha convertido en una fuerza importante para hacer frente a los ciclos de redes criminales en la ciudad.

Paula Moreno es ingeniera industrial con experiencia en gestión de proyectos sociales, diseño e implementación de políticas públicas. Ella fue la primera mujer afrocolombiana en ocupar un cargo ministerial y la más joven en la historia de Colombia. En 2010 fue seleccionada por el Consejo de las Américas como una de las líderes jóvenes y más influyentes de la región por su trabajo en la comprensión de la diversidad. La Black Mayors Association también la destaca como una de las líderes negras más influyentes en el mundo. Ella fundó y es la presidenta de la la Corporación Manos Visibles. La organización es una ONG centrada en las prácticas de inclusión efectiva para los jóvenes en situación de riesgo y de las comunidades étnicas en Colombia. Paula tiene una Maestría en Estudios de Gestión por la Universidad de Cambridge y fue una becaria Fulbright en los Estados Unidos para el programa de planificación urbana y regional en el Instituto de Tecnología de Massachusetts (MIT).

Angela Franco, Vice-President of Research at the Universidad del Valle (Colombia)

One of the biggest challenges we face in Latin America and the Caribbean is the reduction of poverty. We must seek equity levels to counterbalance the disturbing situation of social inequality that characterizes our countries. In this context, urban planning plays a central role. This is because improving the quality of life of families in poverty is directly related to the urban policies of inclusion and neighborhood upgrading, and has a direct relationship with competitive strategies and natural resource management.

Nevertheless, while it seems clear that public policies aimed at these purposes should occupy the front lines of government agendas, the reality is that there is much talk and little is done. But why?

First, I consider that the processes of social inclusion, being long-term processes, are not attractive to those in power who, in the case of Colombia, have four years to show results for their management. Unfortunately, we have seen that there have been few leaders who initiate a program and leave the results to another. Second, the high investment and complexity involved in implementing a program of poverty reduction and neighborhood upgrading is a challenge that only a few people want to take on.

Perhaps this is the result of the indifference of the citizens and their willingness to go along with the projects undertaken by those in power. For example, complaints are not common when the tax money is invested in road infrastructure conducive to private vehicles. It’s a quick way to show immediate results to taxpayers. Neither are there frequent questions from civil society on major social housing schemes, which contribute little to the quality of life of the poorest and least of urban quality.

However, some recent governments in Colombia have shown great commitment and have faced the problem of poverty and social inequality seriously. We should keep in mind the lessons learned from the governments of Antanas Mockus and Enrique Peñalosa in Bogotá, during which civic culture, public space, and school infrastructure left a positive balance in reducing the “social distance” and increasing tolerance and security.

In Medellin, Sergio Fajardo and the subsequent politicians set the goal to change the HDI in the marginal sectors, focusing investments on accessibility, school infrastructure, and the development of programs to create jobs and opportunities.

In Cali, the current mayor Rodrigo Guerrero is designing strategies to direct investment towards informal settlements and the most segregated areas of the city. As a result of the current local government work, the Ford Foundation included Cali in the Just Cities initiative. Now the city is challenged to take this opportunity to reduce inequality and poverty rates. But more important than defining projects and investments, all local actors should seek the empowerment of civil society, unions, academia, and all other stakeholders related to urban development. This empowerment would ensure that proposed projects transcend the current administration and become a navigation chart to achieve a profound change in the city and for its citizens.

Angela Franco is Vice-President of Research at the University Del Valle in Cali, Colombia. She is an architect and an urban planner and holds a MSc in Sociology. Her research projects are focused on informal settlements, urban segregation, and urban renewal processes in downtown areas. In 2012 she did a fellowship in the Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies at MIT, where she was working on international development good practices to explore new topics of analysis and applied research in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Angela Franco, Vicerrectora de Investigaciones de la Universidad del Valle (Colombia)

Uno de los mayores desafíos que enfrentamos en América Latina y el Caribe es la reducción de la pobreza. Nuestros esfuerzos se deberían concentrar en procurar mejores niveles de equidad para contrarrestar la alarmante situación de desigualdad social que caracteriza a nuestros países. En este contexto, la planificación urbana tiene un rol central, dado que la acción de mejorar la calidad de vida de las familias que viven en situación de pobreza está directamente relacionada con las legislaciones urbanas de inclusión y el mejoramiento de barrios; además, tiene una relación directa con las estrategias de competitividad y la administración de recursos naturales.

Sin embargo, aunque parece evidente que las políticas públicas dirigidas a estos fines deben estar al frente de las agendas de los gobiernos, la realidad es que se habla mucho y se hace poco, pero ¿por qué?

En primer lugar, considero que los procesos de inclusión social, al ser procesos a largo plazo, no son atractivos para los gobernantes que, en el caso de Colombia, tienen cuatro años para mostrar resultados de su administración. Desafortunadamente, hemos visto como pocos líderes inician un programa para dejarle los resultados a otro. En segundo lugar, la alta inversión y la alta complejidad involucrada en un programa de reducción de pobreza y de mejoramiento de barrios es un reto que sólo pocos quieren asumir.

Tal vez este es el resultado de la indiferencia de los ciudadanos y de su conformidad a los proyectos llevados a cabo por aquellos en posiciones de poder. Por ejemplo, hay muy pocas quejas cuando el dinero de los impuestos se invierte en la infraestructura vial, que beneficia a los vehículos privados. Estas inversiones son una forma rápida de mostrar resultados inmediatos para los contribuyentes. Tampoco, hay cuestionamientos por parte de la sociedad civil sobre los programas de vivienda, los cuales contribuyen poco a la calidad de vida de los más pobres y de los que viven una vida de poca calidad urbana.

Sin embargo, algunos gobiernos locales recientes en Colombia han mostrado un gran compromiso y se han enfrentado seriamente al problema de la pobreza y de la desigualdad social. Se debe tener en cuenta las lecciones aprendidas de los alcaldes Antanas Mockus y de Enrique Peñalosa en Bogotá, durante los cuales la cultura cívica, el espacio público y la infraestructura escolar dejaron un equilibrio positivo en la reducción de la “distancia social” y en el aumento de la tolerancia y de la seguridad.

En Medellín, el alcalde Sergio Fajardo, y los gobernantes siguientes, fijaron la meta de cambiar el Indice de Desarrollo Humano (IDH) en los sectores marginales, centrándose en mayor parte en las inversiones de materia de accesibilidad, la infraestructura escolar y el desarrollo de programas para crear empleos y oportunidades laborales.

En Cali, el alcalde actual, Rodrigo Guerrero, está diseñando estrategias para la inversión directa hacia los asentamientos informales y las áreas más segregadas de la ciudad. En consecuencia de la labor actual de los gobiernos locales, la Fundación Ford incluyó a Cali en la iniciativa, Ciudades Justas. Ahora la ciudad tiene el reto de tomar esta oportunidad para reducir los índices de la desigualdad y de pobreza. Y más que definir inversiones, es más importante que todos los actores locales busquen el empoderamiento de la sociedad civil, los sindicatos, las universidades y demás actores relacionados con el desarrollo urbano. Dicho empoderamiento aseguraría que los proyectos propuestos trasciendan la administración actual y se conviertan en una carta de navegación para lograr un cambio profundo en la ciudad y en los ciudadanos.

Angela Franco es Vicerrectora de Investigaciones de la Universidad del Valle en Cali, Colombia. Es arquitecta, urbanista y tiene Maestría en Sociología. Sus proyectos de investigación se centran en asentamientos informales, la segregación urbana y los procesos de renovación urbana en las áreas del centro de la ciudad. Durante el año 2012 obtuvo una beca de investigación en el Programa Especial de Estudios Urbanos y Regionales en MIT donde trabajó en el desarrollo de buenas prácticas y nuevos temas de análisis y de investigación aplicada en la región de Latinoamérica y el Caribe.

Jorge Luiz Barbosa, Director, Favela Observatory (Brazil)

The territories of our social life are becoming increasingly complex and diverse, especially when we live in cities that keep growing due to concentrated urbanization. The relationship between city, neighborhood, and the day-to-day seems to be a nostalgic experience rather than a reality. In this new urban condition, pluralized identities and new practices emerge to symbolically appropriate space and time. Therefore, the utopia of a more generous city invites us to promote an alternative political space for democracy and citizenship.

To realize the multiple possibilities of a city, the social and political qualities of public space are pivotal. In addition to the State and the Market, there are other dimensions to consider for life in society. In this sense, the role of civil society as a political instrument is necessary to renew the public sphere.

Aristotle considered the human being to be endowed by words. According to him, the use of words contributed to the shift of human beings from “animalistic” to civilization. The doxa (opinion) was the expression of building the community ethos (koinonía) of autonomous and collective beings. This expression led to the construction of an ethical subject in action, with its own space: the Polis.

For us, a serious public sphere is a space of visibility for an individual and for others. But this is only possible if words and actions are used in the exercise of rights. In this vein, the concept of citizenship gains relevant emancipatory elements in the practice of rights, especially regarding the return to the territory of the public political sphere.

The return to the territory is pivotal to political practice once the day-to-day of all beings, all actions, and all human intentions are integrated in established times and spaces. Within a territory, it is possible to recognize collective interests and mobilize joint forces of change.

When trying to determine an agenda to overcome social inequalities, we need to identify the stakeholders that create change. This leads us to recognize that new collective subjects must assume a key role in building effective citizenship policy, especially with regard to overcoming inequalities due to ethnicity, race, gender, and sexual orientation.

Various civil society organizations have a key role in the political process described, especially those working in areas marked by deep social inequalities and reduced participation in the public sphere. The Favela Observatory has been working through its various modes of intervention (urban policy, human rights, education, culture, arts, and communication) to place unprivileged and excluded territories at the center of the political construction of the right to the city, ensuring new actors in these new spaces of political participation.

Jorge Luiz Barbosa is a Professor at the Federal Fluminense University, Director of the Favela Observatory, and co-author of the following books: Favela: Joy and Pain in the City, What is a Favela, Anyway?, The New Carioca, and Cultural Grounds.

Jorge Luiz Barbosa, Diretor do Observatório das Favelas (Brasil)

Os territórios de nossa vida social são cada vez mais complexos e diversos, sobretudo quando vivemos em metrópoles agigantadas pela urbanização concentrada. A relação cidade / bairro / cotidiano do passado parece ser mais uma experiência nostálgica do que uma realidade ainda próxima. Nesta nova condição urbana revelam-se identidades pluralizadas e práticas inteiramente novas de apropriação material e simbólica do espaço e do tempo. Portanto, a utopia de uma cidade mais generosa ainda pulsa e nos convida a promover outro campo político para a democracia e a para a cidadania.

Para a realização das múltiplas possibilidades do viver a cidade se faz indispensável a qualidade social e política do espaço público. Para além do Estado e do Mercado há outras dimensões para pensar a construção de referências para a vida em sociedade. Nesse sentido, a retomada do papel da sociedade civil como instância política é necessária e inadiável para instituir uma renovada esfera pública.

Aristóteles considerava o homem como um ser dotado da palavra. Segundo ele, a partilha das palavras contribuía para o ser humano aceder da animalidade à civilidade, pois a doxa (opinião) era a expressão própria da construção do ethos comunitário (koinonía) de sujeitos autônomos e coletivos. Essa partilha, que conduzia a constituição do sujeito ético em ação, possuía um lugar próprio: a Pólis.

A esfera pública seria, para nós, um espaço da visibilidade de si e do outro. Ou seja, do domínio da alteridade como campo da política. Todavia, só possível de existência tangível com a corporificação da palavra e da ação no exercício de direitos à liberdade. Nesta senda, a concepção cidadania ganha elementos emancipatórios fundamentais como prática de direitos, dentre eles, o retorno ao território com esfera pública da política.

O retorno ao território é o fundamento da prática política, uma vez que o cotidiano de todos os sujeitos, de todas as ações e todas as intenções humanas possui a sua integralidade em espaços/tempos demarcados. No território é possível reconhecer os interesses coletivos, promover pertencimentos e de mobilizar forças plurais de mudança.

E, quando tratamos da elaboração de uma agenda de superação das desigualdades sociais precisamos identificar os atores de sua criação e efetivação. Essa posição nos conduz a reconhecer que novos sujeitos coletivos devem assumir um papel principal na construção política de efetivação de cidadania, sobretudo no que diz respeito à superação de desigualdades que se reproduzem com recortes étnicos, raciais, etários, de gênero e de orientação sexual.

As diferentes organizações da sociedade civil terão um papel fundamental no processo político em destaque, principalmente as que atuam em territórios marcados por profundas desigualdades sociais e de reduzida participação na esfera pública. O Observatório de Favelas vem se empenhando, por meio de seus diferentes campos de atuação (política urbana, direitos humanos, educação, cultura, artes e comunicação), em colocar os territórios populares na centralidade construção política do Direito à Cidade, afirmando novos atores em novos cenários de participação política.

Jorge Luiz Barbosa é Professor da Universidade Federal Fluminense, Diretor do Observatório de Favelas e Co-autor dos Livros: “Favela: Alegria e dor na Cidade”; “O que é favela, afinal?”; “O novo carioca”; e “Solos Culturais”.

Submitted by Editor — Sun, 11/17/2013 – 23:00

Africa’s slums are growing at twice the rate of its cities. By some accounts, sub-Saharan Africa will have upwards of 332 million slum dwellers by 2015. While millions of dollars have been spent improving the conditions in Africa’s urban informal settlements and the lives of the people who live therein, overall these efforts have amounted to little more than a drop in the ocean. Join our six panelists to explore the options for stemming the growth of these sprawling settlements and improving conditions in those slums that already exist: Irene Karanja of Muungano Support Trust (SDI) (Kenya); Claudio Torres of the UN-HABITAT Participatory Slum Upgrading Unit (PSUP) (Kenya); architect, urban planner, and World Bank Municipal Development Program consultant Sara Candiracci (Mozambique); Aditya Kumar of the Community Organization Resource Centre (CORC) (SDI) (South Africa); Jhono Bennett of the University of Johannesburg (South Africa); and Marie Huchzermeyer of the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa).

Click on the pictures of the panelists to see each panelist’s perspective below.

Executive Director of Muungano Support Trust, a secretariat of the Shack/Slum Dwellers International Federation (SDI) (Kenya)

Over the last 25 years, slum dwellers from cities in Africa have successfully mobilized into collections of Federations of the Urban Poor.

These federations have collected their own financial resources in the form of savings and data pools, creating citywide profiles and extensive slum censuses. Unknown to the world, slum federations have managed to produce a large volume of documented knowledge about themselves that has transformed how the government delivers important services to its poor citizens and how financial instruments can be innovated by financial institutions to serve the needs of the poor.

Using data collected from the profiles and censuses, Muungano Support Trust, a local NGO working with the federation of Kenya, has provided advisory services to the Government of Kenya and the World Bank, in order to help them intervene and provide housing solutions to over 10,000 families in the Kibera and Mukuru areas of Nairobi.

The trust has also worked with university planning schools from the local and international academia community to influence how transforming planning discourse can untrap informal human settlements from the snares of historically rigid city planning standards.

The private sector has grand opportunities to turn urban poor communities into important players within the city. Financial resources from the poor are beginning to challenge and put pressure on the private sector to innovate solutions. Federations have interventions that are facilitating this to happen.

Data collected by communities with the support and technical capacity of organizations such as Muungano Support Trust, shows that there is a missing link that government interventions are not able to fill and development assistance is failing to cover.

Insecurity of tenure remains one of the biggest challenges to improving the lives of slum dwellers in Nairobi. The government needs to release land for human settlement, whether it be public, private, or contested. If this does not happen, development aid will continue to subsidize the costs required for technical services to innovate various kinds of solutions for what are essentially locked scenarios!

Irene Karanja is the founding Executive Director of Muungano Support Trust (MuST), a secretariat of the Slum/Shack Dwellers Federation in Kenya. She is a specialist in participatory research, community organizing and capacity building for the urban poor. For over six years, she has transformed the use of participatory techniques for data collection into a major instrument for planning the upgrading of slums. She has organized a strong constituency of slum dwellers to assume leadership of these settlements through savings groups, housing cooperatives and women’s associations.

Architect, UN-HABITAT Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme (PSUP) (Kenya)

African countries represent the majority of the least developed countries (LCD). Taking into account the fact that in most of these countries, the urban population growth is expanding at a faster pace than the national one, it is important to make three considerations in answering the question: “What will it take to make slum upgrading work in African urban centres?”

Governments should be prepared to ‘give away’. National and local governments should weigh out the costs and risks of perpetuating the status quo and should fulfill the right of adequate housing for all at a pace that copes with the increase in poor urban households. They should prioritise, for example, the free provision of land for the urban poor, in the understanding that there will be no real estate profit and that no particular individual will benefit — a challenging task in a context where African post-independence elites have generally improved their own lives with little regard to equity and social justice.

Strategies for the provision of adequate housing for the urban poor should go beyond market logic. In trying to come up with housing strategies that appeal to investors, the focus has shifted from the upgrading of the slum dwellers’ living conditions to the beautification of particularly degraded areas. This unchaining of a series of transaction costs results in a gentrification process that relocates the problem without giving it a solution. Slum upgrading strategies should strictly be conceived through a human rights approach.

Adequate housing strategies should trigger self-relief dynamics in overcoming poverty. The problem of urban poverty is too big to miss the opportunity to engage concerned communities in devising its solution. The Latin-American slum upgrading experience has demonstrated that giving the right initial impulse to poor urban communities actually encourages a progressive and proactive self-upgrading attitude in slum residents, reducing the need for government funds to improve the living conditions of the urban poor. A strong involvement of the community can also help to reduce the risk of benefiting the wrong people, a common shortfall in superficially planned slum upgrading interventions.

Claudio Torres is an architect with 10 years experience in the field of slum upgrading and housing in an African context. His work has taken him from the slums of Nairobi to settlements in Somaliland and South Sudan where he has worked as an architect, monitoring and evaluation expert, project manager, and construction expert. Torres has worked extensively in Nairobi’s Mathare valley slum with the Italian NGO COOPI, helping to set up an office in the field from which he coordinated a series of different programs. He is currently a consultant for the Participatory Slum Upgrading Program (PSUP), a division of UN-Habitat.

Architect, Urban Planner and Consultant, World Bank Municipal Development Program (Mozambique)

Urbanization in Africa is growing and national governments and local authorities are faced with the challenge of guiding cities’ growth while dealing with other constraints, including limited financial resources; weak institutional, management, and technical capacities; lack of proper urban policies and financial mechanisms to mobilize and regulate investments.

To strengthen the ability of African cities to generate wealth, prosperity, and economic and human development, national governments and local authorities need to define a clear vision for the future of their cities and their informal settlements.

Cities must be seen and treated as complex organisms whose elements are interconnected. Informal settlements should be seen as an integral part of this organism, and not as a “sick body” to be fought. They constitute a precious resource for the city and its population and must be included in the urban grid.

Each and every stakeholder, whether it be the national government, local authorities, civil society, the community, the private sector, or the donor community, have a role to play and must be partners in the development and implementation of this vision for the city. In particular, the active participation of the local community is essential in finding lasting solutions, and to guarantee ownership and sustainability, social cohesion, and integration.

The implementation of comprehensive and integrated improvement plans in informal areas would be ideal; however, it takes a long time and requires considerable financial resources. Considering the constraints in local financial and institutional capabilities, it is preferable to adopt an incremental approach, whereby small-scale interventions are first envisioned and planned in an extensive development plan, and then are carried out gradually through community participation.

Priority must be given to the improvement and provision of infrastructure, basic services, accessibility, safety, and the creation of economic opportunities. Concurrently, special attention should be given to outdoor public spaces, where a vital part of the community’s social, cultural, and economic activities is conducted. Improving these spaces would improve the framework of daily life and bring dignity, beauty, and utility to informal and poor areas with minimal resources.

Sara Candiracci is an architect and urban planner with 10 years experience in the design, management, and implementation of several urban planning and slum upgrading projects in Latin America and Africa with different organizations including UN-Habitat, the Inter-American Development Bank, and various NGOs. She is now working at the Municipality of Maputo, Mozambique, as Urban Planning Advisor for the World Bank Municipal Development Program. She is also conducting her PhD research on the potential use of urban cultural heritage in urban regeneration and planning, considering Maputo as case of study.

Deputy Director, Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC), an affiliate of Shack/Slum Dwellers International (South Africa)

Over the last 20 years, the South African government has been hailed as having the most progressive housing and poverty policy environments in the continent. Besides making welfare grants available to previously marginalized communities, it has made provisions to provide housing to any citizen earning under R3,500 ($350)/month.

Although more than 2.3 million subsidized homes have been built across the country, the impacts of the housing policy have fallen short. Informal settlements have gone up by 900 percent (from 300 to 2,700) while there are an estimated 2.1 million people on the waiting list for state-subsidized housing.

Realizing the constraints of the housing program, the State has rapidly shifted its emphasis to informal settlement upgrading. New regulatory frameworks like Outcome 8 have been developed to allow for provision of basic services and tenure rights.

While the aims of Outcome 8 and its aligned policies have been well defined, in my view there are still gaps in addressing the bigger issues. Firstly, how incremental informal settlement upgrading is implemented must be defined: are we trying to address tenure rights or basic services, land or housing, dependency on the state or self-reliance through livelihoods? Secondly, there is the manner in which informal settlement upgrading is being rolled out. Currently it doesn’t account for strong community, civil society, and NGO participation, nor does it address the broader issue of project finance, outsourcing, and party politics.

The process of upgrading is about learning and letting go, about making space for communities to innovate with the state, about creating a city-wide network/movement that can change the spatial patterns of the city and strengthen citizenship.

Aditya Kumar is the technical coordinator and deputy director for the Community Organization Resource Centre (CORC), affiliated to Shack/Slum Dwellers International, currently working with informal settlement and backyarder dwellers of South Africa. His previous experience has included post-war reconstruction of Palestinian refugee camps (Lebanon), post-earthquake disaster housing reconstruction (India), affordable and social housing and large urban development projects (Los Angeles and Boston). His work has fostered multi-stakeholder partnerships between local communities, CBOs, government bodies, academic institutions, and International NGOs, with a key focus on strengthening community-driven design, planning, and implementation. The reconstruction of Palestinian refugee camps has also been shortlisted for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

Architect and Lecturer and Researcher, University of Johannesburg

The National Development Plan’s Outcome 8 agreement is behind the South African government’s current shift towards in situ housing upgrading as a means of redevelopment. This goal of upgrading 400,000 informal settlements has been developed under the mandate of the National Upgrade Support Program.

Large-scale construction consortiums are working alongside the government, in collaboration with various planning, architectural, and non-governmental entities on the current Reconstruction & Development Program.

While these initiatives are creating an institutional framework to begin addressing the needs of informal settlement residents in South Africa, there is little focus across the board on training effective practitioners who can play crucial intermediary roles not only in informal settlement upgrading but also in the nation’s spatial redevelopment.

From my experience in this field, it seems that there are a disproportionately small number of practitioners who have the understanding, experience, or empathy required to engage with the dynamics of informal settlement communities and the complexity of working within the social, economic, and political intricacy that exists between grassroots entities and government structures.

A major factor for this condition is related to the lack of opportunities for spatial design practitioners (engineers, architects, planners, etc), to be exposed to these complex environments. As a result, many ‘professionals’, as well as many government officials, often display dangerously simplistic views on how to ‘fix’ the problems at hand.

From my work and experience in academia and the NGO sector, I believe that empathetic spatial design practitioners hold the key position to engage effectively at the ‘community’ level while addressing the larger spatial inequalities of post-apartheid South Africa.

My aim lies in understanding and sharing contextually appropriate training, practice, and precedents through critical engagement with South Africa’s residents of poor and unsafe living conditions in order to further develop this ‘additional role’ for socio-technical spatial design practice.

Jhono Bennett is an architect who works at the University of Johannesburg as a part-time lecturer and Independent researcher, while managing the operations of 1:1 — Agency of Engagement, a non-profit entity which he co-founded to provide a design-based collaborative service between grassroots organizations, professionals, academia, and government.

Masters Program in Housing at the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)

Internationally, there has been unprecedented focus on ‘slums’ in the new millennium. In southern African cities, informal settlements are certainly a concern, although in Anglophone countries the legacy of British colonial planning has to some extent kept these settlements out of middle-class sight. Where informal settlements have intruded into visible locations, as for instance in Lusophone Luanda, recent efforts have been made to remove these to the city periphery. In South Africa, a somewhat reverse government discourse targeted ‘visible’ informal settlements for ‘in situ upgrading’. This approach was adopted by the high profile N2 Gateway Project in Cape Town, which originally targeted all informal settlements that lined the motorway from the airport to the historical city centre for upgrading. In the years that followed, this project morphed into the Luandan approach — the removal of visible informal settlements. In the Cape Town case, removal was to a controlled decanting camp on the far side of the airport. Yet the public was told that the commitment remained to ‘in situ upgrading’. The term was simply given a new meaning, namely for the state to demolish and then build new housing to modern standard for a different clientele.

With this juxtaposition of informal settlement treatment in Angola and South Africa, I’d like to provoke debate on the core meaning of ‘informal settlement upgrading’ as well as the political uses associated to the meaning. For me, the essence of in situ upgrading is the recognition of two important points. One is that the unevenly developing economies in southern Africa, in the absence of radical change, will not facilitate the replacement of all informal settlements with planned and fully serviced residential developments for the households currently in these settlements. This recognition prevents ‘wishing away’ the reality of urban informality. The other is that informal settlements result out of determination, initiative (often collective), creativity, and complex decisions by poor households. These must be respected and supported where possible.

Marie Huchzermeyer convenes and teaches in the masters programme in Housing at the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand. This base has allowed her to provide support to rights-based struggles from within informal settlement for ‘real’ in situ upgrading. Her recent work includes a 2011 book “Cities With ‘Slums’: From Informal Settlement Eradication to a Right to the City in Africa,” and a comparison with Brazil in a 2004 book, “Unlawful Occupation: Informal Settlements and Urban Policy in South Africa and Brazil.”

By Nusrat Yasmin, Roksana Hasib, and Saima Sultana Jaba, Dhaka Community Managers

পানির অপর নাম জীবন। কিন্তু ঘন জনবসতিপূর্ণ ঢাকার দেড় কোটি মানুষের ব্যবহারের জন্য পানির যোগান দেওয়া দিন দিন কঠিন হয়ে পড়ছে। জনসংখ্যা বৃদ্ধি পাওয়ায় নদি-খাল-বিলের পানি ব্যবহারের অযোগ্য হয়ে পড়েছে । উপরন্তু বেআইনি জনবসতি এবং বস্তিতে পানি সরবরাহ করার প্রক্রিয়া আরও জটিল। ঢাকা শহরে দূষণ মুক্ত পানি সরবরাহ করার দায়িত্ব ডিওয়াসার। পানি সমস্যা সমাধানে বুয়েটের তিনজন শিক্ষক “ইন্টিগ্রেটেড ওয়াটার রিসোর্স ম্যানেজমেন্ট” পরিকল্পনা তৈরি করে । তাদের পদ্ধতিতে চারটি বিষয় প্রাধান্য পেয়েছেঃ আর্থসামাজিক সমস্যা, বায়োফিজিকাল সমস্যা, প্রাতিষ্ঠানিক সমস্যা এবং পানির মান বিষয়ক সমস্যা। বৃষ্টির পানি সংগ্রহ করে এবং পুনর্ব্যাবহারের মাধ্যমে পানির সরবরাহ বৃদ্ধি করা সম্ভব। একটি পরীক্ষামূলক গবেষণায় দেখা গিয়েছে যে বাংলাদেশে শতকরা ৬০ ভাগ বার্ষিক বৃষ্টিপাতের পানি পদ্ধতিকরনের মাধ্যমে পুনরায় ব্যবহার করলে ঢাকা শহরের বার্ষিক পানি চাহিদার ১৫% পূর্ণ করা সম্ভব। এই পরিকল্পনা বাস্তবায়নের প্রচেষ্টা চালাচ্ছে ডিওওাসা। সকল সরকারীভবনগুলোতে এখন বৃষ্টির পানি সংগ্রহ করা বাধ্যতামূলক করেছে রাজধানী উন্নয়ন কর্তৃপক্ষ (রাজউক)।

In the popular saying Panir opor nam jibon, water is referred to as the “second life.” Water has always been a source of great challenge as well as distress for the resident of Dhaka, a city of 15 million people. Growing populations result in ground water depletion and increasing pollution, which leads to a lack of surface water usability. These factors make water issues acute for the DWASA, the main government water supplier. The intensity of the problem deepens when it comes to the slum and squatter residents, who have little or no DWASA water supply because they live in unstable and illegal settlements. In addition to a crisis of access, the quality of DWASA water (bad smell, microorganisms, presence of ammonia and arsenic, excessive chlorination) poses a great threat to people’s health.

Abdul Zobbar, a day laborer in urban Dhaka with a family of seven people, helps to visualize the slum residents’ water issues. He earns 4500 taka per month, out of which 1200 taka has to be used for rent. His family has to spend five taka each day for 10 liters of drinking water, which they have to collect after a tiresome wait of one to one-and-a-half hours in a long queue. Even after this, due to the poor quality of water, his family members suffer from different waterborne diseases.

As a solution to DWASA’s water management problems, S. K. Biswas, S. B. Mahtab, and M. M. Rahman from the Department of Water Resources Engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology have come up with a plan with the name Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). Their approach integrates four major components: socio-economic issues, biophysical issues, institutional issues, and water quality issues. In order to balance between supply and demand for water, the group recommended several possibilities, such as rainwater harvesting and reclaiming, and recycling and reusing water. Among these strategies, rainwater harvesting has already proved to be a great success upon implementation by DWASA and the Institute of Water Modeling (IWM) on their own office rooftops. The pilot research showed that in a monsoon country like Bangladesh, if 60 percent of annual rainfall can be harvested, it can fulfill 15 percent of Dhaka’s annual water demand.

In addition to rainwater harvesting, recycling and reusing of water has been implemented by DWASA and the IWM in order to save potable water for drinking and reducing water demand. In the recycling process, the soiled water is first filtered and then pumped into a ground reservoir, where it is mixed and diluted with storm water and then treated again. Recycled water from industrial entities can be reusable for non-potable purposes like dust control, soil compaction, and cooling water, whereas home recycled water can be reused for shower, sinks, washing, gardens, and so on. The successful implementation of rainwater harvesting and water recycling in pilot programs has motivated the Dhaka City Development Authority to make it mandatory for every city building with a roof more than 200 square meters in size to partake in rain water harvesting and recycling.

Although they’re being applied by very few, these different water management options open up great possibilities for solving Dhaka’s water needs. However, in order for them to be implemented, effort is required on the part of the government and private water management institutions in order to make people aware of the existing solutions. Additionally, for Dhaka’s water supply and management, a very donor-driven sector, continuity of technical assistance and grants from various bilateral and multilateral institutions is needed to make sure the projects are implemented.