By: Scott Bower
Brief Overview:
When I think about
Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina, romanticized images of European
architecture, tango music, and urban sprawl inundate my mind. In addition to my pre-conceived notions of
the city, my recent trip to Buenos Aires with a group of 11 other students and
a professor helped me to broaden my understanding of this historically rich and
socioeconomically diverse cityscape and the larger implications that
sustainable housing may have for a better future. We studied sustainable housing and urban
development which comprised of our group actively participating in the construction of an adobe home on
the periphery of the city in El Tigre,
visiting stratified neighborhoods, and
engaging in analytical discussions about the ‘bigger picture’ of sustainable
living amongst our group. The following posts of mine exemplify my deeper
understanding of the interconnectedness of this subject of sustainability with
globalization and how this subject is becoming increasingly important
environmentally, politically, and economically in the 21st century.
Urban Fallacy- Deep Inequality and Poverty
The urban development
of Latin American countries began in the export-driven coastal cities. Increased demand and competition amongst
local economies led to the emergence of labor institutions such as “free-trade”
zones and maquiladoras that facilitated massive displacement of population from
rural to urban areas (Angotti, 8). The
origins of port cities like Buenos Aires shows that the city already had
colonial barriers that were set up in order to isolate the poor from the wealthy. Not only are these barriers physical and come
in the form of shopping malls, grand theaters, and rich housing complexes, but
they have become socially ingrained into the highly urbanized and complex
cityscape.
As
described in the magazine series Latin
American Perspectives, the urban fallacy exemplifies how inequality has
become more pronounced in Latin America, resulting from neoliberal agendas to
boost the economy through low-wage labor.
The attraction of urban areas to the poor had large repercussions
regarding the effects of inequality in countries such as Argentina and
Brazil. Angotti asserts that land
property and how investments are protected by property owners plays a big role
in the divisions that can still be found within large cities like Buenos Aires. The fruition of enclave urbanism, which is
the conscious design and development of fragmented cities and metropolitan
regions, has made the barriers within the city limits more apparent as the poor
are being forced away from the city centers.
In Buenos Aires much of the city was designed based off of enclave
urbanism.
Angotti, Tom. "Violence, Enclaves, and Struggles for Land." Latin American Perspectives. March 2013, Issue 189 Vol.40: 5-20. Print.
Angotti, Tom. "Violence, Enclaves, and Struggles for Land." Latin American Perspectives. March 2013, Issue 189 Vol.40: 5-20. Print.
ElefanteBlanco- What is Villa 31?
Buenos
Aires is no exception to urban poverty that prevails in Latin America. A neighborhood that has become notable for
their high levels of political organization, yet dismal crime rates is Villa
31, which is located in the downtown area of Buenos Aires. When our LC group observed the entrance of
the slum, I immediately saw the stark contrast of the distant make-shift houses
and its affluent neighbors and the surrounding industry buildings. This expansive urban slum is nestled in the
heart of the Buenos Aires with the most affluent and wealthy neighborhood,
Puerto Madero, only a short bus ride away.
Although we did not enter the slum, the movie ‘Elefante Blanco’ depicted the conditions of the marginalized people living in the community.
The
premise of the movie is that a longstanding priest in Villa 31 calls upon a
younger priest to take over his position in the community as mediator of the
crime-ridden area, ardent practitioner of faith and trustworthy friend to the
community. However, the corruption of
the religious institution and the increased gang violence exemplifies the tough
and hostile living conditions many people are forced to survive in. Many scenes and shots from the movie show
dilapidated and antiquated homes made from scraps lying around the city or
recycled materials. The claustrophobic
feel of the alleyways in the film are characteristic of many slums.
From Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro- Urban Poverty
It
seems to be that the iconic image of urban poverty in Latin America is the
Brazilian favela. These ‘shanty towns’
crawl up the lush hillsides of major cities like Rio de Janeiro and come within
a few hundred feet of wealthy communities like Copacabana and Ipanema. I recently traveled to Brazil in January 2013
and I had the unique opportunity to visit Santa Marta, which is a pacified
favela in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro.
The
steep incline of the road made it difficult to walk up, along with the numerous
pot holes and crowded sidewalks. The
close proximity of each house was incredible.
It seemed as if they were overlapping each other as telephone wires and
kite strings connected the rooftops like cobwebs. The community was vibrant and many homes
stood out with intricate window panes or bright colorful paint finishes. From a distance Santa Maria appeared to me as
one entity, one favela, one specific type of poverty; however, this
misconception quickly dissipated once I observed how unique the lives and homes
of the community members were in comparison to other areas of Brazil that I saw
that trip.
In
comparison to Buenos Aires’ Villa 31, it would seem that both face similar
problems of urban relocation. In Villa
31 the property value of the community’s location within the city makes it
extremely valuable. Despite the
strenuous attempts of politicians to renovate Villa 31, the residents continue
to successfully resist because that would mean relocation and the destruction of their homes
so that wealthy investors can use the land for other purposes. In Santa Marta the residents face a similar
threat of relocation. Although favelas
began as illegal occupations of land that were isolated from the urban hot spots,
the up-scaled renovations of many homes in favelas like Santa Marta have attracted
outside buyers. In other words, lower
middle class people are beginning to purchase homes in the favelas. This stems from the fact that the property
taxes many people in the favelas are forced to pay continues to increase until
the cost is out of their budget and they have no choice but to rent or sell
their home. This leads to yet another
relocation of the poor and marginalized people living in Brazil to other
favelas that are further away from major cities.
-
Urban Relocation Perpetuates Class Divisions-
FOVISEE
FOVISEE
is an organization we spoke with that uses housing policy to facilitate social
change and to promote sustainable energy use.
Our LC group spoke with a representative of this non-government
organization named Nicolas. His talk
focused on a specific project that makes pre-existing government made housing
communities more sustainably viable.
These large housing complexes are located far away from the city where
land is cheap. The government offers
free housing for a select number of ‘qualified’ people who are then coerced to
leave their current home and live in the new, government houses. Nicolas’ presentation brought to mind
questions about urban relocation because it seems quite obvious that the
government is blatantly creating a greater divide between the social
classes. The majority of paying jobs are
within the city and impoverished people depend on these jobs for their
income. However, the farther away they
are from those jobs, the greater it will cost them because of transportation and
time costs.
The
intentions of the FOVISEE project have good intentions; however, I cannot see it
leading to any real, dramatic social change. The
importance of ameliorating this social division in society using more
compassion and understanding is outlined in a radical work of literature called
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo
Freire. I believe that my discussions
about urban poverty and relocation extend far beyond simply sustainable housing
or urban development. The idea that is
proposed in Freirian pedagogy is one of co-responsibility when it comes to the
oppressor and oppressed. The oppressors
will never actualize any social change if they continue to distance themselves
from the poor using social and physical borders. A change in the distribution of information
and in the mentality or ideology of the oppressor class is necessary to
instigate real change amongst the larger and arguably more powerful working
class aka the oppressed.
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