Bridging Economics and Social Practices

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Leandro Cortez

Economics as Professor Muhammad Yunus has implemented it has truly bridged a path between its typical competitive capitalist association and its philanthropic capabilities. It is through this bridging process that he has learned not only the importance of his work but also different ways that others can contribute to this new initiative to solve poverty.
It was through his observations of corrupt loan practices in Dhaka, Bangladesh that he was first inspired to utilize his profession as a form of activism to solving social economic problems. Furthermore, it was through observation that it was learned how to better implement his newly created and more honest practices of providing loans. For example, it was through practice and observation that Prof. Yunus found out that his loaned money would better benefit families, as he states, “Over time we noticed something interesting. The loans that went through the women appeared to have a greater development impact on the family.” [1] This discovery would be then applied to other microcredit programs around the world.
Professor Yunus’ utilization of his loan program serves as a bridge connecting capitalism as it exists today and social business. Accommodating social businesses into capitalism allows for a “solution of many of the problems we see today.” [1] The goal of these social driven businesses are to provide assistance to many of the social and economic needs of citizens in less than favorable situations. Many of these issues deal with malnutrition, safe drinking water for rural areas, and other. In essence there needs to be a balance between the output that capitalism provides and better connecting it with entrepreneurial work. It should not be that one is limited to help society through charities of non-profit organizations because these sometimes limit the amount of work that can be done and are very specific to their utilization while private companies for example can provide more fluctuation in the way money is utilized.
Many government programs across other countries have begun to utilize this bridging method such as the Compartamos program in Mexico. However, many of these programs continue to keep interest high and as a result turn out to be the same form of corrupt money lending strategies that inspired Yunus many years ago. The goal as result needs to be clear and it needs to specify that the objective is to bring people out of poverty and help them develop a good economic standing from where they can increase their chances of socio-economic mobility.
Through these initiatives Prof. Yunus hopes to eliminate desperate practices such as those of organ trade that can really affect the mental and physical health of poor communities in Bangladesh. Of course he understands its way of providing for those in dire need and instead discourages its banishment but rather encourages its regulation. While loaning is effective one must consider the needs of families that receive these loans. Through, once again, observation it was found that most families spend quite a bit on health care and as a result don’t amount to much economic recuperation. As a result many of his economic initiatives are attached to healthcare related ones. As Yunus states,” our vision is to deliver radically affordable, sustainable and world class quality healthcare for all.
If many more professionals dedicated a portion of their fields to create a bridge between their profession and philanthropy and social funding the state of this world would change. Many times we find ourselves enveloped in our own professional world and lose sight of what surrounds us but if we utilize the passion that we have for our profession and find a way to balance it then a new more desirable world can be produced. This of course has to come from our own initiatives because this change has to come from one’s own desires and not from anyone else.

1. Dr Toh Han Chong, Interview with Professor Muhammad Yunus, SMA News, Volume 40 No. 12 December 2008

Connecting the Urban Fabric

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Leandro Cortez

It is often thought that he slum is an island of poverty and despair within the context of the institutionalized city. Many times it is forgotten that these “islands” themselves are bigger than the actual city they are a part of. Furthermore, it seems as if the causes or root issues which brings about these slums in the first place is completely forgotten thanks to the power of “city representation” falling in the hands of the elite. As Cynthia Davidson states in Slum Networking, “ This separation or isolation between sectors is of politics in nature and prevents urban equality”. [1]
The city and the slum should not be thought as separate identities. Rather, the occurrences of the slum should be thought at beneficial to those of the city. Through projects of infrastructure in slums one can see changes happen in the rest of the city as well. The whole city should not be thought of as islands of poverty but rather the whole city as a network that can “net” the city together. Furthermore, we should think of slums as not a disease that weathers away the urban fabric but rather “a consequence of distorted development” [1].
Many times the basic necessities of these forgotten “ islands of despair” are left without treatment and as result the slums continue to grow and worsen in condition. In India many slums develop along the path of natural river water networks that run through or around the city. This many times is the case due to the lack of sewerage coverage and plumbing into the homes of these individuals. As result, the river becomes the only form of sewage because it is the only available solution to the problem of water waste these individuals have. Cynthia Davidson explains that, “In India a large part of the population is left out of this man made sewage network, so that the natural drainage courses become a secondary sewage system and, simultaneously, the armature for slum growth. “ [1]
Indore, India has identified the location of slums within the pivotal point of the Khan and Saraswati rivers. To adapt to these natural factors a project utilizing an urban infrastructure path was created in order to take care of the issues regarding sewage, storm drainage, and fresh water services. The project was carried out by the Indore development authority but with additional help from Great Britain’s Department for international development. The cost of the project totaled off to 1,800,00 U.S dollars [1] while the entire water system did not require a single pumping station. The effect of this water infrastructure project allowed families to gain appreciation for their neighborhood because finally they were feeling accepted by the larger city context. No longer were they marginalized citizens but physically and symbolically were connected to the rest of the inhabitants.
The project allowed for the creation of programs that benefited the inhabitants. Community involvement in the project allowed women to participate in the decision process of many of the most important design issues. Moreover, the creation of in house bathrooms lessened the danger that women had to go through when utilizing the river. Youth programs were also created as a result of community involvement which allowed new youth clubs to emerge. Thus, the result of the built project not only created better quality of living for the inhabitants but the decision process was critical in creating a stronger community.

1. Davidson, Cynthia C., ed. 1998. “Slum Networking of Indore City.” In Legacies for the Future: Contemporary Architecture in Islamic Societies. London: Thames and Hudson, 54-65.

Defining the Favela

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Leandro Cortez

For a long time it has been the case that many maps of cities in Brazil and Latin America have not accounted accurate street representations of favelas for the reason that the positioning of roads and homes changes frequently due to the flexible nature of these neighborhoods. For this reason many favelas that are densely populated simply appeared as blanks within the maps of many cities. However, with the advent of technology such as satellite imaging and street views have allowed for onsite pictures to be taken of these neighborhoods and as a result has connected them with the larger city context in a way never before seen. Furthermore, it has put into perspective the physical and social inequalities that exist in many of these cities.

Obtaining photographs and any sort of information from these neighborhoods as a Daniela Fabricius states, “once required bureaucratic privileges” ^[1] for the reason that the cities organization was guarded information mostly kept away from the public. By looking at many satellite images of the urban organization of these cities one begins to understand the ruptures that exist in the urban fabric and the almost cell like growth of the favelas. The ability to then have public access to the conditions of how these people live have allowed for a public outcry not only from Brazilians but also from foreigners who demand a better representation of these individuals. Recording how many individuals live within these neighborhoods is at the heart of governmental representation but even this sometimes fails as government officials fluctuate in the actual population of the same sectors and differentiate with the population claimed by the inhabitants themselves. As a result many favela run initiatives have been created in order to create correct estimates of population. The favela of Mare for example, “ has set up its own information gathering center, which takes unofficial but accurate census data of the neighborhood” ^[1] These initiatives not only hold power because they present clearer and more official forms of data but also because they are initiatives created by the neighborhood itself thus empowering the community.

A favela is hard to define because while the creation of informal settlements is the “root” of it many times city planned neighborhoods develop into “favela like” areas. Some of the favela’s in Rio de Janeiro are quite old, Providencia for example is 100 years old and it is considered one of Rio’s first favela. Favela’s began to grow on hilltops separated in many cases from the rest of the city by the verticality of the topography in which they grew. Made up of a population of rural newcomers the rural culture sometimes found in these settlements also contrasted with the urban culture of the city “below”. Interestingly enough, when the favelas began spreading and touching with the confines of the city the isolation felt within these neighborhoods was still the same. Crime, poverty, and disease were still adjectives associated with these areas of the city and as a result these citizens became even further marginalized from society.

The term informal or favela is in a sense an “economic and sociological description of cities.” However, what is often forgotten is that favelas are a result of modern conditions. They are not creations of a less civilized way of life instead it is a response to the modern achievements and affluent way of life of those in Brazil and the rest of the world. Furthermore, the unique culture of these places should not be forgotten because they are part of human adaption in the process. Like the many cultural fruits that came from many informal situations in Europe, Asia, North America these are creating their own fruits that will result in a culture very much a port of modern times.

Aquilino, Marie J, “Beyond Shelter Architecture and Human Dignity” (Metropolis; July/August 2011, Vol. 31 Issue 1) p88-89

Helping the other “Half”

Posted on March 3, 2013 by Leandro Cortez

Informal settlements around the world have begun to catch the attention of not only philanthropists but also of design driven professions such as architects, engineers, and artist of all types have found potential in the rejuvenation of these locations. Architecture firms such as Metropolis Projetos Urbanos have added into their design purpose the rejuvenation of spaces deemed lost to informality by the citizens of the city. Artist such as JR have also created projects utilizing the buildings in the favelas of Rio as a canvas to portray the stories held within the boundaries of the neighborhood.
In the past designers have exclusively focused on designing for a very small margin of the world population that can provide money for planned designs. As Cynthia Smith states, “ Professional designers have traditionally focused on the 10 % of the world’s population that can afford their goods and services”.[1] Currently, there seems to be a trend to incorporate newly commercialized forms of technology in order to incorporate sectors of society that in the past have been previously ignored. In part recent advances in technology such as Google earth, YouTube, and the internet in general have allowed individuals from developed countries to observe the way of life of individuals who are not as fortunate as they are. This has gathered the attention of designers who want to place power in their own hands and solve as Smith states, “solve the world’s most critical problems”. [1]
The individuality of each informal settlement as a result of the structural and formal adaptations it has undergone to adjust to the context of its site must be considered when designs are being created. Firms such as Proyecto Arqui5 identified the uniqueness of the La Vega community in Caracas. As a result, the stair design that incorporated water sewage systems throughout the settlement was designed with not only with the sites context in mind but also the needs of the people who inhabit the spaces as well. Other organizations like Surat City have utilized the internet to aid in the development among the poor over the effects of global warming in the community. Creating a solution is important but making sure the solution works with existing factors such as topography, climate, geography, displaced individuals, and famine is crucial because this can actually help the neighborhood evolve beyond its present situation.
Creating solutions for the neighborhood must go along with bridging the divide that exists in many cases with the formal city. Through projects of infrastructure, construction of social, security, medical, and health facilities one can create situations where the informal has been incorporated into the rest of the city and instigated a feeling of self-worth within the inhabitants of these localities. As Jorge Mario Jauregui writes in his article, “The aim is to articulate the divided city and society by providing greater accessibility, investments in infrastructure, new public social facilities, and environmental revitalization, connecting the formal and the informal parts of the city” [2].
To employ these policies a step by step process must be undertaken that truly involves the community in the actions that will take place in the community. Site visits have to be included in order for the architect, artist, designer, etc. to be able to have a better understanding of the surroundings she/he will be designing for. One thing is to assume the problems of the community but another is to actually talk with members or representatives who actually know the issue the community has to deal with on a daily basis. Researching the history of the community where each person comes from and why things are the way they are critical in creating a better future for the communities.
The advancements in technology have created a more connected world that gives the possibility to understand each other’s problems. As a result this has created interest in various fields in regards to helping those in less than ideal living situations. However, as help is brought to these people the different steps must be considered because they lead to solutions that can really go for the root problems not just the superficial ones and in effect have a longer lasting imprint in the lives of those we want to help.

1. Cynthia E. Smith, Designing Inclusive Cities, ( New York : Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, 2011)p. 13- 29
2. Jorge Mario Jauregui, “Articulating The Broken City and Society”, ( Architectural Design , 18 April 2011), p. 58-63

Creative Destruction

Posted on February 23, 2013 by Leandro Cortez

The connection that exists between urbanization and capitalism has evolved throughout recent years. Many areas around the world most predominantly China, India, and certain countries in Latin America have experienced the effects of rapid urbanization as a result of capitalistic proposals. Interestingly enough these are some of the same countries that struggle with issues of informal housing.

As David Harvey states in The Right to the City, “ We live after all in a world in which the rights of public property and the profit rate trump all other notions of rights.” For capitalism to exist there must be a product that is produced in excess in order for the revenue itself to be worthwhile. As a result, “urbanization depends on the mobilization of a surplus product” [1]. In the everyday context this can be said to be the housing market with homes/apartments/ community developments being the product but also the need to house expanding populations. The demand for rapid housing results in private urbanization that generates revenue. However, In order to expand land must be acquired but in many of these expanding cities external problems such as the rapid mobilization of rural inhabitants to the city as a result of a plethora of issues ( all unique to country itself) have led to the settling of many potentially lucrative zones. Rural inhabitants moving towards the city center make up the largest portion of those who migrate to cities around the world predominantly in China. In turn this creates a situation where the boundary between urban and rural locations is slowly drowning away into as Harvey states, “spaces of uneven geographical development under hegemonic command of the capital and state.” [1]

The settlement of lucrative zones by squatters leads to the destruction of many of these settlements and the displacing of many individuals. This is active method of removal that is not new and is seen in many urban planning projects such as those of Haussmann tearing down through old Parisian slums in the mid 1800’s stating his methods are those of civic improvement and renovation. The affected are the poor who for the most part do not have land rights of where they live in and are thus subjected to the manipulation of those who can actually buy ,which are the wealthier elites of the population.

Present day depiction of slum destruction

Methods of acquiring land such as awarding property rights to squatter populations is plausible but in many instances difficult because the people who require these lands for revenue do not want to give up the chance to earn money. As result, instances of “surplus absorption” through urban transformation begin to utilize methods such as “creative destruction” which lead to the marginalization of the poor. It is not only through destruction that these areas are marginalized but it is through their recognition of their presence in the everyday context. For example many of these settlements do not even appear on the maps of the city that they physically pertain to. For this reason more proposals need to me made in cities around the world to regard these individuals as part of the formal city.

Our current world exists in two halves that collide, “those that exist in the planet of building and those in the planet of the slum.” [1] The possibility to unify exists but first we must look back and reflect upon what new methods of urbanization can be implemented to suit the two sides. The proposal must begin at the small scale and move its way up but it must indefinitely turn to the political sector because many of these cases deal with issues of human rights. As Lefebvre states, “revolution has to be urban, or nothing at all.” [1]

1. David Harvey, The Right To The City, ( New York : Guilford Press, c2003.) p 23-40

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Learning From the Past

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Leandro Cortez

It is hard to believe that “developed” cities such as New York City, London, and others in Europe suffered issues of inadequate housing at some point in their history. Perhaps it is the mass commercialization of these cities as places of luxury and ultra-modernity that lets us forget but looking into history reveals a different story. The issue of informal housing has been present since the earliest city but only now that it has reached high levels of population due to mass migrations into cities that it has become a concern.

Old Nichol Slum in London’s East End. [3]

As Frederick Engels puts it, “Every city has one or more slums, where the working class is crowded together.” [1] The exact catalyst for mass migration into cities varies throughout history but in the case of many of these developed cities it was the onset of the industrial revolution. Nowhere was this more evident than in London in the late 19th century where industry took over and priority was given to mass production rather than the quality of the living conditions. Factories began to spring up next to residences and the inhabitants of the city became infected with all kinds of diseases brought on by the pollution from these factories. As Mumford states, “The factory became the nucleus of the new urban organism. Every other detail of life was subordinate to it.”[2]

Typical Housing Conditions inside the Old Nichol Slum. [4]

In the global south the outer rims of the city can be deemed the informal and surge as a response to migration from rural life and other factors. The factories in England which can be considered a part of the “formal” were actually the ones who brought the informality to the housing which surrounded it. Furthermore, the informality grew in the center of the city as opposed to the peripheries. The rich were not isolated from the effects of the industry and it became part of their everyday life to adapt to these conditions. The working class homes that already existed had to be redeveloped to the incoming number of new families looking for new work opportunities. Multi Room Apartments that once housed several families turned into single room family homes. The filth that ensued was immense and as Mumford puts it was, “a pith of foulness and filth was reached that the lowest serf cottage scarcely achieved in medieval Europe.” [2]
Dirtiness is an aspect that will forever be attached to the issue of slums. Perhaps it is the informality that seems to make it appear in bad condition or the disorganization that occurs as a result of large groups trying to create functioning livable systems in places that are less than appropriate for housing. The industrialization of England can then be seen as a comparison to the rapid urbanization of India where the desire to expand put at odds in crowded areas the living conditions of the inhabitants. It’s almost as if the form that takes shape in informal areas is a defense mechanism against the desire to growth.

Everyday Life in the London Slum. [4]

The dirtiness in the slums of England was a result of the residue from the nearby factories. However, it seems as if the fault was and still is placed upon the inhabitants of the informal for the deterioration of cities but perhaps many of these individuals need to reflect upon the footprint that their formalized living environment is causing in the city as whole. We many times defend rapid urbanization but if we look at history such as the case of industrialization in England what is considered necessary is not always the best.

1. Desai, Akshayakumar Ramanla. Slums (Bombay, Popular Prakashan [1970]) 15-23
2. Markus, Stevens. Engels, Manchester, and the working class. ( New York, Random House [1974]) 24-33

3. University of Michigan, accessed February 16, 2013, http://www.umich.edu/~risotto/maxzooms/ne/nej34.html

4. Affordable Housing Institute, accessed February 16, 2013, http://affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/2008/08/how-a-slum-dies-part-1-in-the-19th-century.html

The Architect as the Catalyst

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Leandro Cortez

The cities of the modern world are developing at different speeds appropriate to their historical and cultural context. In the global South it seems as if the change is occurring within two halves, one being the formal city and the other in the informal sectors. Each “half” develops its own personality as a correspondence to the problems and desires of the individuals that inhabit its boundaries. However, this separation into “halves” is a quality of change in the urban fabric that can be seen in the history of the evolution of many other global cities.
New York City beginning as a port for incoming and outgoing goods in the new world split itself into sections of specific areas of trade. The city was not created from one master plan like Brasilia or St Petersburg but sprung up as different patches reflecting the many trades of its inhabitants. This is group behavior is almost like an instinct made for the purpose of survival but in this case not personal but rather the survival of business. As Johnson suggests, “Like minded businesses cluster together because there are financial incentives to do so.” [1] This instinct to gather then becomes like an ant colony where one individual does not have much power or attention in regards to his trade but as a whole a unique personality is created that brings publicity and in turn interest into what is being sold. Looking at it in the developing city context, a lonely shanty house does not have much power and has to face repugnance by the rest of society. However, as a whole it can become a living organism whose personality can withstand the criticisms of the inhabitants of the formal sector. More importantly, it gives a voice to those who alone cannot create change within their own “half”.
There are specific factors that trigger change within a city. Whether it be political, economic, cultural, or geographic a catalyst needs to exist in order for the change to come about. Like in chemistry where the “special ability of catalysts to intervene in the dynamics of other processes, called enzymes allow the control of more chemical reactions.”[2] In the evolution of city the catalyst is the person who understands the “halves” created within the urban fabric but perhaps feels that she/he does not belong in any of them. Furthermore, it can be that he/she sees the city in a different manner than others and for this reason wants to bring change in how the processes of each “halves” carry themselves. I believe that as architects we can work to serve as catalysts because our profession allows for the creation of order through form and function. We have the opportunity to re arrange things in a way that we see fit and allow for the better connection between the interactions of each disciplinary group within society. In a sense, an architect makes formal the process of entrainment in order to gain power above the rest and actually carry out the change desired. As Johnson describes, “the transition from nonsynchronized to synchronized oscillations can be understood as a bifurcation in which a set of separate limit cycles transforms themselves into a single attractor.” [2]

Change within a city will never stop, it might slow down like the change in cities from roman times to medieval but it continues to fluctuate almost like the law of conservation of energy. The architect can then serve as a mediator between transitions because he/she look at all the “halves” inside a city and decide what’s best. Architects can help create these moments of transition or “bifurcation” within separate areas of society to create unification within the patchwork of the informal and formal city.

1. Steve Johnson, Emergence : the connected lives of ants, brains, cities, and software (
New York : Scribner, c2001.) 129-167

2. Manuel DeLanda, Nonorganic Life, 101-129

Labels and Stereotypes

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Leandro Cortez

Should this be the true representation of a slum?
Photo by Daniel Berehulak/ Getty Images [3]

Tin roofs of different shades put in patterns not made for esthetics but for the sole purpose of keeping rain out, a dilapidated door that creeks, a card board wall with a humidity mark in the shape of heart, trash everywhere and grass ridden areas, one can say these are descriptions of slum conditions given by one who visits from the outside world. However, where in this description might one find the smile given by all the people encountered during the visit or the kindness with which one is treated when visiting each local vendor or the pride and diversity in character/culture found in each habitant of the slum? The fact is that this is very uncommon because sadly talking about such things would not give justice to what we outsiders consider “real” slum dwellers. For some reason there is a criminal connotation that is used when people think of these slums but why is this so? As Kalpana Sharma argues, “ It is this deemed illegal status of informal settlements like Dharavi that makes people presume that they are breeding grounds for criminals and other ‘antisocial’ settlements. And that their crammed condition exacerbates tensions-communal, class or caste. “ [1] Most of these assumptions are more than likely based on stereotypes created by media outputs that have failed to accurately portray the inhabitants of slums in an accurate way.
Dharavi is a slum in Mumbai that is characterized by living conditions that are sometimes not the most favorable ones. Its location in the city has changed in the past due to demolition in order to make way for new “legal” construction projects. However, Dharavi is a place that in itself is a mixture of different religions and cultures from all around India but whose population is extremely crowded into one sector due to large scale migration from rural areas during the latter part of the 1900’s. Furthermore, this combined with “inadequate supply of urban land and the lack of the creation of new urban centers resulted in extremely high density cities.” [2]These habitats of agglomerated living then amount for close interaction of these different people with quite similar goals and for a new kind of city that can be said to be “kinetic”. This elasticity of Dharavi to adapt is mostly based upon the fact of the high velocity with which construction is achieved and the ability to quickly dismount these dwellings due to the recyclability of the construction materials. Moreover, this kinetic behavior can also be seen as the personal adaptation that many of the inhabitants go through to live with people who at times in history they have been in conflict with.
The history that each inhabitant brings from their part of India contributes immensely to the development of the community. It is incredible that even though these groups are so different within themselves they still manage to organize themselves at the micro scale into their religious/cultural groups but come together at the macro scale to work in the informal job sectors and construct a better lives for themselves and the community. The human development of Dharavi is then quite advanced because if we consider a country with so much diversity in terms of languages, culture, and religion coming together in one neighborhood to live at peace then this is an achievement that many parts of the world are still trying to acquire. Consider the density of the population which is “an estimated 18,000 per acre. In this densely packed area you find twenty seven temples, eleven mosques, and six churches.” [1] It is no surprise that what surfaces for these inhabitants are not their less than desirable living conditions but the life stories and character of each individual.
Dharavi as Sharma states, “is the intermingling of the stories of its residents ordinary and extraordinary . Of their lives their histories and the history of the city of Mumbai.” [1]This allows them to create a developed neighborhood in terms of human interaction where acceptance has evolved to become a part of everyday life in order to create harmony and stand against the oppressions of those from the “formal” or “static” city. If we measured the level of human character development and perhaps not so much the material development then maybe we would not be so fast to connote these individuals with titles of criminals.

Discover Dharavi through its people:

1. http://www.tanya-n.com/?p=136

2. http://www.followtheboat.com/2010/06/06/the-dharavi-slums-of-mumbai-in-photographs/?nggpage=9

Bibliography

1. Sharma Kalpana, Rediscovering Dhavari: stories from Asia’s largest slum ( New Delhi ; New York : Penguin Books, 2000.), xvi-xxxviii.
2. Burdett, Richard, and Deyan Sudjic. “The Static and the Kinetic.” Living in the Endless City: The Urban Age Project by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society. London: Phaidon, 2011.

3. Berehulak Daniel, Mosaic of Poverty. Time Magazine, From Getty Images, http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1877000_1840436,00.html , Feb 2, 2013

The Human Instinct

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Leandro Cortez

Image by Leandro C.

Slums, favelas, gecekondu, and pueblos jovenes, all words with different pronunciations from different parts of the world but whose meaning is globalized and tied to the basic human necessity of shelter for the sake of protection. Within these informal settlements, the instinct to survive is materialized through every brick, concrete, and tin wall put up. At the global scale these flights for survival are made up of 70 million individuals leaving their mostly rural homes for reasons of education, war, accessibility, and money and traveling to cities to start a new life. As the book Shadow Cities demonstrates, “that’s around 1.4 million people a week, 200,000 a day, 8,000 an hour, every 130 minutes.” [1] As result, an act of survival that began with the individual has now transformed into one that indirectly affects the survival of the rest the world.

The different source migration regions into Lagos. [3]

From Lagos to Lima, the opportunities for jobs that cities offer throughout the world are more than likely the biggest attraction for these invaders to migrate. In the case of Lagos, “study revealed that socio-economic factors, such as better employment and educational opportunities, etc., were the main reasons for people to migrate to Lagos.” [3] However, many of these people cannot get a professional job within the confines of the legal city and for this reason are left to maneuver their way into an informal job into the squatter strata of society. As Planet of Slums states, “the informal job sector constitutes about two fifths of the economically active population of the developing world. In Latin America the informal work force makes up 57 percent of the economy and constitutes four out of five new jobs.” [2] The informal working class is then one of the fastest growing economic classes on earth. Informal jobs allow many of these individuals who often have not had much education to sustain themselves within their own community practicing a particular task that most often they have a talent for. This work freedom is highly treasured by the inhabitants of these squatter communities and adding to it the freedom to choose where and how they build their homes gives these individuals a meaning to their materialistic unfortunate conditions.

We in the developed world have moved at least once or twice from a city to another but are restricted to the confines of what is legal. The individuals in these readings go through a same process of movement but do it within the context of the informal because it is the only thing available to them. The rent of an apartment for an individual from rural areas would simply be too great for his/her family to afford. They find pride then in the slow evolution of their housing compound and the help that their neighbors provide to continue their adaptation. The gradual construction allows then for memories to be associated with each aluminum sheet laid upon the roof or the laughter that was had with neighbors while trying to install a door. Construction for them has now gained a more human value or warmth that they begin to appreciate and hold on to strengthen their human instinct of survival.

These constructions at first sight seem to have no since of order but what is important to realize is that their order is one that although unorthodox to outsiders has a unity that is sometimes not seen by a mere observation. Each informal housing compound is adaption to the geography of the site, the shape of the formal city, and the cultural and basic needs of the inhabitants. The stacking space saving cubic homes in Rio would not be able to work in Lagos for the reason that one is in a mountainous coastal context while the other is in flat. Culture of course plays a lot into the construction of these housing units and it is seen in the materials chosen for construction. One would expect individuals coming from the country side in Kenya to utilize the same materials they used in their villages because it is what they have been using for thousands of years prior to their arrival. The materials in Latin America would be of concrete and bricks because of their cheap availability since colonial times.

Whether it is migration patterns, job opportunities, topography, materials, or even the act of building one’s own home every squatter community has something in common. The human need to survive and thrive gives purpose to these individuals while the freedom and human warmth that they find serves as a starting block for the new life they are trying to find.

Sources:

1. Robert Neuwirth, Shadow Cities(London : Routledge, 2004), xiii.
2. Mike Davis, Planet of Slums ( London ; New York : Verso, 2006), 176
3. P. Okuneye, K. Adebayo, B.T Opeolu, F.A Baddru, “ Rural-Urban Migration, Poverty and Sustainable Environment: The Case of Lagos, Nigeria” PRIPODE. http://pripode.cicred.org/spip.php?article79

For Further information take a look at these great articles and videos:
1. Migration Patterns: http://pripode.cicred.org/spip.php?article79
2. BBC Lagos Immigration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zdBRFWYizo
3. Life in Makoko district: http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2012/07/nigeria%E2%80%99s-slums
4. Stories from slum residents in Kibera: http://www.economist.com/news/christmas/21568592-day-economic-life-africas-biggest-shanty-town-boomtown-slum

Practices of the Global South, Spring 2013

Syracuse University, School of Architecture

Author Archives: Leandro Cortez