Jessica 50percent Thesis Revised

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THE GLOBAL URBANIZATION OF POVERTY:

ARCHITECTURE AS EMPOWERMENT

By

Jessica Lindsey King

© 2011 Jessica Lindsey King

A thesissubmitted in partial fulfillmentof the requirements for

the degree of Master of Science in ArchitectureSchool of Architecture

Pratt Institute

January 2011



THE GLOBAL URBANIZATION OF POVERTY:

ARCHITECTURE AS EMPOWERMENT

By

Jessica Lindsey King

Received and approved:

DateElliott Maltby

DateJason Vineri-Beane



The cities of tomorrow are not being built by you.



Acknowledgements



Manifesto

Can architecture empower people or be used as a tool in the process of

empowerment? The United Nations estimates that in my lifetime 1 in 3 people

worldwide will live in informal urban environments under substandard conditions.Space cannot change society by itself. It is not the equivalent of revolution, but

architecture is never non-political. Architecture always reinforces a set of social

relations. Some issues inherent in informal settlements: density, lack of shelter,

cost tensions, materiality questions, construction methods, these are the tools of

architects. As architects we are educated to synthesize problems, address multiple

tensions, and to be sensitive to aesthetics. These skills can be used to orchestrate

the situations as well as the structures. By involving communities of people in the

organization, planning, educating, and collaboration that is vital to an architecturaldesign becoming a reality I believe we, as a profession, have the capability to be

empowering. What we design will pick a side, will make statements about the

policies inherent in a place, and will set up the inhabitants in one way or another to

relate to those around them. I want to test the empowering affects architecture can

have on those relationships and individuals.



Some problems are so complex, so large in scale, and so overwhelming that the

thought of attempting to get involved and making some positive change is almost

unfathomable. The issue unbearable, the suffering a searing blight on humanity,

the causes many and often unknown or misunderstood, these are just a few of the

obstacles one must be ready to engage when getting involved. The condition ofslums, or squatter communities, is one of these seemingly impossible problems. The

problem and suffering of slums spans the globe and the contribiuting factors to these

dehuminizing spaces are many. In some instances the magnitude of slum-related issues

has become so enormous that even thinking about solutions at the urban level has

ceased.

In 2008, for the first time in history, more people lived in cities than in rural areas.

One-third of these urban dwellers, more than 1 billion people, live in slums. People,worldwide, are fleeing the countryside in hopes for better, more profitable, living

situations in the world’s cities. But more often than not this massive group of

migrants is met with crowded, seemingly hopeless situations in the already densely

overpopulated urban space. And the United Nations does not estimate that this

expansive migration will slow down anytime soon. It is predicted that by 2050 up

to _ _ _ _ billion people will live in slums. That is one-third of the earth’s population!

The issue of slum settlements is demanding our attention and in my lifetime will

force architects and many addressing spatial issues to confront the conditions andconsequences that they inherit and force on both the informal and formal aspects of

cities.

Slums are the physical manifestation of poverty and the many causes of poverty

are as complex and varied as the different slums themselves. Due to this an

overwhelming majority of the slums worlwide occur in developing nations. A number

of these nations, sometimes referred to as third-world countries, were former colonies

and with the end of imperialism were given the task and challenge of nation andinstitution building on their own for the first time. That challenge in and of itself is

massive and once you add in additional stresses they often face such as political

anarchy, economic isolation, and sectarian violence many of these nations are still

struggling to “develop” economically. A vast majority of the developing nations

reside in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.



I am questioning architecture’s ability to be empowering, specifically in slums.

Worldwide people are moving from the country into the cities in large numbers. The

United Nations reports that as of 2008, for the first time in history, more people

lived in cities than in rural areas. 1 billion of those urban dwellers live in slums.

The situation of slums is created by an incredibly complex and varied system ofcircumstances, realities, and injustices. No one field is going to solve the problem of

slums. But a collaboration of innovative and dedicated people from multiple fields

are needed to begin to address these deplorable conditions.

How, as a professional, do you begin to engage a problem or issue bigger than

your knowledge base? We have to design a system of collarboration that will start

to enable us to really work as a cohesive group in addressing the needs and issues

of this vast growing percentage of the Earth’s population. And in that collaboration,what are the roles and capabilities of the architect and the architecture? How

can the physical environment integrate with social science, healthcare, and politics

in order to bring some real relief and hope to a group of people being pushed to

the outskirts and ignored at best, and targeted and abused at worst? What skills,

ideas, and ways of addressing tensions do architects uniquely bring to the table? Is

architecture capable of empowerment?

Slums, some people prefer the term squatter communiities, are defined slightlydifferently depending on the source but ------ defines them as -----------------------

------. The conditions in slums can vary drastically based on a number of factors

including how long the area has been settled, the location of the area in relation to

vital resources such as water, jobs, and public transportation, the relationship of the

squatters to the city govenrment and the security or lack of security of their tenure as

residents in that place. But a commonly accepted factor in defining slums is that they

are a physical spacial manifestation of poverty.

Many countries that are home to the world’s largest slums are located below what

Teddy Cruz describes as political equator. If poverty is the underlying reason for

these spaces then it makes sense that the world’s poorest countries house the

greatest percentage of the world’s slums. All but 6% of the world’s squatters live in

what is commonly refered to as third-world countries. This somewhat outdated term



comes from ------------------------ but is commonly used to denote countries typically

located in Asia, Africa, and Latin America that are struggling to develop financially at

a pace with the more stabilized countries of the world. Therefore these countries are

also referred to as developing nations. * paragraph on developing nations. - why are

those nations what they are and what’s keeping them from being first world. look atLebbeus Woods blog.

Something to keep in mind when designing in squatter communities is money. Money

is why these places are what they are so failling to address that on a number of

levels means you’re failing to accurately understand your challenge and context.

Architecture always interfaces with economics so although not a new concept in

our process I believe designing in slums demands a higher sensitivity and priority

when dealing with money in some new ways. It makes it more dominant on thehierarchy of issues addressed. Money should be thought about on multiple levels

both in cost and deployment of the designed structure as well as the architectures

ability to help facilitate and/or encourage profitable business practices or solutions

for the inhabitants or users of the space. By aiding in even minimal improvements in

a squatters financial stability I believe is one way architecture has the abililty to be

empowering.

The wealth divide. Unequal distribution of resources. Rich get richer - poor getpoorer. What can we do about that? The relaity, in sheer numbers, may force some

change because as the problems gets larger and more wide spread it is harder to

ignore. Informal settlements will start to outgrow formal cities in terms of population.

More affluent urbanites will be put face to face with the realities of the informal urban

space. The slums have the potential to become the city and everything else will be

the outskirts. This demands the attention of many people, those designing urban

spaces of the next century as well. The interaction between formal and informal

will continue to grow. How should/can those two drastically different spaces meet,integrate, and grow? What does that look like? What should it?

Do I want to discuss unequal wealth distribution more? How the trickly down effect

doesn’t work. How given time, and opportunity slums have potential to become

middle class neighborhoods. How do you alleviate such a stark wealth divide - are



there ways aesthetically to ease some of the tension caused by it? Policy change?

education? propose a solution that improves the lives and city for all by improving

the informal space. Make there incentives that the rich want to buy into.

The migration does not seem to be slowing down. People are fleeing the countrysideto make lives in the world’s cities at a staggering rate. Worldwide 70 million people

make the move to the city every year. That breaks down to 200,000 a day, 8,000

an hour, 130 every minute! By 2050 it is estimated that there will be 3 billion

squatters. That is 1/3 of the Earth’s population. Population explosion is one issue in

this larger context of slums that is often not clearly explained. The number of people

living on the planet is exponentioally growing every year. In 1976 there were just

over 3.5 billion people in the world. Two decades later, there were already 6 billion

people worldwide. The word’s population basically doubled in 20 years! Look atthe National Geographic series about 7 billion people. As of 2001, according to the

UN, winthin the developing regions, sub-Saharan Africa had the largest proportion

of the urban population resident in slums. (71.9%) Ghana is in Sub-Suharan Africa so

add this info to my project brief :) The urban population has increased by a total of

36% in the last decade!

How as designers, and humans do we begin to think about such a huge endeavor?

The United Nations says in order to keep up with the migration of new urbanites wewould have to build new homes at an alarming rate, 66 homes a minute worldwide!

That’s just to keep pace, it doesn’t consider all the people living in extremely poor

conditons now. Such an endeavor is estimated to cost around $294 billion, a seeminly

incomprehensible amount of money. But if every person on earth donated $3 a year

we would have it. As an architect, if billions of homes are to be built, I want to be a

part of that. What should they look like? How are they constructed? How do cities

of 2050 operate? As of right now, the cities of the future aren’t being built by us,

they’re being constructed by squatters. This disconnect, this them vs us between theformal and the informal is helping no one. The problem is more than building for the

poor. Could architects have a role in easing some of that tension by more affectively

intergrating the space of the two? Or by having a hand in helping the informal city

to grow and build in a safer, more effective manner? How do you show the formal

city what an asset the informal city can be?



When the population of the informal city outgrows the population of the formal city,

the former becomes the city. Rio - 1/5 of Rio, a million people live in slums. Nairobi,

1/2, 1.5 million. Mumbai - 1/2, 6 million people. Istanbuil - 1/2, 6 million people.

So what do we do? What does it mean to empower someone?_ socio-economic model

_ define empowerment

_ what role could architecture play in this

_ design the situation as much as the structure

_ willingness to collaborate

_ aesthetics

As people who have excess money, time, and knowledge? As architects? As Teddy

Cruz would say “architect-citizens” less defined by our professional knowledge andmore by our desire to effect positive change. The issue of informal settlements is

complicated, huge, and intimidating, but when you break some of it down: lack of

shelter, materials, construction methods, density, cost concerns, aesthetics, spatial

identity, these are the tools of architects. We have a role to play in this story.

Architects sometimes think of themselves as mighty creators, producing context rather

than responding to it. Particularly in informal settlements it will be vital to work

with existing context in order to continue to build up and aprove upon the spacesalready developed there. Participation of inhabitants is vital for a succesful project

implementation and sustainable system.

What unique skills and goals do architects bring to the table in terms of

empowerment? What role do aesthetics play? What are aesthetics capable of?

In terms of legality when designing for squatter communities you have three choices.

1. Legal - go through whatever policy or procedures neccessary to gain appropriatepermission or rights to build on a piece of land

2. Build illegally on a piece of land you do not own and do not possess the rights too.

3. Find a niche. all places are different, but find a loophole, an incentive, in a policy

or law, cultural custom, or found conditions that allows you to build in tension. May

not a legal scenario but address the situation in a way that doesn’t boldly build



illegally with no regard for the policies or realities in place. Find a way to give

people incentive to keep your building - to want it there - make it an asset for the

majority. How do you make it an asset? Aesthetics? provide a needed service?

Slum women and the children they support are the greatest victims of all.

Slum policies should in fact be integrated within broader, people-focused urban

poverty reduction policies that address the various dimensions of poverty. This can

include employment and incomes, food, health and education, shelter and access to

basic urban infrastructure and services.

Reverse the socio-economic exclusion of slum dwellers. Pro-poor planning and

management of the urban economy, so as to enhance income generationopportunities for the urban poor.

Slums are spatial - physical manifestations of poverty and intra-city inequality. Based

on the World Bank poverty definitions, it is estimated that half the world- nearly

3 billion people - live on less than US$2 per day. About 1.2 billion live in extreme

poverty - less than US$1 per day. Slums and poverty are closely related and mutally

reinforcing, but the relationship is not always direct or simple. Slum dwellers are not

homogeneous so the complexities of the cause and effect poverty has on slums varieswidely. Most slum dwellers find work in the informal sector and the main problems

confronting the informal sector at present are lack of formal recognition, as well as

low levels of productivity and incomes.

Goal : try to help squatter become increasingly socially cohesive within the greater

urban fabric.

Slums are characterized/distinguished by the poor quality of housing, the poverty ofthe inhabitants, the lack of public and private services and the poor integration of

the inhabitants into the broader community and its opportunities.

Merriam Webster dictionary definition of slum ‘a heavily populated urban area

characterized by substandard housing and squalor’

essential qualities of slums: high densities, low standards of housing (infrastructure



and serivices), and squalor. The first two criteria are physical and spatial which the

third is social and behavioral. Slums are extremely varied places that defy any one

tight definition. Many are slums because they are unrecognized by the officials of

the local authority and governement. This lack of recognition - informality - is both a

charateristic and cause of problems of inadequacy.

Slums are multidimensional in nature. Poverty is multidimensional as well. different

dimensions of urban poverty have been described as:

- low income: consisting of those who are unable to participate in labour markets and

lack other means of support, and those whose wage income is so low that they are

below a nominal poverty line.

- low human capital: low education and poor heath are the components of ‘capability

poverty’ Poor health is strongly associated with bad housing and overcrowding.- low social capital: this involves a shortage of networks to protect households from

shock, weak patronage on the labour market, labeling and exclusion

- low financial capital: lack of productive assets that might be used to generate

income or avoid paying major costs.

Empowerment as opposed to merely addressing monetary resources or livelihoods,

may help ensure a sustainable transition from poverty.

In the last 100 years there has been a dramatic increase in the ratio between the

richest and the poorest nations. APATHY COLLAGE

There is a great need for assistance for small-scale enterprises in the construction

sector, which probably provide the majority of all new dwellings, so that their

methods of supply are as efficient as possible. The poor are currently the largest

producers of shelter and builders of cities in the world - and, in many cases,

women are taking the lead in devising survival strategies that are, effectively, thegovernance structures of the developing world when formal structures have failed

them. By designing an efficient system we can help avoid wastage of resources

through duplication and competition and promote knowledge exchange within an

exisiting system of construction and coordination.



Coordination and Cooperation

It’s commonly held that legality, or security of tenure to land and property, is the

single most important criterion in any slum upgrading or regularization process.

Linking social and economic objectives is imperative to success. There is often a

contradiction there.

Teddy Cruz:

Architects have been absent from the debate. Sense of powerlessness at the

inability of the architecture profession to lead the way in rethinking systems and

institutions of urban development in our time. We should engage in shaping a

political will to shae the city and its political economy.

closing the gap between social responsibility and artistic experimentation.Redefinition of the architect-citizen, less defined by a professional identity, and more

by a way of thinking, a new interface with public culture.

Political equator - divides the world and the city between enclaves of mega wealth

and sectors of poverty.







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Jessica 50percent Thesis Revised