Globalization, Urban Form and Governance

Table of Content
Preface 7
Part 1 Research Atelier and conference Program
1 The Alfa IBIS Research Atelier 11
2 Conference: Globalization, Urban Form and Governance 15
3 Research Atelier Framework 21
Part 2 Globalization Adjustment and Spatial Change

4 Globalization and Spatial Restructuring. Towards an ALFA-IBIS Agenda 47
Marisa Carmona.
5 Globalization, social exclusion and spatial change 53
Sueli Schiffer
6 Urban Policy in the Framework of Globalization 65
Beatriz Cuenya
7 Urbanization and the Process of Spatial Redistribution of the Bolivian Population 71
Carmen Ledo
8 Local en global: the new paradigm of the postmodern city 79
Ana FaIn
9 Globalization and Andean urban systems in the south of Peru 85
Americo Villegas
10 Urban-Spatial Transformations in Quito (1990 - 1998) 91
Diego Carrion
Part 3 Environment, Sustainable Urban Form and Social Issues

11 Metropolitan Planning and Civil Society Participation: Developing UrbanGovernance
Relations in El Salvador 97
Mario Lnngo
12 Plans and Urban Projects in Globalisation 105
AIvaro Arrese
13 Sustainable Urban Form: Environment and Climate responsive Design 119
5
Silvia de SchHler
14 The decentralisation of Housing Finance
Kosta Matthey
15 prban Renewal and sustainability 135
Paul Stouten
16 Structural Adjustment, Environmental Policies and Natural Resources 141
Carlos Crespo
Part 4 Urban Governance, Strategic Planning and Culture
17 City Opportunities and Management in Asian Cities 149

Arif Hasan
18 Multi-utilities and horizontal monopolies in the provision of Urban Infrastructure. 171
Ricardo Toledo Silva
19 Global pressure and the enabling city. The Case of Rotterdam 177
Gerard Wignlans
20 From Plaza de Armas to Shopping Malls 185
Diego Sepulveda
21 Missed Opportunities for Citizen Participation within Development Planning in South
Africa 195
Marinda Schoonraad
22 Waste Politics in Local Environmental Planning 203
Margarita Pacheco
23 Constructing Quality of Life through Participatory Research 209
G. Fadda, Pauia Jiron and Daniel Jadue
24 Public Space as a Resource for Strategic Planning 217
Raui Di Lullo
25 New relations between in and out in urban space 225
Yvonne Mautner
26 Globalization yesterday and today 231
Csaba Deak
6
Preface
The Sector Urban Renewal and Urban Management of the Faculty of Architecture
organizes an International Conference around the theme Globalization, Urban Form and City
Governance. This Conference is linked to the activities of the ALFA-IBIS network and
embraces four research sectors of the Faculty:
.. Sector Urban Renewal & Urban Management (Prof. J. Rosemann)
.. Sector Architectural Design (Prof. L.v.Duin)
.. Sector Spatial Planning (Prof. P .Drewe)
.. Sector Urban Heritage (Prof. F.v.Voorden)
First, the Conference deals with economic, social and physical impacts of globalization on
regions and cities.
Second, the Conference deals with current policies for sustainable urban development in
cities in Developing Countries
Third, the Conference focuses on issues of urban governance in the context of adjustment,
sustainability and practice of enablement principles.
This Conference Book compiles the summary-papers that will be presented at the First
Conference of the ALFA-IBIS Network. Part One is an introductory chapter containing a
short history of the ALFA-IBIS project, the persons and Institutions involved and the
objectives of this first conference. We have considered it necessary to also include the
Theoretical Framework of the Research Atelier Alfa, the Research Topics linked to the
theoretical framework, as well as the titles of the Research proposals of the network
members. The following three sections contain the papers that will be delivered at the
conference based on the conference program. Those keynote papers that were received in
advance are also included in this section.
After the conference, we will prepare a book containing detailed papers and main
discussions that have taken place during this event.
This Conference Book has been made possible thanks to the English editing work of
Marinda Schoonraad and the programming of Harry Lucassen without whose patience this
book would not have been possible.
Marisa Carmona
ALFA-IBIS Co-ordinator, Sector Urban Renewal & Urban Management
7
PART!
Research Atelier
and
Conference Program
1
The ALFA-IBIS Research Atelier
The Network
IBIS is a network of about 40 Institutions of Higher Education (which includes the
ALFA-IBIS network) that was initiated in October 1994 to deal with issues related to
sustainable urban development. IBIS is co-ordinated by DUT and includes institutions in
Latin America, Africa and Asia. IBIS has defined the knowledge and its approach in the
context of global changes. Networking, strengthening comparative advantages and the
extension of University services to society are basic principles underlying the organisation
of the network. The agreed cOlnmitments of IBIS include the development of mutual
knowledge; the search for tools for improving knowledge exchanges and capacity building
technologies; the facilitation of academic and student exchanges; and the preparation of
selninars, conferences, joint masters courses and research programmes
The research tean1
Globalisation, Adjustment and Spatial Change

.. Dr.Csaba Deak (Comparative Research)
Urban Infrastructure and Social Form: A Comparative Study of Sao Paulo and the
Randstad.
INFURB.
University of Sao Paolo: Research Centre of Urban Infrastructure
.. Beatriz Cuenya (Ph.D research)
Urban Policy Innovations in the FraInework of Globalisation
University of Buenos Aires: Centre for Urban and Regional Studies and Centre for
Advanced Studies
.. Jean Charles Tall (Comparative Research)
Globalisation and Emerging Urban Forms. Forces at work to shape the city. Latin
America experience applied to Senegal
University of Senegal
.. Ana Falu. (Ph.D Research)
Financial Capital and the New Spatial Form. A COlnparative Study of Buenos
Aires, Sao Paulo and Barcelona
National University of Cordoba/CONICET
11
Globalization, Urban Fonn and Governance
• Carmen Ledo (Ph.D Research)

Urbanization and Poverty in the National Development Corridor of Bolivia.
(La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz)
University Mayor de San Simon
• Diego Carrion (Ph.D Research)
Adjustments, Urban Violence and Spatial Changes
Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador
Environment, Sustainable Urban Fonn and Social Issues

• Mario Lungo (Ph. D Research)
Land Use and Urban Planning in Central American Cities.
FLACSO/University of El Salvador
• Al varo Arrese (Ph. D Research)
Design Concepts for Restructuring the Port Areas of Buenos Aires and the
Rio de La Plata in the context of Globalisation
University of Buenos Aires: Faculty of Architecture
" Jorge Di Paula (ph. D Research)
Conflicts of Interest and Spatial Form in Uruguay
Universidad de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay
" Dr. Kostantin Mathey (Ph.D Research)
The Decentralization of Housing Finance: Globalization and Mini-Credits
for Low Income Housing in South America
Technical University of Delft: Faculty of Architecture
" Silvia de Schiller (ph.D Research)
Environmental Impact and Responsive Climatic Planning: The Case of Tropical
and Sub-Tropical Cities in Costa Rica and Argentina
University of Buenos Aires: Research Centre Habitat and Energy
• Hunlberto Solares (Ph.D Research)
Urban Development and Housing Policies
" Dr. Yvonne Mautner (Comparative Research)
The Spurious Modernity of Sao Paulo's Periphery
University of Sao Paolo: Faculty of Architecture
• Americo ViUegas (Ph.D Research)
Globalisation and the Interandino Urban System
Universidad de Cuzco
The State and Civil Society Urban Governance and Strategic Planning
" Diego Sepulveda. (Ph.D Research)
The Management of Urban Space as a Tool for Urban Restructuring: A
Comparative Analysis of Cordoba, Santiago and Barcelona
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
" Carlos Crespo Flores (Ph.D Research)
Local Management and Urban Social Conflicts in the Context of Structural
Reforms in Bolivia
12
The ALFA -IBIS Research Atalier
• Maria Schoonraad (Comparative Research)

Concepts and Tools for Metropolitan Strategic Planning in Pretoria, South
Africa. (A Comparison with Curitiba and Santos in Brazil)
• Raul Di Lullo (Ph.D Research)
Public Space as a Resource for Urban Strategic Planning: The Case of
Tucuman ,Argentina
Universidad Nacional de Tucuman, Argenitina: Faculty of Architecture and
Urbanisation
• Eleonora Leicht (Master Research)
Urban Planning, Historic Conservation and Urban Design in Montevideo: The
Impact of MERCOSUR
Universidad de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay
• Margarita Pacheco (Ph.D Research)
Waste Politics in Local Environmental Planning
National university of Colombia, Bogota
Institute for Environmental Studies, IDEA
Keynotes Papers
• Sueli Schiffer. INFURB. Research Centre in Urban Infrastructure at the University of
Sao Paulo
• Arif Hasan. Asian Coalition of Housing Rights (ACHR). Pakistan
.. Dr. Marisa Carmona
.. Dr. Rod Burgess
A Sustainable Urban Forn1 for Developing Countries?
University of Oxford-Brookes
• Paul Stouten
Urban Renewal and Sustainability
• Dr. Ricardo Toledo Silva
Multi-utilities and Horizontal Monopolies in the provision of Infrastructure: Possible
Urban and Environmental Impacts over the Sao Paolo Metropolitan region
University of Sao Paolo
.. Gerard Wigmans
Technological Changes, Spatial Restructuring and Enablement: The Case of
Rotterdam.
13
Globalization, Urban Form and Governance
The network support systeln.

DUT
Prof. Dipl.ingJ. Rosemann (Urban Renewal and Urban Management)
Prof. Dr. P. Drewe (Regional and Town Planning)
Prof ir. L. v. Duin (Architecture)
Prof. F. Van Voorden (Conservation of Historical Patrimony)
Dr. M. Carmona
Dr. E.D. Hulsbergen
OXFORD BROOKES
Prof Dr. M. lenkes (Urban Planning)
Dr. R. Burgess (Urban Sociology)
HAMBURG
Prof. H. Harms
Prof. Dr. Helga Fasbinder
UNIVERSITY OF SAO PAULO

Prof. Dr. R. Toledo Silva (Urban Research Urban Planning)
Prof. Dr. S. Schiffer (Urban Planning)
Prof. Dr. P. Gunn (Urban Design)
Prof Dr. G. Serra (Architecture Technology)
Prof. Dr. C. Deak (Urban Research, Urban Planner)
UNIVERSITY OF BUENOS AIRES

Prof. O. Suarez (Urban Planning)
14
2
Conference: Globalization, Urban Forn1 and Governance
General objective
The objective of this first IBIS Network Symposium is to explore within the context of a
commonly agreed research framework the theoretical, methodological and empirical issues
brought up in the various postgraduate research activities being initiated within the IBIS
Network. The various Doctoral and Masters research proposals which cover the
experiences of over 25 cities in Latin America, Africa and Europe will be examined under
the general rubric 'Globalisation, Sustainable Urban Form and Governance' and their
attendant policy contexts -Adjustment, Sustainability and Enablement. The ultimate aim is
to arrive to consensus between academics, policy makers and civil society about new forms
of city governance.
Specific objectives
et To encourage the comparison of experiences from 25 cities in developing and developed
countries that will allow the identification of best and worst practices for sustainable
urban development and governance.
et To diffuse knowledge of the work of the IBIS Network in Holland, Europe and Latin
America
et To broaden the network to include Universities in Africa and Asia, and improve
common activities through enhancing the development of comparative studies and joint
training programs oriented to local governments and communities
et To make recommendations for International Policies for Habitat Issues
et To develop concepts and tools for assessing the impacts of globalisation on the urban
structure and the contribution of cities to reduce poverty and global environmental
problems.
The content and organisation

The Network Symposium will be organised around the three main elements of the
Research Framework: Globalisation, Sustainable Urban Structure and Form and Urban
Governance. The basic argument proposed by the Research Framework is that the nature,
rate, structure and form of urban development are increasingly being determined by three
fundamental processes: globalisation, environmental change and the changing relationship
between the state and civil society. In theoretical and policy terms this focuses attention on
the concepts of adjustment, sustain ability and enablement and their implications for urban
15
development. The purpose of the Symposium is to examine the arguments surrounding

these three themes in the context of the research activities and experiences of network
members. Attention will focus on the theoretical, methodological and policy issues involved
in undertaking urban research in this context.
The Symposium will take place over three days (Jan 2ih, 28 th and 29th 1998) in TUD
Delft. Each day will be dedicated to one of the three themes and organised into two
sessions: a morning session which will examine theoretical and policy issues associated
with the theme, and an afternoon session dedicated to the discussion of the research
activities of network members whose research lies within the day's area of interest. In the
morning sessions two presentations will be made by invited speakers, which will be debated
by the participants. In the afternoon, research participants will be expected to make a 20-30
n1inute presentation of their research proposal, which will then be discussed by the group.
These sessions are intended to be infonnal and flexible allowing for the discussion of the
theoretical, empirical and tnethodological issues involved and the development of
comparative experiences.
First Day: Globalisation, Adjustnlent and Spatial Change

The first day of the symposium will be devoted to the linkages between globalisation,
adjustment and spatial change. A basic issue will be the way in which the current
globalisation process is modifying the urban structure and the city systems of Europe and
Latin America. Attention will focus on macroeconolnic changes and neoliberal adjustment
policies; trade liberalisation; the formation of trade blocs; new developments in production
and services and their impact on the national system of cities and the rate and level of
urbanisation in the different contexts. A comparison will be made between the spatial
integration and trade theories used in European countries and the processes occurring in the
MERCOSUR and the Central Alnerican Common Market.
Second Day: EnvirollDlent, Sustainable Urban Form and Social Issues

In the second day the main debate will be related to the problems and challenges
involved in urban restructuring embodying the application of the principles of sustainable
urban development in pursuit of environmental goals.
The pros and cons of the current advocacy of "compact city" policies in the context of
global (global wanning) and local environmental imperatives and the differences between
city structure and regional agglomeration in Latin America and Europe will be debated.
The potential impact of these policies on the economic, social spatial, cultural and political
structures of cities and the difficulties surrounding impletnentation will also be discussed.
Third Day: The State and the Civil Society, Strategic Planning and Urban Governance
The third day will be oriented to the discussion on the relationship between the state and
the civil society, the way that urban governance is taking place and how city management is
negotiated, realised and implelnented. During this day the new institutional adjustments will
be discussed as well as the new planning style in the various network cities. How feasible in
the different network cities is an urban strategic vision based on sustainability principles,
that is negotiated between the different stakeholders? What are the most appropriate
instruments for negotiating integrated objectives, strategies and projects at the different
levels of city management? It is also necessary to carry out research on the relationship
between the space adjustment effects of globalisation, telecommunications and information
technologies and enablement principles and enviromnental policies. To what extent can
16
Conference: Globalisation, Urban Form, and Governance
national urbanisation policies and land regulations embody sustainability principles? What is
and should be the role of community participation in policymaking, implementation and the
evaluation of sustainable city policies?
PROGRAM
Wednesday 27h January

Chairperson: Ricardo Toledo Sil va
Coordination: DUT-Paul Drewe
8:45 Cqf(ee and Registration

9:15 We1colne: Dean of Architecture
9.45 Marisa Carnlona: ALFA-IBIS Research Agenda
10.15 Paul Drewe. Information Technologies and Spatial Changes in Europe
11:00 Co.f(ee Break
11:30 Sueli Schiffer: The Challenge of Sustainable Urban Development facing
Globalization
12.15 DISCUSSION
12:30 Lunch
14:00 Csaba Deak: Urban Infrastructure and Social Form

14:30 Beatriz Cuenya: Urban Policy in the Fralnework of Globalisation: Innovations
and ltnpacts on the Built Environment in Buenos Aires City
15:00 Paul St.outen: Urban renewal and Sustainability
15:30 Tea Break
16:00 Carmen Ledo: Urbanisation & the Process of Spatial Redistribution of the
Boli vian Population
16:30 Ana Falu: Financial Opportunities vis a vis Social Vulnerability: The New
Paradigm of the Postmodern City
17:00 Diego Carrion: Neoliberalism, Violence and Urban Management
17:30 PANEL DISCUSSION
18:00 Closure
Thursday 28 th January
Environment, Sustainable Urban Form and Social Issues
Chairperson: Leen v. Duin
Coordination: Oxford -Brookes-Rod Burgess
8:15 Co.f(ee
9:00 Introduction: Rod Burgess
9:30 Mike Jenks: The Sustainable Urban Form Debate
10:15 Co.f(ee Break
10:45 Michael Breheny. Capital, Mobility and Spatial Changes
11:30 Saskia Sassen: Globalisation and Urban Form
12:15 DEBATE
12:45 Lunch Break
17
Globalization, Urban Form, and Governance
14.00 Mario Lungo: Land Use and Urban Planning in Central American Cities.
14:30 Jorge Paula: Conflicts of Interest and Spatial Form in Uruguay
15:00 Alvaro Arrese: Plans and Urban Projects in Globalisation
15:30 Tea Break
16:00 Silvia de SchiHer: Sustainable Urban Form: Environment and Climate
Responsi ve Design
16:30 Kosta Matthey: The Decentralisation of Housing Finance
17:00 ¥vonne Mautner: New Relations between IN and OUT in Urban Space.
17:30 PANEL DISCUSSION
18:30 Dinner
Friday 29th January

Urban Governance & Strategic Planning
Chairperson: Hans Harms
Coordination: DUT-Jurgen ROSelTIann
8:15 Cqffee
9:00 Introduction: Jurgen Rosemann
9:30 Arif Hasan: City Management in Asian Cities
10:15 Coffee Break
10:45 Ricardo Toledo: Multi-utilities, Horizontal Monopolies & Urban Management
in the Provision of Urban Infrastructure
11:30 Esteban Rodriguez: City Opportunities & City Management: The case of
Bilbao
12: 15 DISCUSSION
12:30 Lunch
14:00 Gerard Wigrnans: Global Pressures and Change in the City Management
Approach in RotterdaITI
14:30 Carlos Crespo: Structural Adjustment, Environmental Policies and Natural
Resources: The Case of access to and the Use of Oil and Water in Cochabamba,
Bolivia
15:00 Tea Break
15:30 Margarita Pacheco: Waste Politics in Local Environmental Planning
16:00 Diego Sepulveda: From the Plaza de Armas to the Shopping Mall: Some
Elenlents to Explore the Role of Public Space in Urban Restructuring in Chile
16:30 Marinda Schoonraad: Missed Opportunities for Development Planning in
South Africa.
17:00 RauI Di Lullo: Public Space as a Resource for Strategic Planning
17:30 DEBATE: SUMMARY & CONCLUSIONS
18:30 Reception
18
Conference: Globalisation, Urban Fonn and Governance
ALFA-IBIS NETWORK COMPARATIVE PROJECT

One of the tasks to be undertaken by the Network (1998-1999) will be a comparative
study of the 25 cities currently incorporated in existing accepted research proposals.
Participants will bring along the most recent Development or Strategic and city regulations.
The goal is to create a lTIatrix of commonly applied indicators, which will facilitate the
comparative analysis for the ALFA-IBIS Network project.
The cities involved in the Research Atelier Alfa-ibis, are:

Barcelona, Bilbao (Spain); Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Tucuman, La Plata (Argentina);
Montevideo, Colonia (Uruguay); San Salvador (El Salvador); Santiago (Chile); Panama
City (Panama); La Paz, Cochabalnba, Santa Cruz (Bolivia); Sao PauIo, Santos, Curitiba
(Brazil); AmsterdalTI, Rotterdam, The Hague And Utrecht (The Netherlands); London
(England); San Jose (Costa Rica); Pretoria (South Africa); Dakar (Senegal); Guatemala
City (Guatenlala)
19
3
ALFA-IBIS research framework
Marisa Carmona, Rod Burgess and Ricardo Toledo Silva
GLOBALIZATION, INFRASTRUCTURE AND URBAN FORM
Introduction
Globalisation is changing the form of regions, cities and localities at an historically
unprecedented rate. National boundaries are rapidly losing their importance as trade
barriers, and cities have become more autonomous economic units opening up their
production, commercial and financial services to international competition. Globalisation
policies have been advocated by governlnents and by international development agencies as
the most prolnising way out from underdevelopment. They argue that these policies would
enhance the trading opportunities of the less developed regions in a world-wide market and
would pronlote their internal Inodernisation by transferring advanced management and
technology from global firms. Structural adjustment and infrastructure modernisation
appear simultaneously as a requirelnent and as an outcOlne of the new age of globalisation.
The Alfa Research Atelier takes globalisation as an important component of current
thinking about city, yet sees the city not as a purely macroeconomic imperative but as a
social process of building and negotiation, in which different actors state their interest,
propose solutions and generate decisions. The Research Atelier Alfa seeks to enhance
innovation and creativity in the city using an historical and holistic approach that seeks to
overcome a partial vision of urban problems (architecturally, sociologically, technically or
managerially - oriented). The ability to create a socially and environmentally sustainable
urban form in this Research Atelier will be premised on negotiation and good governance
that is capable of adjusting local forces, cultural contexts and local opportunities to the new
global pressures.
The Alfa Research Atelier recognises the diversity of urban realities within and
between developed and developing countries and the danger of generalising situations and
solutions applicable for every context. Developed and developing countries have a wide
range of development styles, differentiated by a nmnber of factors such as: the way of
making politics; the cultural heritage; the planning and entrepreneurial traditions; the level
and stage of economic developlnent, the rates and levels of urbanisation and the form of
territorial settlement. Although the problems of cities undergoing structural adjustment may
be similar - a decline in manufacturing, rising unelnployment, inner-city decay and the
social effects associated with them - a single policy prescription is unfeasible to meet the
needs of most cities.
21
Globalization, Urban Form. and Governance
The Research Atelier ALFA aims to exchange and deepen knowledge and information
about the social, political and econOlnic transformations taking place in the different regions
and especially to understand the driving factors in the transformation of the urban form.
The Research Atelier is seeking to share the experiences and information in the search for
theories and tools to identify good practices and assess the new responses that people,
governments, politicians and entrepreneurs are making to take advantage of the new
opportunities opened up by globalisation.
Discussions about the increasing ilnportance of cities in national development, and
about the need to improve city cOlnpetitiveness, governance and leadership are not limited
to post-industrial countries. This discussion is becolning crucial in the developing countries
given the overwheltning social inequalities and the rapid environmental depletion taking
place at all scales. For many decades the discussion has been concentrated on whether the
control of regional/urban forces will help create harmonious cities and improve the position
of the vulnerable groups within them. With globalisation, analysis at the city level becomes
an imperative, but national urbanisation policies and urban systems remain as a major
research framework given the unequal development of regions and cities in response to
global market opportunities and given the increasing importance assigned to the
environment at the global level.
Decentralisation of decision-making capacities, information and managerial techniques,
and cost-benefit oriented public investlnents are instruments which have been used for a
long titne in developed countries and have also been rapidly and widely applied in
developing countries.
Analysis in this Research Atelier will be oriented to three areas and will be concerned
with processes, methods and products:
.. First, the Atelier will be concerned with the economic, social and physical impact of
structural adjustment on the urban fonn and the limitations and opportunities offered by
urban revitalisation for fostering econolnic growth and social development;
.. Second, the Atelier will be concerned with current policies for sustainable urban
development and form and with issues surrounding their implementation in cities in
Developing Countries;
.. Third, the Atelier will concentrate on issues of urban governance in the context of
adjustment, sustainable urban development and the theory and practice of market,
political and cOlnmunity enablement.
A number of documents have already been produced by members of the network
advancing the development of this research framework including:
.. 'Conten1porary Urban Strategies and Urban Design in Developing Countries Rod I
Burgess, Marisa Carmona and Theo Kolstee, Bouwkunde Delft 1996

.. 'Neoliberalismo y Estrategias Urbanas' Rod Burgess, Marisa Carmona and TheoKolstee
Flacso ,Costa Rica 1998
.. 'The Challenge of Sustainable Cities : Neoliberalism and Urban Strategies in
Developing Countries Rod Burgess, Marisa Cannona and Theo Kolstee (eds.) Zed
Books ,London 1997
1. Main research linkages and theories
What is new and what is old in the late 90's.

What is globalisation" considering that in economic terms the large majority of
11
production and elnploYlnent, and on a big extend the consumption and investments are of
22
Marisa Cannona, Rod Burgess and Ricardo Toledo Silva
national, regional and even of local domain? And what is the link between globalisation and
the urban form? Using Castells words, 111. Globalisation has come; nobody knows how it
was. And has come to stay". Globalisation is a new historical phenomenon, steered by the
new technologies of communication and information and is transforming society, cities and
the lives of the people all over the planet. Although the large economic activity is of
national domain, the basic core of the economy, the one that frame the rhythm and
orientation of investments and markets is global, this is to say, its functions daily as one
unit at global level, through the system of information electronically communicated and
through informatized transport networks.
The spatial specialisation and the internationalisation of the economies are not new and
are intrinsic characteristics of capitalist economies. Historically speaking the growth of
international trade has almost always been higher than the economic growth of the
concerned economies. This suggests that is not the increasing specialisation neither the
capital concentration what is new in the global age. What is new is the velocity and nature
of flows that has changed considerable the factor of productions and have changed the
position of urban development in relation to national developlnent strategies. The result is
that the concentration of econOlnic progress in only few regions and global cities of the
world linked by information and cOlnmunication networking will be much more acute. The
elasticity of financial capital to invest in one country or another is making the
~eveloped/developing country concept more flexible.
During the Sixties, a displacement of the production of labour intensive goods, of low
added value, took place towards the "new industrialising countries" in the search for low
wages (textile, shoes, etc.). In the Seventies the capital intensive goods sectors such as
shipbuilding, machines, and cars were subject to international competition. During the
Eighties, know-how started to be internationalised, through the development of tele-
cOlnmunications and since that, world market for the so-called high-tech sectors as computer
industry and consumer electronics emerged. In the Nineties the rapid developments of the non-
tradable sectors, the specialised services such as financial services, telecommunications,
infrastructure and industrial service gave a new ilnpulse to international trade. These
developments have give transpolt an increasing role in the production and world trade of raw
materials agricultural, industrial and service production of high added value (Saitua, 1966) and
a new role for major cities as location centres for the servicing and financing of international
trade, investments and headquarters operations.
It is through this last set of processes that globalisation has got its actual characteristics: a
greater role for knowledge creation, innovation and productivity as compared with the Sixties
and Seventies. The characteristics are the move from bulk production of standard goods and
services to the production of differentiated tailor made products; greater emphasis on
flexibility than to size and economies of scale, and shorter production cycles. As market
became open and larger, opportunities grow. Therefore large urban agglomerations became
the natural centres for financial co-ordination and direction. "Cities have became the
strategic nodes through which the new economy can be planned and facilitated " (Savitch
1996, Sassen and Savitch 1995). Many make reference to the symbol economy
(Halfani,1996), assigning to urban, architectonic and design in general, an important role in
the generation of added value, decreasing the role of capital input and increasing the role of
social infrastructure, education and innovation. There is a growing competition and
networking (intra-firm, intra-enterprises) and a greater role for the human factor - in contrast
with the human capital - and for general education, professional education, job creation, team
spirit, leadership etc. Some have argued that a dematerialization has been taking place, that is
23
to say, fewer raw materials per produced unit, and a growing integration of technology,
production and logistics.
The increasing global markets for finance and specialised services have spread
technological knowledge to the different parts of the world, have linked all important centres
of consumption and production, have reduced costs and improved the efficiency of production
and distribution. The complexity of competition is increasing, considering that enterprises are
located in different, cities and regions, requiring particular organisational structures. These
new developments have brought about new dilemmas to the new theory of organisation of
space in the age of globalisation. One issue that needs to be clarified is the issue of location
and space. For many researchers the technological innovations and the development of global
telecommunication will reduce the importance of location and space. For others, on the
contrary the need of a strategic co-ordination contradicts this space-less idea since location
became essential in the new spatial model (Sassen, 1996). Location (inside or outside of urban
agglomeration) is becoming essential for the growth of centralised functions and operations,
for the centralised control and Inanagement over geographically dispersed array of economic
operations (Sassen 1995). Location of R&D, technology-based nodes, (Blakely 1992, Stimson
1995) and SOlne observers see parallel developments in cities that would function as regional-
nodes: that is, at smaller geographic scales and lower level of complexity than global cities
(Sassen, 1995). Another debate need to be clarified is around the role of local-oriented
industry in the new global age. Reaganism destroy the local oriented industry in many regions
of the USA, but for Sassen local-oriented industry will not disappear, rather manufacturing
relnains a crucial economic sector in all global economies, other argues that there could be no
producer service sector without lnanufacturing (Cohen & Zysman 1987). This also will change
the idea that protectionisln measures were always wrong. The argument of exogenous stimulus
and support for new industries, the so-called infant industries is a strong argument, because
these industries need time to develop and learn to compete in the international economy. The
experience of the Asiatic econOlnies (Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong) is
clear in this respect.
The new international model

In spite of that all countries have adjusted their productive and social structures in
order to benefit from the global markets, the gains of globalisation have been characterised
by being selective. Foreign investments have followed market opportunities rather than
creating new markets and thus have been concentrated mainly in the OECD countries,
reducing the share of the Third World countries to less than 20%, in spite of the increment
of investments in Southeast Asia, China and Latin Alnerican large cities.
Cheap labour and natural resources do not play any Inore the striking role that once did
to attract capitals to developing countries. The growing velocity of capital in shifting from
one investment opportunity to another and the relnarkable devaluation of Third World
cOlnmodities have tnade the concept of competitive advantages more elastic in what
concerns the relationships between foreign capitals and national productive environments
(Silva and Schiffer 1995)
Foreign investments are concentrated in capital and knowledge intensive sectors and
multinational firms, R&D is targeting to learn from local expertise, R&D centres have
emerged in the most important regions of the world. Consequently international trade is still
greater between related firms, or between suppliers and final producer. Related firms of
subsidiaries from other parts of the world supply a greater part of input of multinational
finn. (Saitua,1995). The intra-industry trade grows faster, because three factors: the
24
Marisa Carmona, Rod Burgess and Ricardo Toledo Si/va
increasing trade and global networks of production and supply between independent firnls;
the privatisation of infrastructure and state owned industries in developing countries, and
the increase of market segments as consequences of the appearance of more sophisticated
goods in the developed countries.
Investment flows does not longer are oriented to countries offering natural resources,
but concentrate in places where the local infrastructure, including information and
knowledge is good; where the population is reasonably educated and where there is an
important dOlnestic market. The megacities of some developing countries and the new
created city-networks, provide these conditions when the production factors are above a
detennined threshold concerning its productivity and when the market possibilities are
favourable (Silva and Schiffer 1994).
Considering the different order of magnitude of international finance and service
sector, globalisation trends becalne evident in the late 1980s in a number of major cities in
the developing world. The cities of Johannesburg, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Bangkok,
Taipei, and Mexico City have became integrated into various world markets. For Sassen
critical causes to the developlnent of this new-core in these cities are the deregulation of
financial markets, the surge of finance and specialised services, and the integration into the
world markets. Also is added the real estate speculation, and the high-income commercial
and residential gentrification that have been produced. In these cities, which are major
international business centres, a new urban form seetns to be emerging, at least in two
regards: the increasing weight of the business and financial sector as compared with that in
the 1970s, and the ascendance of new finance and service complexes, particularly
international finance which engenders a new economic regime. While this sector may
account for only a fraction of the economy of a city, it imposes itself on that larger
economy. Competition is enhanced through rapid modernisation, the creation of images and
new values, through adding value to products and real estates by improving design factors,
gentrification in targeted locations, the specialisation of subcentres and transport nodes, etc.
The opening of stock markets to foreign investors and the privatisation of public sector
finns have been crucial conditions for the change of the urban form.
The rise of urban productivity as the goal for urban intervention

In the context of globalisation and structural adjustments, the need to increase city
competitiveness and to achieve a progressive individualisation of society, are the major
objectives of the urban interventions. It changes radically the goals and conceptions of
spatial interventions of the Seventies and Eighties. The efficiency of the economy is by far
tnore important than the equity at national level, and the resulting urban policy will be to
"strengthen the opportunities" rather than "to support the weakness". It is believed that
through developing the location opportunities generated by macroeconomic changes, a
transition to an information economy will start which will spread development to the rest of
activities and locations. The strengthening of the opportunities of the cities and largest city
corridors of econotnic activities, taking advantage of major network-nodes, commuting
distances, will help the ascendance in the urban hierarchy, providing new opportunities or
displacing others. New employtnent will be created through economic opportunities,
flexibilisation and infrastructure modernisation. The old ways of economical and physical
planning aiming at generation of etnploynlent following spatial strategies enhancing
balanced systems of cities becalne in this new Inodel obsolete. The new form of
interventions has an itnportant impact on the form of the city since it is based in the
25
liberalisation of urban growth and land-uses and in the developing of site opportunities for
cOlnpetitively through the accentuation of polycentric hierarchy in the large metropolitan
region. The hierarchical distribution of business centres, techno-spaces and industrial-
commercial complexes reflects the changing nature of information intensive services and
knowledge-based production processes (Hall 1995).
Globalisation and MarginaHsation

As globalisation has opened up national econolnies and increased the mobility of the
factors of production, it has also reduced the power of the nation-state to independently
manage its economic affairs. The state has found it increasingly difficulties to control and
regulate the persons and bodies under its jurisdiction and important instruments of
macroeconolnic managelnent can no longer be detennined unilaterally.
It is clear that globalisation will have an increased influence on the rate and pattern of
growth of national economies, on the distribution of income and wealth and on the
incidence of poverty within theln. A major part of what is increasingly a global agenda is
that the restructuring or "adjustment" of national econOlnies to the new realities of the
globalisation process must occur through the acceptance of reforms that move within this
general dynamic.
At a global level the share of profit has increased at the expense of the living conditions
of the working population, both in developed and in developing countries. Competition
between cities at global level became possible after developments in the beginning of the 1980s
(particularly after the Mexican Debt Crisis of 1982). The market determination of wages and
prices to allocate production inputs and finance became detenninant in the structural
adjustInent policies. The public control of the national economy as well as universal social
welfare principles have come under pressure and it is becoming evident that the competition
between places is far greater than the competition between firms that operate in more or
less oligopolies markets. If the wages are too high or taxes or social laws restrictive, then
firms shift their activities to other places. If the state intervenes and creates higher costs for
internationally operating firms they lnove their activities to other countries with favourable
conditions.
The social consequences for developed countries is that the repetitive work has been
automated or moved to well educated low wage countries that are above the threshold,
producing an increment in the working flexibility, increasing unelnployment and lowering
wages of the less educated labour. The escalation of unemploYlnent in developed countries,
reduces further the working conditions of the itnmigrant populations, generally lowers real
salaries, exacerbates xenophobia, affects land and housing markets, leading to the rapid
decay of SOlne places and the formation of ghettos.
Not only less-skilled work has gone to some developing countries but also skilled work
when in the latter countries there are sufficient skilled workers and adequate infrastructure for
the development of some sectors. There are examples where the administrative work of some
firn1s has been moved to India and software firms develop some parts of their programs in
countries like India and Chile4. As these development are taking place only in some
developing countries and only in some regions and cities, inequalities between world regions
and incOlne distributions inside the countries have increased. Adjustment programs aimed at
producing better investment environments to national and foreign capitals, through cutting and
decentralising public services; reducing protectionism to national industries; flexibility of
labour markets, trade incentives, have affected emploYlnent in the formal sector, have lowered
real wages and caused a serious deterioration of the living conditions of the poor.
26
Marisa Cannona, Rod Burgess and Ricardo Toledo Si/va
The need for adj ustment has been seen to be universal, but the types of policies
implemented in specific countries have varied depending on their different positions in the
structure of the global economy (core, semi periphery, and periphery). However the
acceptance of the principal elelnents of structural adjustments, liberalism of trade and
investment regimes; privatisation of state assets; deregulation of labour and capital markets;
the compression of public social expenditures; the withdrawal and (targeting) of subsidies
and political /administrative decentralisation - has been alInost universal. The sectoral
application of these policies has important ramifications for the urban form and the urban
systelns. Although the specific characteristics of the adjustment process have varied
between developed, developing and new tnarket econolnies, in all cases they are designed
to achieve the same effect -to 'externally-oriented econoluies and to expose them to the
I
forces of an increasingly open, integrated and cOlnpetitive global economy. Everywhere

this has meant a shift towards export-oriented strategies; the search for the comparative
advantages offered by different countries (and regions and cities within countries) within a
global fratne of reference and an emphasis on improvetnents in labour productivity and on
increased dOlnestic competitiveness and efficiency. After an initial "shock" period it is
argued, these policies will reap the new opportunities and benefits available through
globalisation - increased growth, employment, labour productivity and higher real wages
will reduce poverty and welfare in all parts of the emerging global economy.5
There is a general consensus about the goals of structural adjustments policies -
increased growth (albeit within sustainable environmental limits), higher employment levels
and wages, increased labour productivity, poverty reduction and greater welfare. However,
there is considerable dispute over whet.her these policies can achieve these goals, and
can have these -effects. Critics point to the ineluctable march of the numbers in poverty
(currently over 1 billion), dralnatic increases in inequalities in the distribution of incomes
and assets, growing structural unemployment, negative per capita real growth rates in Latin
America and Sub-Saharan Africa, declines in real wages in many countries and rapid
increases in environmental deterioration.6 But even if the neoliberal free market/minimal
state policies definitively fail, it seelns lnore likely that the long term globalisation trends
will continue under a radically new fonn of global Keynesianism rather than a reversion to
the model of protected, containerised markets and inwardly-oriented growth. Globalisation
is here to stay, and national and internal adjustments to global realities appear to be
progressive and inevitable. As the World Bank (Global Economic Prospects 1995) has
recently remarked "countries best placed to benefit from the opportunities offered by
globalisation are those that are successfully transforming their policies and structures to
support outward-oriented growth 11 •
In this context the structure of the global econolny is certainly more complex than
suggested by the bipolar concepts of developing/developed countries which are increasingly
being made redundant by the new global realities. For example the share of "developing
countries" in world manufacturing exports jumped from 10% in 1980 to 22% in 1993.
However the greater part of this industrial capacity has been concentrated on a group of
about 25 countries variously described as "newly industrialising countries", the
"semiperiphery" or "emerging market economies".
A structure of three differentiated zones increasingly integrated in a global, sectoral
and spatial division of labour through the trade, finance, investment, aid, technology and
labour circui ts can be recognised:
.. The core with a large industrial and service base and a high GDP per capita
corresponds loosely to the 24 GECD highly urbanised countries that are responsible for
27
75 % of the value of global exports and output, largely in the form of manufactured
goods and services;
• The semipedphelY corresponds to newly-industrialised countries and new market
economies with medium levels of GDP per capita which have experienced a rapid
iIupulse towards urbanisation and export-oriented industrialisation,
• A poor, largely rural pedphery currently undergoing rapid urbanisation exporting
primary commodities and importing industrial products.
Taking into account the functional and locational diversifications as well as the uneven
development of the new global systelu, John Friedman7 suggests the mapping of the
hierarchy of world cities according subgroups,- European Union, North American free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and Asian
Newly Industrialised Countries (NICs)- and the urban linkages that they develop.
A. THE CORE
The case of the Netherlands

The case of the Netherlands is an example of how econOluic and institutional strategies
seeking to enhance city cOlupetitiveness and market primacy, can change the spatial system,
and in which the environmental debate about systelu of cities and urban form have been
significant in the national urbanisation patterns.
In the late Eighties when the Dutch economy was coming out of recession, and the
welfare state had begun to corrode, the debate confronted the different positions regarding
contradictory aspects and many conflictive interests concerning, on the one hand, the way
in which wealth could be achieved through regenerative economic policies, and on the other
hand, the increasing demand of environmental protection, eJubedded in regulatory and legal
frames and strict codes. The discussion was enhanced by the Green Book on the Urban
Environment of the European COluluission, the STOA report on the Technological City for
the European Parliament, and the worldwide concern about environmental sustainability.
Ambitious aims such as the 'green-city', the 'eco-city', the 'zero-emission city' the
'sustainable city', actualised the debate about the compact city and about limits to urban
growth (Drewe and Rosenboom 1992). The debate of the late Eighties was about the
compact-city. The debate concern contradictory issues such as: densities and quality of life;
comluuting and pollution; regeneration of residential function in services and offices and
the earlier processes of gentrification (Van de Veen 1992); about de-concentration of
employment and concentration of population in the Historic Centre; contradictions about
inner-city regeneration and soil classification of degraded toxic waste; transportation
policies concerning the layout of the high speed train through protected zones (green heart);
new sub-urban housing development not being en viro mu en tal sustainable. In respect to
housing, the debate was also twofold. It concerns the existence of positive mismatch
between housing costs and social rental housing, and positive nlis111atch between housing
distribution and the effects of allocation policy. (Dieleman, Kempen 1994; Boelhouwer,
1994); concern for gentrification and ghetto forming and the need to recover the middle and
high income sector in the decaying central areas (Cortie, Kruijt and Musterd 1989), etc.
At the end of the Eighties, the changes in the political environment (from centre-right
to centre-left) contributed to the rise of a new pragnlatism, which argued efficiency more
important than equity. Given that other countries of the unified Europe have already
enhanced urban productivity and market deternlinislu, the Netherlands -with the 'Extra'
Fourth Report on Physical Planning- should reorient its recently changed vision of the mid
28
Marisa Carm,ona, Rod Burgess and Ricardo Toledo Silva
Eighties to achieve those new objectives. As many other OEeD countries, the Netherlands
in the mid Eighties has chosen economic recovery and country competitiveness as strategy
for establishing it national urbanisation plan (Fourth Report on Physical Planning). This, in
response to the economic depression of Dutch cities, the inner city decay, the persisting
flow of middle and high incomes to the suburbs, the high cost of a social policy of urban
revitalisation, etc. which were the consequence of the previous Third Report of Physical
Planning of the Seventies. The main strategy of the Fourth Report was to improve the
national infrastructure and to support a selected number of urban centres through the
creation of new residential areas according to some fixed criteria (maxilnum distance to the
city centre according to the size of the dwelling, good accessibility, close to industrial and
recreational centres, etc.). The new political coalition in 1989 thought necessary to reorient
this strategy to improve and strengthen competitiveness and efficiency. Also the alarming
environmental deterioration shown in recent reports obliges the new government to launch
the 'Extra' Fourth Report of Physical Planning, in order to correct environmental
conditions. In the report, planning and enabling urban expansion of existing conurbation is
better than creating new centres in the peripheral regions. It was argued that this strategy
would reduce comlnuting distances and will help to shift from the use of private car to
public transport without limiting the urban growth of the Randstad (conurbation of the four
large cities Alnsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague). A guided urban expansion
will avoid the intensive use of the urban space, which would put the Netherlands in
disadvantage in tenn of competitively with the other European centres. The urbanisation
plan for the year 2005, by which one million houses will be constructed is elnbedded in the
new pragmatism, with the aim of supporting the econon1ic dynamisln, the opportunities of
strategic locations and the attraction of old historic centres and 19th century residential
areas. The plan enhances densification, renewal and expansion of current cities both
outwards and inwards according to eight guidelines (distance to the closest city centre;
quality of public transport; private car traffic generation; environmental hazards affecting
the sites; loss of open areas (especially with high nature or landscape value); recreational
opportunities; cost of site preparation; cost of public transport supply) (priemus and
Boelhouwer, 1990). The plan shifts the allocation of dwellings towards the private sector
and privatisation of dwelling ownership is highlighted, since the greater housing bulk (60%)
will be provided by this sector. The idea today is to reduce the stock of rental housing
(57% of the total housing stock, being 38 % rental housing of the social sector) to a
minimum in order to facilitate social mobility and enhance private ownership. The fostering
of individualisation and development of site opportunities will be the main guidelines to
meet the highly differentiated housing detnand. Mixed use and the low-rise high-density
residential pattern (patio houses, introvert patterns) is encouraged in the search for the
retention of middle and high incolnes living in the inner cities.
B . THE SEMIPERIPHERY
The case of Latin Anlerica

The cyclical econOlnic growth and the increasing liberalisation of the economy affect
the social structures, increasing poverty and inequalities in an unprecedented way.
Decentralisation and de-regulation contributes also to rapid spatial changes affecting the
form Latin American lnetropolis, through accelerating counter-urbanisation, the creation of
new subcentres for business, services and comlnercial activities, the gentrification of the
CBD, and increasing overcrowding and appalling misery conditions in the Iow-rent areas of
29
the cities. The liberalisation of the housing activities, and the extended commodification of
housing production has contributed to accentuate the already fragmented urban form, the
rapid overcrowding of inner-city squatters, the petty-modernization of chanties and self-
build areas, and in general the overwhelming extension of the cities in the surrounding
fertile agriculture land. 8 Employment figures are representative for analysing the new
spatial model:
N on-agncult·ural E mpoymen t Struc ure In f A menca (%)

. L aIn 0
Informal Sector Formal Sector

Total Indepe Domes Snlall Total Public Large
nd tic Enterpr Sector Enterpr
Worke Servic ise ise
r e
Latin
AIneri ca 40.2 19.2 6.4 14.6 59.8 15.7 44.1
1980 54.4 25.0 6.9 22.5 45.7 14.9 30.8
1992
Chile
1980 50.4 27.8 8.3 14.3 49.6 11.9 37.7
1992 49.5 23.0 7.5 19.0 50.4 8.1 42.3
Mexico
1980 49.1 18.0 6.2 24.9 50.9 21.8 29.1
1992 56.0 30.5 5.5 20.0 44.0 22.5 19.5
Brazil
1980 33.7 17.3 6.7 9.7 66.3 11.1 55.2
1992 54.1 22.5 7.8 23.8 45.8 10.4 35.4
Costa Rica
1980 36.4 16.3 6.1 14.0 63.6 26.7 36.9
1992 49.7 20.9 5.8 23.0 50.3 20.9 29.4
Source: Osvaldo Sunkel 1994. PREALC Cepal.
The above chart shows the new employment environment of the globalisation age and
determines the conditions of spatial structures. The non-agriculture employment indicators
shows that during the period 1980 to 1992 the average non-agricultural employment Latin
Alnerica's informal sector grew overwhelmingly from 40.2 % to 54,4% whilst the employment
in the fonna! sector was reduced frOIn 59.8 % to 45.7 %. However adj ustments and the
opening of external markets have changed the emploYInent structure in different ways in the
different Latin American countries. What is common to all countries is that the liberalisation
and new institutional environments have contributed to a complete shift on capital and
labour relations and a concentration of wealth. A significant nUlYtber of employees from
education, preventive health care and government instances has been eliminated from the
elnploYlnent market and new jobs for skilled workers has been created, increasing
productivity in the large enterprises including the building industry, and small enterprises. The
effect of this shift is that a new sector has appeared - the so-called 'new poor': they are
30
Marisa Cam1.ona, Rod Burgess and Ricardo Toledo Silva
considerable amount of former middle class sectors displaced during the process of
modernisation of the formal sector. This sector is double affected because the cuts in social
security, privatisation of services, education, health housing and of retirement funds,
characteristic of the welfare state of the 60s and 70s.
The former chart shows that Chile has been an exception since it could rescue the
manufactured sector in 1983 through national policies and the informal sector was reduced
from 50.4 to 49,5% and the formal sector increased frOIn 49.6% to 50.4%. Since 1990
Chilean economic growth has been associated with the increases in aggregate value,
employment in large enterprise sector increased from 36.8% in 1985 to 42.3% in 1992. The
Mexican informal sector on the contrary increased in the same period from 49.1 to 56.0%,
almost increasing twofold the alnount of independent workers but strongly dropping in
employment levels in the small enterprises sector. The formal sector as a whole in Mexico
decreased from 50.9 to 44.0%, (Sunkel 1994, PREALC 1993).
From the 111acro economic view point, current Latin American governments assign a
significant importance to the improvement of national and continental infrastructure in front
of the need for increasing the economic position in the external markets and for improving
the competitiveness of the goods and services. Particularly attention is provided to the
construction of road networks, telecommunications, ports and airports. 9
In a continent with enormous differences in term of development stage an economic
and social potentials, the need for economic co-operation and elimination of trading
frontiers have being considered as the main locus for development. In general Latin
America is interested in the opening to the Pacific and especially to USA, South East Asian
and Japanese markets. Important for all governments is the immediate materialisation of
several bioceanic corridors (Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean) and Amazonian -Caribbean
corridors as well as binationals and n1ultinationals agreelnents for making the construction
and flows of these corridors a reality. In the South Cone, and related to the MERCOSUR
common market, the rapid consolidation of the bioceanic corridors is matter of primer
priority in the new Inultilateral working group of Bioceanic Corridors (Grupo de Trabajo
Multilateral de Corredores Bioceanicos) formed by the Ministries of Public Works and
Transport of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. This working
group is defining the final trace of the North Corridor (Arica-Santos) and Centro- Norte
(Antofagasta Santos) and are engaged on the project preparation to be presented to the
international financial organisms. One of the most striking results so far is the Japanese co-
operation for the development of the feasibility study of the corridor Arica (Chile)- Santa-
Cruz (Bolivia) Cuiba in the Brazilian Matto Groso. This new route connecting Chile and
Brazil, starts in Arica and is able to reach La Paz on distance of 500 km. Bolivia has
already finished its part, permitting to continue to Oruro, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz and
being able to arrive to the Brazilian border. The construction of the new bridge between
Colonia and La Plata has been a matter of discussions for several years in the search for
links between Santos, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Valparaiso. In the Central American
Region several bioceanic corridors are been proposed but not yet with the decision and
willingness of the MERCOSUR.
In the particular case of Chile, and because its particular form and location, the
government has develop a strategy of transfonning the country in a business platform
between Latin America (MERCOSUR) and the countries of the Pacific-basin. The
infrastructure network has been converted in the n1ain tool in order to consolidate this
position. In order to concretise the Bioceanic corridors the public investment program until
the year 2000, in ports, airport, sanitary works, transport railway, urban and intra-urban
31
transport roads, amounts 12.910 tnillions dollars. To this amount must be added the
participation of the private sector, through concessions, estimated in 4.308 millions dollars
which will be added to the public investtnents in the period 1996-2000. To the above must
be added 321 millions to improve borders path, according to the Protocol of Physical
Integration that form part of the Agreement of Economic Complementation of the
MERCOSUR treatment. This investments is to satisfy the demand in public infrastructure
necessary for the fulfilment of the agreements and to attend the important flux of freight
and trade through the road and port infrastructure, going from the Eastern Argentine,
Bolivia and the lnarkets of the Pacific basin. 10
c. PERIPHERY
The case of South Saharan Africa

In this respect to the new global order Africa finds itself in the crossroad of two major
trends that exert tremendous pressure on the developtnent of its urban centres. On the one
side are the shortcomings of past developtnent strategies. The failure to rectify sectoral and
regional imbalances inherited at independence created a negative impetus that continues to
accelerate the rate of urban growth. The urban systems in the various countries are
incapable to accommodate the rapidly increasing population, endangering the environmental
sustainability of the region. The persistence of the agrarian crisis because changes in global
forces, characterised by low productivity, low incolnes, negative terms of trade, and
absence of services, precipitated a tnassive influx of the rural population into the urban
centres, which are perceived (especially since the 1980s) to have retained a space for
human survival. The consequence of such rapid growth is an acute crisis of urbanisation
indicated by housing shortages, environmental degradation, severe unemployment, extreme
poverty, and critical infrastructure deficiencies. By the end of the 1980s Africa s marginal
I
position in the international economic system became more entrenched. Its share of direct
foreign investtnents and total international trade remained negligible throughout the 1980s.
The region seem to be increasingly marginalized in an increasingly globalised world.
(Halfani 1996)
The implications of such a situation for urban growth and competitiveness are serious.
The lack of foreign investments, a negligible involvement in international trade, and a steep
decline in export revenue, coupled with limited domestic savings and investments, imply
that the region cannot share in the Inostly urban-based technological advances in the modem
era. The basic structure of the African city, with its reliance on import substitution
industries, resources processing, and primary exports, is obsolete.
Apart failures of domestic policy generating the urbanisation crisis in Africa, the
macroeconomic situation at the global level should also be blamed. External forces have
limited the potentials to overcotne the crisis. "Negative terms of trade, rising interest rates
and massive disinvestments all colluded to forestall internal accumulation, contributed to
de-industrialisation, and undennined revenue mobilisation for investments" (Halfani 1996)
The volUlne of investments in Africa in 1983 was almost the same as it was in 1990.
During the same period, East Asia trebled its volume and Latin America's had doubled.
Halfani has advanced that yet a potential exists that could stimulate positive change and
reverse the developmental backlog of cities in South Saharan Africa. Responses of the
urban population of SSA to the crisis situation and to the process of Marginalisation have
crystallised into dynatnic organisational systems. These developments expose new
opportunities to marginalised African urban systems.
32
Marisa Carm.ona, Rod Burgess and Ricardo Toledo Si/va
Halfani recognises that one of the opportunities arising from globalisation at its
advanced stage, is the consolidation of a multiple hierarchy of cities that are the nodal
linkages of the accumulation process. Expectations from the reconstituted system that
creates new opportunities for SSA cities to participate in the globalisation. Production of
primary commodities, Africa's Inain needs, in the new order is given a low value because
of the declining share of material inputs in the production of high-value manufacturing
products. The fast growth and dominating sectors in the industrialised countries
(microelectronics and communication, robotics technology biotechnology) are on the
con trary resources saving.
As the figure 1 have shown, Africa is quite marginalized (5 % direct investments)
however Johannesburg became the potential linkage. In fact the prospect of that connection
is gradually increasing in the 1990s. Halfani highlight the fact that the trade of South Africa
with the rest of Africa is booming after the fall of apartheid. With exports up 50% in two
years to nearly $2.5 billion in 1994 and imports tripling to %664 million from $220
million.
The urban investments from South Africa associated with the" symbol economy" are in
banking, fib er-optic lines and satellite television, hotels and tourism, airline service, ports
and railway lines, and processing industries such as breweries. Prospect for more links look
greater when the rapidly growing connection with the Gulf States and the Asian-African
relation are also taken into account. There has been a growing tide of capital flow from the
Gulf States that is fostered by cultural affinities between a sizeable African population of
Arab ancestry and the Golf Arabs. This is especially notable in the coastal cities of East
Africa, where several real estate developments are financed by Gulf investments. The same
applies to investtnents con1ing froIn the Asian-African networks; relatives based in Canada
and Europe are reconnecting, through business ventures, with relatives who remained in the
subregion. The nUlnber of nodal links proliferates when considering activities of
multilateral agencies. In cities as Nairobi, Dakar, Addis Ababa, Abidjan, Lagos, and Accra
there are more than a dozen global and regional organisations. Nairobi has more such
organisations than Nabkok, Manila, or even New Delhi. The multiplicator effect of all
these nodes and subnodes in the global hierarchy are promoted by the growth of
subregional organisations such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC),
the Preferential Trade Agreement, Economic Community of West African States
(ECOW AS) and a few others that allocate co-ordinating functions to various city capitals.
Activities of these organisations also proInote closer interactions between places and
facilitate the redistribution of resources.
The second potential of African cities highlighted by Halfani is the revitalisation of
Inodes of urban governance that has survive the destruction of the formal sector and could
create socio-economic sustainable urban systems. The overcoming of the urban crisis in
Africa is possible because the survival of traditional institutions and organisational
arrangements. It was the mostly Inarginal groups in an urban context that needed to invoke
traditional structure to facilitate their settlement and advancement in the hostile urban
setting. Halfani describes that at the height of the crisis period in the 1980s, the failure of
the formal sector to continue with its exclusionary approach to urban governance became
more evident. Neither central governments Ininistries responsible for urban development
nor municipal authorities were able to effectively maintain law and order, provide services
and regulate economic activities. It was at this point that urban communities extensively
deployed the" social capital" embedded in traditional institutions and informal transactions.
By the earlier 1990s, traditional institutions as well as informalism were not only survivalist
33
institutions; they were gradually taking over some responsibilities of the formal sector. The
formal systeln of urban managelnent is beginning to recognise traditional institutions such
as security systems in the form of community policing in Tanzania, or the incorporation of
traditional concepts of non-linear streets into the municipal structure. Rotating credit system
(Nigeria), hospital managed by NGOs (Kenya) commuter transportation to serve informal
sector (Dar es Salaam, Bamako, Lagos and Brazzaville).
2. IDENTIFIED RESEARCH TOPICS
With the launching of the Global Plan of Action of the United Nations Centre of
Human Settlements UNCHS (1995), and the signature of Habitat II (1996) agreements, the
reformulation of spatial theories has emerged as an imperative and as an unavoidable task.
A new spatial theory need to be defined which embrace global changes and the position of
regions, countries and cities in the world systeln. Besides the formulation of new spatial
theories, several requirelnents have been identified as necessary for the implementation of
the Global Action Plan, and which demands attention as research topics. These
requirements are:
• A new fonn of city governance, the adoption of new forms of social contracts based on
new social pacts and solidarity schell1es between social economic groups, that means
new research in the relationship between capital and labour;
• The accent in human factor building, leadership and entrepreneurial creation, in the
search of shorting gaps between programs and project implementation, adoption of
management efficiency principles in municipalities and local levels, granting more
autonomy in spending practices, including training of their personnel in local financing
and project management and enhancing innovative design.
• Enhances the development of new communication and negotiation tools between
partners and interest groups. It orients research to training and capacity building.
In the prospect of current global transformations, attention must be given to narrow

gaps and address disadvantages, social exclusion and underdevelopment, both in developed
and developing countries. Fundamental research topic will be necessary re-regulations to
market prin1acy in order to improve living standards, contribute urban revitalisation, social
recovery, diminish social pathologies and enhance environlnental protection (Agenda XXI).
This research topic embraces the recognition of the post Habitat guidelines (preparing for
the urban Future 1997) that leadership building and adaptation to global pressures is
embedded within local context and social, cultural and political forces. The following topics
are identified as fundamental related links.
1. Although all countries have to adjust their economies and institutions and these
adjustments have to be increasingly co-ordinated at a global level, the adjustment required
will not be the same and will reflect the different position of countries in the structure of the
emerging global economy. A universal adjustment to widely differing histories,
cOlnmonalties, localities, cultures and economies will produce different effects, and these
specificities have to be remetnbered in the development and implementation of strategies
and tools.
The relationships between core, senliperiphery and periphery, underpins the
cotnplexities that accoll1pany a widening and deepening of the social division of labour.
34
Marisa Cannon.a, Rod Burgess an.d Ricardo Toledo Si/va
Debates currently discuses three possibilities. Whether globalisation trends will lead to
a further specialisation of core countries in service activities (including the "knowledge
industry"); whether there are technical and economic limits on increasing the share of
semiperiphery countries in global industrial output and exports; and on whether the
countries in the periphery are "doolned" to be dependent on primary production.
Generally optimistic economic and social indicators - based on averages for
"developing countries" conceal the fact that while inequalities in income and levels of
development as measured by human development indicators are lessening between core and
selni-peripheral countries, they are certainly widening between both these groups of
countries and the periphery, and in all cases they are widening intern all y. 11
2.There is a growing recognition of the relationship between global adjustment

strategies and the growth of poverty. According to World Bank estilnates there are over 1
billion poor in developing countries. The dotninant trend has been for a relative increase in
urban poverty combined with a decrease in rural areas. Current estimates indicate that
about a quarter of urban households in developing countries live in poverty (330 millions)
and that by the year 2000 the majority of the poor will be living in cities. The World Bank
believes that this proportion will not decrease over the next twenty years and that urban
poverty will hecome "the most significant and politically explosive problem in the next
century". The recognition of the growing problem of the urbanisation of poverty has led to
the formulation of specific policies for urban poverty alleviation.
These policies have, however, been justified not so much in welfare terms but in terms
of their relationship to productivity. The dominant policy analysis currently emphasises that
the growth in urban poverty is derived from denlographic growth and productivity
constraints on the poor that lilnit etnployment generation, access to productive inputs,
assets, credit and income growth. The key to poverty alleviation lies in improving this
productivity by enhancing human capital resources, increasing access to employment
opportunities and increasing the intensity of productive investment. Socio-economic
planning measures currently in favour to achieve these goals include: removal of regulatory
constraints on the informal sector and microenterprises, increasing the labour force
participation of women, improving access of the poor to land, infrastructure, building
materials, finance, basic education, health, nutrition, family planning and vocational
training; and the construction of safety nets and cOlnpensatory measures for the most
vulnerable.
Poverty reduction in the context of structural adj ustlnents is related to the effects and
not the causes. Addressing poverty could best be achieved by searching for structural
linkages between poverty issue and urban productivity, environmental and community
enablelnent policies and programmes. Therefore poverty reduction is a multidimensional,
multifunctional and structural probleln which can best be dealt by better interaction of
national, regional, sectoral and local entities than by fragmentary strategies at community
and household level. 12
3. The debate on the sustainable city has updated the discussion on the relationships
between the social structure and the organisation of space of the 60s and 70s and opens a
new theoretical topic in this Atelier. Globalisation denlands to reconsider the driving factors
on the organisation of space, particularly the new role of the state and the market forces
and the relative position of architecture and urbanisln as autonolnous category. The
development of the welfare state was explained by concepts such as articulation of mode of
35
production, monopoly capital, centre-periphery dichotomy, formal and informal

development. In the age of globalisation, and structural adjustments, hypothesis such as the
urban convergence (Cohen 1996) have arise together with the global city, space of flow-s,
labour flexibility and social safety-nets. These new Inacroeconomic concepts have been
imposed by the International Agendas and has added new theoretical questions to be answer
in relation to the structural dualism (labour-capital, informal-formal,) the organisation of
space and the urban structure.
4. The city sustainability debate has updated the discussion on the urban form. Sonle
advocate for the compact city others for the suburban development. The supporters of the
compact city argue their superiority based on land use issues: high-density and mixed-use
city reduces travel, which maxilnises transport provision and energy consumption. In the
context of globalisation and specially in advanced developed countries, the compact-city is
enhanced because of the fractionating of the production process, the increase of services,
subcontracting, cOlnmunications, telematica modernisation which would maximise localised
activities, reducing the need of travel, therefore traffic congestion s.
I
The supporters of the suburban development are concern with "quality of life' which is
comlnensurate to low-density, their supporters see advantages gains in terms of household
food and energy self-production, balanced system of cities, polynuclear and hierarchied
development, cOlnlnunity solidarity and progressive developlnent.
The urban form debate is related to the dilelnma between strategy and resources
allocations, in which the question about "which city we want" and/or "which city is
possible" became inlportant to be resolved. Many discussions on urban productivity,
density and land uses are demanding for a consensus about the urban structure: desire for
the conlpact city, as many old industrial European cities or the extended city as those to be
found in North - and South An1erica. Many debates are going on, since with globalisation
there is an increasing interaction of pressure attracting and expulsing capital, activities and
population fron1 the city to the region and vice-versa. The urban form has become more
c0l11plex to predict while simultaneously counter-urbanisation and city expansion continues
together with processes of renewal, revitalisation, gentrification and inner-city decays.
Decentralisation and structural adjustments contribute to make problem even more
complexes. In many countries of Latin America, Asia and Africa institutional reforms have
empowered national and local levels, weakening the metropolitan one. While new
principles of management and efficiency are adopted to strengthen municipalities with
transference to them of many functions, the granting of more autonomy in spending
practices, competition within Inunicipalities is taking place in an uneven playing field.
Large megacities contains a nUlnber of local governments, and therefore the possibility of
intervention on the metropolitan level in search for equity is reduced. Liberalisation
facilitates a significant expansion of the private urban economy, especially the financial and
service sector contributing to the rapid transformation of SOIne reduce number of top
locations. However these investlnents are taking place within a general framework of
structural adjustlnents, therefore public infrastructure allocations continue to be reduced and
elite oriented. Public investments follow the new investInents with detriment of the large
majority needs. In this situation the city as a whole confront the cost of additional
downgrading and the lowering of planned oriented investInents, accentuating the problems
of the already fraglnented cities and societies.
Several research topics will arise in this Atelier and are directly linked with these
statements. The allocation of public investments in relation to the demand for modernisation
36
Marisa Ca17nona, Rod Burgess and Ricardo Toledo Silva
and the increasing unsolved need of the city as a whole. The significance of public spaces
investments and the image of the city in the restructuring process; how to solve the
increasing gap between urban fragments and the liberalisation of programs; how to solve
the gap between urban development strategies and the residential policy. In general is the
spatial dimension and the tools for ilnplementation of strategies and urban programs under
market enablement considerations the one that must be clarify in the search of efficiency
and equity.
5. Another topic is how to link activities of national and international firms to regional
development strategies, of governlnent and firms, of governtnent and communities.
Structural changes have lnake cities the Inain locus for productive activities, bringing about
a significant impact on urban life. A new set of human values, of new institutional
arrangements, governance and partnership has been produced. It looks that new partnership
develops with previously excluded social actors in the need to build new form of
governance, lnaking the itnprovement of the participation in decision making as a
significant aspect of the enabling process
In this context urban democracy and city governance demands more effective tools for
negotiation in tune with the new social pacts generated with macro economic changes. This
could ilnplies the strengthening of local identities through a decision Inaking process rooted
in community values. New form of governance enables decentralisation of planning,
management and decision making. New urban programs, embedded on more pragmatic
vision of the city, accentuate the importance of location and place. Adequate information
and planning tools as Decision Support Systems, simulation games will help considerable in
this new transitional period. The reverting of the negative effects of traditional values and
conducts and the reinforcement of those positive ones to reach human welfare and itnprove
quality of life locate at the centre of development objectives
In this context there is plenty of rationale for a systelnatic assessment and observation
of public programs together with the identification of best practices. The research topic will
be to develop procedures to observe local institution conducts and able to help the self-
diagnosis of institutional behaviour. In other words to observe the conduct of local
institutions in relation to objectives, programs and methods. (Institutional Performance
Assessment). This research topic will be oriented at improvement of the quality of resource
allocation of the entities that adlninistrate resources and the supply of objective information
for supporting negotiations between entrepreneurial, cOlnmunity associations and sectoral
entities.
6. Another topic is how to improve sectoral policies to enhance country competitiveness.

The main concern of the right is to increase economic growth rhythm and to reduce inflation.
Concerning the housing sector, the tendency is to favour deregulation of the market, specially
the land market. They argue that the lilnited supply of land contributes to an increase in the
price of land and housing (specially the low-income developments) and regulations that limits
urban growth should be avoided. They argue that the growth of the private sector in
construction is a positive trend. 13The main concern of the left is to maintain the national
economic growth, to itnprove urban productivity and reverse the counter-urbanisation through
improving governance and leadership, involving wider groups in decision making, creating
cities strategic vision. In this context the (centre) - left oriented majors of Bogota, Santiago,
Santos, Cordoba have been very successful in creating a new city image, and favourable
environment for investments. The left is also concerned with the re-regulations and
37
decentralisation in order to improve environmental protection, restricting urban growth and

better and more effective zoning regulations.
7. The increasing environmental concern both in developed as in developing countries

are evidencing the need for looking at sustainability through reorienting concepts, urban
systems and residential typologies to the various conditions and environmental potentials of
regional ecosystems.
The articulation of the social and the natural structure became much more complex in
developing countries, in a context where the increase of productivity is not accompanied by
an increase of unsolved consulnption needs of the whole population. Economic growth not
necessary will result on social development and the transition to superior development
stages is impeded, making the relation of built environlnent and the ecosystem much more
vulnerable and unpredictable. Lack of resources and insufficient investment in urban
infrastructure and services and the generally uncontrolled and poorly regulated pattern of
urban development expansion have exacerbated environlnental problems. In this context
housing and services backlog cannot directly be attributed to rapid urban concentration and
to the size of the conurbation. Housing, which in last instance is conditioned by the ability
of low-wages to become effective delnand, is prilnarily in function of the structures and
mechanisms that regulate economic growth and poverty alleviation at the national level.
(Toledo 1995).
The rapid sprawl of illegal settlements and the overcrowding of inner-city squatters in
the last years have make poverty and environmental depletion more evident, and the need
for institutional restructuring for facilitating the delivery of goods and services an
in1perative. The rapid advancing of the "symbol economy" and the "petty
commodification ", product of globalisation and adjustments, has reach in many part of the
developing world, critical thresholds, measurable in tenns of deterioration in health and
productivity, profound destabilization of comlnunities, ethnic conflicts, the rise of gangs
and criminality, drugs and a culture of violence and the exploitation of women and
children. The technical research of low cost residential urbanization (housing,
infrastructure, collection and treatment of waste water and waste, water provision, etc)
need to take into consideration the new articulations between user "subjectivity" and the
objective conditions imposed by globalisation.
8. Strategic planning tools are rapidly being incorporated in the local urban
management of cities in developing countries, changing institutional and inter-jurisdictional
frameworks. In several countries it has involved changes at the legislative and public levels.
The functions of the new created commissions are the analysis and formulation of
objectives, diagnoses and strategies, the critical asseSSlnent of programs, the study of
scenarios and the elaboration of integrated proposals and projects derived from the process
of strategy fonnulation.
There is consensus over the cOlnplexity of urban governance, the need to adopt co-
ordinated policies and the acknowledgelnent that the inclusion of the private sector and user
investment is essential for achieving the required urban transformation. The rapid
modernisation of only a small part of the metropolitan area, incorporating new
specialisation, more sensible to global requests, cannot conceal the fact that such impressive
infrastructure works and real estate development carry with them the seed for the
destruction of the central area as an attractive environtnent for different life-styles and
activities. For many decades it was precisely the mixing of CBD activities that kept these
38
Marisa Cam1ona, Rod Burgess and Ricardo Toledo Silva
areas alive.(Valenzuela 1997) Nowadays the unpredictable response of land markets to

these large real estate operations combined with the endless need for urban expansion
constitutes a self destructive social operations. An in1pressive amount of public resources
are involved in the market operations of a few privileged areas. This restrains the whole
city, accentuating the unequal distribution of goods and services. The resultant
disinvestment in areas of the city has had dramatic consequence for the disadvantaged
areas. (Hermosilla 1997).
Although the improvement of accessibility, communication and Inobility is necessary to
restructure the city for the new opportunities opened by macroeconomic changes, it has
became clear that transparent and mandatory regulation is needed to govern the city
changes. It implies the generation and multiplication of new centralities, (Borja and Castells
1998) but it is also necessary to spatially integrate these new centralities with the large
areas between and around theln (Valenzuela, 1997). Large underutilized areas and
anonytnous residential areas are the products of public zoning vices or of the
mercantilist/speculative logic of the private sector and need to be connected to activity
nodes through activity corridors and development flows. Although the participation of the
private sector is important in these transformations, it is evident that accessibility is not
improved by better infrastructure, transportation and more access routes alone. Centrality
can also not be ensured only by supporting opportunities to the qualified tertiary sector,
through more flexible and mixed zoning regulations and targeted strategic interventions.
According to Borja and Castells (1997) for accessibility and centrality to be effective the
existence of a social dynamic is required. This is achieved through the vitality of the public
spaces: "centrality is only created through the existence of accessible, safe and polyvalent
public spaces and protected public facilities, charged with an aesthetic quality and a
culturally significant symbolic character" .
One of the most difficult issues for sustainable development is the persistence of non-
economical principles with regards to the provision of good and services. Developed
countries have already for many years introduced economical principles in the charging of
fees for services. The concepts of marginal costs are expressed in the tarification of the
services and involve the reconversion costs of the energy sources, the ampliation of the
capillary system of distribution of the different services to all the city extension and the
projection of the future population needs. In other words, the most elemental premise which
established that demand is a function of price has been introduced in the planning of the
city. If the price is artificially low or is zero, the demand will be artificially high or infinite.
In the absence of price, the use of the goods must be regulated in direct way, imposing
physical limitations and a constant vigilance.
In the long tenn, the absence of price implies also the lack of effort of the users in
financing the, reposition, the improvelnent and the expansion of the given good and
service. This fact affects the various component of the city, sllch as roads and public
services . With privatization or with managerial modernization of public services an
improvelnent in the tariff system has taken place. This can be seen in the improvement of
the delivery and quality of the service of water, electricity, and telecommunication.
However, the tariff system have ignored another set of factors, such as new land uses,
reduction in falnily size and specially the expansion costs of the city, keeping an important
range of externalities without changes. (Toledo Silva, 1993, 1995, 1997; Burgess &
Carmona, 1997).
In developed countries the possibility to recover real cost is feasible, but in developing
countries this is only possible for middle and upper stratas of the population. Many studies
39
Globalization, Urban Foml and Governance
of deregulations and adjustments have fear that the application of real cost recovery in
developing countries, given the level of social segregation of the population, would imply
that in a significant number of neighborhoods it will be unfeasible for any improvement of
physical conditions. (Toledo, 1995, Lungo 1997, Carmona 1995, Burgess,et al 1997). In
these cases the possibility to cOlnbine the approach of tarification/ concession with direct
subsidy (the State covers an ilnportant cost of the service to the low-income families, with a
direct payment to the concessionary) will be unavoidable. This means that the instruments
for achieve sustainable development, assign to the state a new role, especially with regards
to supporting the subsidiarity principles : the public character of services and the social
function of land. The effect of a correct tarification, Inust be applied to the whole city. If
the major costs are translated in a transparent way in the cost of living, it is possible to
have an effect on discouraging of the excessive city growth because of its high cost.
The complexity of inter-institutional relations in large cities in developing countries,
especially large urban agglomerations with complex legal jurisdictions and a range of
different agents that intervene in the city, makes the issue of urban governance an important
political issue. An authority is needed to exploit financial, political and physical
opportunities with the conception and realization of a collective plan, and the realization of
the several strategic projects that make it possible. Good governance is needed:
• to start a project to visualize the future of the city,
• to achieve a consensus of the different agents (public and private),
• to apply a system of modernisation of services and a correct tarification,
• to improve COlTIlnUnications channels with the global system (airports, tele-
communications, ports, technoparks, infrastructure roads and railways),
• to establish a communications caInpaign informing citizens and to raise public
awareness of city development,
• to concert public and private interest in marketing the city,
• to promote a favourable and participative social environlnent,
• to establish the required infornlation system,
• to balance the strong and weak agents in negotiations,
• to guarantee the needed coordination and multidimensionality
et to actors responsible for strategic projects.
Important is to analyse new instruments for urban management. These new instruments
require institutional reform in the way of operation and management.
1. Improving the legal framework,
2. developlnent of flexible criteria of implementation;
3. empowerment of institutions for implementation;
4. realisation of pilot experiences, evaluation and disselnination.
The improve of governability, and search for a more effective land regulation and
infrastructure delivery strategy appears with high priority, given the goal to improve urban
productivity and the position of low-income groups in the urban economy. The accentuation
of spatial inequalities caused by neo-liberalism and application of economical adjustments,
bringing together dispersion and discontinuity of the urban structure and the uneven
standards of infrastructure, have stress the need for appropriate re-regulations.
40
Marisa Cannona, Rod Burgess and Ricardo Toledo Si/va
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Carmona, M. (1987) Social Housing in Latin Am,erica. De1ft University Press, Delft
Dieleman, F. and van Kempen R. 1994 The mismatch qf Housing Costs and Income in Dutch
Housing. Vo19, N. 2.1994. Netherlands Journal of Housing and the Built Environment.
Priemus H. (1995). Redefining The Welfare State; Impact Upon Housing and Housing Policy
in The Netherlands. Neth. J. of Housing and Built Environment V01. 10 (1995) N02.
43
Van de Veen and Westzaan M (1992), Amsterdam, Inside Out Conversion of Office into
Condominiunls in the Historic City Centre of Amsterdam,. Neth. Journal of Housing and the
Built Environment. Vo1.6 NO 4.
Notes
La Insidiosa Globalizacion. El Pais, 29 July 1997.
3 In fact Ricardo's principles were a statement to support the free trade, against the mercantilist trends that
at that time was a threat against the internationalization of the economies and the expansion of English
capitalism
4 In this latter country, export oriented small enterprises of manufactured products and software grew from
3.320 in 1991 to 4.947 in 1996, increasing exports of this sector from 29.5% to 40,6%.
5 The World Bank (World Development Report 1995) argues that if barriers to the international tradeability
of goods and services and capital mobility continue to be removed, over the next decade growth could
average 2.8% p.a. in industrial countries and 5.0 % p.a. in deVeloping countries and global trade could
grow at the rate of more than 6 % p.a.
6 Even in the most optimistic scenario of the World Bank's Global Economic Model for 2010 the ratio of
the wages of the poorest and richest groups falls only from about 60: 1 to 50: 1.
7 John Friedman (op.cit. Halfani 1996). "The World City Hypothesis (editor's Introduction)." Development
and Change 17, no. I, (1986)
8 In Santiago the bmte density have been reduced from 100 inhabitants per hectare in the 1900 to only 80 in
1990.
9 The World Bank loans for infrastructure to developing countria~ in 1995 accounted for 21.4 billions, while
the private investments t10ws to the so called emerging markets increased to 170 billions, this investments - in
large amount speculative- are namely to pay infrastructure construction in partnership with the new privatized
companies (The Economist, July 1996).
10 In Chile because its peculiar form, the infrastmcture was historically planned in the longitudinal direction
in order to facilitate the development of a national balanced oriented industry. Under the new global
imperatives and the comparative advantages of the country location, has contributed to change towards a
transversal direction, changing considerable the national urban system and the urban form of cities as well.
Many cities and villages have been transformed through adapting to the new trends, and many others are
downgrading and spelling population .
11 The latest World Health Report (WHO 1995) points out that the gap in infant mortality between
"developed" and "developing" countria~ narrowed by 50% during the years 1960-1993 but at the same
time widened between "least developed" and "developing countries".
12 Criticisms from a welfare perspective of the negative impact of adjustment policies on the poor (UNICEF
1989: "Adjustment with Human Face") revitalised attempts to increase expenditures on poverty
alleviation, and the recent redefinition of expenditures once regarded as social consumption costs in terms
of productivity should maintain and possibly increase the resources flowing towards these policies.
13 In the case if Chile the right recognised that the building sector is growing at more than 10 % per year,
employment in this sector increased in 1997 by 6.4 % and wages by 5,1 %. The construction of productive
infra.<:;tructure shows also a great dynamism, and 40% correspond to the residential sector. (El Mercurio 18
July, 1996).
44
PART 11
Globalization Adjustment
and
Spatial Change
4
Globalisation and Spatial Restructllring.

Towards an ALFA-IBIS agenda.
Marisa Carmona
One important prospect of the Research Atelier Alfa-IBIS is to exchange empirical and
theoretical research about spatial transformations. The challenge will be to bring forward an
own agenda about the spatial implications of the macroeconomic and public policy changes
about which there is little information. Specifically focusing on urban form in the prospect
of the ongoing processes of adjusttnents, territorial restructuring and enablement.
Since the Eighties a new stage of international division of labour known as globalisation
has been consolidated. From a functional point of view it is organised around a
multidivisional transnational industrial and financial system; and from a territorial point of
view it is organised from highly populated and efficient micro-regions, articulated in space
by co-operation networks: the so called economic blocs (European Union, MERCOSUR,
NAFTA).
While the world economy relocates productive actlvItles, national and international
groups fonn strategic alliances in order to guide and attract investments and large
infrastructure projects towards the opportunities generated by the global system. With
globalisation, regional integration and forming of economic blocks, Latin American
territory is changing rapidly. Changes are facilitated by the reduction of transport and
communication costs, the elimination of national barriers to trade activities, the construction
of bi-oceanic development corridors and the competitiveness of specific location with
agglomeration and infrastructure advantages.
Several authors as, Lipietz, Sassen, Mattos, Storper, Daher, Santos, Barkin, sustain that
a new selective Inodel of incorporation and exclusion of regions, countries and localities
from the world systeln is taking place. Reference is Inade to modern regions! backward
regions; regions that gainlregions that loose; for many this antithesis is materialised in the
rupture of the interregional solidarity derived froln the welfare state. Under the new
conditions of liberalisation and deregulation, having the same status a region of the
neighbouring country enhances inter-territorial competitiveness. Such strategies are
pressuring all segments of the population, producing simultaneously conflicting reactions of
preoccupation and satisfaction, and setting off cultural interaction of assimilation and
resistance, integration and n1arginalisation. In countries with successful economic
transformations and sustainable growth, as for exalnple Chile, inequalities have growth
rather than dilninished.
47
The result of these strategies has been devastating for self-sustained traditional
economies and rural comlTIunities, since global markets produce goods and services at
lower prices than subsistence economies. Lack of material resources, training and
technology push these populations to other regions, exacerbating migration flux and the
generalised growth of social, political, economic and cultural inequalities and the
overwhelming growth of poverty. This process accelerates the control and the concentration
of wealth, causing large environmental hazards and increasing poverty conditions.
Macroeconomic pressures together with technological factors, specially in the field of

telecommunication, information and transport, including the possibilities opened up by the
flexible production and the development of logistics, develop vast regional effects and
cOlTIplex connected reactions and externalisation of functions. These regional effects
together with the implicit ideology of liberalisation generate expectations and the acceptance
of neoliberal strategies embracing all spatial and cultural levels.
In this context the territorial dimension and the particularities of each territory have
gained significance while distance or the space-temporal dimension has become less
important. Consequently the new geography of location have enlarged the market, but not
in the sense of more consumers, but of consumers that consume more sophisticated goods
which are easily and readily replaced. This is applicable to individuals, locations, cities and
regions.
The dominant cultural and ideological ideas are pressuring the collective perception of
needs, conflicts and demands. It has enhanced the satisfaction of immediate and individuals
needs related to the daily liveable surroundings. Dramatic increases in rural and urban
violence together with the fragmentation of conflicts and contradictions have been recorded
and these are expressed at territorial levels.
In this context we must try to rethink space as an articulator element of local, regional
and global processes, taking into consideration the existence of multi-directional tendencies
for agglomeration and dispersion that creates pressure simultaneously for metropolitan de-
concentration, metropolitan polarisation and intensification of inter and intra urban
mobility. It is necessary to detennine whether the distinct urban-regional dynamics and the
spatial redistribution processes can be redirected in order to contribute to the reduction of
internal disparities, and socio econOlnic differences.
The analysis of historical context is significant in the understanding of the existing urban
regional dynamics. This is especially the case in countries such as Colombia, Brazil,
Argentina, Mexico and Chile where the formation of regional development poles, in the
Sixties and Seventies, was due essentially to governmental incentives to industry and agro-
industry. This generated econolnic dynamics at the local level, which influenced
neighbouring areas and lead to the formation of conglomerates of cities (the metropolitan
areas on different sub-national regions). With the opening up of economies to external
markets, decentralisation and deregulation, not exclusively in developed countries, the
attraction of industrial development has strongly been reduced in favour of services. De-
industrialisation was recorded in regions containing old industrial stock oriented towards
the internal market. Depending on the extent to which the local economy is integrated with
48
Marisa Carmona
the regional and international market, industries and traditional producers are victims of the
global competence. On the other hand, the demand for labour has increased in the
exportation industries, in the areas of exploitation and processing of natural resources (with
low aggregated value) and in the "maquiladoras" (assembly operations for export).
Although the increase of labour productivity and low wages are conditions for
con1petitiveness, wages are reduced notwithstanding capital flows growth in the region.
This flexible employment, together with the possibility of production per pieces, help to
maintain low wages since there will always be more labour available in another place.
Recent research has highlighted several factors that have contributed to re-orientate
industrial production in regions, which experience an economic recession coupled with
large labour exploitation and uneluployment rates, in their search to revitalise themselves
and in their struggle against imminent decay. These factors are the type and size of the
agglomeration; the quality and supply of infrastructure; the creative potential of
proximity; orientation towards external and internal Inarkets; human and natural resources
and specialisation; the degree of externalisation of functions; the urbanisation range; the
degree of activity diversification; the presence of national and international capital in
activities for the regional market; the nature of existing social and spatial conflicts and
eleluents associated to decentralisation ( Riffo&Silva 1998, Daher 1998, Mattos
1995, 1998). Apart from these, there are also the confluence of strategies of different
social, political and economic actors and other factors such as type of governance, fiscal
stimulus, positioning of the entrepreneurial sector, negotiation environment, leadership and
opportunities for industrial conversion and/or technologic innovation (Lotero, 1998).
Investlnent policies and the expenditure of governments and public enterprises need
special attention. They are usually sectorially oriented rather than regionally rooted,
contributing also to the increase in conflicting spatial effects and opposing reactions that
contradict their own regional strategies (Fiori, 1998.) The privatisation process that started
in Chile and is now a general trend in Latin America includes a range of enterprises, from
those associated to natural monopolies, strategic industries, ports, transport and tele-
comlTIunications to services in general. It poses the question of the relevance of
privatisation analysis for the regional restructuring and is linked to decentralisation
opportunities and to environmental and equity consideration.
The trends towards agglomeration and de-concentration are varied and depend on the
historical context. In general there is an accentuation or re-orientation of mobility and
migratory flux. In some countries the secular tendency towards territorial concentration of
economic activity and in particular of the industrial sector in the main metropolitan area is
accelerated in the case of Chile, with a loss of dynamism in regions with strong industrial
tradition. The polarisation of the main metropolitan centre is apparent in the participation
and evolution of the GDP, in the level of employment and in the industrial aggregated value
as well as in the building activity and real estate market. In Colombia, which is a similar
case, the current primate tendency of Bogota reversed the process of quatricephaly (Davila)
which have characterised the national urbanisation model. Several studies are demonstrating
that the process of spatial restructuring is not homogenous in Latin America. Different
processes are to be found in the highly developed and largest agglomerations of Latin
America, Sao Paulo Buenos Aires and Mexico. Several studies are demonstrating that a
reversal in polarisation took place during the Seventieth, (Richardson 1980, Diniz 1003,
49
Portes 1989, Davila 1997) pushing the localisation of industries and population beyond
metropolitan areas. This was the main trend in the first phase of the economic de-
concentration of Sao Paulo (Diniz 1993). Changes in the socio-spatial dynamics in the
Eighties, produced silnultaneous agglolneration and dispersion trends (de Mattos 1995)
contributing to the so called "inversion of polarisation ", creating a new spatial model with a
trend towards the re-concentration of industry - mainly those concerned with modern
production of services and high technology (Diniz 1993).
This proves the thesis that if liberalisation and deregulation policies are maintained in an
emergent territory, it will tend to polarise (de Mattos 1998). Both Chile and Colombia are
elnergent economies, with relative slnall agglomeration economies, in which the industrial
re-conversion of the Eighties did not produce a process of structural changes. Both
countries have not yet produced technological innovation and the development of high
technology firms and specialised services, at the saIne scale as in regions of Sao Paulo and
Buenos Aires and the Federal District of Mexico (Diniz & Crocco 1998). The Federal
District of Mexico shows a growing primacy, not only for modern services and industrial
eInploYTnent and population, but also as a centre of large enterprises and financial and
political control of the country. In this case, reference is made to "re-centralization with de-
concentration" (Hiernaux Nicolas 1998).
Inter-urban mobility at lower spatial levels .also occurs. We distinguishing the migration
flux of the poor population froIn the poor urban periphery to the overcrowding central
areas, the impoverished middle class from the suburbs towards the poor periphery, the
counter-urbanisation of high income groups in the search for healthy environn1ents with less
pollution and violence, etc.
It is not surprising that 1110St of the research proposals in this ALFA-IBIS atelier consider
regional and interregional space as topic. The restructuring of the centre of the metropolitan
area of Buenos Aires; the ilnpact of bi-oceanic corridors; the itnpact of the large regional
infrastructure works; the analysis of location of international financial capital; the analysis
of poverty in the main development corridors; the strategy of public spaces management;
the spatial implications of urban violence; the cOlnparative studies on land uses and land
policies; the articulation of global and local forces in traditional indigenous Andes regions;
the structure of participation in strategic planning, are all studies that consider a regional
dimension of space.
Spatial analysis uncovers a new pattern of urbanisation which embraces both the
interregional growth - considered as the territorial dilnension of the process of urbanisation
- and the intra-urban regional context considered as the local expression of social
processes, where similar phenomena as those occurring in the metropolitan regions are
taking place. This contributes to the creation of new urban forms, where integration and
spatial consolidation depend more on the urban-regional dynamics than on the size of the
population. In this regard many believe that the main metropolitan centre must be
understood in relation to the nexus that has been established with the other cities, with the
network of neighbouring cities, with other locations, with other regional agglomerations.
The pendulum of population mobility reinforces the urbanisation process, increasing the set
of options in the choice between residence and work within a dispersed metropolitan
environment, increasing mechanisIn of communication and homogenisation of certain life
50
Marisa Carmona
styles. Within this regional configuration interurban mobility and the formation of
centralities constitute the principal elelnent of the consolidation of such urban spaces and
accessibility and infrastructure modernisation are becoming the spatial, social and economic
instruments for the new territoriallnodel at the interregional level (Borja & Castells 1997).
The rapid modernisation of cities and the acceleration of economic and cultural changes
induced by globalisation, -which embrace both production as well as daily living
conditions- make urban densification and intensification of land use and functions (Jenks
1997) and the flows that link them (Santos 1993), the Inaterial instrument of the process of
globalisation. In this same manner urban development corridors, improvement of
accessibility and the creation of centralities hold real potential for the spatial integration and
restructuring of large urban areas which have remained -apparently- isolated from progress
and development. According to Borja and Castells (1997) this gives urban design and urban
projects a significant importance in the new restructuring process and it gives the
management of the urban public space a new role as regulator of private public and
community enterprises.
In line with the Research Atelier ALF A framework and also discussed in other European
Latin American forums about Globalisation and Territory (Mattos, Cicolella)l, most of the
proposals agree on the idea that the search for modernity, efficiency, competitiveness,
adaptability, flexibility and rationality is not necessary opposed to ethics, solidarity and
social justice. The concept of development for modernity should be based on humanistic,
moral and ethical values. On the other hand the post-modern neoliberal paradigm take a
deep de-humanisation and alnoralisation approach with regards to its proposal for economic
growth.
Therefore the challenge in this coming debate is to contribute with ideas on how to re-
established the State as regulator and search for ways in which to materialise the function of
the State as distributor of wealth and opportunity in order to address social and spatial
inequalities. This ilnplies approaching the decentralisation issue not as a simple political
distribution of power but as a real component of territorial planning and management
structure which considers the different scales in which the metropolitan government
becomes the regulator of the development process of the city, through new and adequate
instruments, based on negotiation, consultation, consensus and flexibility of the different
planning scale of the urban policies.
51
Globalization, Urban FOfm and Governance
References
Borja, J; Castells, M (1997) Planes Estrategicos y Proyectos Metropolitanos. In Local Y Global. La Gestion
de las Ciudades en la Era de la Infonnacion, Tmmls, M'1drid.
Burgess, R; Ca.·mona, M; Kolstee, T (1997). The Challenge of the Sustainable city. Zed Books, London
De Mattos C.(1998) RestnICnrracion, Globalizacion, nuevo poder economico y territorio en el Chile de Ios
Noventa. 1998. in Globalizacion y Territorio. De Mattos C~ Hiemaux Nicolas, D~ Restrepo Botero, D. PUCE
Instinlto de Estudios Urbanos, Santiago
Davila, J. (1996) Bogota, Colombia: Restmcttrring with continued growth. In Cities and Stnlctmal
Adjustments. NigeI Hams and Ida Fabricius. UCL Press, England.
Daher,A. (1998) Privatizacion y Regionalizacion en Chile. in Globalizacion y Territorio. De Mattos C~
Hiernaux Nicolas, D~ Restrepo Botero, D. PUCE Instituto de Estudios Urbanos, Santiago.
Diniz, C;Crocco,M (1998) Restmcttrracion Economica e Impacto Regional el Nuevo Mapa de la Industria
Brasilera, in Globalizacion y Territorio. De Mattos C; HiematL~ Nicolas, D; Restrepo Botero, D. PUCE
Instinlto de Estudios Urbanos, Santiago
Fior J.L (1998). Balance y Perspectivas de Fereralismo Fiscal en Brazil. Globalizacion Economica y
Descentralizacion: Un Primer Balance. in Globalizacion y Territorio. De Mattos C~ Hiernaux Nicolas, D;
Restrepo Botero, D. PUCE Instituto de Estudios Urbanos, Santiago.
Hicrnaux Nicolas, D (1998) ReestnlCturacion Economica y cambios Territoriales en Mexico. Un Balance 1982-
1995. in Globalizacion y Territorio. De Mattos C; Hiemallx Nicolas, D; Restrepo Botero, D. PUCE Instituto
de Estudios U rbanos, Santiago
Lotcro, J (1998). Crisis, reconversion Industrial y Cambio tecnico en el Sistema Urbmlo Colombiano, 1975-
1991. in Globalizacion y Territorio. De Mattos C; Hiemaux Nicolas, D; Restrepo Botero, D. PUCE Instituto
de Estudios Urbanos, Santiago
Lipietz, A and Leborgnc,D.(1998) 0 Pos-Fordismo e seu Espaco, in Espaco e Debates, NO 25, vol.VIII.
Newton P. (1995) Chmlging Places? Households, Finns mld Urban Hierarchies in the Infonnation Age. In
Cities in Competition. Ed John Brotchie, Mike Batty, Ed Bl;akely, Peter Hall and Peter Newton. Longman
Australia, Melbounle.
Nicolas, D; Restrepo Botcm, D. PUCE Instituto de Estudios Urbanos, Santiago.
Richardson , H (1980 ) Economia Regional, Teoria da Localizcao, Estmcttrra Urbana e Crescimiento Regional.
Rio de Janeiro, Zallar Editores.
Richardson , H (1980) Polarization reversal in Developing, en Papers of the Regional Science Association, vol
45.
Riffo,L; SilV~l, V (1998) Las Tendencias Locacionales de la Industria en el Marco de Ios Procesos de
Reestnlcturacion y Globalizacion en Chile. in GIobalizacion y Territorio. De Mattos C; Hiemaux
Sassen, S (1988) The Mobility of Labor and Capital, Cambridge University Press, Cmnbridge.
Sassen, S (1994) Cities in a World Economy. Pine Forge Press, California
Silva, Toledo R~ Schiffer, S
Storper,M (1989) The Transition to Flexible Specialization in Industry: Extemal Economies, the Division of
Labor and the Crossing of Industrial Divides. Cambridge Joumal of Economics, voL 13. 2
1 Red Iberoanlericana de Investigadores sobre Globalizacion y Territorio (RlI)~ see Seminario

Intemacional sobre Impactos Territoriales de 10s Procesos de Reestructuracion~ 1995. Carlos de
52
5
Globalization, social exclusion and spatial change.
Sueli Ramos SchifJer *
Introduction
The article focuses on the interrelationships between economic globalization, social
exclusion and spatial change, taking as examples Brazil and its major metropolis, Sao
Paulo.
The effects of internationalization of the economy are assessed, with particular

emphasis on its main features, such as the spatial separation of production processes and an
enormous increase in foreign direct investment and cross-border financial transactions.
The role of the nation state is also analyzed, focusing on developing countries, which
have a past history of interventionist States and on the structural changes imposed by the
recent globalization of the economy.
Special attention is given to recognizing how national institutional reshaping has taken
place in Brazil since the early 90' s, and in turn, how it has specifically conditioned a
broader entry of the country and of its major city into the globalized economic arena. The
basic assumption is that it has created additional challenges to sustainable urban
development, especially in introducing patterns of international competition within the
context of a society where social exclusion is deeply rooted and has never been seriously
questioned.
I. Principal aspects of econonlic globalization.

Economic internationalization is a historical process that has gained in pace and scope
since the 1980s. This has been made possible by extraordinary technological advances
particularly in cOlnputers, microelectronics and communication systems. These
developments have spurred distinct modifications in international trade and in relationships
among nations, which led some authors to use the term "globalization of the economy" to
describe the current international accumulation process. Dunning (1997:13), defines
economic globalization "as a process towards the widening of the extent and form of cross-
border transactions, and of the deepening of the economic interdependence between the
actions of globalizing entities - be they private or public institutions or governments -
53
located in one country, and those of related or independent entities located in other
countries" .
The turning point of the international accumulation process, according to the editors of
the Monthly Review (1992: 43), dates back to the 1970s, when the exceptional prosperity
of the First World countries, together with the American hegemony, started to decline. The
latter trend is particularly evident in the end of dollar convertibility to gold in 1971, and the
former in the decreasing growth rate of the GNP per capita of the affluent countries 1,
which declined from 3.6 % in 1950-1973 to 2.0 % in 1973-1989.
The economic stagnation of the leading countries, expressed by the downgrading of

their industrial production, was the main reason why capital had to look for new profit
opportunities, or to create these opportunities (Monthly Review, 43: 9). It has
simultaneously enhanced "the freedom of markets and the spirit of cooperation presumably
developing among ruling classes of different nations in consonance with higher levels of
globalization" (Monthly Review, 43: 10).
In line with this process, new competitive bases established in the early seventies
intensified the internationalization of the economy. The Keynesian state of the affluent
countries and its poor counterpart, the developmentist state of the Third World countries,
and especially in Latin America, were gradually replaced by neoliberal policies exalting the
virtues of the market as the pritnary force for development. The fiscal crisis of the state in
both affluent and developing countries, underlay this change. And this would lead to a
major transformation in competitive advantages in the majority of the countries, with a
profound revaluation of the relative importance of their strategic assets.
As a result, we can highlight three main aspects associated with the recent
globalization of the economy that have a direct impact on national economies and hence
their spatial organization - a Inore flexible, high-tech and interconnected production
system within the corporations and inter-corporations; an enormous increase in cross-border
financial transactions, leading to a huge volatilization of investInents in national currencies
and stocks; and new decision-making parameters involving spatial allocation of investments
(direct and speculative).
New technology introduced to the assembly line and to the management sector, such as
computer-aided equipment, microelectronics, and increasing application of microcomputers
to management activities, has Inade it possible to decentralize the production process and
even separate it between different continents. This separation of the production process has
resulted in an increase in joint ventures and mergers or acquisitions between firms or even
large multinational corporations, since seeking for the greatest competitive advantage does
not always mean installing a new factory 2.
As a result, the global value of foreign direct investment - FDI - has increased
enormously since the mid 1980s. FDI outflows increased 24% p.a. from 1986 to 1990 and
12% p.a. froIn 1991 to 1994, as compared with 3% p.a. between 1981 and 1985. During
the same periods global gross domestic investment showed annual growth rates of 10.4 %
p.a., 4.0% p.a. and 0.4% p.a. respectively; and the number of alliances between
54
Sueli Ram.os Schtffer
corporations in high technologies sectors averaged 258 between 1981 and 1985, 388 in
1992 and 395 in 1994 (Dunning, 1997:19, based on UNCTAD data).
The channeling of foreign direct investments since 1982 (Table 1), which has resulted
in a relatively more favorable balance for developing countries in the 1990s in comparison
with the late 1980s, shows how the structure of "local attraction patterns" for capital has
changed. Dunning (1997:25) stresses that FDIs "are strongly concentrated in technology
intensive, information intensive and growth-oriented manufacturing and services sectors.
Much of the FDI by developing countries in other developing countries, however, is to seek
out low-cost labor and natural resources" .
Table 1. Inflows of foreign direct investments.

( I average In
annua ·fl ux, In 1nl·11·Ions 0 fdll
oars
Countries 1982-84 1985-87 1988-90 1991-92 1993-94 1997 *
All countries 54620 92 820 190 180 164 769 218 494 400000
Developing 20310 18 081 30780 47757 77387 149 000

countries
(value)
Developing 37.2 19.5 16.2 29.0 35.4 37.2
countries
(share %)
Sources: Chudnovsky (1997:129) and * estimated values (from UNCTAD, World Investment Report 1998)
Therefore, the parameters involved in deciding FDI allocation to developing countries

have been in constant change in search of the best competitive advantage, and are becoming
more cOInplex from year to year. In the early 1990s, developing countries in Asia received
the largest FDI influx, but the regional economic crisis of 1997 has partially re-directed
this flow. According to UNCT AD Reports 3, China is still the leading developing country
benefiting frOIn FDI influx, although its share relative to all developing countries has
declined from 40% in 1994 to around 32% in 1997. Latin America, which received 27% of
this flow in 1995 enlarged its share to about 37% in 1997, with Brazil emerging as the
regional leader with an influx of US$16. 3 billion - an impressive increase when compared
with the alnount of US$1.3 billion it received in 1993. According to the UNCTAD Press
Release 4 "the rise in FDI into Brazil reflects a combination of effective macroeconomic
policies, the opening up of the econolny and privatization programmes, which alone
accounted for 27 per cent of FDI inflows in the last two years. Some 600 mergers and
acquisitions have taken place in the last 6 years, and 61 per cent of these involved foreign
buyers and 59 per cent involved the manufacturing sector".
In general terms, all developing countries have had to reshape their economies in order
to offer competitive advantages to direct foreign capital investment. The economic model
adopted has been to fit into "global economic parameters", for example: free flow of assets
across national boundaries; flexible rules for world trade and international financial
operations; political and econolnic stability; creation of business opportunities, mostly by
privatization; and a institutional framework favorable to the foreign capital, just to mention
55
the most significant ones. The fact is that these countries have indeed achieved the goal of
increasing the value of FDI received; however, it can be observed that the results in terms
of domestic social developlnent are to say the least conflicting, as shown below in the case
of Brazil.
Even so, during the past decade countries and regions have been increasing engaged in
competition to attract both FDI and speculative or financial investments. And the nation
states have played a decisive role in this process, by intervening into their domestic
economies, on one hand, by reorganizing internal sectional established interests within the
executive branch to meet the challenge of global competitiveness, and on the other, by
implementing rules and actions in response to acts from other competing countries
(Dunning, 1997:39). According to the UNCTAD Press Release 5 "traditional determinants
of FDI, driven by the need to access markets, as well as natural and other resources such as
low-cost labour, are still key to attracting FDls", but it also emphasizes that important new
factors are emerging such as "created assets". These are qualified in this report as
"tangible, like the stock of financial and physical assets such as communication
infrastructure or marketing networks, or intangible. The common denominator of
intangibles in this context is knowledge. The assets sought by transnational corporations in
this context are related to skills, attitudes to wealth creation and business culture,
capabilities (technological, innovatory, managerial), competencies (to organize income-
generating assets productively) and relationships (such as those between firms and contacts
with government), as well as the stock of information trade marks or goodwill" .
In the case of Brazil, the reverberations froIn the economic adj ustments which have
had to be Inade have been felt even more strongly than in other Latin America countries,
since the regional power of its industrial and financial sectors, the size of its population,
and the historical privileges granted to the local ruling class, have required stronger
Government intervention to impose structural changes.
As of the lnid 1950's, Brazil based its development on strong Government intervention
in the economy. The State acted like a major monopolistic provider of public infrastructure
and of some sectors of heavy industry, as well as controlling the labor market since even
wage negotiations were mediated by a national system of labor regulations settled in a
nation-wide network of speciallabor courts.
The first great challenge to Brazil in order to assure its inclusion as a player in the
post-1980 expanding global econOlnic arena, was to address its foremost structural
drawback - hyperinflation that attained 80% a month by late 1989, after defeating several
plans introduced in the mid 1980' s to bring it under control. A general opening of the entire
Brazilian economy accompanied this radical anti-inflationary policy.
This transition from a historically protectionist to a more liberal economy has taken its
toll, in terms of high social costs and friction among specific capital segments. Today's new
economic order has required radical adaptation in both private and public sectors. The
major institutional restructuring in Brazil which has taken place throughout this decade has
sought to create a foreign reserves surplus through strong Government intervention,
introducing new measures that can be summarized as follows:
56
Sueli Ramos Schfffer
1. Radical monetary refonn designed to stabilize the national currency (the inflation rate
has declined from roughly 35 % to 2 % per month). This adjustment was achieved by
enhancing the foreign reserves that underpinned the dollar parity anchor. The main
attraction for enhancing foreign reserves has been the high interest rate 6 applied on
foreign financial investment profit. These policies are still in effect and have obviously
favored speculative investments by both national and foreign capital, at the expense of
productive investment 7.
2. Abrupt opening of foreign trade by drastically reducing duty on several goods. Since
this Ineasure was not preceded by a negotiated industrial policy, it has had disastrous
consequences for certain branches of domestic manufacturing industry. The large
increase in imports has led to an unprecedented proliferation of lnergers, acquisitions
and simple bankruptcies.
3. Deregulation of specific financial sectors to allow the influx of foreign capital under
privileged fiscal arrangelnents (particularly as compared to the high annual interest
rate), and involving especially stock market rules and financial investment
opportunities 8.
4. Broadening of the strict constitutional concept of national corporations, to allow the
participation of major foreign investment in strategic sectors still restricted to national
capital, such as telecommunications, mining and national navigation.
5. Reorganization of the State structure, underpinned by a widespread ideological
conceptualization which identifies the State structure and most of its traditional powers
with authoritarianism and inefficiency, creating the ideological basis for enhancing the
privatization of base industries, such as the largest steel companies and public
infrastructure 9.
The abrupt introduction of most of the measures stated above, and especially the
liberalization of the econoIny has had important effects on the overall performance of
manufacturing sectors. Brazilian cOlnpanies, including some subsidiaries of foreign firms,
have faced growing competition frOIn imported goods by enhancing their productivity based
soleI y on cutting their skilled and unskilled workforce, with no corresponding technological
ilnprovement. And the most marked side-effect has been the enormous increase in mergers
and acquisitions by foreign capital mentioned above.
11. Globalization and social exclusion.

The most evident social side-effect of recent econOlnic globalization world-wide is the
spread of unelTIploYlnent, partly attributable to structural changes such as the introduction
of technological innovations in production and management, but essentially because the
econoInic ITIodel pursued intrinsically favors economic competition in the private sector,
rather than aiming at social gains such as improving wage disparities or pursuing full
employment.
In terms of global development it is quite clear that the globalization process has
increased the disparities among countries, to such an extent that Dunning (1997:36) stresses
that "the hierarchical production systeln [is] centrifugal as it decentralizes the productions
of labor-intensive activities to low wages countries. This resulted in a scale-related division
of labor, with consequences broadly siInilar to those arising from the resource-based
division of labor of the nineteenth century. While this system aided development, it was an
57
uneven development. It encouraged interdependence, but it was asymmetrical. All too

frequently, the foreign sector was not fully integrated into the host economy; as a result,
the syndrome of the dual econolny began to merge". And going further, this author
foresees for the developing countries that "history also suggests that the probable winners
are likely to be those developing countries which can offer the best educational and
communications infrastructure to foreign firn1s, and which are geographically close to the
industrial heartland of the Triad" Dunning (1997:37).
Despite the fact that the rate of Brazilian population growth has been decreasing since
the early 1980' s, demographic growth is still higher in Brazil than in the developed
countries in general. This fact, plus an uneven distribution of wealth 10 and a very
inefficient system of social security, makes the availability of employment (more than
higher salaries) one of the core conditions for fostering social peace, especially considering
that the increase in unetnployment has gone hand in hand with a growth in informal jobs
11.
According to Baltar & Dedecca (1997), the reduction in the formal labor market in
Brazil was about 14 % froln 1990 to 1992, representing 4.7 n1illion people living in open
unemployment. This fact is partly attributed to the upshot of early econolnic restructuring.
Subsequent years (1992-95) showed a certain degree of economic recovery, due mainly to
the growth in informal jobs, basically related to domestic service, self-en1ployed work, and
startups of small firms with less than 5 employees 12.
The challenge of maintaining jobs has not yet been effectively faced by organized
Brazilian lab or . Squeezed by growing unemployment and by a flimsy system of social
security, whose allowances for unemployed workers are extremely low and subject to an
array of bureaucratic conditions, trade unions have no choice other than silently accepting a
de facto informalization of labor relations. In practice, this means losing some basic
guarantees and supports such as health assistance, annual bonuses, paid holidays, retirement
and compensation for dismissal, which have been in effect since the 1940' s and have
always been put forward as benefits which offset poor wages.
The decline of the formallabor market has had a clear-cut impact on major Brazilian
urban agglomerations, worsening the quality of life, particularly in terms of violence
engendered by open and hidden unelnployment. Nonetheless, this trend towards growing
levels of unelnploYlnent and violence and a decreasing quality of life in general, hand in
hand with the outstanding level of comfort and luxury consulnption of the elite, which is
not restricted to Brazil or to Sao Paulo, has not led to sustainable policies to overcome
poverty; in fact, quite the opposite.
Ill. The econonlic impact on regional restruct.uring.

The new international-econolnic order has also proportioned new functions to the
leading cities of the affluent countries. King (1991: 14) quoting Soja (1983) indicates the
emergence of global cities 13 due to the econOlnic and political crisis that followed the oil
crisis of the 70s. "This crisis of overproduction has led to the intensification of the
capitalist relations of production, with a deepening division of labor, the generation of new
consumption needs, the incorporation of new spheres into capitalist production relations,
and a greater concentration and centralization of capital. Using technological innovation,
58
SueZ; Ramos Schtffer
corporate managerial strategies, and state policies, restructuring has taken place to restore
expanding profits and establish lnore effective control over the workforce; this has meant
selective deindustrialization and reindustrialization linked to a strategy of anti-
unionization." These aspects have brought about the concentration of economic activities in
few key cities, so called "global-cities".
The central global cities such as New York, London, Tokyo, Frankfurt, are all located
in core countries, and they perform global hegemonic functions related to the control of the
capital, since they concentrate the headquarters of the biggest financial and industrial
n1ultinational corporations. These capital-control functions necessarily need to be linked in
a network to cities across the globe, in a system capable of establishing strong cross-border
economic flow. While it would be difficult to draw up a hierarchy of 'world-cities', it turns
out that the leading cities of the peripheral countries perform subordinate functions in the
international accun1ulation process. This is the case of Sao Paulo, Singapore, Hong Kong
and Seoulfor example. The latter cities normally house the headquarters of the affiliates,
subsidiaries or regional offices of central multinational corporations, con1mercial and
investlnent banks, insurance cOlnpanies and brokerage houses. Those cities are the 'locus'
where international trade and capital fluxes are internalized into national territories.
The performance of the global-cities does not reflect the economic performance of the
countries in which they are situated, as used to be the case a few decades ago. Sassen
(1991 :9) stresses that "what contributes to growth in the network of global cities may not
contribute to growth in nations". Since these cities tend to concentrate leading economic
activities integrated into the global economy, most of theln are disconnected from the major
activities performed within the dOlnestic economy.
From a regional perspective, the act of transferring the assembly lines of some
manufacturers to medium-sizes urban areas on the outskirts of major agglomerations;
leading to a relative concentration of specialized services, and of managerial and financial
activities in the major cities, has also meant a dislnantling of macro-scale regional and
national planning structures, generating in some cases, predatory regional and local
cOlnpetition for direct incentives, namely, infrastructure or low-cost finance.
In Brazil, this competition occurs between the states where it has been directed
basically towards attracting the installation of new automobile plants 14; and it has been so
fierce that it has been called a "tax war." A deeper assessment of the process behind this
"tax war" indicates that fiscal concessions to private companies are often so extreme that
municipal budgets are compron1ised for several years thereafter with no real guarantee of
economic or social returns (Piancastelli & Perobelli: 1996). This can be disastrous,
particularly for more poorly funded medium sized towns, since in the enhanced integration
into the globalized economy, those regions which hold the greatest competitive advantages
- such as the Brazilian Southeast and particularly Sao Paulo - will be privileged when it
COlnes to receiving new investments to modernize their production and infrastructure.
Needless to say, this process aggravates the regional disparity in the distribution of wealth.
The result is a strong trend toward social degradation, which the Brazilian federal
government is encouraging rather than trying to combat, since federal priorities have been
channeled towards those regions capable of enhancing the competitiveness of Brazilian
firms and of attracting new foreign direct investment.
59
In broad terms, features such as a large number of specialized services and financial
institutions, and the offer of sophisticated infrastructural facilities both for business and for
high income groups in Sao Paulo, point to the sustained leadership of the city, leading to its
national primacy and to economic polarization within South Alnerica. Nevertheless, the
disruption of national regionalization, - something that has hitherto offered Sao Paulo
reasonable comfort and uncontested leadership within the dOlnestic economy - together
with an aggravation of social instability inherent to the on-going process of economic
change, nlay not only threaten this leadership in the long run, but also its potential
sustainable development.
IV. Outcomes of spatial change: the case of Sao Paulo.

The core activities of the global cities - central and peripheral are spatially
delimited within the urban tissue, widening spatial segregation and extending pre-existent
social exclusion. The latter process occurs due to the higher qualification of the work force
required by the "global" activities, and the reduction in job opportunities within the
industrial sector which, as discussed previously, are not fully cOlnpensated by new jobs in
the tertiary sector.
Greater social exclusion demands stronger government intervention to introduce

compensatory social policies, but this role runs counter to the neoliberal philosophy of the
role of the State, presently adopted by most capitalist countries, leading to important
questions in relation to how to deal with social and urban problems under current
international economic rules.
The negative impacts of globalization are normally felt most acutely in developing
countries since their economies have never adopted the features of the "Welfare State"
model, and the historical process of social exclusion has never been overcome. Taking
Brazil and its major city Sao Paulo as an example, we can identify the following social-
economic ilnpacts of globalization and the resulting spatial changes.
The Greater Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area, with 38 municipalities and alnlost 16
million inhabitants in 1996, has been the main economic center of the Brazilian economy
ever since coffee production was introduced into the state during the last quarter of the 19th
century. Between 1955-60 its primacy was strengthened by strong injection of foreign
capital, mainly in the autOInobile industry, raising its participation in national
manufacturing added value to more than 50%.
Since mid 70s, this Inetropolis has been undergoing a decentralization process
involving not only the manufacturing sector but also the commercial sector, and particularly
retail trade. This trend of relocation to smaller cities, Inost of them in the interior of the
state of Sao Paulo, the creation of "shopping-centers" and the development of a more
diversified comlnerce may be explained by the relative increase in the revenue of specific
areas as a result of modernized agricultural production. At the same time, the city of Sao
Paulo, like other global cities, has attracted an increasing concentration of specialized and
technologically advanced activities, including the financial sector, business events,
sophisticated shopping facilities, and diversified leisure.
60
Sueli Ramos Schtffer
This decentralization process should be understood as a consequence of transferring

manufacturing facilities to other cities rather than a process of deindustrialization, since the
share of the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area in national manufacturing added value was still
about 25% in 1994 (GMLA, 97-7-4). And despite the decentralization of some assembly
lines, the headquarters of the largest corporations - and especially those owned by foreign
capital have remained in the city of Sao Paulo. In 1996, 58 of the 100 largest privately
owned foreign companies in Brazil, had their headquarters in the city of Sao Paulo, as well
as 27 of the 40 largest foreign groups and 21 of the 50 largest Brazilian companies. The
city has also concentrated most of the national financial sector, and this has also contributed
to consolidating its primacy within the country 15. According to 1997 data, the Sao Paulo
Stock Exchange, the largest in Latin America, transacts about 10% of the Brazilian GNP
annually; the Futures and Comlnodities Stock Exchange is the third in the world in terms of
money negotiated (GMLA, 97-7-4).
Because Sao Paulo's perfornlance makes it the leading economic center of Brazilian
and of the Mercosur, the city reacts faster to shifts in the world economy. This has had two
distinct effects on its urban structure. On one hand, it has accumulated the benefits of
greater investment, namely direct and infrastructure investlnent, it has accumulated a
skilled work force, and there has been an expansion of advanced-technology and global-
market oriented urban activities. On the other hand, it is also the locus of social
perversities, resulting from the side effects of greater globalization. Increases in
unemployment and informal employment, in violence and in urban squatter settlements,
are examples that become more visible on the streets with each year that passes.
A recent survey in the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area indicated that informal jobs have
increased, from 12.2 % of the population of working age in 1989 to 14.7% in mid 1996. An
overall deterioration in the conditions of the labor market conditions was also detected in
the same period, since 59 % of the new jobs in this Inetropolis could be attributed to the
informal sector, 13% to outsourcing, and 14% to non-registered-employment. The results
of the survey indicate that although the salary gap between formal and informal jobs is
decreasing, there has been an impressive decline in job opportunities for less qualified
workers in both groups (Montagner & Springer: 1997).
In the metropolitan area growing aggravation of social problelns can be observed, with
a sharp decrease in the supply of housing and infrastructure for low-income groups,
resulting in a greater portion of the population living in squatter settlements - from
476,621 in 1980 to 1,051,458 in 1991, with an increase in housing units from 100,318 to
233,019 (FIBGE, 1995) 16.
According to the official census, the popUlation growth rate has been declining over
the last two decades in Greater Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area and more intensively in the
city of Sao Paulo: from 1980 to 1991 it averaged 1.88% p.a. and 1.16% p.a. respectively,
and from 1991 to 1996it averaged 1.39% p.a.. and 0,34% p.a .. Nevertheless it is
relnarkable that even with declining growth rates, the population has increased in absolute
nUlnbers by 3,961,448 in the greater Sao Paulo and 1,318,550 in the city itself. This
popUlation growth represents considerable new demands for housing, jobs and public
services, especially considering that the geographical distribution within the metropolitan
area follows a very unbalanced pattern, with negative growth in the more established areas
61
where the upper income popUlation lives, and positive rates in the outskirts where there are
already serious deficits in social and urban infrastructure.
The introduction of more sophisticated systems of infrastructure to cope with global

activities has focused either on established business districts or on developing new business
areas, creating new centers in the overall urban complex (Map 1) and generating a
dispersed unicentered urban structure. The flourishing of each new center has normally
involved a process of gentrification resulting from urban renewal by private capital, but
based on heavy state and/or municipal investment. This is related not only to installing
telecommunications and other direct core business-related infrastructural services, but also
to new access facilities such as new roads and tunnels, most of which disturb the traditional
urban fabric. The resulting renovated areas are not the consequence of official planning,
and in most cases producing a miscellany of modern business developments and old
dwellings, creating a confused transport flow and the appearance of a makeshift
arrangement, despite the high cost of the work involved.
Overall, the concentration of cOlnnlunications infrastructure, financial, business and

leisure activities in the city of Sao Paulo has without doubt contributed to making it the
preferred location for regional headquarters of corporations acting in the Mercosur area.
Nevertheless, the large scale of the city, the growing circulation problems, its
environmental depredation and social violence have jeopardized the quality of life to such
an extent that its functional attractiveness may be marred by its everyday problems,
reinforcing the need of deeper research in order to assure minimal acceptable levels of
sustainable development.
V. Conclusions.
Greater internationalization of the economy, particularly since the early nineteen
eighties, forced developing countries to restructure their internal economies both
econolnically and institutionally in order to allow greater compatibility with current
international business patterns. In Brazil, these refornls have focused primarily on
deregulating specific sectors in an endeavor to increase cross-border transactions and to
participate in foreign capital in the form of direct investlnent in manufacturing industry or
financial transactions.
The internal refonns have required strong State intervention, that began with a
conlpulsory economic plan introduced in 1994, aiming at monetary stabilization by
introducing monetary dollar parity and high annual interest rates, simultaneously with a
radical opening of the economy, resulting in the reduction of almost all duties on imported
goods. The abrupt exposure of domestic manufacturers to international cotnpetition patterns
without an industrial policy to sustain a transition period compatible with the level of
internal productive forces, resulted in an immense increase in mergers and acquisitions
mostly commanded by foreign capital. This has been accompanied by a growth in the
unemployment rate and in infonnal jobs, especially affecting less skilled labor and leading
to a greater social exclusion and a widening of the personnel gap.
The Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area, as the leading economic center of Brazil and the
Mercosur, has responded to broader national and regional efforts to adapt to international
trade and business patterns in two antagonistic ways. On the one hand, it has developed
62
Sueli Ramos Sch{fJer
advanced services and financial activities, and the largest Stock Market and Commodities
Exchange in the area, as well as sophisticated shopping and leisure facilities. On the other
hand, perverse social side effects such as urban violence, marginality and the homeless
population, are also increasing, diverting it even more from the desirable goal of a
sustainable developtnent.
The wholehearted entry of Sao Paulo into the process of globalization of the economy,
set against a historical background of social inequalities reflected in the imbalance in
patterns of distribution within the urban space, has also led to a widespread fall in average
household incon1e associated with a worsening of income distribution, a sharp increase in
the unemployment rate and a remarkable expansion of the population living in slums.
In the short-term, the tendency within the Metropolitan Area of Sao Paulo will be an
aggravation of the social and urban disparities mentioned above, since the economic model
adopted nationally does not focus on compensatory public policies - there are no clear
policies for creating new jobs, a less uneven income distribution or a more adequate and
universal supply of public services to the low income groups.
IV .. References.
BALTAR, P.E. de A. & DEDECCA, C.S. (1997) - "0 mercado de trabalho no Brasil: 0 aumento
da informalidade dos anos 90". In: IPEA, International Workshop: 0 setor in/()rmal revisitado:
novas tendencias e perspectivas de po[{ticas publicas. Brasflia:IPEA.
CACCIAMALI, M. C. (1996) - The Growing Inequality in Income Distribution in Brazil. In:
WILLUMSEN, M.1.F. & FONSECA, E.G. da (editors). The Brazilian Economy: Structure and
Performance in Recent Decades. University of Miami: North-South Center.
CHUDNOVSKY, D. (1997) - "Beyond macroeconomic stability in Latin America". In:
DUNNING, J. H & HAMDANI, K. A. The new globalism and developing countries. Tokyo:
The United Nations University. p.125-54.
DUNNING, J .H. (1997) "The advent of alliance capitalism". In: DUNNING, J.H &
HAMDAMI, K.A. (editors) 1he new globalism and developing countries. Tokyo: United
Nations University.
ESP - 0 Estado de Sao Paulo (97-7-13) - Guerra fiscal abala flnancas dos Estados. p. B-l.
FIBGE (1995) - Brasif Favelas: 1980 -1991. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE.
FINANCIAL TIMES (97-1-7) - Motown's new Eldorado. p.1l.
FSEADE (1995) - Funda<;ao Sistema Estadual de AnaIise de Dados. Estraregias recentes no
terciario paulista. Sao Paulo: SEADE.
GAZETA MERCANTIL (several years) - Balam;o Anual (Largest Companies in Brazil). Sao PauIo:
Gazeta Mercantil.
GMLA - Gazeta Mercantil Latino-Americana (96-11-23) - D4ficit na conta corrente atinge 2,89%
do PIB. p. B-l.
GMLA - Gazeta Mercantil Latino-Americana (97-7-4) - Um mundo chamado Sao Paulo._p.17-18.
GMLA - Gazeta Mercantil Latino-Americana. (98-11-16), Indicadores. p.31.
KING, A. D. (1991) - Global cities. Post-imperialism and the internationalization of London.
London: Routledge.
MONTAGNER, P. & SPRINGER, P. (1997) - "Evolu<;ao das inser<;6es ocupacionais na Regiao
Metropolitana de Sao Paulo, 1988/96". In: IPEA, International Workshop: 0 setor il?formal
revisitado: novas tendencias e penpectivas de po[{ticas publicas. Brasflia: IPEA.
MONTHLY REVIEW, Editors. (1992) - Globalization - to what end? Part I & II. V. 43 (9 & 10).
Monthly Review Foundation, New York.
PIANCASTELLI, M & PEROBELLI, F. (1996) leMS: evolur;ao recente e guerrafiscal. Brasi1ia:
IPEA.
63
SASSEN, S. (1991) - The global city: New York, London, Tokyo. Princeton: Princeton University.
SASSEN, S. (1994) - Cities in a world economy. New York: Sage.
SOJA, et al. (1983) - "Urban restructuring: analysis of social and spatial changes in Los
Angeles", Economic Geography 59: p.195-230.
THE WORLD BANK (several years) World Development Report. New York: Oxford University
Press.
UNCTAD (several years) - World Investment Report. Washington: UNCTAD/ONU.
* Full Professor at University of Sao Paulo - School of Architecture and Urban Planning.
1 The rates were calculated from the World Bank, World Development Report 1991, which covered the
following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Wets Germany,
Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.
2 See Dunning (1997) for a more detailed description of alliances between firms.
3 See UNCTAD , World Investment Report 1995 and UNCTAD, Press Release of November 10, 1998.
4 UNCTAD, Press Release of November 10, 1998 - TAD/INF/2781 "Foreign Investment into Latin America
Soars - New Records Set".
5 UNCTAD, Press Release of November 10, 1998 TAD/INF/2777 "Important Shifts are Emerging in the
Key Factors Int1uencing Foreign Business Investments"
6 These policies were introduced after an economic plan called "PIano Real" in July 1994. In the year that it
was introduced, the annual interest rate was roughly 45 %, and it has been declining slowly since then,
dropping to less than 30% in 1996.
7 Brazilian foreign reserves were (millions of US$): 8.7 (1990); 8.5 (1991); 19.1 (1992); 25.9 (1993); 36.7
(1994); 50.5 (1995); 67.5 (August 1998) and 44.9 (September 1998). (GMLA, 96-11-23 and 98-11-16, as
per Brazilian Central Bank data).
8 This law is called "Anexo 4" and was introduced by the Brazilian Central Bank.
9 The processes of privatization and deregulation in Brazil, as in many other countries, started with the more
competitive state owned industries, as the steel, petrochemicals and fertilizer industries, the privatization
of which took up most of the government effort from 1991 to 1996. The privatization of public utilities
started by the end of 1993, with the telecommunications industry, and later with the privatizing of service
operations of the electricity and highway systems.
10 The inequality of income distribution in Brazil can be assessed comparing the poorest 50% and the richest
10% of the Brazilian economically active popUlation. The former held 13.5 % of the national income in
1976 and 10.9% in 1989, and in the same period, the latter increased their national share of income from
50.4% to 52.2% (Cacciamali: 1996: 221). For 1995 the World Bank Development Report (1998) gives the
figure of 5.7% for the poorest 40% and 47.9% for the richest 10%, values that represent one of the most
highly-concentrated income distributions among the capitalist countries listed in that report.
11 Informal jobs defined in Montagner and Springer (1997) based on International Labor Organization -ILO-
classification: autonomous work (not including those who work for just one finn greater than 5
employees); workers in firms with less than 5 employees; unregistered workers; owner of a family
business with less than 5 employees; family members working in a family business with no salary.
12 Autonomous work represented the largest growth within the informal sector, although personal income
remained low: just 20% of workers over 35 earned more than 10 times the minimum monthly wage
(approximately US$l,OOO), while 40% earned less than 3 times the minimum wage, and 10% less than the
minimum wage (about US$100).
13 Sassen (1994: 3) indicates the emergence of two others types of cities, besides the global ones: export
processing zones and offshore banking centers.
14 See: ESP (97-7-13) and Financial Times (97-1-7).
15 In 1993, the number of bank branches in the city of Sao PauIo represented 32.0% of al1 branches in Sao
Paulo statewide, and concentrated 70.7 % of the total financial transactions and 81. 1 % of the credit
operations in the state (FSEADE, 1995: pg.64/68).
16 These numbers are considerably underestimated, because the FIBGE (State Statistical Agency) only
considers squatter settlements of more than 50 houses.
64
6
Policy in the Framework of Globalization

Innovations and impacts on the built environment in Buenos Aires city.1
Beatriz Cuenya
Global transformations
In recent decades, cities have been in the centre of a broad socio-economic,
technological and political reorganisation, which has had great impact on urban systems,
socio-territorial structures, urban policy, and conceptualisation of the city. Thus the cities
have now become a privileged object of study in the discussion on certain critically
important macroeconomic issues.
The first of these refers to the well documented decline of industrial cities, which has
led to a systetnatic decrease in manufacturing activity, the closing of plants, environmental
degradation, and to growing unetnployment, poverty and marginality.
The second question is less evident. It is part of a current debate, referring to the
emergence of a new urban systetn at the world and regional levels, in which some cities
both of the North and the South appear as strategic places for certain circuits associated
with the globalisation of the econotny. These cities -the so-called global cities- function as
key locations and markets for the most important industries of this period (finance and
specialised services for firms) and as centres generating innovations for these industries.
(Friedman, 1986; Sassen, 1994)
The third issue, which has yet to be fully studied, is that of the territorial and social
consequences of this set of processes. Many researchers recognize that the new global
economic system is producing an increase of economic and spatial inequalities between and
within cities. According to one theoretical view, the increase in inequality is not merely
quantitative, of degree, but a qualitative one, producing new social, economic and spatial
forms. Sassen calls this a new geography of centralism and marginality (Sassen, 1997).
New demands and orietations of the urban policy

Regarding economic globalisation and the ascendance of new technologies, that have
emerged as fundamental forces reshaping the organisation of econotnic space, a crucial
research issue is: how is urban policy redefined and which role does it play in the
reconfiguration of the geography of the urban environtnent.
Despite insufficient empirical research, recent urban literature suggests the emergence
of a new urban policy oriented to take on a dual challenge: to make the city into an efficient
structure, capable of lodging the internationalized sector of the economy, and, at the same
time, to develop an equitable social and territorial environment, reducing poverty and
exclusion, guaranteeing urban security and governability.
65
a consequence two tendencies seem to arise:

On the one hand, urban policy shows an increasing concern for the productivity of the
urban economy and its contribution to macroeconomic performance. Various modalities of
direct support for private capital are gradually being incorporated into urban policy. They
try to fulfill the demands of the new actors tied to the global economy: foreign firms and
international business people who have been entitled to do business through deregulation of
national economies. Large-scale urban renovation (considered the most representative urban
planning procedure in 1980s Europe and in some Latin American cities for the '90s) is the
paradigm of operations designed to stiInulate private investment. There is a crisis in
traditional urban planning, conceived as plans about land use and building codes. A
profound reformulation of spatial planning is occurring: its theoretical basis, its objectives,
strategies and policy tools. There is a change in emphasis, from traditional planning to
urban management that, among other things, calls on new disciplinary orientations, such as
Local Public Administration and institutional engineering. (Coraggio, 1995) Exhibited as
exalnples of the revitalization of real estate markets, lnany of these innovations (particularly
mega-projects) were also harshly criticized for their highly polarizing effects on the urban
structure (Rodriguez, 1995).
On the other hand, there has been a rediscovery of strategic planning for dealing with
old and new urban problems of social and territorial exclusion. One of the innovations of
urban policy in recent decades has been the use of the strategic plan to establish a
framework for the mobilisation of the urban social actors. The search for a shared diagnosis
and accorded project for the city opens up the possibility of integrating the excluded
population into the city project, making possible citizen participation and mobilisation.
(Borja, 1996)
Local questions and theoretical issues

These tensions and conflicts that give rise to the new urban policy, pose the following
main question: how Inuch risk of social and spatial inequality is implied in the new policy
orientations, and how much opportunity is there for generating efficiency, legitimacy and
creativity in the response of local governments to urban problelns and challenges?
The subject, herewith described, also raises theoretical issues around the urban policy
conceptualisation which, since the end of the sixties, has been introduced to explain a key
component in the space configuration as well as in the dynamic of capitalist societies.
The urban policy has been defined as an explicit intervention of the State in the
production and management of certain goods; these allow the city to meet the requirements
of the private sector and to offer adequate living conditions to citizens. (Ziccardi, 1991).
The main theoretical reasons developed to explain State interventions through urban policies
in the production of these goods, are the following: a) they represent a general need for the
production, circulation and for the reproduction of the labour force, b) their building
process demand large scale investments which are mostly ilnpossible to separate, c) they
involve investments of low capital rentability , c) there are legal and political boundaries for
the production of these goods which make it difficult for small private investors. Urban
policy constitutes, froIn this perspective, a governmental practice that must solve the
contradictions and conflicts produced by the capitalist process in the cities. (Castells, 1977 ;
Lojkine, 1979)
These proposals should be critically reviewed in the light of the current structural
changes in the economy and in the role of the state.
66
Beatriz Cuenya
The case of Buenos Aires city

The city of Buenos Aires shares many of the urban features enumerated above. Buenos
Aires shows increased unemployment and poverty associated with a decline of the previous
industrial model and with the effects of adjustment programs, at the same time, it shelters
growth sectors, new institutional resources and modern technologies that are modifying the
old patterns of centralism and marginality. Thus (as Torres has pointed out, 1997) the
1990s find Buenos Aires in an unfamiliar situation in several ways:
1. There has been a fundamental change in the juridical status of the city, extending to its
institutions and to urban policy.
The National Constitutional Convention of 1994 granted the city a considerable
measure of self-rule, with an elected governor and legislature. A process of internal
reorganisation and decentralisation was set afoot in the city's government and mode of
urban management, and urban issues came to the fore as polemical topics.
The theoretical and institutional bases of the new urban policy of the City Government
have been developed, based on the new Constitution of the City.
The City's Constitution assigned the local government responsibility for developing a
policy of urban planning and managelnent of the urban environment, integrated with
policies of econolnic, social and cultural development. Additionally, it received the
responsibility of implementing a process of participative territorial and environmental
planning. A Strategic Council was created, and has formulated the first guidelines of a
Strategic Plan. An Urban and Environmental Plan has also been drawn up, establishing the
doctrinal principles of urban policy. The political concerns that framed the drafting of these
plans underlined two major objectives: Buenos Aires must be a competitive city on the
world level, particularly in MERCOSUR, and Buenos Aires must be a sustainable city.
This translated into three central strategies: a) the need to capture new elements of
dynamisnl for the city, enhancing its competitive strength, internationally and within
MERCOSUR in particular; b) the need to overcome the problems of inequity and territorial
exclusion; and c) the need to construct a political framework of legitimacy and participation
starting with a process of decentralisation. (Gobierno de la CBA, 1997a, 1997b)
3. New ways for state management and intervention appeared on the urban space, as well
as new relations State-market- citizenship.
The National State Refonn Law (1989) began a series of structural changes centred on
two main lines: privatization and decentralization. Within this framework, the Government
of Buenos Aires city implemented a Privatization Programme and concessions that gave
way to several city-planning initiatives. At a national level, the Economic Emergency Law
was used as a framework to sell land and real estate (considered unnecessary). This
situation opened new instances for the developn1ent of some areas that then became
strategic. Mixed societies and pUblic-private corporations made these urban works feasible
and they took over the management of these privatized spaces. (Mignaqui, 1995).
4. There have been changes in its urban configuration, tending to social-spatial
dualisation.
There has been sustained re-evaluation of certain areas of the city, activating the
stagnated real estate market. A series of major urban projects were defined and set in
motion, the so-called megaprojects, aimed at restructuring parts of the city (Puerto Madero
is an example). Middle-and-high-income households have moved to private
neighbourhoods: this trend was favoured by the building of high-speed motorways. The
residential enclaves are followed by the expansion of services (shopping centres,
hypermarkets and firms' headquarters). At the same time, the population living in villas
67
n1.iseria also increased. The nUlnber living in tenelnents grew as well, and there was an
explosive development of "takeovers" or illegal occupations of empty buildings in the city,
for dwelling purposes. As a result, the differentiation between the North, a zone mainly
occupied by middle- and-high-income residents and the southern part of the city (mostly
low-income) has become more evident. (Torres, 1997).
Coexistence and conflict between spaces of modernity and of poverty: The Retiro area
1. In this context of profound urban changes, SOIne of the city areas show up as
paradigmatic examples of the tensions and challenges that the new geographies of
centrality and poverty establish. This is the case of the Retiro area.
In the north-eastern part of the city along the La Plata River, in Retiro an enormous
programme of urban restructuring (the "Retiro project,,)2 aimed at organising a modern
centre of services and public transportation co-exists, with the oldest squatter settlement
(villa miseria) in the city, "villa Retiro" (13,200 inhabitants). This settlement is included in
the "Programlne for integration and settlement of villas ", that aims to sell the land to its
inhabitants (who are illegal occupants), and improve the urban conditions of the place. 3 At
the same time, other renovation projects under way in the area next to the villa have
promoted evictions of parts of the settlement. The neighbourhood organisations are carrying
out a continuous negotiation, in the framework of a more general process involving various
actors: (Cuenya, 1993)
2. The coexistence of these two projected areas in the city -one of them with high
building standards to be used mainly by solvent citizens where strong public and
private investments will settle, and a squatter settlement that may perhaps develop into
a modest urban neighbourhood- is not completely guaranteed.
3. The resolution of this issue will clarify the role of urban policy facing the tensions that
arise in the context of globalization: between the efficient operation of the city and
meeting its inhabitants' needs; between the city as object of an entrepreneurial
rationality and the city as a collective space capable of rendering adequate living
conditions for its citizens. It will also bring attention to the importance of replacing
urban policy within the wider framework of the mobilization of financial resources, not
only designed for economic growth but also for social welfare programmes.
4. These issues, that have been the object of permanent concern, are still in force and
require renewed attention in the present day research and urban management agenda.
68
Beatriz Cuenya
References cited
Borja, Jordi. 1996. "Ciudades: planeal11iento estrategico y gobierno de la ciudad", en Varios autores.
Servicios pli.blicos urbanos. Privatizacion y re.sponsabilidad social. Programa de Gesti6n Urbana
Castells, Manuel. 1977. La cuestion urbana, Siglo XXI Eds, 4a ed. Mexico.
Coraggio, Jose Luis. 1995. "Las nuevas politicas sociales: el papel de las agencias multilaterales",
Buenos Aires. (mimeo)
Cuenya, Beatriz. 1993. Nueva politica municipal hacia las villas. Programa de Radicaci6n e
Integraci6n de Villas y Barrios Carenciados de Capital Federal. MCBAlPNUD, Buenos Aires
(mimeo).
Friedman, 1. 1986. "The global city hypothesis", in: Development and change. Vol 17
Gobiemo de la ciudad de Buenos Aires. 1997a. "Program a Buenos Aires 2000. Plan estrategica
consensuado para la ciudad de Buenos Aires", Buenos Aires. (mimeo)
Gobiemo de la ciudad de Buenos Aires. Secretaria de Planeamiento Urbano y Medio Ambiente.
1997b. Plan Urbana y Ambiental. Buenos Aires, una ciudad para vivir mejar. Buenos Aires
Lojkine, Jean. 1979. El marxismo, el estado y la cuestion urbana, Siglo XXI Eds. Mexico.
Mignaqui, Iliana. 1995. "Buenos Aires, ciudad metropolitana. Intervenciones urbanas y politicas de
ajuste (,modernismo sin modenlizacion'? ", en: Arquis No 6, Universidad de Palermo, Editorial
CP67, Buenos Aires, Agosto.
Rodriguez, Arantxa. 1995. "La revitalizaci6n de una vieja ciudad industrial: innovaciones de politica
urbana en la Bilbao metropolitana" en Revista de la ,51AP, Voumen XXVIII, Numero 110, abril-
JUlllO.
Sassen, Saskia. 1994. Cities in a world economy. Pines Forge Press. California 1996. "Cities and
communities in the global economy" in: American Behaviroral SCientist, Vol. 39 No 5
March/April pp 629-639.
Sassen, Saskia 1997. "Las ciudades en la economia global", Sil11posio La CiudadLatinoamericana y
del Caribe en el Nuevo Siglo, Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, Barcelona, Espafia, 13 15 de
marzo.
Torres, Horacio. 1997. "Transfonnaciones socioterritoriales recientes en una metropoli
latinoamericana. El caso de la aglol11eracion del Gran Buenos Aires" en Pablo Ciccolella (Cord):
Territarias en deficinion. Lugar y mundo en America Latina. Actas de trabajos presentados.
Buenos Aires.
Ziccardi, Alicia. 1991. Las abras pliblicas de la ciudad de Mexico (J 976-1982), UNAMlInstituto de
Investigaciones Sociales, Mexico.
I This paper summarizes the main ideas of a PhD proposition, in its initial stages at TUDelft.
2 In March 1996, Argentine Railways and the Buenos Aires City Council approved the bases proposed by the
Architects Central Society for a National Contest of Ideas on the Urban Development of the Retiro area,
which was called in April of that same year. Later on, a team composed by the winning project
designers, Railways and City Council professionals was constituted to develop a preliminary plan for the
approval of the area's urban regulations. This contest produced an interesting debate about the city.
3 The Programme for Integration and Settlement of villas aims at the regularization and improvement of the 15
villas that exist in the city and that, as a whole, lodge around 60.000 people. It implies a radical change
in the municipal government's policy because in the past, the eviction of these settlements from occupied
land was the dominant standpoint.
69
Globalization, Urban Form and Gouvernance
migration and spatial redistribution of the population. Towards the nineties it is estimated
that more than half (58 %) of the Bolivian population is resident of urban areas, particularly
in the National Econolnic Corridor represented by La Paz-Cochabamba-Santa Cruz.
The population resident in the Bolivian territory towards 1900, hardly reached one and a
half million of inhabitants, came to 3 million by 1950, subsequently to 4.6 million in 1976,
and currently the country has about 7.4 million of inhabitants. Estimates show, that in the
year 2010 the amount of inhabitants will have surpassed 10 millions.
The growth rate has slowed in the last 15 years from a level of 2,8 % between 1950-1976
to 2,3 % in 1992. This reduction is due to the combined effect of the decrease in the fertility
rate (from 6.5 children for each woman around 1975, it has been reduced in the last 15
years to 4.8 children for each WOlnan around 1991) and the reduction of mortality (most of
all infantile mortality: important achievements were obtained in the life-expectancy of the
population at the moment of birth, about 12 years have been gained between 1976 and
1992,47 years in 1976 it passed to 59 years in 1992). In addition, the internal migrations
that have generated an accelerated process of spatial redistribution of the population had an
important impact.
During the present century, the population in the urban zones have increased by more
than 17 times (in absolute terms). In contrast, rural zones hardly duplicated themselves. At
the end of the century, it is not only expected that the growth trend in the urban zones will
continue, but also that it will become even stronger! In the year 2010, it is estimated that
the Bolivian population will, have reached 10 million inhabitants, 7 Inillions of which will
live in the urban zones, only about a third of the Bolivian will live in the rural zones.
One of the decisive factors in the pattern of inequality at the end of the present century
in Bolivia is explained by the existing deep economical, social, political, environmental,
spatial and cultural differences. The opportunity to get access to good quality education is
only available to a small group of Bolivians. A high level of deprivations, dissatisfactions
and deficiencies that exist in the country, have contributed to the extension of the existing
gaps and have resulted in the exclusion of close to half of the Bolivian population, in which
group the rural population and the women are found.
Table 1 Bolivia: distribution of the population according to ecological regions and areas of
residence, 1900-1992.
... ....:: ..: Region'
. .. :........:.'.":.'.:-:'
. ..
: :.:.::::
:,': ,':
: :"':.::., :·:::·
....
. ' .'.1900: '::.'.....:::::::.:.'
: ':::',:.::' ....
:::. '.: ':"'.::.::::::
'::' ..
. .'. 1950 ::.'
:' :: ' . , '
.:.: ..... ::.:'
.. :'::': ....:.::: .. :.::::
::...
.: .:':::: :" 1976 ' ....: . . :.... : .... " 1992 ' ... : .
.:.:.:.
: ...... : ... :.:::: ... :
:': ...:::::: ...
::::::
.:::::".. ..:.:...... :'......
: :.-:: ' :
:.:. .:.. ".:....:-.:.
' : ....
AltiRlano 51,3 57,5 52,7 45,0

Valleys 36,2 30,2 27,5 28,9
Ilanos 12,5 12,3 19,8 26,1
Total 100,0 100,0 100,0 100,0
Urban 14,5 26,2 41,7 57,5
Rural 85,5 73,8 58,3 42,5
Total 100,0 100,0 100,0 100,0
ALTIPLANa: La Paz, antro, Potosi: V ALLEYS : Cochabamba, Chuquisaca, Tarija: LLANaS: Santa Cmz,
Beni, Pando.
Source: elaborated on own account from: Year 1900: reference is made to the "census population"~ the report
of the census estimates an omission of 5% and adds the totals of the "not censured" and "not submitted"
populations. Year 1950, 1976 Y 1992: Census Nationals de Poblacion y Vivienda Vo1.2, 3 y 7, last results, May
1993,INE.
72
Carmen Ledo
The information of Table 2 reviews the collected demographic evolution of the urban
and rural contexts of Bolivia between 1976 and 1992. The major urban hierarchy has
produced itself only in the three principal cities (National Economic Corridor): La Paz,
Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. Two-thirds of the urban inhabitants of Bolivia live in these
cities, four out of every five of the Economically Active Population, and it constitutes 70%
of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. The demographic size of each city is
higher than 400.000 persons. They all grow at a demographic rate of about 5 % annually
and in only 15 years, have more than duplicated. In these cities also were produced the
major net densities of the population and of the supply of goods and services.
An outstanding aspect is that a notable increase of the population took place in the
secondary urban centres (Intermediate Cities), particularly strong in the Valleys and Llanos.
16 intermediate cities that house 30% of the urban inhabitants of Bolivia fall in this group.
Within only 15 years, these centres have triplicates their number of inhabitants. One of the
reasons for this growth is that they represent very dynamic cities among them. The
inlportnace of Quillacollo and Sacaba should be stressed. These cities are situated near
Cochabamba and have grown at an annual rate higher than 8% between 1976 and 1992.
Other fast growing cities are Yacuiba and Tarija next to Argentina and next to Brazil:
Riberalta and Guayara1nerin.
From the ahove, it becomes clear how the intermediate cities from the region of the
Valleys have increased their size fivefold in only 15 years. A similar phenomenon happened
in the intermediate cities of the ecological region of the Llanos, where cities increased their
numbers nearly four times. In only 2 of the 16 intermediate cities2 , growth rates lower than
the national average were recorded (Lallagua and Ca1niri). These cities are tied to mining
activities, hence their decline can be explained by the closing down of the majority of the
state mines, which were situated in their surroundings.
Table 2 Boli via: rate of demographic growth according to spatial contexts and ecological
regions, 1976-1992.
• • I I •. I I' \ I H' I1
.= ::: : <:><;::'~'::.:';':'::-::=;:.» .::/:::·;:::\>:·;·::·of·cities·...;=::·A·'ii · iano:. I I
NATIONAL ECONOMIC 3 3,83 4,69 6,81 4,79 106838 2223973

CORRIDOR(!) 7
INTERMEDIATE CITIES 16 2.42 9,93 9,12 6,26 370267 958156
REMAINING URBAN AREAS 104 0,39 -0,86 3,07 1.06 434545 512717
RURAL -0,85 0,65 0,77 0,25 262035 2725946
TOTAL 123 1.65 1.95 4,04 2,3 °

449552 6422784
5
Altiplano= La Paz city, Valleys=Cochabamba city and Ilanos=Santa Cruz City.
(I)
Source: elaborated on own account from the reprocessed database of the National Census of the Population
and Housing 1976 and 1992.
The Remaining Urban Areas include 104 localities of a low urbanisation-grade, and
deals with villages with a population between 2000 and 20.000 inhabitants. Their profile of
growth is low and negative in the zones of the Valleys and the Altiplano, only the Llanos
grew at a rate, which superseded the national average.
The explanation of the demographic decline of the Re1naining Urban Areas is, that in
this typology many of the ancient prosperous cities are included, such as Colquiri, Quime,
Viloco, Santa Barbara and Antocha. These are situated around the previously strong mining
73
Globalization, Urban Form, and Gouvernance
activities, and have, after the shut down of the state mining cOlnpanies (COMIBOL)
converted into ghost-villages. Also in this area are the depressed zones of the high valleys
of Cochabamba, which have suffered a heavy shock due to the replacement of the main
road to Santa Cruz by the new highway which is located in the zone near Chapare. Sacaba,
specifically, which formed part of this typology in 1976, has changed its profile and is now
one of the intermediate cities.
Finally, the demographic thresholds in very rural areas do not surpass 2000 persons and
are characterised by a very low rate of growth of the population. Between 1976 and 1992,
they grew at a rate of hardly 0,2 %. The rural zones of the Bolivian Altiplano and the
Remaining Urban Areas of the Valleys showed a demographic decrease of about 1-%. This
phenomenon is inseparably associated with the redefinition of the short distance commercial
circuits during the post- revolutionary period 3 • It is clear, that a new type of spatial
organisation exists, which is characterised by the presence of new social processes.
Definitively, a new form of structuring of the 'rural' is expected and yet unknown
articulation forms with the urban and vice versa.
I I ,
The explination of urban growth in Bolivia then, can be found in the heavy impact of
urban growth of three cities (National Economic Corridor): Murillo-La paz (Altiplano),
Cercado-Cochabamba (Valleys) and Andrews Ibafiez-Santa Cruz (Llanos). The increase of
the population bears a close relation with the econon1ic and social dynamism of each
region, so that it forms regional patterns of developlnent, which in the last instance allow
(us) to understand their growth rate.
The redistribution of the population of Bolivia expresses the loss of the relative
importance of the agricultural sector and, the expansion of the essentially urban-based third
sector. The panorama that was described in the preceding paragraphs, permits us to
imagine that within whichever model of growth, the Bolivian social scene will be
characterised for many years by the massive presence of rural and urban poverty.
The increase of the population, and most of all the annual urban growth of 4,1 %, pose
difficult political challenges as it is not possible to reduce the deficit-gap due to the
increased growth of the popUlation: a situation which necessarily should be addressed
before the problems become critical. Sometin1es, solutions take a few years to be
implemented, and to wait until the problems become Inore profound could bring along the
risk that uncontrollable situations would be generated.
The modifications of the productive structures and the economical changes in the rural as
well as in the urban zones are generating a new form of redistribution of the popUlation and
opportunities of employment. The lack of knowledge of those modalities of spatial
distribution and redistribution of the population, set up a serious obstacles to the design of
plans, programs and projects, and also to a better understanding of the decisive factors and
consequences of the migratory process.
Therefore, the regional econOlnic inequality and the processes of social differentiation
produce changes in the spatial redistribution of the population within the dominant
productive structures of the Bolivian cities. Those changes tend to express the profound
deterioration of the conditions of life and of the social reproduction of the major part of the
Bolivian popUlation, in the countryside as well as in the cities.
Important refonns have been designed in the last years. The panorama for the future is
uncertain, since the closing down of the sources of non-agricultural employment because of
the structural adjustlnent, the crisis in mining-activities and because of the major opening to
importation which takes away opportunities for the national industry. There is a possibility
that in the future the acceleration of the parcel fractionating and the appearance of an
74
Carm.en Ledo
increasing number of small farms could improve the situation. It is the duty of the Bolivians
to decide about their future: increasing population; their territory that is threatened by
plundering; their cities without sanitary services, nor sufficient urban infrastructure, and
with their education system that only permits elementary and incomplete instruction to a
high proportion of the population.
First conclusions
Bolivian history shows the presence of different phases or types of economic
development, in which the human capital and the social capital played different roles. A
first phase is centred around a kind of competitive which was based on the exploitation of
minerals and labour-force, in which the density of the social capital was very weak and the
human capital only was required as "labour-force". First, at the time of silver and later on,
at the time of tin, Bolivia reached a high economic growth, which was based on the
employment of personnel with limited levels of education and precarious conditions of
health and life.
The result of this modality of development created profound divisions between the
Bolivian Western and Eastern regions, which was characterised by a process of high
concentration of income in favour of the powerful groups and low levels of human
development of the poor, most of all in the East. In fact, a landscape of despoilment exists
in this region, where everywhere around ghost villages are situated or in the process of
becoming so, machines, obsolete and oxidised installations and equipment and an army of
men and women that roam about the country looking for better opportunities to survive.
The footprints of the dalnage of the environment which were not corrected are clearly
visible, and their impact is obvious in the productive results of the lower lands
In Bolivia, the processes of demographic change took place within the framework of the
existing social and spatial heterogeneity in the country. An urbanisation process should be
promoted which is spatially deconcentrated, strengthening the intermediate cities and the
smaller urban centres that interconnect theln, which, together with the creation of better
conditions in behalf of human development of the population that took root in the cities,
would facilitate the access of the rural population to the urban markets and services. In this
manner, the rural development would become more dynalnic.
The socio-spatial heterogeneity has affected the processes of demographic change and
the discriminatory demographic dynamics have contributed in the modification of the
socio-spatial structure of the country. It is illustrative to see that the urban zones during the
present century have increased their demographic importance by more than 17 times,
whereas the rural zones only duplicated it. It is expected that the tendency of growth of the
urban zones at the end of the century will not only continue, but will in fact increase.
The internal migrations have contributed in giving an image of profound
differentiation's, shifts of persons and falnilies have taken place from contexts with limited
possibilities for their human development towards contexts with better opportunities and
where the satisfaction of basic necessities by means of public politics is less expensive.
Consequentl y, the regional econo111ic inequalities and the processes of social differentiation
produce changes in the spatial distribution of the population in the predonlinant productive
structure in the Bolivian cities. These changes tend to express profound deterioration of the
conditions of life and social reproduction of the major part of the Bolivian population, in
the countryside as well as in the cities.
75
Globalization, Urban Form, and Gouvernance
The prevailing demographic differences follow social, economic and environmental

inequalities which in turn, derive froll1 the position that individuals have in relation with the
means of production. Now then, it is supposed that the ineqUality of the social groups, the
existence of which is facilitated by factors of the productive structure, manages different
norms (rules of conduct) of demographic behaviour, among them which are related to the
patterns of fertility, exposure to the risk of death and the quality of life of the individuals.
Bolivia finds itself in an initial stage of demographic transition and in an intermediate
stage of urbanisation, its demographic future is not yet clear and depends upon the course
that the economic and social development in the country takes, and also from the possible
achievements in matters of Human Development. The size of the population of Bolivia as
well as growth trends can follow significantly different trajectories of change, according to
whatever the course of fecundity will be. This will certainly depend in great measure on the
advances that could be reached in the keystone components of Human Development, such
as the reduction of poverty, in rising the levels and the improvement of the quality of
education; the access to the services of health (most of all in the confines of reproductive
health and family planning); the reduction of the gaps of gender and the increasing
incorporation of the woman in the productive activity.
The connect ions with my first hypothesis: Development Corridor-Stages

1. The function of each city in the Development Corridor of the Bolivian national
economy has gone through different stages.
Public investments, and flows, both of products (industrial, service, financial, etc) as
well as population are concentrated in the national economic development corridor (La
Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz).
3. There are strong economic imbalances in the productive structure, which also define
the continuous spatial redistribution of the population and tend to cause migration of
the Bolivian popUlation towards the corridor La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz.
76
CarnlCn Ledo
Bibliography
Calderon, F. y R. Laserna (1997), La fuerza de la equidad: el desarrollo humano en Bolivia. Los Amigos
del Libro. La Paz.
Castells, M. 1992. The world has changed canplanning change? Landscape and Urban Planning, p.73-78.
Drewe Paul, and Janssen, B. (1996), What port for the future: From 'mainports' to ports as nodes of
logistic networks. Paper given at the European Regional Science Association, 36 th European Congress,
ETH Zurich, 26-30 August.
Hulsbergen E.D. (1988). Which spaces for whom: Problem definition, a major points. Paper presented at
the lAPS 10 Conference, 5-8 July 1988 in Delft.
Marshall Katherine Barnes de (1970) The formation of the new villages in Bolivia: process and
implications, in "Estudios Andinos", vol. 1, number 3.
Preston, David (1970) "New Towns: A major change in the Rural Settlement Pattern in Highland Bolivia",
in Journal of Latin American Studies, number 2.
UNDP (1998) First Report of the Human Development of Bolivia, La Paz-Bolivia.
Sudhir Anand and Amartya K. Sen, 1994, Sustainable Human Development: Concepts and Priorities,
UNDP, New York.
Unikel Luis and Andrews Necochea, Cultural Economic Fund, Mexico, 1976
I We can only refer here to the contributions of, among others, Quijano and Singer; see, regarding to this,
"Urban and Regional Development in Latin America, Problems and Politics, Selection of: Luis Unikel and
Andrews Necochea (Mexico), Cultural Economic Fund, 1976, p.22 and 42.
2 In this typology are included capitals of departments (Oruro, Potosi, Sucre, Tarija and Trinidad). Other very
dynamic cities also enter in this typology, like Quillacollo and Sacaba in Cochabamba; Montero and
Camiri in Santa Cruz; Riberalta and Guyaramerin in the Beni; Yacuiba and Bermejo in Tarija; Tupiza,
Villazon and Liallagua in Potosi. All these cities perform important functions in various aspects. Most of
them are located in spaces around the capitals of departments.
3 v. Katherine Barnes de Marshall, the formation of the new villages in Bolivia: process and implications, in
"Estudios Andinos", vol. 1, number 3(1970), pp. 23-27. Preston, David, "New Towns: A major change
in the Rural Settlement Pattern in Highland Bolivia", in Journal of Latin American Studies, number 2
(May, 1970), pp. 1-27.
77
8
Local and global:

the new paradigm of the postmodern city. 1
Ana Falu
Local efforts for competitive cities in the internalisation process

A new phenomena of a dual expression is taking place in the urban development, on
one hand the use value is measured through advanced technology, development of
communications, and services which mainly implies local efforts, and on the other hand
internationalisation of cities new actors in urban development are evident which are mainly
foreign firms whom through deregulation are entitled to do business. They re-signified the
building of the globalized city and the new spaces of it. As Borja (1997) defines, the
internationalisation of the local developments is directed to potentiate a "world space" as an
space of unique relationship, centred in cities which concentrate activities and power.
In this dynamic, competitiveness seems to plays a fundanlental role in the consolidation
of this world cities system, which leads to a first question to be confronted, is this
phenomena accentuated in cities which are or want to be qualified as strategic nodes in the
new regional economies?
As various authors agree, one of the most significant expressions of globalization has
been the transformation of the way of thinking about cities. In the Latin America region
cities during the 90's have suffered a second period of modernisation, not as an answer to
the demands of industrial capitals, as in the import substitution period of 40 and 50' s, but
because of the pressures of international financial capital which impose and demand, new
roles to the national capital market and to the cities in general. Large urban agglomerations
became the strategic nodes through which the new economy can be planned and facilitated
(Sassen and Savitch 1995). This phenomenon implies in some cases devastating
consequences for certain social and spatial sectors of cities.
In line with the greater flexibility of financial capital to invest according to profits,
large agglomerations appear to be competing for becoming more attractive. Cities are
becoming on one hand, more and more similar all over the world and the same post-modern
urban landscape is reshaping different cities in a similar way, while in the other hand, cities
which are strategic nodes in regional econotnies (e.g. Mercosur2) face the difficult
equilibrium of competence and specialisation3 •
Following Borja in his analysis of the European case, a difficult equilibrium of
competing and controlling in urban development amongst cities and countries seems to be
one strong challenge.
Sassen (1996) in her approach to explain globalization seems convinced that "a focus
on cities and communities allows for a more concrete analysis of globalization, and in that
79
Globalisation, Urban Fonn and Governance
regard we can think of cities and cOlnmunities as strategic sites for an examination of global
processes and mayor politico economic processes".
The predominance of service cities upon industrial development for steering urban
management is noticed in many cities of Latin America. Current research on globalization
in peripheral countries has shown the growing cOInpetition and networking between
enterprises and inter enterprises located in different parts of the world, and the greater role
for the human factor, professional education, team spirit, is expressed in the new urban
demands. It is also shown that cOlnmunication, accessibility and pattern of the location of
the new urban activities is noticed (Cohen 1997/98, Sassen 1996/97/98, Deak 1995/98,
Davila 1997).
The supranational region: MERCOSUR.

MERCOSUR is a regional bloc that gathers a population of around 250 million and
represents a considerable market in Latin America. This regional common treat implies
new opportunities and challenges, as well for the Inetropolitan areas. It also concentrates
resources in major cities and particularly in cities that are in the bi-oceanic regional
corridors. Cordoba in Argentina, is a strategic node in the region, therefore it is defining
transformations, investment and strong private sector input, seeking for a leading role in the
region.
The transformation taking place in the urban territory goes hand by hand with the
globalization process, accentuating the processes of urban concentration and urban sprawl.
The improv~ment of a technical and social infrastructure is one of the big challenges to be
met. The improvement of infrastructure means better operative capacity for finance,
commerce, tourism and the creation of better opportunities to guarantee a higher rate of
exchange.
In this line of interest, the city authority's major concern is to improve the city's
competitiveness. With above 1 and 1/2 million inhabitants, Cordoba is a centre of
connections and communications to the interior of the country as well as for the south cone
neighbour countries. This is a city with a growing position in the globalized market, it is
the second Inost important of Argentina, counting as assets a rich historical patrimony, a
strong industrial centre, the oldest university city (the First University Centre), with a
competing vocation for a national and regional leading role.
In the search for a regional agreement to create an administrative and management
"capital" for the MERCOSUR, the cities of the region compete in delivering service,
particularly those placed in the bi-oceanic corridors. Cordoba, located in a central position
to the South Cone Countries of Latin America, is challenging the post in a contest with
Montevideo in Uruguay, Santiago in Chile and Porto Alegre in Brazil.
The challenges t.o face vis a vis the possible dimensions of the analysis.
In the synergy of these complex phenomena of transformation, with unique potentials
and possibilities, strong challenges are to be faced, such as physical fragmentation, social,
financial and cultural vulnerability, to mention the most consensuated concerns.
To approach these cOlnplex concerns a Inultidimensional and interdependent analysis is
needed. Multiple entrances should be considered if we want to do such an in depth analysis:
• political will and decision making
• local authorities empowerment
• leadership
• active citizenship participation
80
Ana Falu
.. innovative strategic negotiated proposals

.. new links between national and regional interests.
.. strengthening of regional networks (cities network e.g.)
The possible approaches.

Even if financial capital in cities have an apparently significant effect on certain urban
sectors, the political, economic and social effect of large real state investments associated to
global changes seem to be enlarged. Some questions arise, for instance on the allocation of
public investment, where does it go to particular initiatives, accentuating urban inequalities
and social vulnerability? Or does it address the achievement of a better social and urban
equilibrium?
Such an approach require the study to verify the market operations, particularly those
which are presented as necessary in the urban transformation and are supposed to involve
positive effects in the long term. Along this line, research on the urban policy proposals to
deal with social and city segmentation, as well as on the designed tools and policies for
dealing with the emerging phenomena in an integral perspective, will need to be studied.
The processes taking place in the built environment of Cordoba's post modem segment
of the city: the land use changes, the new image, urban productivity, are needed to be
enlighten and argued vis a vis the contrasting city situations. Such an approach need a
framework which make a linkage with the institutional changes, the significant processes of
transformation of the role of the State, the decentralisation policies impulse by the
multilateral agencies and assumed by the national and local authorities, the revitalised role
of the private sector, and particularly the incidence of the privatisation of production and
distribution of goods and services.
An example of the phenolnenon of large private real state development with
management and accunlulation capacity, can be IRSA -Investnlent Real State Argentina-
one of the Latin American branch of SOfOS real state international enterprise, the major
world real state investor. It is necessary to assume that innovative policies, partnerships
proposals, strategic city development plans, and particularly nlanagerial tools are needed to
deal with growing investment opportunities on the one side and increasing population from
deprived areas on the other side.
In this process local authorities, through its planning organs and the housing
ministry/secretaries through credits, subsidies and housing policies, have a role to play, as
the responsible entities of control and implementing policies monitoring a correct urban
evolution of the city.
Therefore it is necessary to develop conceptual and theoretical arguments related to the
logic of the state policies facing the rationality of private investment and the results in land
use market. Framework for the analysis of the expansion of the real state market and its
impact by the hand of the financial sector demands, through the investment in buildings
with a strong definition and impact in the city, vis a vis the model of internationalisation of
the cities development in the Mercosur. The emerging questions are:
Are the State planning policies loosing decision making capacities in tune with the
increasing and major investment capacity in the real state market of the private sector?
Is the flexibility of financial capital the decisive factor responsible of the increasing gap
on the real state market between policy and investment decision making?
Are social compensation measures unable to confront the loss of social oriented
infrastructure delivery?
81
Globalisation, Urban Fornl and Governance
To deal with the urban transformation, two logic's are necessary to be include in the
analysis, as two necessary dimensions:
1. the public investment
2. the private real state operations/investments.
In the case of the cities of the MERCOSUR, these two dimensions need to be linked to
the competing trend for efficient cities generated by "charismatic" political leaders as
mayors, which are supporting innovative developing programs, through strategic city plans
as tools for achieving the so called, second wave of "modernisation". The cases of Cordoba
in Argentina, Montevideo in Uruguay and Santiago in Chile, seems to be in the trend, with
transformation including building infrastructure, post modern feature constructions,
according to the "last and most recognised architecture", landscape and environment
programs, market oriented houses.
In the mentioned cases, the general tendency is the presence of real state investment,
linked to globalized firms, whose capital is each day more linked to the national capital
market. The underpinning questions are around the feasibility of strategic planning to
support and control private capital operations that should benefit the whole city. A
comparative research which takes similar operations in cities which have different processes
should be of interest in the aim of answering some of the posed questions: the cases of
unregulated capital markets, with privatisation of pension funds and large investments in
real state operations (Santiago), of state regulated operation (Montevideo) and of a rapid
opening to external markets (Cordoba).
Looking into the building process taking place in certain city sectors it should be
possible to throw light on questions that should be part of a working agenda on the new
urban phenomena
3. Which are the global pressure underpinning the operations?
4. Which are the national mechanism and actors that have participated in the operation
(financial capital involved)?
5. Which are the new land use and new urban activities that have been created?
6. The impact in terms of efficiency and financial achievement on the city sector
7. The mechanisms to be created in terms of social equity and sustainability.
8. What is the state rationality vis a vis the private investnlents?
9. How is it possible to confront this new rationality from the side of Government policy?
How is it regulated by the state?
10. Which could be the new mechanislTIS to propose?
11. Which are the main building evidence and examples? What do they stand for?
12. Who are offering financial and credit opportunities?
13. How new building transform the surrounding areas.
14. Which is the financial surplus? How to quantify it?
82
Ana Falu
Bibliography:
Borja, J. (1997), "Mercosur y Mercociudades", III Reunion CUlnbre de Ciudades del
Mercosur, Cordoba. Argentina.
Burgess, Carmona and Kolstee (1994) "Contemporary urban strategies and urban design in
developing countries". Delft Press.
Castells, M. (1989) "The Informational city". Blackwell. London
Castells, M. (1997) "The information Age: Economy, Society and Culture". Volume I ; II
Y Ill. Volume I The Rise of the Network Society Volume ll: The power of Identity
Volume III End of Millennium. Blackwell Publisher.
Cohen, M. Ruble, B. Tuc1chin J. and Garland A. eds. (1995), "Preparing for the Urban
Future: global pressures and local forces". Washington DC. Wilson Center Press.
Cuenya B. y Fahl A. comp (1997) "La Re estructuracion del Estado y Politicas de Vivienda
en Argentina" , UBA. Buenos Aires.
FaItl, A. (1992), "Trend of urban restructuring or how cordoba city expanded and the
slums grew" in Carmona, M." Urban restructuring and deregulation in Latin America.
69 -78 pp.
Falu, A. (1997) " Mercosur y Mercociudades", La construccion de ciudadanfa frente alas
asimetrias. Cordoba. Argentina.
Hardoy J. and Satterthwaite, D. (1989) "Squatter citizen:life in the urban third world",
London. Earthscan Publications.
Portes A. , Lungo M. (1987) "Urbanizacion en el Caribe", Flacso. Costa Rica.
Sassen, S. (1995) "The State and the Global City: notes toward a conception of Place
centred governance". Competition and Change.
Sassen, S. (1993) "Ville, emploi, chomage" (french version) Les annales de la recherche
urbaine No 76. Paris.
Sassen, S. (1994) "Cities in a World Economy". Sage press.
Stein, J. (1978) Classic Readings in Real Estate and Development" Urban Land Institute.
World Bank (1992) "Urban policy and Economic Development: an agenda for the 1990s.
Washington dc.
1 This brief article prepared for the Symposium organized by Bouwkunde Delft as coordinator of the Urbis -
Alfa Programme, is based in the central issues of the preliminar proposal for a Phd thesis to be carried in
the frame of the Alta Programme.
2 MERCOSUR: Mercado Comun del Sur, which stands for Common South Market, involving the South Cone
Countries of Latin America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.

33 Borja Jordi, gives a good example of this phenomen in the frame of the EU, with Paris, Frankfur compiting
with London as financial city, while Strasbourg, Luxemburg and Bnlssels compit to be the location for the
European Parliament. In CIUDAD, COMPETITIVIDAD E INTEGRACION. Sept 97. Mimeo of Urban
Technology Consulting.
83
9
Globalization and Andean urban systems in the south of
America Villegas Ormachea
Theoretical fraruework
For decades the flows of scientific theories about ilnportant topics concerning societies
and economic trends, have originated in Europe and North America. The time lapsed
between the emission of these reflections and their reception in the rest of the world, varied
according to the degree of itnmediate applicability or the social and political interest. Over
the last years this tilne has been shortened and the diffusion of trends have accelerated and
become more wide spread. This acceleration is due obviously, to the advance in
information transnlission technology around the world, and to the fact these topics are more
pertinent to current problems facing society. In line with this, the protection of the
environmental is a daily discussion topic all over the world. It started with its international
launching as a problem in 1970, but it was in the 80" s that the relevancy of its arguments
has been contrasted sufficiently with the existing probleln.
In the SaIl1e way, the diffusion of globalization concepts reflected an already existing
reality. The progressive opening of markets and the introduction of the new technologies of
information have contributed to a significant increase of material and immaterial flows
between increasingly interdependent territories at world scale.
During the last years the deep economic, social, institutional and territorial
transformations experienced by a great number of countries have become evident. These
transformations have been evident from different disciplines and viewpoints. They have not
been temporary but structural transfonnations, since they express disfunctions that suppose
a true mutation of the reality, which has been dominant until now. This new reality has
been associated with the transition from the fordist accumulation regime to a new phase of
capitalism that indistinctly is qualified as postfordist, neofordist, third industrial revolution,
society informational etc. The new infonnation technologies have become the driving forces
of the current changes and of the cycle of accumulation. This has a decisive influence on
the new fonns of managerial organization, on the tertiarisation of the productive system and
on the progressive concentration and decentralization of capital, which happens little by
little as it is subjected to regulations that hinder their free circulation (Caravaca I. 1998).
Peruvian regions, are not excluded from this phenomenon, because globalisation effects
are controversial issues among COl111nunity groups, economic interests, and they are also
85
Globalization, Urban Fornl and Governance
matter of political definitions. Many agree that this process will seriously weaken national-
political borders, with the increasing loss of the function of the state and of sovereignity in
a form that Badie (1995) calls "the end of the territories". This is in fact one of the most
sensitive topics that affects Peru, which has to aSSUlne accomplished facts and consolidated
international structures. The Peruvian, Bolivian and Chilen economic and spatial
articulation have always had a special and historic significance.
Concepts like globalization, (Lewitt, Ohmae and others), "mundialisacion" (Michalet,

Amin, Chesnais ... ) or the less widespread "technoglobism" (Boyer), are incorporated into
habitual speech when refering to markets and the processes in which the economic system
is immersed and "whose connotations and interrelations with other inputs - social, political
and cultural n1atters generate a singUlar dynamic from which it is conditioned and
modulated, every time more measurable in people" s lives". (Delgado, M. 1997)
In this framework, for the objective of the present study, the experienced re-evaluation,
during the last years, of the ilnplications that space excercises as the economic analysis
partner, is of special interest. They have overcome the traditional and simplistic visions of
previous analyses where space was only understood as the background that supported social
and economic processes. It is more COlnmon now, for the social sciences, from diverse
interpretations and disciplines, to consider space as an active element that constitutes an
important part of such processes and that contributes to the generation of competitive
advantages (Caravaca 1. 1998).
Most of the analyses are centred basically, like Harvey says (1996), in the relationship:
innovation/globalization/territory. They consider such processes as the key to changes in
accumulation forms of the current organizations of societies and of the "emergence of a
new geography of capitalist developtnent. "
Other authors give attention to this aspect, basing their theses and interpretations on this.
This way for example, Dollfus (1997) considers that the reduction of the ruggedness and
distances constitute the main factor that allows the "mundializaci6n". For Castells it is
space that organizes time in the informational society that dOlninates today. (Castells, M.
1995).
The space of flows thus becolnes the central reference of the readings and interpretations
about the emergence and consolidation of new and dynamic territorial forms based on the
existence of networks. These networks are controlled by groups that hold the power.
Through it they exercise the directional functions, they change constant! y, organizing space
to serve the position that they occupy in different places. (Caravaca, 1. 1998). In this way,
each place is defined by the networks that serve and organize it." (Dollfus, O. 1997).
According to this, the space of flows, or networks, must not be understood as a new
socioterritorial morphology of our societies, but also as evidence of a dominant logic that
repeats it self at different scales until incorporating it to the same urban space in the current
space organization patterns.
There is a unanimous recognition of the economical, technological and cultural

elnpowerment of the networks and inside them, that they form the main urban cores in the
86
Americo ViZZegas Onnachea
fralnework of globalization. It also recognizes that this same process produces other
changes in precarious terms and marginalization of territorial environments and widening
between social sectors. In fact, we observe an ostensible reduction of related social
conquest with regard to well being and quality of life. This is evident not just in the
increase of inequalities but also in the different ways of exclusion. (Abaleron C.A., 1996;
Hiernaux, D. 1996, Jungerman, B. 1996.)
The contradictions and "disorders" are manifested more clearly in the big urban
agglomerations, main cores of accu111ulation and consumption. This environment also acts
as a nucleus of appropriation of all type of resources, generating in turn serious impacts on
the environment, where the biggest social inequalities and new forms of poverty take place,
increasing the number of excluded or marginalised people that make up what some call "the
fourth world" (Sandoval, V., 1991). On the other hand Dollfus (1997) points out that the
same phenomenon repeats itself in less developed countries " .. a great social distance exists
in one place, while it decreases the physical distance alnong different places, this is one of
the paradoxes of the current world."
With regards to emerging or leading spaces, some researchers have begun to question
the role played by industrial districts in the new socio-economic model, pointing out that
one overestimates their importance when considering them widespread as new centers of
world competitiveness and growth (Amfn, A. -Robins, K. 1994). For some, these districts,
despite the serious precarious conditions and informality in which the lab or relations are
developed in tnany of these environments and the weak or even non-existent compliance
with urbanistic and environnlental norms, illustrate the difference between the industrial
districts and those "industrial detritus" (Castillo,J. 1994, mentioned by Caravaca I. 1998),
In Peru, two clear examples that illustrate these concerns, exist: the Gamarra "textile
district", in the center of Lima and the growing and informal industrialization of J uliaca, in
fact, one of the emergent cities of peruvian southern Andes.
Carvaca (1998) makes another disturbing reflection relating to the leadership of the
urban centers and the emergent spaces, when she investigates whether a winning region is
one that exploits its own resources and potential, or whether its advantage to compete is
developed at the expense of other territories that even lose part of their inhabitants? Other
authors take a radical view when they state that every time the exclusion is substituted for
the well-known dependence. (Veltz,P. 1996).
These observations have one thing in common, an interpretation that points out that the
current processes of capitalist accumulation cause inequalities in such a way that the growth
focalization in SOlne territorial environments, not only maintain the existing disparities but
rather they are increased dramatically, starting from a strictly functional and profitability
logic, as Pradilla expressed (1997), converting the excluded areas in reserves of cheap
manpower or probable deposit of dangerous waste.
In the current situation of Peru, taking into account the different development levels
alnong regions, inequalities that are in some cases lnade worse by different ethnic and
cultural conditions, adjustlnent processes take place with intensities corresponding to these
diversities. In the Peruvian south Andean area, the urban systems still have strong
economic relationships with the regional rural world that constitutes their context. During
87
many decades it was identified that this rural economy, with the concept of "economies of
subsistence", related with the dominant minimal capitalization and production levels, where
the biggest objective is being able to assure family survival. An explanation generally
accepted for the lack of expansion and economic accUlnulation in rural areas, is the called
"aversion to risk" that consists of an attitude that minimizes, in the productive units
management, the risks in technological, financial, etc. matters because it" s understood to be
near the minimUln of subsistence so that important risks cannot be carried by the family
economy. (Kervin, B. 1988).
This fact propitiates the confusion in some studies, about the population s attitude,
I
because it" s assumed as a supposed opposition to modernization or as an attitude of extreme

defence of the tradition, forgetting the hard existing economic and social logic. In spite of
these antecedents, the launching of urbanization is an unquestionable reality and the
progressive incorporation of wide social sectors of the rural world in the urban markets and
its new flows, is equally verifiable. It is necessary to specify however, that these new
dynamics are located fundamentally, in the geographical areas of high agrologic
profitability, coincident wi th the telnperate ecological lands, those that in turn coincide with
the localization of the most important urban systems. There exist on the other hand, located
in the high lands the so-called rural communities, those that persist to a certain extent, with
a productive and cultural logic related with the natural resources, to which Jilrgen Golte
(1980) calls, the "'Andean rationality." The future behavior of these two rural entities of
Peru, given the bonds still fresh with the urban enviromnents, will mark the rule for the
acceleration or the stagnation of the current ilnpulse of the regions and urban networks. A
polarization with exclusion between the rural areas and the city, cannot be ignored as a
possibility; recomposing with force and new elements, the serious debate between tradition
and culture with modernity and development; exclusion or Inarginality with economic
expansion and globalization.
Finally, in relation to the cultural factor and the social dynalnics issues of this process, it
is observed that the globalizating tendency is not necessarily synonymous with equality or
"homogenization", because the excluded spaces persist or increase their social conditions
which are projected critically on their own cultural structures. An exaggerated defence of
the "locality" could easily be an issue from a re-edited folklorism to a dangerous equally
excluding radicalism.
Castells summarizes all this in the following way: "The space of the power and the
wealth is projected through the world, while people's life, is rooted in places, in their
culture and in their history". (Castells, M. 1996).
For the Andean regional reality, the new economic space, territorial articulations and the
reactions in the society and culture, are but active elements in the local problem, those that
are translated clearly in the duality: global and local. It is perceived as Milton Santos
expresses, like the existence of a conflict that is increased, among a local space lived by all
the neighbors and, a global space governed by a rationalization process and an ideological
contents of distant origin, that arrives to each place with the objects and norms settled down
to serve them. (Santos M. 1996)
88
Americo Villegas Orn1achea
This effect is increasing in south Peru, since the space - economic structure, based on
the urban networks incorporates in its own influence territory, regions with well-known
cultural consistency beginning froln its historical antecedents (Quechua and Aymara
regions), those that not accidentally has constituted traditionally resistant socio-geographical
areas to Peruvian capitalist structuring process of the present century. On the other hand,
the Andean cultural specificity of the south of Peru, has always constituted a reflection and
study topic, particularly during the two last decades, in terms of its full incorporation into
the country modernization process.
Bibliografy
Abaleron,C. (1966). "Algunas tendencias de exlusion social en la provincia de Rio Negro,
Argentina 1980-91. III Selninario sob re impactos territoriales de la reestructuracion. La
R:ivida.
Amin, S. (1990). Mondialisation et acumulation. Paris, D'Hannattan.
Badie, B. (1995). Le fin des territoires. Paris, Fayard.
Boyer, R. (1997): "Le mots et les realites" en Cordellier, S. Doutant, F. Mondalisation an-
del des mythes. Paris. Le Decollverte.
Caravaca; 1. (1998) "Hacia una nueva logica de articulacion territorial" Sevilla.
Castells, M (1995): La ciudad infonnacional. Madrid Alianza.
Castell, M. (1996): The rise of the network society. Massachussetts-Oxford, Blackwell.
Castillo, J. (1944). "Distritos y detritus industriales. La nueva organizacion productiva de
Espafia. EURE. Vol XX. N° 60.
Harvey, D. (1985) The urbanisation of capital: Studies in the history and theory of
capitalist organisation. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press.
Hiernaux,D.(1996). "Desigualdades sociales y exclusion en la reestructuracion economica y
territorial de Mexico. La R:ivida.
Chesnais, F. (1994): La mondialisation du capital. Paris, Syros.
Delgado Cabeza, M. (1997) Globalizacion. l,Nuevo orden 0 crisis del viejo? .Citado por
Caravaca, (1998).
Dollfus, O. (1997) La mondialisation. Paris. Presses de Sciences Po.
Golte, J. (1980). "La racionalidad de la organizacion Andina". IEP. Lima.
Kervin,B. "La econ01nia campesina en el Peru". Centro de estudios rurales Andinos
Bartolome de las Casas. Cusco.
Levitt, T. (1983) The globalisation of markets, Harvard Business Review
Veltz, P. (1966) Mondialisation Villes et Territoires. L'economica d'archipieL Paris
P.D.F.
89
10
Urban-Spatial Transformations in Qllito (1990-1998)
Diego Carrion
Presentation
This paper presents the general design of the research concerned with the urban-spatial
transformations occurred in Quito in the decade of 1990. The study is part of the PhD
programme co-ordinated by Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture, in the
frame of the Alfa-Ibis Programme.
Quito and its recent urban..spatial changes

In the case of Quito, as it happens in the main cItIes of the country and of Latin
America, important transformation processes of the urban structure have occurred in recent
years. These changes have taken place in an economic, social and political context marked
by the deepening of the market economy, State refonn and modernisation, and econonlic
and cultural globalisation.
Quito is the Capital of Ecuador and the key regional centre of the centre-north part of
the Andean region of the country; it concentrates a series of functions, investments,
services, and a long-dated historic tradition. It is located in a mountainous Andean
environment with a very special topographic scenario. The city is one of the main
migratory attraction poles of the country and has experienced a significant demographic
growth -3 % per year in the last two decades-. More than 1.5 millions inhabitants live in the
territory of the Quito Metropolitan Area (QMA), which represent about 12 % of national
total, 16% of the BAP; 30% of the manufacturing industry and more than 50% of public
services are located in Quito. 1
The area of the city has widely expanded as a result of the creation of the Quito
Metropolitan District in 1993. 2 By 1990, the urban area had approximately 14.000 Has.
(1.100.000 inhabitants); currently, the whole QMD has approximately 42.000 Has.
(1.500.000 inhabitants), constituting a sort of disperse city. This territorial restructuring has
expanded the possibility for location of residential areas, industries and services (education,
recreation, and commerce). At the same time, it has incorporated to the metropolis a wide
range of export-oriented agricultural activities (flowers, fruits, vegetables, dairy products,
etc.).
91
In order to accompany expansion and land use changes in the disperse city, public works
like road's infrastructure and services (potable water, electricity, sewage and telephones)
have stimulated the development of new areas.
In the compact city important changes also have occurred as a result of urban
deterioration, presence of "modern" activities, low income popUlation increase, urban
infrastructure works, and changes in land use regulations.
These changes have happened in that sort of social dualism in which two overlapped
cities simultaneously coexist: the formal and modern city, and the informal and traditional
city.
Basic questions
The study will concentrate attention to seek answers to the following questions:
• l Which have been the main urban-spatial transformations of Quito and its hinterland
(Quito Metropolitan Area) between 1990 and 1998?
• l Which are the main factors that have influenced such transformations and might be
explanatory of the process?
• l Which are the possible future tendencies of the urban-spatial organisation of Quito?
Main Hypothesis
Between 1990 and 1998, Quito and its nearby region, have experienced important urban-
spatial transformations. On the one hand, the compact city historically conformed in the
valley of Quito has evolved towards a conurbation or disperse city that has incorporated
several towns and agricultural areas. 3 On the other hand, in the compact city have occurred
changes in land uses and in the form of organisation and functioning of urban activities.
These urban-spatial transformations might be a result of several simultaneous concurrent

processes: 4
• Urban planning in Quito has had a significant influence in the urban form and physical
characteristics of the city. 5 However, planning processes have been carried out with a
great doses of technical will, but subordinated in practice to post factum situations. 6
• Formal sector real-estate agents have taken the initiative with respect to the location of
their investments and developments. Speculative strategies have been widely practised,
especially in tern1S of land reserves (vacant land) and of the location of attraction poles
for stimulating new developments.
• Land and housing needs of low-income families have created pressures that have not
been satisfied by the formal way. Housing solutions for low income groups have been
mainly developed through three informal alternatives: a) overcrowding in consolidated
barrios of central areas; b) consolidation of barrios located in urban edges (with an
increase in renting); and c) housing developlnents in new barrios located in the
periphery of the compact city and in the suburban areas of surrounding valleys of the
Metropolitan Area.
• Public works, carried out basically by the Municipality, have been conceived and
designed to benefit the n10dern zone of the compact city (in the North) and the
development of land in the disperse city.
92
Diego Carrh5n
Methodology
a. Period of study
Research will focus attention on the time period of 1990 to 1998. 7 1990 will be the
starting point for comparison with present situation (1998).
b. Area of study
The study will deal with the territory defined by the Quito Metropolitan District Law
(QMDL), passed in 1993.
c. Main evidences of urban-spatial changes

Research analysis will compare geographically referred information for the two moments
of the study, in relation with the following issues:
• Land uses
• Road infrastructure
• Basic infrastructure (potable water, electricity, sewage and telephone systems)
• Land tenure (large properties)
• Land prices
• Population density
• Population socio-economic situation
• Buildings condition
• Urban centralities
d. Empirical explanatory evidences of urban-spatial changes

Another level of explanatory analysis will deal with geographically referred information
in order to establish changes in the territory, in regard with:
• Urban policies and plans
• Urbanisation and building regulations
• Land market operation (land prices and real estate transactions)
93
11 Public Investments and projects (large projects in roads and transport,

infrastructures, potable water, electricity, telephones, parks and recreational
spaces)
11 Private investlnents and projects (large projects)
11 Special urban poles (supermarkets, commercial centres, )
11 New residential patterns (gated communities, country clubs, "condominios",
etc.)
11 New urban centralities
Other explanatory level of analysis will take into account social, economic and political
information:
11 Characteristics of the city economy (in relationship with national economics)
11 Characteristics of local politics (in relationship with national politics)
• Population characteristics (demography, practices, values, ideology, social
organisation)
11 Institutional arrangelnents and urban managelnent mechanisms
• Structure and agents involved in urban policies' decision-making processes
Quito. Regimen Distrital del Suelo. Propuesta, MDMQ-DGP, Quito, 1996, p.15.
2 Since 1993, when National Congress passed the "Ley del Distrito Metropolitano de
Quito" (LDMQ), a new legal framework operates for Quito and its region. This law
creates a special administrative district for the Capital of the country and means an
important change towards decentralisation and de-concentration of city management.
3 Correspond to the valleys of Tumbaco-Cumbaya, Los Chill os , Calderon and Pomasqui-San Antonio de
Pichincha
5 In the early forties physical planning processes and plans start with the lones Odriozola's Plan (1942,
3.376 Has.), and follow: "Plan Director de Urbanismo" (1967, 7.355 Has), "Plan Quito" (1982, 8.992
Has) and the schemes of "Plan del Area Metropolitana" (1993, 19.014 Has) and its "Plan de Uso del
Suelo" (1995) and the proposal of "Plan Estrategico de Quito 2020" (1998, 42.472 Has.).
6 Guidelines and regulations for territorial organisation and land use generally speaking have acted to
legitimate de facto situations or to satisfy economic and political pressures. Difficulty has been to establish
well in advance land use regulations and to have adequate control mechanisms.
7 If required, historical data will be used to explain phenomena occurring during the research period.
94
T
Environment, Sustainable Urban orm

and
Social Issues
11
Metropolitan Planning and Civil Society Participation:

Developing Urban Governance Relations in Salvador
Mario Lungo
Abstract
This paper explores possibilities of building urban governance relations at the
metropolitan level in Central Am,erica countries, more specifically in the San Salvador
Metropolitan Area. It examines how demDcratic urban governance can be accomplished
only through hoth municipal and m,etropolitan participatory planning and consensus
building processes anu)ng key actors. The main problems are the absence of a new
conception about the metropolitan management institutions and the lack of a metropolitan
social identity, heinl-? the construction of the relations between the State and civil society at
m,etropolitan level and to attempt an urban socially sustainable development.
1. Introduction 1
Participation of civil society in urban planning processes has been posed as a key
element for the success of many cities' development plans (Friedmann, 1987; Borja, 1995),
and therefore for the construction of democratic urban governance relations. This article
examines the participatory processes on the fonnulation of the two Metropolitan
Development Plans elaborated for San Salvador Metropolitan Area (SSMA), specially the
last one, known as PLAMADUR, presented at the end of 1997.
In contrast with the predominant conceptualization, governance is understood here as

the relation between State and civil society (McCarney, Halfani and Rodriguez, 1995).
Theoretically then, civil society's participation is indispensable to build democratic urban
governance relations. They constitute the combination of multifaceted and contradictory
relations around city development, where the local actors occupy the central place and truly
take on their role once they are able to break out the subordination they have been
historically subjected to the central government and the organizations that act principally at
the national level.
Current city government actions in different domains such as: econon1ic and
environmental development; safety and justice; social - cultural programs; appointment of
professionals to executive positions; promotion of public/private associations; improvement
97
Globalization, Urban Poml and Governance
of communication based on the use of new technologies; and increased citizen participation
through concerted actions, widen the opportunity of social participation on urban affairs and
constitute spaces for negotiating and constructing consensus building processes (Botja,
1997).
The complexity of metropolitan development originated from a multiplicity of tasks

that inevitably rendered a multiplicity of institutions. Additionally several municipalities
compose the metropolitan area. Establishing a metropolitan perspective in thus an arduous
process but in some cases municipal governlnents' associations have realized effective
metropolitan governance in the provision of basic services such as water supply, sanitation
or transport without having to enact fonnalized metropolitan governments
(Sivaramakrishnan, 1996).
Then, the challenge for Inetropolitan cities -that tend toward the functional organization
of a discontinuous and asymmetrical territorial area- is to find the urban development
issues (environment, poverty, violence or globalization process), which combine both
municipal and metropolitan interests, and to establish participatory mechanisms for actors
who work at different levels (neighborhood, city, metropolitan, national, international),
In El Salvador the role of civil society organizations in urban development is being

broadened since the econonlic adjustment programs and central government's
disengagement from the inlplementation of social policies has favored, amongst others, the
transfer to local governments of some services and participation of non-governmental and
private sectors in social programs. In addition, community based associations have greater
levels of participation in local decision making processes.
Until this moment, negative factors have hindered the achievement of urban
governance in SSMA. First, the litnited degrees of decentralization due to the resistance on
the part of central government to delegate decision making power to municipalities. So far,
decentralization has not given full financial autonomy to local governments, becoming a
formal administrative de-concentration and central government then continues to have
strong powers. Second, technocratic urban planning continues to be dominant, as plans are
the result of the work of small groups of technicians to WhOll1 actors should participate only
at an informational level. Third, participation in development planning is also limited as
"clientelism" remains to be the main way for political parties to relate to the population;
urban development planning at the metropolitan level requires specific mechanisms to
promote participation of relevant actors. And fourth, due to the former reasons, there is a
lack of a metropolitan social identity.
Nevertheless, there are also positive factors that could reverse the negative ones. First
of all, the San Salvador Metropolitan Council of Majors (COAMSS), created by a law of
the National Assen1bly in 1993. It has been active since 1994 and have a regulatory
framework at metropolitan level conducted by its own San Salvador Metropolitan Planning
Office (OPAMSS). This kind of partial metropolitan government has been very useful in
facing problems such as waste tnanagement that surpass local municipal capacities. In
addition, some urban problems such as water provision, public transportation and citizen
security have a metropolitan scale and could be useful issues in order to build metropolitan
identities and to attenlpt an urban socially sustainable development.
98
M ario Lungo
Theoret.ical Approach: Urban Planning And Social Participat.ion, Building Urban

Governance Relations
Until the seventies, dOlninant urban planning conception emphasized the big scale, the
technical rationality and the master plans' efficiency. It was earlier and recently criticized,
since in developed countries the economical and social planning have few supporters (Lee,
1973; Harvey, 1989; Ell in , 1996), and also in underdeveloped countries (Browne, 1973;
Rolnik, 1993), external-made models have been strongly discredited.
This presupposed the existence of a centralized state capable of controlling market

deviations and guiding the city private investments through a desired Inodel. In this option
social participation has little relevance.
Long before the crisis of the seventies, the import substitution was model exhausted.
The urban planning conception based on that context lost its validity. Notwithstanding, the
city continue growing in an apparent anarchy, responding to the different interest, which
are expressions of the various social groups that build and inhabit the city, doing economic,
social, political, and cultural, activities, creating multiple contradictions. This complexity
impedes the finding of common ground in urban planning. The extreme complexity of the
urban processes hinder the acceptance of the diminishing role of the state, since at the
global level there is no confrontation between the State planning and the urban market, just
a changing relation among them.
At the global level, we can notice a change in the middle seventies, which indicates the
end of centralized urban planning ideologies. Since then, planning is related to the physical
infrastructure cOlnponents directly and exclusively linked to low-income population. This
change constitutes an intermediate step toward the configuration of a new urban
Inanagement model, in which the enablen1ent of the Inarket role and the decentralization
process would be its main characteristics.
We find the expression of this change in a very important United Nations document,
published in the next decade and which systemizes 10 years of experience in the impulse of
this newly created vision of approaching urban problelns (UNCHS-HABITAT, 1987).
Noting the conventional planning lilnitations facing the changes that were produced in the
urban field as was illustrated by several studies (new migration flows, increasing poverty
and underground economy), urban planning is conceived as urban management in part, as
is shown by the UNCHS-Habitat document:
"Planning can thus also be seen as a m,anagem,ent tool .. .Despite the many
generalizations regarding the failure of planning, it is an indispensable and powerful tool in
the hands of those institutions that have clearly defined their developnwnt strategies and
have a will to take the lead in the development process" .
In that sense, planning is closely associated with the programming and budgeting in a
concerted action by the public and private sector, and with the decentralization process and
the reassignment of local government functions which are now becoming more prevalent.
Nevertheless, social participation remained to a secondary degree.
99
Within a fiscal crisis context, this new urban planning vision will guide its actions
through aspects not totally attended to before, such as urban infrastructure maintenance and
housing rehabilitation programs. As new financial programs emerged direct public
investments started to be questioned, enhancing local funds raising and the mobilization of
private savings.
In this search the interventions are sectoralized meanwhile they will adapt themselves
to the prevailing economical and political conditions. For example, new interventions are
proposed around urban land, SOlne of them through legal reforms, land uses changes,
cadastre, real-estate modernization; property legalization; etc. The last two will be the most
favored actions as the urban land fill.
These proposals of creating new ways to face urban problems enhance greater
autonomy to community groups and put the accent on democratization, local government
strengthening and the role of civil society. However this proposal still presents two big
limitations. First the execution of many actions are isolated from the development plan that
should gu ide them. Second, the delnands of the urban popular sector atomize, while the rest
of the contradictions are badly controlled. Meanwhile collective action is increasingly
shaped by economical developments and state and civil society action, which was
revitalized during the last two decades (Walton, 1998), is changing the conditions of the
public-private relationship in n1any aspects as in the case of the urban services (Lungo y
Gomez, 1994).
The State, faced with a changing role towards a supporting role, with fewer regulations
and without any investment, tries to organize the information and the communication
systems, to support with training, to strengthen the base organizations, to support the
NGO's role, etc. inside a flexible scheme of planning and implementation of the programs.
The planning does not still belong to the city, it belongs to the human settlements and forms
part of the new development concepts, within which will be configured the new forms of
urban management that responds to the neoliberal model prevailing in the 90" s (Lungo,
1992).
Nevertheless, an urban management where urban planning is not conceived as a set of

tools (plans, progralTIS, laws, etc.) that a priori rules the route that the city should follow
and is established by a selected group of experts that in the best cases just make a previous
consult with some stakeholders2 , demands the construction of new and democratic urban
governance. These relations transform the planning process into a continuous process of
construction of spaces and mechanisms for discussion and concerts in all the levels of city
development, in which all the urban actors are included. This implies the emergence of a
new social citizenship (Jelin and Hersberg, 1997),
However, the early formalization of the mechanisms and spaces of concerts and
discussion should be avoided, because its practice should be conceived as an open process
which promotes inductive thought, anticipative actions, public /private associations and real
institutional coordination. It is necessary to remember that the local government whose
structure belongs to an urban development vision which has already been accepted,
constitutes the best path to the urban institutional obsolescence.
100
Mario Lungo
Table 1
Urban planning approach Social palticipation
Traditional
1. Rigid 1. partial social participation

2. Two options: allowed or forbidden 2. uncoordinated activities
3. Centralized and sectoral 3. isolated actions
4. Separation between public and private
investments
Participative
1. Flexible 1. continuous social participation

2. Regulatory framework adjustable to 2. permanent negotiations
urban changes 3. institutional agreements
3. Decen tralized and coordinated 4. associated proj ects between public and
4. Mixed public and private investments pri vate sectors
But a new urban planning approach including a democratic urban governance position
barely make sense as an instrument to promote sustainable development, which is
understood as compatible with the harmonious evolution of civil society, fostering an
environment encouraging social integration of the culturally and socially different groups,
and improving their living conditions (Pole se and Stren, 1995).
This vision allows for the incorporation of other issues related to urban development
but that does not always have a direct physical expression and is frequently considered in an
isolated way: social exclusion, socio-spatial segregation, social citizenship building, urban
communities and urban identities constitution, etc. Al of these issues, such as urban
poverty, are at the core of urban governance relations and must be incorporated by the new
urban planning approach as well as traditional issues like housing, transportation, urban
services, public spaces and economic development.
Furthermore, the last question: urban econOlnic development must be extended,
specially for the metropolitan cities, to the large issues of urban productivity and city
competitiveness due to the current globalization process that impacts strongly on urban
deve10pmen t at this level.
Without making an accurate analysis of the current globalization process, its many
dimensions and its arguable consequences, it is not possible to elude the need, whatever the
development option that has been chosen, to increase the productivity level of city
economy. Not to do it implies to accept the negative costs of unavoidable globalization,
which inevitably falls on the social excluded and lower-income groups. In order to do it is
necessary to overcome a purely economic vision of competitiveness. To explore this road is
the main goal of this work, which extend previous reflections about these issues. (Lungo,
1993)
Although the departure point is to increase the productivity of the urban economy
(Cohen, 1991), as a needed base to heighten the competitiveness of cities, this includes
other two dilnensions. One is linked to the improvement of the quality of life of the
101
population and the second the construction of new urban governance that is democratically
based.
Graphic 1
PEOPLE'S
LIVING
CONDITIONS
CITY
COMPETITIVENESS
PRODUCTIVITY DEMOCRATIC
OFTHE GOVERNANCE
URBAN ~--------------------~URBAN
ECONOMY RELATIONS
102
Maria Lungo
Around these three dinlensions another question with regards to urban development has
been discussed in the urban development literature: poverty, social exclusion, the social-
spatial segregation, the technologic backwards, the environmental degradation, social
participation, decentralization, local development, etc. But other questions also exist which
are not apparent at first glance: the current social structure and the new urban identities of
the social actors that build the city daily. Competitiveness embraces multiple and complex
relations that are articulated by these social actors around the three formerly described
dimensions.
We believe that it is not feasible to take a one-dimensional approach to cope with the
set of issues formerly quoted. This is not possible both from the analytical and from the
policy formulation point of view. Several poverty reduction actions have failed because of
reliance on such an approach. This failure has been recognized by international cooperation
organizations (Ayres, 1997; Minujfn y Bustelo, 1997), The academic world and the social,
political organizations have advanced on holistic and lTIOre integrated approaches, such as
"social vulnerability" (Moser,1996) and social exclusion that incorporates community
practice and social rights, both constitutive elements of social integration and identity
(FLACSO/PRODERE, 1995).
The same occurs with the introduction of a wider understanding of environmental
questions, (Bartone, 1994; Serageldin et al, 1994). They have incorporated risks and urban
disasters in an innovative way, but not yet related to cOlTIpetitiveness (Lavell, 1993). In our
opinion urban development is determine by four components: the popUlation, the physical
support, the activities and the urban management. The relation between them permit the
identification of different relationships between urban development and the natural
environment, such as natural resources exploitation, population concentration, growth
control, land use, social participation in managetTIent, etc.
The study of social participation and decentralization is also changing. It has been
approached from a greater dimension: the urban governance. Urban governance has been
defined as the relation between the State and the civil society and not sin1ply as a
government questions. This condition contributes to change the understanding of the social
participation issues in the management of the city (McCarney et aI, 1995; Lungo, 1998a).
There are still two questions that tTIust have integrated approaches. Both will help to
understand the how to itnprove city competitiveness. Because they present a high degree of
subjectivity they have been kept aside: the new social structures and the new urban
identities which are currently restructuring the Central American cities in the process of
globalization.
In a recent study we stated that the construction of democratic urban governance at
metropolitan level requires not only the existence of an adequate city government and wider
social participation but also the existence of urban identities and in this case strong
metropolitan identities: those that are weak must be strengthened or created where it does
not exist. (Lungo, 1998b).
I This paper is one of the outcomes of the research conducted by Central American Team for GURI's Phase
HI Program, coordinated by Richard Stren. A preliminary version was delivery at the MOST / CAPE
TOWN 1998 Colloquium.
2 Urban stakeholders are not the same than urban actors. The firsts express sectoral and corporative interests;
the seconds are the expression of urban collective interests.
103
12
Plans and Urban Projects in Globalisation
Alvaro Arrese
UrbanTransformations, Projects and Plans

As a result of the globalisation process, cities are experiencing rapid change in central
and peripherial areas. Transformation encourages investment, converting urban
development into an important tool of economic growth. These rapid processes can affect
cities favourably, if they are carried out in a coherent and efficient manner. In this case,
urban conversion comes as a unique opportunity permitting the city to adapt to the new
requirements and urban needs, resolving conflicts and overcoming structural backlogs.
Rotterdam and Barcelona are best examples.
Multiple but partial interventions can act in the opposite direction. These may create
greater disorder and fragmentation in cities inserted within an economic, cultural and social
framework, characterized by the increasing disassociation between the individual and the
society, the instrumental and symbolic universe, the economy and the culture. As Alain
Touraine rightly pointed "our experience is fragmented and the institutional role was
substituted by important .financial organization strategies, techniques and media ... "1.
The transformation is coincident with a discussion that has been questioning for more
than two decades the traditional roles in urban planning and projects. Since the seventies,
Aldo Rossi 2 has renewed the urban form concept emphasizing the construction of the whole
by means of fragments. Also, morphological aspects related to the architectural resolution
of these same fragments. From then on, the "what" and "how" of city architecture became
inseparable. The application of these concepts, which is in no way innocent, during the
eighties and early nineties, outlines two aspects which are particularly polemic:
.. The importance given to the design practice proposals disguises the existing relationship
between programs, econonlical activity, culture and urban form, being the later an
"autonomous" from all conditioning factors.
• The fragmentary accent neglects the relationship between fragment and urban territorial
structure, imposing conditions on its insertion in the whole.
In light of the globalisation process, today we can conclude that the "fragmentation"
concept was particularly functional to those who wanted "to deregulate" urban space. The
defense of the "fragment", called today Partial Plan or Specific Urban Project, was
105
Glabalization, Urban Form and Governance
simultaneous to the offensive against plans' directives. Both appeared antithetical from this
standpoint, which prioritized the sectorial interest of private partners.
Left to it's own fate, econOlnic forces threaten the quality of urban space and will
disrupt the social life. Speculative pressures on land values are found in areas nearby the
limit of saturation, and this becolne particularly critical in the case of cities inserted in
unbalanced development situations, after long decades of backwardness in planning, like the
urban conglomerates of Brazil and Argentina.
Today, all partners tend to demand priorities and order in plans, in recognition to the
regulating role and impulse of government administration, though private partnership is
required 3. This task demands new roles in the urban project and the urban planning.
Simultaneous1 y arises the challenge to find new concepts, tools and the necessary
theoretical support to resolve new problems given that traditional instruments have shown
their incapacity to respond to this new situation.
As architects and town planners, we must analyse in which conditions and in which
lnanner our profession can affect this urban transformation process, in the direction of
reconstructing the urbanity, building places for social life. This general objective, which
constitutes a strong bet of present architecture and urbanism, is intimately related to the
ethical comnlitment of these disciplines, which were born "to contribute to the general
wellbeing" .
Plans and Projects under the new franlework

Plans and projects must complement each other since they cannot be thought of as
autonomous entities under the new framework. There is no such plan that does not
materialise in concrete actions, and there is no large undertaking that can be thought of
beyond the directives arising froIn Strategic or Master Plans. "The end of the classical
territorial planning and the ambiguity of isolated major projects lead to propose a form of
planning suited to the nature (?f interventions corresponding to the new metropolitan or
urban regional spaces"4.
I shall not refer to the Plans and their territorial and urban scales. I think that their
effectiveness is clear by now as well as the need to frame them within the general strategic
guidelines in both scales. It should be added that in the age of globalisation, the territorial
scale has grown to continental leveL However, the different roles that the project can play
in this respect are not very clearly defined.
With the exception of diagnosis, no step of planning can ignore the project. Nor can
urban project ignore planning. But the different methodologies and skills inherent to both
practices segregate their respective practitioners in isolated worlds, which seem to be
inhabited by distinct races. The best urban experiences of the last few years, however, are
the result of a successful combination of both disciplines. These considerations attempt to
contribute to the task of pulling down the barriers separating both worlds, one of them light
and "scientific", and the other dark and unpredictable when seen from one angle. One of
them abstract, rigid and theoretical, the other concrete and real when seen from the
opposite angle.
106
Alvaro Arrese
Science and design are characterised by different thoughts, languages and

methodologies, but the expected results can be evaluated with equal objectivity. Science
refers to universal regularities and design to specific situations to be solved, since each city
constitutes a special case having its own landscape, its own history and its own problems.
These can be studied with the typical rigor of scientific analysis, but their singularity can
only be solved by the synthesis of design decisions.
Design is present in the elaboration of the most general directives of the plans, such as
the organisation of territorial space, and also in the fixation of the most specific objectives,
such as the individual actions that will define the implementation. In the latter, the contours
of public spaces and borders are defined and the same are qualified by design. When the
project is good, the design contributes to quality of life, which is easily perceived by
everyone. As such, design is a tool of planning.
In general, when speaking of urban project, reference is made to a concrete operation,

ignoring other instances in which it acts as feedback for the decision making process in the
field of planning. Let us see these different project instances linked to the development of
the coastal area adjacent to the centre of Buenos Aires. There we shall identify the
following roles:
.. - The Project defining approaches and action lines
• The Project in the elaboration of plans, programs and regulations
.. The Specific Urban Project
.. - The analysis of a SUP at the time of deciding implementation
• - Project alternatives and the analysis thereof
• The Interstitial Project as a correction or complement of a SUP
The Proj ect defining approaches and action lines

In this instance, the project outlines in gross and prilnary lines a proposal that excels
the previously diagnosed urban situation. It's value lies in the radical proposition of some
basic problems, which are raised with elementary clarity, showing that the same can be
reverted through concrete actions. It also identifies some of these actions from its specific
perspective and proposes a design. Such is the "elementary character" of the solution that
can almost always be described by brief phrases in the form of slogans. The proposal of
Louis Kahn for downtown Philadelphia in the late "50s and early "60s can be framed
within this category. It was concentrated in the organisation of the urban circulation flows,
in reconciling scales and uses. The slogan that summarises it can be stated as follows: "The
autonlObile is a necessary component of the modern city. The problem lies in harmonising
within the urban space, its rhythnls and .flows with those oJ pedestrians". This novel
approach to the city-automobile relationship was later incorporated by urban planning.
The internal adjustment of the project in this instance does not overcome the urgencies
of the first attempts, since it puts aside aspects referred to the effective in1plementation, as
if utopia were its ultimate vocation. But the radicality and accuracy of the basic lines of the
approach and the force of its images continue to shed seduction, claiming the need to
establish starting points that differ from habitual ones to reach new goals. This can explain,
beyond the limitations described, the long-term success of some of these visions. Success
must be thought, beyond the literal implementation of the proposed actions, in their feeding
107
Glabalization, Urban Form, and Governance
the city's collective images and the sense and direction provided to subsequent approaches,
redefining the ultimate goal of urban planning for such city.
"Buenos Aires gives its back to the R(o de la Plata, its very raison d' etre. This
situation must be reverted, having the Cite des A.ffaires face the river". This could be the
verbal slogan that summarises the four terms of the equation proposed for Buenos Aires by
Le Corbusier in his 1929 journey 6. It refers to the strategic positioning of the city with
respect to its territory in production and landscape terms. Later developed in his 1938
Regulator Plan 7, it was never applied with the pristine purity conceived by the author.
However its first three terms nourished all the discussions and plans on the area during the
seven decades that followed its elaboration. The fourth, corresponding to the location of the
Cite des Affaires, suffered a slight displacement in the Catalinas Norte operation,
implemented by the Regulator Plan of Buenos Aires in the sixties, and reappeared in its
original position in the urban recovery of Puerto Madero. Although the filling of the
Ecological Reserve now prevents the direct relation between the towers and the river, the
use of the Reserve as a public park not only does not render the original proposal
ineffective but also confirms it in its own objectives.
The Project in Plans, programnles and standard rules formulation

The project isn't a fatal result of the plans, but an instrument to define them,
constructing new scenarios. It is, therefore, a tool for the elaboration, or internal cooking,
of Plans and projects, allowing spatial evidence of the pursued objectives, operations in
which scale and impact will be taken into consideration, etc. The project performs in this
step the same role as the model in the human sciences: a scale simulation practice, which
allows the validation of certain hypothesis, inscribed in a defined framework. The social
sciences model has two basic components: a hard and unmodifiable nucleus, supported by
theory, and a flexible periphery, which admits different adaptations.
In a proposed analogy, the nucleus of the Urban Project would be defined by the
theoretical premises, the general objectives and directions of plans and the urban structure
in which the problem to be solved is inserted. The periphery would be constituted by
particular programlnes, the different alternatives, the resolution of fragments and their links
with the structure. The projectual instance in this stage turns visible the spatial extension of
some proposals, and constitutes an essential tool to make decisions when elaborating plans,
programmes and standard rules.
The Specific Urban Project

It is the one that corresponds to a concrete operation, overtly not originated in a Plan.
In this case, the project owing to the synthesis and determination of its elements- has the
clear virtue of Inaterialising the future for ordinary people, showing that the prospect of a
better future is possible and that sllch future can be made concrete in a circumscribed
operation. Should the latter be successful, it shall induce transformations in the
neighbouring area, a fact that may no comprise ordinary citizens, but the provisions of the
Plans must be taken into account. This is the reason why, among other things, the Specific
Urban Project can not be separated from Planning. It is the engine of the transformation
thought by a responsible planning, which shall lead to future actions and clearly makes
evident the general outlines of the Plan in tenns of quality of life. A good project must
"materialise" in a precise manner such expectations.
108
Alvaro Arrese
The ongoing works in Puerto Madero and Retiro belong to this category and were
preceded by several attelnpts of a similar type. Aimed at the recovery of areas characterised
by obsolete infrastructures, located in the very heart of the city, these works were the result
of long discussion processes and formulation of programs that ended in two national
competitions of urban planning proposals. Although these were not framed within any
specific plan, they responded to the general outlines of previous plans. A careful planning,
conducted by players of previous instances, permitted the responsible development of both
actions within a general framework that was not favourable to the development of such
responsibilities.
The Proj ect analysis at the tinle to decide construction

From the analysis of a Specific Urban Project shall result the construction or ruling
out of a certain operation. We can take as an example the official project of Puerto Nuevo
enlargement 8. The port has changed his cargo role from silo to containers. The scattering
of warehouses throughout the city jams its streets with the transport of empty and full
containers. National authorities are managing a project to improve the Puerto Nuevo" s
access, as well at its mooring, loading and storage capacity, and to incorporate an urban fill
of 270 hectares on the northern limit of the Central Area as a result of the dredging and
deepeni ng of access.
We can make objections to this project, related to the rigid nucleus of the problem:
• Are containers port and central activities of a metropolis that has 12,000,000
inhabitants, compatible at the end of the 20-century?
• Which are today the best relations between city and port, given the news spatial
requirements of the port function and the infrastructure needed?
.. Which is the best location of this activity with the respective city and port development?
.. Is it possible to produce new urban developments linked to an urban corridor on the
verge of saturation and of difficult enlargement?
Some other objections will appear of the plan vision and the study of form
conditioners:
.. The project establishes the dilnension of the proposed land fill and permits comparison
of this area with the modest port enlargen1ent
ID The greater infill area will be devoted to urban, non-port related uses, and speCUlation
• The New Port will be confined and its port cup will be stagnated
.. The railway connection of the new port areas will be complicated by topological reasons
.. Similar difficulties pose its connection with the Buenos Aires -La Plata highway
ID The Northern Dock (Darsena Norte), view from the city, will be result without his
water horizon
ID Etc, etc, etc.
Questions emerge when analysing the problem. Certitudes emerge when considering
the project, facilitated by the precision of the project's tools.
Alternative projects and the analysis thereof

Once an action is defined, the con1parison of the different project alternatives permits
to refine the decision-making process. In the light of comparative analysis, the final
alternative is selected or else all of theln are ruled out, and a new one is outlined. The
precision of tools and docUInents of the project allows an objective comparison of costs,
109
Glabalization, Urban Fonn and Governance
urban behaviours foreseeable future scenarios resulting from the materialisation of each
al ternati ve, etc.
The comparison of alternatives is a useful tool at the time of finding solutions to very
specific problems, i.e.: potential tracing of a highway or subway, opting between different
densities and form occupation of an area, etc. In the case involved, the alternative traces of
the Buenos Aires-La Plata Highway and its different modalities (in viaduct, trenches,
ground level) are insufficient for illustration purposes. This part is indivisible from the
coastal urban corridor, which must be complemented at metropolitan level. It should be
relTIarked then, that the public exposition was incomplete9, (not having contemplated the
viaduct alternative) and not conductive since alternatives with different territorial scopes
were compared.
The Project in this research

It refers to the design of remaining areas, or assigned to pending infrastructures,
resulting urban interstices and vacant areas. The East and West borders of Madero Port
development correspond to these categories. The Ecological Reserve is a 330 hectares
in fill , initially made to expand Central Area, which public use is affected by access
restrictions. The highway should relate metropolitan North and South sectors with the Port.
It was projected as a viaduct, now interposed between the existing city and new developed
areas. Both areas are essential in the relation Riverside landscape Central Area. In the
past, the riverfront was one of its borders.
As other riverside cities, Buenos Aires presents a semicircular shape and semi-
concentric structure. The centre of the structure is defined by its foundational core,
concentrating activities and central specialised equipment of a 12 million inhabitants
metropolis. A vehicle corridor, parallel to the old riverside, defines its diameter permitting
silTIultaneously the North-South circulation and the transversal city-river relationship. Given
the projects under construction, it is foreseen that the corridor lTIUst try to respond the
dilemma between concentration and urban congestion. The Coastal Motorway will
complement the corridor at territorial level, it must live together with valuable built
surroundings and should allow the integration of the new areas without obstructing the city-
coast relationship. It should simultaneously be a highway, with no need for camouflage.
With regard to the Ecological Reserve, its use as a public green space is imperative,
overcoming the current restrictions and allowing a contact between the heart of the city and
the riverside landscape.
From this description of the problelTI, appears the challenge that states theory and
design. It refers to the articulation between fragments and an inevitable net distribution, its
intervals and transitions, cuts and trilTIming of the urban web, to design as an urban park
the riverfront and the configuration of urban places as a result of these operations. Also, the
design of the viaduct as a substantial urban project component, which should not be left
only in the hands of road engineers. Its design should take care of this, and it therefore
makes no sense to consider the COlTIpOnent separate from the form.
The cases of interconnection and compatibility of different urban operations, call for to
study and proposing in which conditions and in which forms the transformation process of
the city of Buenos Aires coastal corridor and adjacent areas will be materialised and in
110
Alvaro Arrese
which conditions and forms the riverside landscape will be rediscovered for the city and its
inhabitantslo. That is to say elaborate a project that materialise these ideas. The urban
project implies, in this approach, a research in itself, related not only to the spatial
organisation of specific needs, but also to the internal management of its own tools and
procedures. Simultaneously, the project builds up and materialises its own theory. It will be
the object of this research to constitute in a theoreticaltTIodel this elaboration.
Notes
1 A. Touraine l,Podremos vivir juntos? ~ Mexico-Buenos Aires, Fondo de cultura economica, 1998
2 A.Rossi. La arquitettura della citta~ Barcelona, G. Gili, 1971
3 J.BOI:ja. Planes Estrategicos y Proyectos Metropolitanos, Barcelona, 1997
4 J.BOIja. idem
5 L.Kahn.Plan para Filadelfia 1958-62, Louis Kahn Obra Arquitectonica y Urbana, Barcelona~ G.Gili,1976
6 Le Corbusier. Precisions, Chartres, Les Imprimeries Laine, 1930
7 Le Corbusier. Plan Director para Buenos Aires 1938, Buenos Aires, La arquitectura de hoy, Quillermo
Kraft, 1947
8 SubsecretarIa de Puertos y VIas Navegables. Proyecto de ampiiacion del puerto de Buenos Aires, 1998
D. Rivas Goity Dragado y medio ambiente Dictamen referido a la ampliacion del puerto de Buenos Aires,
1998
Suarez Odilia Ampliacion del puerto de Buenos Aires Apreciaciones urbanIsticas FADU UBA 1998
Beliz Gustavo Ampliacion del puerto de Buenos Aires Una obra faraonica e inexplicable, El Observatorio
Urbano, Buenos Aires, 1998
H. Meyer De Stad en de Haven Uitverij Jan van Arkel Utrecht 1996
9 Buenos Aires-La Plata Highway. Alternative Projects Exposition. Central Society of Architects SCA
Planning Commission, Buenos Aires, 1998
Fundacion Argentina Siglo XXI Estudio de transito en el area Retiro y Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires
1995
10 A.Arrese Design concepts for restmcturing Central Areas in the context of globalisation. Buenos Aires
and the Rio de la Plata. Ibis Network 1998
D.Kullock PoHtica y realidad urbana en Buenos Aires Impacto y compatibilidad de los proyectos urban os
en gestion, AREA n02, pags 33 a 42, Buenos Aires, 1995
R.Burgess, M.Carmona and T. Kolstee The challenge of sustainable cities, Zed books, London, 1997
111
\
\
,-
\
/
!
1. Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area.
112
Alvaro Arrese
Buenos Aires Central Area

and Projects
1~ Madero Port
2- Olympic Village
3· Tandanor
4- Retiro Project
5· New Port Enlargement Project
6- Buenos Aires - La Plata Coastal
'- Motorway
/ ~ 't~ ' .. '. 7- Ecologic Reserv
2. Buenos Aires Central Area. Project in Course
113
3. Le Corbusier's proposal (1929) I
114
Alvaro Arrese
Madero Port
4. Puerto Madero, an Specific Urban Project
115
Globalizarion, Urban Form and Governance
5~' vi~w from Central Area to Puerto Madero~ I
116
Alvaro Arrese
6. Two Alternatives to Buenos Aires- La Plata Highway
1. Between Puerto Maderos and Central Area

2. Crossing Ecologycal Reserve connecting New Ports enlargement
117
Globalization, Urban F()}m and Governance
..
...
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SUPERFICIE: 2.700.000 m2
VOLUMEN: 16.2.00.000 m3
7. New Port Enlargement Project
118
13
Sustainable Urban Form: Environment and Climate

Responsive Design.
Silvia de Schiller
Introduction
The built environment has an important function to fulfil, creating comfortable living
areas where human activities can be performed successfully, protected from the undesirable
impacts of the natural environment, while taking advantage of favourable external
conditions. In doing so, the built environment is, in turn, modified as a result of a large
nun1ber of cumulative interventions. Technological development and higher expectations of
living standards have widened the gap between the quality of artificial indoor conditions
and natural outdoor conditions with extensive use of installations for artificial conditioning
without changing design principles and practice (8).
GlobaIisation of technology and design.

The building skin, a high-tech product independent of structure and installations,
responds to international standards with disregard of place, climate and people. So, it can
be argued that this trend is based on non-environmental premises: it 'compensates' for local
conditions (5) while creating similar artificial conditions world-wide. In this respect, the
key building features, perhaps the most potent symbol of the globalisation of design trends
in the built environment, include artificial conditioning, with high energy demand,
centralised control, excessive glazing, artificial ventilation, thin skin with low thermal
mass, lack of contact with adjacent outdoor areas and few intermediate spaces between the
exterior and the interior. These exterior and intermediate spaces mitigate climate impacts
and provide useful outdoor living areas (5). The visual impact of global architectural trends
and the introduction of new building technologies also affect the building form and urban
tissue.
Consequently, the gap between indoor and outdoor conditions widens and buildings
beCOIne increasingly self contained in order to maintain the artificial climate created
indoors. It is considered that this not only leads to no or only visual interaction with the
surroundings but also neglects beneficial socio-econolnic aspects of intermediate spaces,
without taking advantage of their role in the moderation of microclimate and the motivation
of outdoor urban activities (5).
Buildings account for a large proportion of the total energy demand, equal to the
industrial sector in the industrialised and semi-industrialized countries (l0, 13). Much of this
119
Globalization, Urban Fornl and Gouvernance
energy, used in heating, cooling and lighting of buildings, relates to the design of building
envelopes. This energy use not only affects the total consumption of fossil fuels and the
related atmospheric emissions, but also contributes to the peaks of energy demand and the
need for expensive additional generating capacity (10).
The impact of urban form.

Building design and urban form affect the energy demand and the thernlal impact of
the built environment, which are in turn highly dependent on the initial design decisions
(6). Therefore, high energy demand and consumption are not isolated problems; on the
contrary, they raise serious concern in relation to the decreasing capacity of the non
renewable resources and the grave iInplications imposed on the environnlent (10,13).
Most of the current tendencies of change within urban areas are likely to produce an
increase in undesirable modifications of the urban microclimate, such as:
11 increased building densities, with higher internal gains and heat production in buildings,
11 decreased vegetation, both ground cover and foliage, reducing humidification, filtering
of dust and shade,
11 increased building heights, with longer shadows and increase of wind speed at
pedestrian level, increased building depth, with requirements for artificial lighting,
refrigeration and ventilation,
• increased absorption of solar radiation due to a decrease of the average urban albedo,
• increased thermal capacity of the urban surface, leading to prolonged higher
temperatures in summer evenings,
11 less outdoor activity and increased indoor space use with higher energy demands,
11 increasing expectations of c01nfort, leading to greater use of energy,
11 extensive urban growth with increase energy use and pollution for transport,
11 larger paved areas to provide parking spaces and support vehicular transport (6).
To counteract this trend, the impact of climate can be positively modified by

appropriate use of design resources and strategies that affect urban microclimates and
indoor comfort, such as building form and compactness, density, dimensions of outdoor
spaces, characteristics of building envelope, vegetation and ground cover.
The changing context.

The scale and characteristics of the urban tissue as well as the design of individual
buildings affect the quality of the urban microclimate, which also modifies the conditions in
buildings, the energy consumption and the effect on global warming (16, 17). In recent
years, there has been a growing interest in the field of urban microclimate studies (6) and
urban thermal comfort, partly on account of the links with energy use and environmental
impact at local, regional and world scale (2). This is mainly due to:
11 The growing concern for global warnling (l, 15) cOITlbined with rapid economic
globalisation processes and their related international trends (6), while contrasting
'control of pollution against strong econoInic pressures' (10).
11 The need to incorporate sustainable principles into urban design training and
practice in order to reverse this trend, now currently recognised, which claims for an
'ecological approach to human settlements' (11). Much of the work on thermal comfort
and urban microclimate has been analytical (1), determining the relationships between
variables and the magnitude of the possible changes that can be detected. There have
120
Silvia de Schiller
been fewer studies of the conceptual understanding of the principal actors whose
decisions affect urban microclimate and thermal comfort in the urban environment (2,
6, 15).
• The need to develop evaluation methodologies to provide direction for the design and
implementation of urban development (8, 15), as there are few studies on the transfer of
concepts and knowledge to professionals to ensure that design decisions take into
account the impact of the physical design on urban microclimate and thermal comfort
(6, 7, 14).
• The recognition that globalisation processes have negative impacts on the urban
tissue in terms of the quality of the built environment as well as the morphological
implications on living conditions (3, 13). As economic development accelerates and
energy use intensifies, climate variables become increasingly necessary for urban design
to address them (5, 8, 17).
A base for action.

Present studies are focused on the implications of urban development in relation to this
international trend of technology and design on the building and urban form as the
multiplication of the effects is promoting unsustainable environments (2,6,15,17). Current
activities are mainly concerned with the assessment of the environmental impact of
buildings while measures to encourage the rational use of energy, both at the construction
as well as the operation costs, are under consideration and study (1,2,11).
Modifications of these factors can have a positive effect on:

• The heavy dependence on energy consumption at the building scale, which is already
producing fragmented urban forms, openly exposed to climate (5,17). The argument
towards compactness of urban forms will be confronted with effectiveness of compact
building forn1 in terms of energy efficiency. In this context, the quality of urban design
through 'vitality, variety, pern1eability, legibility and robustness', a category developed
by the Joint Centre for Urban Design, will be considered in relation to local climate
conditions to ensure positive environmental response.
• The thermal performance of buildings in terms of energy demand, which negatively
affects the urban environment while increasing global warming (2,15), Local impacts of
this trend towards the effect of globalisation in the built environment are often under
estimated and valued, while parallel conflicts in cultural and economic spheres have a
higher profile (3). These impacts are also related to temporal and spatial scales,
therefore, the importance of consolidating urban fabrics which successfully respond to
local conditions with minor effects to the environment (8,9).
• The town planning scale, as 'sustainable development' will influence density, urban
form and infrastructure to allow flexibility, econolny of resources and a direct response
to the needs of the local population (l, 8, 15). A strong global trend for new approaches
to the development of the built environment is taking place with a positive reaction
against the effects mentioned previously. A significant intervention in the quality of the
urban fabric would be to develop means of quantifying the negative impacts as a first
step, to provide benchmarks and facilitate operational tools for the improvement of the
urban environment (6,15).
The research starts with the identification of variables, a review of environmental

problems related to clitnate change, global warming, heat island effect and urban
121
microclimate, within the context of current approaches to sustainability, globalisation,

environment, energy, and responsive urban environments. In order to provide a base
for evaluation methodology, aternative approaches are reviewed, including the International
Initiative Green Building Challenge, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the
Green Building Rating System Criteria from the U.S. Green Building Council, as well as
feasibility and effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic
Environmental Assessment (7,14) in Argentina and the Mercosur Region (Argentina,
Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay).
The City of Buenos Aires provides a representative case study of urban areas in
countries with transitional econOlnies, with transfer applicability to other large cities in the
region. At the same time, identification of the phenomena in sub-sectors within the city is
relevant to smaller cities in the process of rapid development.
Measurements on site provide data on the climate factors such as street temperature,
sun access and protection, wind protection or breeze, shade, street canyon proportion,
orientation, sources of humidification (trees, ground cover, soil) on the one hand and
energy consumption in buildings in relation to comfort requirements on the other. The
nleasurements are compared with tests with models on sun, wind and light with the
heliodon, wind tunnel and artificial sky, linking light-heat-wind to urban forms,
complemented by modelling and computer simu1ations of thermal performance and energy
consUlnption. Subjective responses are obtained from surveys based on direct observation,
personal interviews to analyse 'interactive comfort' in buildings and urban spaces, and
camera survey in urban designs.
The results will help to identify adequate indicators and guidelines to develop and test
urban design strategies, with a relevant group of actors, both producers and users, as well
as testing assessnlent procedures for effective imp1elnentation in alternative situations
comparing results with emphasis on the climatic variables and the energy implications
involved that affect the quality of urban life. The analysis of findings and development of
techniques will provide a useful tool for assessing en viron tn en tal impacts, particularly
related to energy and climate, of Inorpho10gical variables.
Conclusions
The identification of key relationships between urban form and environmental impact
is particularly focused on energy and clitnatic factors related to urban design qualities. This
is an essential step to promote environmentally responsive urban tissues in temperate and
subtropical climates in terms of obtaining efficient and comfortable urban forms with
minimum use of non renewable resources to contribute positively to sustainability.
The results provide a frame of reference for analysing urban forms and environnlenta1
impacts in the fields of urban design, environment, sustainable development, climate and
energy. This frame of reference is used to analyse the relative importance of design
variables, climate and energy efficiency. In this context, interactions between elements of
urban design and microclimatic variables are analysed in relation to morphological patterns
of the urban fabric. This analysis will contribute to the deve10ptnent of a methodology to
evaluate the environmental performance of urban form.
122
Silvia de Schiller
It is intended to implement this methodology in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Pollution and energy efficiency are used as indicators related to the quality of the urban
environment to control the impact of increasing private investment and respond to public
concern for sustainable cotnmunity development and economic growth.
This research will contribute to the emerging field of sustainable urban development,
integrating infonnation and trends from the fields of environment, global warming and
energy efficiency in relation to urban design and sustainability and promoting a new body
of knowledge in order to influence current practices while contributing to the debate of
sustainable developlnent.
References:
1. Alphen (ed), 1994. Sustainable urban development: research and experiments, Delft
University Press, Delft.
2. Bitan. A, (ed). 1991. Urban climate, planning and building. Elsevier Sequoia, Lausanne.
3. Burgess. R.• Carmona, M., and Kolstee, T. (eds.), 1997. The chaIJenge of sustainable cities:
neoliheralism and urban strategies in developing countries, Zed Books Ltd, London, UK -
New Jersey. USA.
4. Creswell. J. W.. 1994. Research design, qualitative and quantitative approacher;;, Sage
Publications. London.
5. de Schiller, S. and Evans, J.M., 1998, Rediscovering outdoor living space: design from the
outside in. in Proceedings of Passive & Low Energy Architecture, Environmentally Friendly
Cities, Fernanoes, E. (ed), Lisbon, Portugal.
6. de Schiller. S .. 1998, Managing the urban microclimate: the link between climatic
environment and architectural de'iign, in Proceedings of Second International Conference on
Human-Environment System, Yokohama National University, Japan.
7. Glasson, J., Therivel, R. & Chadwick A., 1994. Introduction to environmental impact
asse'isment, The natural and built environment series, UCL Press Ltd, London.
8. Haughton, G. and Hunter, C., 1996. Sustainable citie'i; regional policy and development,
University of Cambridge Press, UK.
9. Hayward, R. and Mc Glynn, S., (eds) 1993. Making better places, urban design now,
Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.
10. Hodgson, P., 1997. Energy & environment Bowerdean Publishing Company Ltd, UK. (1).
11. Holdgate, M., 1996 & 1997. From care to action, making a sustainable world. Earthscan
Publication Ltd, UK.
12. Jenks, M., Burton, E. & Williams, K., (eds), 1997. The compact city: a sustainable urban
form'?, Routledge, London.
13. Kaya, Y. & Yokobori, K., (eds), 1997. Environment, energy & economy, The United
Nations University Press, UNUP-ll, Tokyo
14. Morris, P. and Therivel, R., (eds), 1995. Methods of environmental impact assessment, The
natural and built environment series, UCL Press, London.
15. Samuels, R. and Prasad, D., 1994. Global warming and built environment, Span.
16. Selman, P., 1996. Local sustainability: managing and planning ecologically sound placer;;,
Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd, London.
17. Steemers, K., Baker, N., Crowther, D., et ai., 1997. City texture and microclimate. Journal of
Urban Design Studies, Vol. 3, University of Grenwich.
123
14
The Decentralization of Housing Finance
Kosta Mathey
Sununary
Mini-credit schemes are being recommended as an efficient Ineans of reducing the
housing problem of the poor in the South, and are increasingly receiving attention by the
big donor agencies: they nicely fit into the broader policies of poverty alleviation. Several
of those schemes have shown to be very successful; some even received international
awards, including the UNCHS Best Practices nomination. However, these remain
individual programs that cover only a tiny minority of the population in need, and there can
be no doubt that the approach has its limitations, too. We do not know how other and less
publicised mini-credit housing schemes perform, whether the intended target groups are
reached, whether replicability is possible without open or hidden subsidies, etc.
This paper proposes an empirically oriented, comparative research to evaluate several
credit schemes in Latin America and to broaden our understanding of the functioning of
those schemes. The proposal envisages two parallel theoretical approaches: First, accepting
that mini-credits represent a viable option for the intended target group if handled correctly,
the shortcomings and successes in the day-to-day practice shall be identified, and
recommendations sought for better functioning. Secondly, the emergence of this kind of
program under present conditions of globalization will be paid special attention. The
underlying question would be whether these progralns have a potential of large scale
replicability and represent an intelligent response to universally dominant politics of
privatization and cuts in social expenditure - or whether the present neo-liberal policy shifts
will eventually erode the basis of still functioning mini-credit programs which often rely on
traditional saving mechanisms.
The impasse in social housing policies

Housing provision requires relatively huge amounts of monetary investment: by
definition this is why poor people are bound to experience bad housing conditions or even
hOlnelessness. Particularly in the countries of the South, where the level of absolute poverty
has dramatically risen over the last two decades, guaranteeing dignant accommodation has
become more difficult at the same rate. Certainly, national governments and, later, the
international community has launched a large variety of projects and programs to improve
housing provision, and the proposed solutioins are commonly known: mass social housing
schemes, housing-and-pension funds (like the BNH in Brazil), housing cooperatives,
revolving funds, self-help programmes, sites-and-services, slum upgrading, reduction of
125
legal building codes and standards. However, in spite of all those efforts, the negative trend
in overall housing conditions could not be reversed and homelessness is still on the increase
(Mathey 1995).
Each of the different approaches has its particular limitations and drawbacks, but
common factors are also noticeable: the sheer size of the housing problem and weak
national economies combined with instable state budgets inhibit massive and widely spread
subsidies which for a long time helped to keep homelessness under control in Europe. The
key question of control over land was rarely addressed. Weak administrative mechanisms,
political opportunism and 'tnalfeasance ' (corruption) often diverted the access to those
schemes to already privileged beneficiaries instead of the indented poor target groups.
Where the poor actually benefitted, their other basic and short term needs were even more
critical and let them eventually sell off their newly obtained houses (or the right to it) in
order to spend the gains in other items.
Mini credits - a new step towards the alleviation of the housing crisis for the poor.
Acknowledging the discrepancy between the high investment cost of housing and the
poor economic situation of large sectors of the population access to credit can be a crucial
factor. Without collateral comlnercial banks usually deny credit, and private money lenders
charge prohibitive interest fees thus not offering an acceptable alternative for the poor.
Where stable communities exist for extended periods, group solidarity, mutual assistance
and non-market type credit arrangements (like the lottery-like savings clubs known in many
countries) may offer some sort of alternative. In other instances, cooperation with the for-
mal finance sector is possible, provided that the latter is flexible enough to depart from
schoolbooks wisdom and collaborates with the communities. Most types of mini-credit and
'alternative' housing finance schemes are characterised by such cooperation.
Current projects of alternative housing finance

Mini-credits are cOlnmonly defined as ranging below the US$ 500 limit, but can be
more in the housing sector. Most small lending progralns for shelter usually promoted by
a local NGO or even the municipality contain more than one element: typically a
combination of credit, saving and (open or hidden) subsidies. They cater for a target group
without easy access to fOrInal bank or government credits, with a typically high percentage
of women. Thus, without such schemes the only 'other' alternative to these people would
be to rely on loan sharks who may charge about 150% and more interest p.a .. Only in few
cases the amount of a mini-credit will be sufficient to pay for a complete new house; more
typical are very modest amounts between 100 and 500 US$ to be used to extend or improve
existing shelter. So far, only in exceptional occasions access to land or provision of
infrastructure (Gaye 1995) are considered. Thus, both the installments and the period of
repayment are foreseeable and better manageable for economically unstable families. Once
the first loan has been repaid, a subsequent (and often bigger) loan may be available:
'progressive loans' correspond with the common progressive house building and
improvement practice in this social context. There is no formal collateral, but usually a
collective or at least a public guarantee exists. Interestingly enough the number of dropouts
tends to be smaller than in the case of formal bank loans: repayment rates near 97% have
been reported (Serageldin 1997: 120), In bigger progralns, the government or an external
funding institution rnay provide a financial guarantee, which makes it easier to obtain the
necessary seed money from a bank.
126
Kosta Mathey
The logistic management of such a scheme tends to remain the responsibility of

professionals working in an NGO or CBO, while the day-to-day handling is increasingly
being transferred to the benefitting communities themselves - or, on the contrary, handed
over to a bank for the actual payment procedures. Second-tier institutions are also becoming
important as a financial intermediary and for networking, lobbying and human resource
training.
Recent experience
Alternative housing finance' in the form of mini-credits corresponds with more
established micro-finance schemes in other sectors. For example, for small and medium
enterprises as well as for agricultural projects the approach has been promoted for about a
decade, and the World Bank has compiled a list of more than a thousand micro finance
lending and assistance institutions worldwide. In fact, several micro finance schemes for
housing have expanded their credit lines to cater for other needs of their clients too, such as
general household items. Examples include the Chilean Building Materials Bank (Rivero
Caray et al. 1995) or the UCDO programme in Thailand (Boonyabancha, 1995; Breden-
beck, 1997; Rivero Carray. et aI, 1995). Similarly, some multi-purpose micro finance
institutions have recently also included housing loans into their operations (i.e. the Grameen
Bank in Bangla Desh).
For this historic reason, there is an ample body of literature available on mini-credits
in general, though most of the titles are conceived as practical guides intended to avoid the
repetition of past mistakes elsewhere (European Commission, 1994; Vincent, 1995, Nelson
et aI, 1995). Obviously, also a number of critical evaluations have been published, though
generally referring to operational rather than political and social aspects (Arossi et aI, 1994;
Schmidt et aI, 1996, 1996a).
Rather than being a new variation of already established mini-credits for small and
medium enterprises or for agricultural production, a second line of origin can be identified
within the housing sector, nalnely the experience of the housing cooperatives in certain
developing countries. Particularly the Turkish 'Kent Coop' tells a success story of the
1980s (Filling er & Ozuekren, 1987) and served as a model for a number of lending
initiatives.
A third, and - in terms of guaranteeing replicability - probably the most interesting

origin of sInall credit schemes are the above mentioned traditional and local saving clubs
for house building and improvements, as they exist in Mexico (Ibarra, 1994) and in many
other countries all over the world.
A first attelnpt to comparatively evaluate alternative housing finance projects in the

developing world originated from a special working group of the Habitat International
Coalition (HIC) which also maintains a database of its member institutions' initiatives in the
field, publishes a newsletter (HIC 1997,1998) and arranged for several seminars on the
subject. A collection of case studies with first results was edited by Cabannes and Mathey
in 1995, and a similar publication including the results of a seminar (with mostly the same
cases) was compiled by Diana Mitlin in 1996. Although both publications have their
limitations particularly because the case studies were written by their own promoters or
operators who tend to be biased and being practitioners may not have much practice in
127
Globalization, Urban Fom1 and Governance
writing scientific papers. Nevertheless some interesting general conclusions could be drawn
from the reports (Cabannes 1995a, Mitlin 1997).
In November 1996, the Columbian NOO Fedevi vienda, in cooperation with the Banco
lnteramericano de Desarrollo (BID, see Marulanda 1997) organized a seminar with other
Latin American Housing NOOs focusing on alternative housing finance. They produced
relatively comprehensive set of proceedings on the event. These include the presented case
studies and a comparative chart - but unfortunately the selection of cases depended on
which institutions were invited and could afford to join. Thus there was an over-
representation of the bigger and well established NOOs, with typically more conventional
financing programs (international or government guarantees, larger loans mostly for a full
house, high subsidy element).
More recently, in February 1997, the World Bank hosted the 'Micro-Finance Summit'
which also covered the subject of housing credits and was connected to the Consultative
Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP), an advisory group on micro-finance and composed of
Inembers from leading donor agencies. The importance of this meeting was to elnphasize
the link between mini-credit schelnes and poverty alleviation policies.
Every coin has two sides

One hypothesis, probably close to many international finance institutions' view, would
suggest that mini-credits can be a powerful tool towards solving the housing problem of the
poor in the Third World. An analysis of the few existing experiences, both more and less
successful, will help to identify and overcome present constraints and bottlenecks in the
model. In certain aspects this assumption is acceptable: there is no doubt that the evaluation
and exchange of different experiences will help individual schemes to function better.
Critical voices, on the other hand, may rightfully remind us that each coin has two
sides. For example, extending the formal credit system into a context where a strong
element of subsistence forms of production (as we can interpret many self-help and self-
build efforts in the informal settlements in the South) still exists, represents yet another
instance of com,m,odtfication (Fiory & Ramirez, 1992). The replacement of local and
traditional savings-and-credit schemes through formal arrangements represent the most
visible instance of corn modification. Certainly, commodification, representing one facet of
globalization processes, can imply real advantages for the affected poor on an individual
base, and allow to take advantage of economic niches and loopholes that always exist. But
it also smoothens and reinforces capitalist forms of production which very likely brings
about a higher degree of exploitation and alienation for the population in the whole. In any
case it will make people more dependend on the labour 'market'.
On a less abstract policy level, one might argue that there is a danger that the institu-
tional introduction of 'tnini credits' for housing are just becoming another excuse for
avoiding more substantial refonns in terms of inconle distribution. Similar as it was the
case with other previously promoted housing policy approaches such as cooperatives, self-
help, sites-and services, slum-upgrading schemes etc., the nurrtber of the homeless poor
nlay well continue to grow in spite of benevolent small and isolated pilot projects which
lack a real potential for replicability. With their inlplicit neo-liberal ideology that denies
state responsibility for guaranteeing the satisfaction of the people's basic needs the credit
schemes suggest that the poor can solve their problenls alone, even if these problems are
128
Kosta Mathey
caused by external (national and international) agents (a consequence of globalization,

again). However, first evidence indicates that the very same neo-liberal policies are
destroying the economic base for the very solution they recommend: In the example of the
once successful mini-credit prograln of PAM (Plan de Ayuda Mutua) in Jalisco, Mexico,
the recent pauperization of the target group swept away the remaining of the their savings
capacity, and the programme collapsed for lack of re-alimentation (Ibarra, 1995 and
personal interview, Nov. 1996). Thus a second, and contrary, hypothesis would suggest
that the initially successful mini-credit schemes will increasingly cease to function for the
poor under the consequences of advancing globalization and pauperization (this does not
exclude the possibility, that they continue to function and become a last resort for the
middle class who looses access to customary public and speculative housing schemes).
Both arguments, to be confirmed or falsified by the research, are similar in so far as

they question that mini credits will provide a mayor breakthrough or even the solution of
the housing problem. The difference is that the first ('technical') view accepts the possi-
bility of a short term improvelnent in the conditions of reproduction for those who can
participate in the programme, whereas the second (' socio-economic') position denies such a
possibility. A possible third (,political') hypothesis considers the possibility of an
improvenlent in the living conditions for the poor in the long run, namely as a result of the
educational opportunities which the organization in a local credit union offers, both for the
individual and for the community as a whole. Better health and education can both improve
job opportunities and strengthen the community's negotiation capacity vis-a-vis the state.
It is true that the 'income generation' as well as the 'empowerment' argument are not
new and has been associated with previous programmes such as self-help etc. before, with-
out becoming a reality on a massive scale. However, different to the situation twenty years
ago, nobody expects a landslide revolution: if the research can prove a success even on a
more limited scope - say for groups of single lTIothers - this would be a meaningful result.
Another possible outcome in terms of 'empowerment' could be to contest a transfer of
decision power from the central and local state towards the neighbourhood in connection
with a credit scheme, particularly for managing its subsidy element. This would be
represent an interesting outcome of decentralization policies (another aspect of
globalization?) - and a realistic one, too, given the recent experiences of neighbourhood-
based municipal budgeting in some places in Brazil, i.e. in Porto Alegre under the name of
orr;am,ento participativo)
A research agenda
To enrich the theoretical debate with empirical evidence the author of this paper has
started a two-year research project focusing on experiences in South America. The above
presented three lines of hypothesis, which are interconnected if not complementary, form
the theoretical backbone. The research questions to be investigated will be associated with
one or several of the named hypothesis:
First superior question:

Do mini-credit schemes offer significant additional housing opportunities for the poor,
and which current constraints must be eliminated to ensure large scale replicability?
129
Subordinate questions:
III Do mini-credit schemes really permit win-win opportunities between capital and the
poor?
.. Which technical support is indispensable for smooth functioning?
III Which is the real cost of operating a mini-credit scheme, and what fees and interest
rates need realistically be charged to cover expenses?
.. How secure are mini credits; how necessary are group collateral and external guarantee
funds?
.. Which additional services (technical assistance, training, building materials supply,
income generation) can significantly improve the functioning of the schemes?
.. Which are the consequences of different relations between loan duration, anl0unt of
credit and family income?
III Under which conditions can the handling of money be transferred to a commercial
bank?
.. How far are traditional saving schemes incorporated or being forgotten in current mini-
credit programs?
III Is there a threshold size for an individual scheIne, and which would be the preconditions
for a larger coverage?
.. Which role play second tier organizatios in practice and which type of schemes benefit
most of it?
.. Is there a competition / conflict with private money lenders?
.. How big is the need for second-tier organizations, and which are the experiences so far?
Second supelior question:

Do tnini-credit schemes reinforce the gap between the rich and the poor if applied
under a neo-liberal policy frame?
.. Which target group can benefit most of mini-credit schemes and why?
III When do subsidies become necessary, and in which relation to savings and credit
elements?
III Which are the most common causes for dropouts and repayment failures?
.. Which differences exist for men and women in getting information, operating the
schemes and benefitting froIn them?
.. In how far can job-generation opportunities be combined with mini-credit schemes - and
how important is the permanent input of unpaid labour (both in administration and
construction)?
III What are the typical consequences of credit obligations on the current household budget
and on lifestyle?
III What do the borrowers mostly use the credit for?
III How do mini-credit schemes relate with other state or municipal housing programmes.
Are they a cheaper substitute or are they complementary.
130
Kosta Mathey
• Third superior question:

• Can mini-credit schemes improve income opportunities and induce social mobilization
of the underprivileged (empowennent)?
• In which instances does the target group organize around other issues rather than for
matters of the loan progratnme itself?
• What is the typical division of labour and responsibility between NGOs, CBOs and the
community?
• In which instance can and should a promoting NGO withdraw its involvement?
(devolution)
• When can a community, which has successfully self-administered a credit scheme, pass
on to self-adlninister its share of municipal budget?
• How good do individual credit clubs network with other groups, and do the established
links continue after the repayment period?
11 Do the schemes include teaching and training opportunities, and how are they being
asessed by the target group itself?
11 How important is the negotiation potential for the comlnunity with municipal and state
institutions?
11 What are the benefits and draw-backs of municipality-promoted mini-credit schemes?
Expected benefits and beneficiaries of the research

In the light of the present and worldwide impasse of efficient low-income housing
policies, small credit schemes represent a major hope both for the affected homeless poor
and for international finance institutions - the latter ones needing to show more socially
positive results of their involvelnent in the South. Most likely these schemes will be further
promoted on a national and global scale over the next years. However, given their
relatively short history and the limited practical experience together with a poor theoretical
base, there is considerable risk that such progralns turn into a another development
I
fashion I and are copied indiscriminately, while other more redistribution oriented
approaches are being neglected. If the mini-credit mechanisms are not scientifically
evaluated in time, the comfortable (but not proven) assumption that self-financing credit
schemes for the poor can function with full cost recovery (Serageldin 1997:121), may prove
unjustified only too late, after years of successless implementation. To sum up and
considering the previously said there are at least two direct beneficiaries which the
proposed research proposes to address:
The underprivileged population in Latin America and other economically poor regions
itself, which is left to search a solution to their individual housing problem under the
present conditions of globalization, may have better argmnents to formulate their demands
towards policytnakers and in dealing with banks. They can better assess their possible
opportunities in slnall credit schemes for the provision of shelter and connected services.
Costly mistakes for the comlnunities and for supporting agencies can hopefully better
avoided with the help of the research results right from the beginning.
Politicians and the international aid community, if honestly willing to find efficient
solutions for the housing problem of the poor, can better assess the possible contribution of
any mini credit programme for shelter they consider to support.
131
Globalization, Urban Forn7 and Governance
Expected theoretical contribution

Furthermore, on a more abstract level, the academic community will benefit by an
enlarged general knowledge on the relationship between globalization, housing, and social
development. The academic debate on housing policies in the Third World has practically
come to a standstill since the late 1980s, when Commodification, Devolution and Self-Help
Housing Policies were the theme of the day. The conceptual vacuum became particularly
visible at the UN Habitat II conference in Istanbul 1996, which many considered a step
back form the first Habitat conference in Vancouver twenty years before. The proposed
research linking a theoretical concept with empirical findings and networking with other
related pieces of research can contribute to a reversal of the described trend.
Possible practical outconles

Assuming the research will conclude with meaningful results, it may eventually
influence the approach to housing provision by international development cooperation
institutions as well as by national and municipal agencies. At the same time - relying on a
bottom-up approach - the design of training modules on alternative housing finance (for
interested CBOs and local c01umunity leaders) may be a useful follow-up initiative. Several
Universities in Latin America (Universidad de los Andes, Bogota; UFRGS, Porto Alegre;
Universidade Federal de Ceara, Fortaleza) have recently become aware of the need to open
extra-academic careers for civil servants and community leaders.
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134
15
Urban Renewal and Sustainability
Paul Stouten
The city in its current form is the result of a process of urbanisation. West European and
North An1erican cities have grown over a longer period than other cities. Their urban
structure and economic activities have however gone through a radical transformation with
regards to the form that has developed since the end of the 19th century based on
industrialisation. The urban problems have dramatically increased because of radical
urbanisation since that time. At national and global level the change and increase in
economic activities have led to a transformation of cities and urban regions and the changes
in production, employment and distribution of goods as well as public and private services
have caused changes in spatial patterns and social conditions (Fainstein et aI, 1992). The
increase and changes in the economic activities within cities may have led to
decentralisation of production and inhabitants within urban regions, but this has gone hand
in hand with new concentrations in the central areas of cities of mostly financial services
and service provision aimed at the production, control functions, innovation centra and new
markets serving new sectors within the urban population (Sassen, 1991). To understand the
complexity of social contradictions and environmental issues, not only the economical and
technical dimensions have to be consider but also the social dimensions. These dimensions
are necessary to gain insight into a level that fits between separate buildings/projects and
the city in its total context.
Because of industrialisation and changes of industrial processes there are signs of a rapid
increase in urban concentrations and of a growing world population at global
level (Bartelmus, 1994). Urban growth and sustainability have become important issues in
political and social debates. Different views on the quality and damage to nature and the
environment as conditions for economic growth are central in this matter. In the
Netherlands regular contradictions and conflicts between several governmental departments
occur in the media when decisions have to be made about infrastructural projects which
have a large impact. Natural resources that are used for econon1ic growth and the
stimulation of and strive towards reaching higher levels of technological progress and the
priority of consumption growth causes stress between the production of urban space and
nature and the environment. The relationship between the production of space on one hand
and nature and the environment on the other hand has not been dealt with in its full
complexity. The views of the ecological movement(s) are often translated in a form of anti-
urbanism. The consequence of this is, according to Harvey, that insights in urban processes
135
have not been strongly integrated in ecological analyses (Harvey, 1996). According to
Harvey, the process of urban development has the following characteristics:
• processes are regarded in a certain sense as more fundamental than 'things':
• processes are always mediated through 'the things' they produce, sustain and dissolve.
This forms a radical break with the thinking of the late nineteenth century. At this time
the problem of complicated social processes was steadily reduced to a matter of finding the
right spatial form. In the twentieth century this reduction was given stature in a donlinant
way by either a mechanistic approach to urban form, as for example Le Corbusier, or a
more organic approach such as Frank Lloyd Wright.
The problem of the so-called 'high modernism' was not, according to Harvey, its total
vision, but its persistent habit of placing things and spatial forms at the forefront to the
detriment of social processes. This assumed that social aims with regards to building and
spatial planning could be realised through the engineering of physical form. To reveal the
current problematic, social processes with regards to the construction of 'things' have to be
given prominence (Harvey, 1996). To illustrate change and its consequent with regards to the
realised quality of housing and urban environment two hypotheses are important:
- the quality of buildings and urban environment is far more related to the process of
construction than to technical characteristics. This means that the production process itself has
to be considered;
- Social relationships are the primary citerion and thus not the physical process and
product. This is particularly obvious when the results of urban renewal programmes are
evaluated; urban renewal is more than the building and renovation of houses.
Sustainable developnlent
The concept of sustainable development is an ilnportant issue for economists and in
policies formulation with regards to spatial planning, changes in urban structure and the
environment (World Bank Report, 1992). The Menloranduln of National Environment
Policies (N.M.P.plus) refer to the salne notion of sustainability as the definition of the
Brundtlandt Report:" ... to ensure that development meets the needs of the present
generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs" (WCED, 1987; p.8) The programmes in the memoranda N.M.P. plus, 2 and 3 were
especially focussed on the taking of physical measures. According to the Ministry on
Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment the main target of sustainable building is to
reduce the effects of the building process, buildings and the built environment on the
environment and health. Sustainable building is taken in these memoranda as a more or less
overarching notion of three aims related to energy-saving, biological building methods and
ecological building, respectively:
1. chain-managelnent; to reduce the use of primary finite resources and recycling;
2. extension of energy;
3. improvement of the quality of the built environment, buildings, and building materials.
This approach refers to the concepts that were developed in the 1970s in which
sustainability of design were discussed especially from the perception of environmental
quality. This concept, according to De Jong is limited because it is 'primarily focussed on
the maintenance of the usage space of the environmental use and based on thriftness within
a small scale construction which is autonomous in an economically related environmental
136
Paul Stouten
perception" and have little in COlumon with the more design orientated approach and thus
I
the approach of conditional change and an integrated environment with regards to spatial
quality for instance in terms of usage value and future value". If through extra investments
in spatial quality, the period over which the built environment is written off, will be
extended, a greater contribution to a sustainable development will be achieved than with
most of the currently used environmental measures, whereby only the environmental costs
but not the eventual environmental benefits are taken into account'(De Jong, 1994),
Another crucial point of this approach is the lack of a connection with social processes.
In fact it seems that the construction of things and spatial form dominate again. Related to
this is the question of what the connection with the needs of the present and future generati-
ons is. Although economic growth is needed to decrease poverty, little progress has been
recorded in this field in the second half of the 1980s. On the contrary and this despite
economic growth (World Bank Report, 1992). The Brundtlandt report has asserted that an
enormous rise of prosperity for 75 % of the world population must provide for current
needs without bringing the needs of future generations at the danger. Central to the report's
conclusions were the notions of justice and equity. In industrialised countries especially
segments of the urban population has to deal with social deprivation and bad living
conditions which means that the sustainability of urban quality of life is under pressure
(Bartelmus, 1994).
The concept of sustainable development is much broader than the protection of

environnlent and nature, which presume that sustainability entails more than stability. Two
conflicting approaches exist with regards to sustainability and urban development. In the
approach of Nijkamp and Perrels cities are considered as self-acting objects and urban
systems are regarded as a 'biological species' as if cities themselves were not created
(Page, 1994). The weakness of this approach is revealed by the biological metaphor and the
assumption of an evolutionary path and changes in which terms energy systems are
analysed (Nijkalup et al, 1994). This is an approach that can be found in many novels at the
beginning of this century. Le Corbusier also insisted that the city not only superimpose
order on nature but that order is the law of nature and cities will evolved until it dominates
modern life (Lehan, 1997). This concept stands in sharp contrast with analyses of for
example Castells and Fainstein who consider the urban structure as the result of spatial
fornls and social processes, based on conflicts of interests and transformations taking place
and have resulted in radical changes in production, enlployment, distribution of products
and services and social conditions. One of the crucial questions facing urban renewal
projects of last twenty years is their sustainability in relation to the development of the
housing market which is influenced by changing policies based on privatisation and
deregulation.
Urban renewal and sust.ainable development

Since mid 1970's urban renewal has contributed to inlprove the housing and urban
environment with extra investlnents in spatial quality and a start has been made towards
more sustainable developluent. Living quality has obtained a broader content. This has
resulted in the improvement of urban qualities being disputed. Sustainability and its
connection with this broader quality meant that less elnphasis was placed on sustainability
in the use of materials and construction. Social obsolescence by changing housing needs
resulted in more emphasis being placed on the utility of housing and environment and the
137
evaluation by residents of their living conditions. It is assumed that the various household
categories which are based on social position, are different in their notion of the realised
quality, possible discrepancies between present use and constructed quality and den1and of
standards of lay-out and completion level of the dwellings, allocation and price of housing.
The social position and differentiation of households is related to the household-
composition, position in the labour market, income and social-economical position. Five
conditions have an impact on the possibilities of a household, on the sustainability and
possible changes of the constructed qUality: affordability, accessibility, usefulness,
availability and sphere of influence. These conditions differ by housing sector. The
sustainability and constructed quality of a dwelling, environment and provisions and
possibilities of adaptation or ilnprovement will be different for a tenant than for an owner-
occupier. A tenant will make decisions based on his housing expenditures but takes no risks
in its exploitation while for the owner-occupier the position as user as well as owner plays
an important role.
Urban renewal policies have led to an increase in the social sector at the cost of the
private rental sector. Housing provision and sector development are subject to great
dynamics and these dynan1ics between and inside housing sectors is influenced by
consumption, production and exchange. The conditions for a sustainable development of the
constructed quality are radically changing because of changing housing and urban renewal
policies. The question is in which way the broad function of the social sector will be change
my new policy measures. This broad function of the housing provision has been changing
since 1945 and came to full maturity at the beginning of 1970s. This was also the case, in
an extreme measure, with the urban renewal policies in Rotterdam between 1975-1990.
From the beginning of the eighties, this function was discussed in different phases. In the
past five years discussions over the contradictions between income and housing type and
target groups were important themes. Recently the theme of (re)differentiation of the
housing stock has been added with the aim to reduce the presumed one-sidedness with
regards to property form. This high concentration of homes developed under the housing
act, is a direct result of the 'building for the neighbourhood' strategy. The question is what
are the consequences of this policy change for the position of the current residents of the
urban renewal neighbourhoods and the sustainability of their housing situation. An increase
in the cost of housing will mean an end to an increase in housing quality for a large number
of household types, which has been experienced during the past twenty years. Coupled to
this is the question of which quality aspects besides housing size and average occupation
can play a role.
Sustainable development contains a physical/technical as well as a social component.

Social sustainability must be separated into social-economic sustainability and a change of
norms and values. Sustainability of nonns and values refer to the changing norms and
values with regards to a house and the residential environment caused by social
development. The forming of sectors and the provision of housing space is characterised by
rapid change based on the change of conditions. A house is a durable object with a long life
span resulting in the consumption of the house having a continuous character. Sustainability
in contrasts with life span does not refer only to a technical process but also to economical
and social developments. Sustainability and sustainable development is related to the period
of usage, the length of rentability and the exploitation of the building. Limitations to this
usage period are caused by technical and normative obsolescence. The sustainability is
138
Paul Stouten
determined more by the maintenance and improvement of the building caused by normative
obsolescence than by technical obsolescence (Hamer and Rosemann, 1975). With urban
renewal in relation to consumption of housing provision, social sustainability, taken as a
unit of sustainability for older neighbourhoods, can bring a change through the
improvement of quality of house, residential environment and situation. Economically seen
the exchnage value increases. The relation between urban renewal and social sustainability
with normative obsolescence is crucial for sustainable development. This social
sustainability develops through changes of residential needs and claims based on social,
econolnic and technical developments. The urban renewal in Rotterdam from 1975 to 1991
has led to the application of new techniques and housing types that are suitable for low-
income groups. It is however a question whether the changes of conditions will be
maintained. And who profits froIn the applied design means, which are taken in the scope
of environmental policy.
139
16
Structural Adjustment, Environmental Policies and Natural

Resources.
Carlos Crespo
Aims of the Investigation

1. To review concepts underpinning contemporary Natural Resources Management,
Environmental Policies, Sustainable Developtnent goals and the Neoliberal Model.
2. To examine the relationship between the Structural Adjustment Reforms implemented
in Bolivia and the accompanying Environmental Policies
3. To analyse the capacity (constraints and opportunities) of Environmental Policies to
regulate and manage in a sustainable way the environmental impacts and conflicts
involved in access to and the use of oil and water resources in Cochabamba.
4. To analyse the effects of the implementation of Environmental Policies on the
conditions of access to and use of oil and water resources, in the framework of
Bolivia s Structural Reforms.
I
Background Problem
During the last fifteen years Latin America, and particularly Bolivia has witnessed a
profound transformation in the relationship between the State, the Market and Society
(3,10). These transformations have been produced by a crisis in the former development
model based on the protagonist role of the State in promoting economic growth and social
welfare and by the implementation of a new model based on the Neoliberal approach. (3).
In Bolivia this model has produced a series of Structural Adjustment Reforms (16), whose
principal characteristics are:
1. The Market. The Structural Reforms have reduced the economic and regulatory
capacities of the State, public social expenditures and the restrictions to the free
Market, within the overall framework of market-led growth.
2. The State. The Reforms have transformed central government and local government
relations and their relationship with the market, through political decentralisation and
administrative reforms and through the democratisation of the political system. All of
these transformations are oriented towards the enablement of market forces.
3. Society. The Structural Reforms have promoted the functional incorporation of the
population into the current developtnent model, through community participation at
different management levels.
At the same time, under the itnpact of external pressures (aid regimes and international
treaty commitInents) and the emergence of an environmentalist movement, the Bolivian
141
Globalisation, Urban Form and Governance
government has introduced Environmental Policies, one of whose aims is the sustainable
management of access to and use of the natural resources. The incorporation of a
sustainable development approach, using the definition of the Brundtland Report (17)
(development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs), was very important in this process, because it
proposed the articulation of the economic growth priority with the conservation of
environment and natural resources. In general the Environmental Policies represent an
effort to incorporate the sustainability approach into the current development model. (13)
The sustainable management of natural resources involves taking care of the recuperative
capacity of ecosystems (the intergenerational principle), and the conservation of renewable
natural resources or their future substitution (in the case of renewal natural resources) (10).
It also seeks to regulate the environmental impacts produced by the exploitation of natural
resources and their environmental services (10). At the same time these Policies are
designed to accommodate market conditions. That access to and the use of natural resources
must be adjusted to market discipline is a central plank of the policies. A major aspect of
the formulation and implementation of the new Environmental Policies is the incorporation
of local government (municipalities, prefectures), and the various "stakeholders" involved
in natural resources management. Oil production is the most important sector of the
Bolivian economy and is therefore at the centre of the current development model.
However, over the last two years, the central government has been privatising the state oil
company, and multinational companies are currently exploring, producing and distributing
this resource. The tropical region of Cochabamba is a principal focus of their activities, and
at the moment it is the leading producer in the country (8). Over the last two years the
environmental impacts produced by oil exploitation and conflicts with the local population
and environmentalists have been on the increase (8); at the same time local government has
shown a poor capacity to regulate this issue. e.g. Contamination of land and water involved
in production and distribution of oil, loss of agricultural land and natural habitats,
encroachment of oil industry on conservation areas to maximise exchange earnings, etc.
On the other hand, Cochabamba, principally in the Central and Lower Valley region,
has experienced a chronic scarcity of water, which over the last ten years has generated
many conflicts between local governments and the urban and rural population (6). The
solutions to water scarcity (dalns and deep wells) are based on private models of
management; one consequence is that subsistence farmers and the urban poor have less
opportunities for access to and the use of the resource, therefore increasing social
inequality; water withdrawal is exceeding the replacelnent capacity of aquifers.
In both cases the relationship between these problems and the regulation capacities of the
Environmental Policies has not been analysed and will be the focus of my research. The
following questions will direct my research:
Have the current Environmental Policies and policy instruments reduced or increased the
negative environmental impacts of the exploitation of oil and water resources in
Cochabamba?
1. Have the current Environmental Policies and policy instruments reduced or increased
the emergent conflicts over access to and the use of oil and water resources in
Cochabamba?
2. Have the current Environmental Policies and policy instruments reduced or increased
the non- sustainable exploitation of oil and water resources in Cochabamba?
3. In the context of oil and water resources issues, what are the contradictions between the
142
Carlos Crespo
Bolivian neoliberal development model and environmental policies? On the one hand the
neoliberal model combines a short-term view of natural resources exploitation oriented
towards a globalized external tnarket in permanent change and a state with minor and
diminished regulatory capacities. On the other hand the environmental policies require a
long-term approach (intergenerational principle) and a broader and more active
regulatory powers in order to realise the goal of sustainability.
4. Have and can Bolivia's Environmental Policies promoted the' ecological modernisation'
(11) of the country, given the inequality in natural resources distribution and their
intensive exploitation for the external market? To what extent do the exploitation of oil
and water resources in Cochabatnba conform to a model of ecological modernisation?
5. To what extent has the process of privatisation promoted by the environmental policies
affected access to and use of oil and water resources by urban and rural, poor and low-
income groups in Cochabamba?
Relationship to Earlier works

Since the 1992 Rio SUlnmit, there have been many studies produced in developed
countries on environmental policies to conserve natural resources that share the neoliberal
perspective. They have been underpinned by a range of different perspectives (7), such as
the "market approach" (1), ecological n10dernisation (11) and sustainable development (12).
Other studies with a critical vision of the neoliberal model (2), have also been produced,
underpinned by concepts such as ecological economy (5) and environmental justice (9).
In Latin America, the United Nations Economic Comtnission for Latin America and
Caribbean (ECLAC) (4) and other independent researchers (14), have analysed the effects
of neoliberal policies on socio-economic conditions. However the environmental
implications of these policies particularly in the area of natural resources conservation have
not been extensively researched. Specific studies do exist regarding the level of
sustainability of the current development model (15). In Bolivia, assessments of the social
and economic itnpacts of Structural Reforms (16) have been carried out and some research
has analysed the exploitation of natural resources such as oil (8) and water (6) resources in
Cochabarrlba.
The dissertation topic for my MSc was the analysis of environmental conflicts over
access to and use of water resources in the Central Valley of Cochabamba. In my Master's
dissertation I concluded that the growth of conflicts over water was due to development
processes (e.g. rapid urbanisation, popUlation growth) and demonstrated the weak
institutional regulatory capacity of existing environmental policies (6), I have subsequently
became aware of the significance of Structural Adjustment and the new environmental
policies for these conflicts and Iny PhD research represents a development of my earlier
work and its extension to cover the issue of oil.
Methodology and Plan of Work

The empirical research will consist of two case studies of access to and the use of oil and
water resources in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The period to be studied will be the phase
corresponding to the implementation of Structural Reforms (1985-98). The research will be
undertaken in the following stages, oriented toward resolving the questions mentioned
above.
Stage 1
Literature review of the theoretical and conceptual analysis of Natural Resources
Management, Environmental Policies, Sustainable Development and the neoliberal
143
Development Model, in the framework of "ecological modernisation" efforts (11). The

implementation of environmental policies in other countries, principally Latin America, will
also be reviewed. The most important indicators for natural resources conservation will be
identified and analysed. This stage will be started in Oxford Brookes University and
completed in Bolivia (Nov 98-0ct 99)
Stage 2
The characterisation of the Bolivian Structural Reforms and Environmental Policies,
through a review and analysis of Bolivian government documents, Strategies and
Development Plans and official assessment documents over 1985-98 period. This stage will
be started in Oxford Brookes University and completed in Bolivia (May 99-Feb 2000)
Within Environmental Policies, the main policy making instruments to be studied will
be:
1. The environmental dimensions of Strategies and Developlnent Plans
2. The legal framework of environmental policies and other environmental regulatory
instruments (13)
3. The institutional framework related to the environmental dimension (13)
4. The new capacities in environmental managetnent given to local government
(municipalities and prefectures)
5. Environmental indicators and the economic valuation of natural resources.
Stage 3
In this stage I will analyse the different modes of oil and water resources exploitation
and their relationship with the development model. The case studies in Cochabamba will
incorporate an analysis of the access and use characteristics of the resource and the
environmental impacts and conflicts produced in the process of their exploitation. I will also
examine the capacity of Enviromnental Policies to face these issues and promote the
sustainable management of oil and water resources.
The fieldwork will include a review of the existing sources, including government
statistics, reports and proposals for oil exploitation in the tropical region of Cochabamba
and proposals to solve the problem of water scarcity in the Cochabamba valley. Existing
academic research and other development agencies (including diagnostics and
environmental assessments) on both resources will be systematically explored. I will also
undertake social survey work based on in-depth interviews with key informants:
1. policies formulation and implementation, and their opinion about the ne- Central and
regional level officials involved in the formulation and implementation of the Structural
Adjustment Reform and the EnvironnlentaI Policies.
2. Officials in local Municipalities to know capacities of local government to apply policy
making instruments oriented to a sustainable managetnent of oil and water resources.
3. Local communities representations, affected by the new conditions of access to and use
of water and oil resources, produced by Structural Adjustment Reforms.
4. Private companies involved in water and oil resources exploitation in Cochabamba.
5. Politicians, environmentalist groups and agencies in civil society, to investigate their
role in environmental w conditions of access to and use of water and oil resources in
Cochabamba.
This stage of the work will be developed in Bolivia. (Iul 1999-Jun 2000)
144
Carlos Crespo
Stage 4.
The fourth stage will consist of the analysis of the empirical work in the context of the
established theoretical framework and the composition of the final document, which will
include the following aspects:
1. Theoretical and conceptual aspects of natural resources conservation and sustainable
developlnent in the franlework of the neoliberal development model.
2. Structural Reforms, Environmental Policies and Sustainability.
3. Oil and Water resources exploitation in Bolivia; The case of Tropical region (oil) and
Central Valley (water).
4. Environmental Policies and Sustainability in access to and use of oil and water
resources in Cochabanlba.
145
PART IV
Urban Governance, Strategic Planning

and
Culture
17
City Opportunities and Management in Asian Cities
Arif Hasan
1 Sinlilarities among Asian Cities

This paper deals with Third World Asian cities only. In addition, the trends and
directions have been derived frotn the larger Asian cities. However, these trends and
directions are evolving in the medium size cities as well.
Most Asian cities differ from each other physically, socially, politically and
ecologically. Yet, they have many similarities and these similarities are the ones that are
seldom addressed in city management strategies. These similarities fall under four main
heads. One; most cities have a large number of agencies dealing with development and
management. These agencies have little or no coordination between them. Two; the cities
have changed socially and physically over time. However, these changes are not taken into
account in development programmes and in management strategies. Three; globalization
and its policy repercussions have adversely effected the poorer sections of the population in
the cities and introduced new players in the development and management game. And four;
all cities have an increasingly active civil society which is pressing for change in the politics
of urban development and city management.
This paper examines these four sitnilarities and based on this examination, presents
certain conclusions and recommendations that can support good practices and regulate bad
ones.
2 Problems with the developnlent nd management structure

In almost all Asian cities, the development and management structure, has evolved in
an ad-hoc manner, as and when the need arose or because of political expediency. Few
cities have a metropolitan government. In almost all cities, agencies that plan and develop
projects have little or no relationship with agencies that maintain and operate infrastructure.
In many cases agencies have been created especially to Inanage foreign funded projects and
they again have no relationship to other agencies who are managing or developing similar
projects. Many agencies perform similar functions without any coordination between them.
Taxes related to services and property are often collected by federal and provincial
authorities. Attempts at rationalizing the structure is resisted by the agencies since they
wish to protect their turf and often the politicians do not wish it either because the present
conditions give them greater freedom to manouver. Where laws and regulations are
149
changed, they are often made ineffective by bureautic and political interest groups
supported by the beneficiaries of the existing system.
Karachi is a typical exalnple of the conditions described above. The Karachi Municipal
Corporation (KMC) which was the metropolitan government till 1952, was responsible for
planning, development and management of the city. The Karachi Development Authority
(KDA) was created, and the management aspects were left to the KMC. The KDA is a
provincial government department and has little or nothing to do with the KMC. The
Karachi Water and Sewage Board (KWSB) was created later and now operates as an
independent organization. 18 agencies own land in Karachi and protect their turf fierecely.
The KMC, the Traffic Engineering Bureau (TEB) of the KDA, the provincial transport
department and the Karachi Metropolitan Transport Authority (KMT A) all deal with traffic
and transport related problems. There are also a number of cantonment boards that manage
the development and operation and maintenance of infrastructure and land in large areas
that belong to the army. In addition, the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) is yet another
independent entity that deals with development and management of the extensive port area
of the city. Attempts at coordinating the development and management activities of all these
agencies and of their finances, have so far ended in failure. It seems that only pressure
from an aware and technically supported civil society can bring about a positive change in
this state of affairs.
3. Physical and social change in Asian cities

The major physical and social change in Asian cities is related to one; large increase in
population. Two; the resulting demand-supply gap in housing, infrastructure, social sector
facilities and job creation. And three; the demands of a rapidly increasing middle class.
Housing
Table 1 in Appendix 1 gives the scale of the den1and-supply gap in the housing sector.
This demand-supply gap has led to the creation of informal settlements, as a result of which
over 50 per cent of the population of many of Asia's major cities live in these settlements.
There is no need to dwell on the various reasons that lead to the failure of the state and the
formal private sector to provide housing to low income groups. These reasons have been
gi ven again and again and are well understood. All that needs to be said is that in spite of
two Habitat conferences and the 1987 UN Year for the Shelterless, the building and the
bulldozing of infonnal settlements increases every year, if not in percentage terms then
certainly in scale1.
However, the nature of settlements and their location has changed over time and it is
necessary to understand this change and what it means to the city as a whole and to city
management. The earliest settlements were developed on private land as land rentals or
through unorganised invasions of state and private land by migrants from the rural areas.
These developments took place between 30 to 40 years ago and were within or just outside
major Asian cities which were comparatively small cities at that time. Most of these
settlements have ceased to be. They have been replaced by commercial complexes and
residential apartment blocks. They are now within the inner city and their residents have
relocated elsewhere. The settlements that do survive are under threat of eviction.
150
ArifHasan
The next phase of development of informal settlements was through illegal but
organised subdivision of state and private land. These settlements are farther from the city
centre and the extent of their de-facto security of tenure, which the majority of them seem
to have, depends very much on government policies. Due to their favourable location, their
densities are increasing and in many cities they are becoming extremely congested.
The cities of Asia have expanded into the rural areas and this expansion continues.
This means that villages become urbanised and agricultural land is informally subdivided
and sold to the poorer and lower-middle income residents of the city. Due to inflation and
the increasing difficulty of acquiring land for house building, land prices have increased
considerably. As such, the lots in these new subdivisions are becoming increasingly
smaller, access roads narrower, and open space non-existene. In addition, these ad hoc
subdivisions are causing considerable ecological damage.
Given the increasing cost of land, informal settlements are continuing to develop in
ecologically dangerous areas such as areas that are prone to flooding and land slides, waste
lands and old quarries. Where such areas lie within the city, the residents are removed
since the areas are considered dangerous, and through building of appropriate infrastructure
they are made safe and constructed upon by formal sector developers and/or state agencies.
Large scale relocation settlements have also been developed in many Third World
Asian cities. These settlements are often 20 to 30 kilometres away from the city centre and
poor residents from bulldozed areas are relocated here. Although these are formally
planned settlements, their residents build their homes in a process similar to that of
informal settlements. In addition, they more often than not, have no social or physical
infrastructure. This also they acquire in a manner sin1ilar to that of informal settlements.
One can safely say that these are the informal settlements of tomorrow. Their main problem
is the absence of an efficient and cheap transport system that can take them to their places
of work which are within the inner city or on its periphery.
In most Asian cities, wholesale markets, with their warehousing and storage facilities,
were located in the inner cities and so were their transport related terminals. These markets
served small populations. Now, they serve large populations and as a result they have
expanded to engulf the inner city. As a result, there has been large scale environmental
degradation and these inner cities have been turned into storage spaces and manufacturing
units. In addition, the old inhabitants have moved out and day-wage or contract labour now
occupies these newly formed slums.
All the settlements described above have been created and developed through
middlemen. It was they who brought low income residents as renters on private land. It was
they who arranged for the subdivision and sale of state and private land by establishing an
informal understanding with corrupt governn1ent officials. It was they who often negotiated
with government and politicians for infrastructure and protection against demolition. It was
they who today negotiate with agricultural sector landlords and state officials for acquiring
agricultural land, planning its subdivision, often in defience of state laws, and arranging the
necessary financial deals. In the inner city developments as well, it is the middlemen who
have negotiated with the original real estate owners and arranged for the funds required for
pulling down old structures and replacing them with highrise shanties. This immense
151
knowledge of identifying appropriate beneficiaries, planning and delivering services at

affordable prices, and negotiating with relevant interest groups, is an asset that state
agencies do not possess. Without this asset they cannot deliver land and services to the poor
who constitute about 65 per cent of the population of Asian cities.
Social and Physical Changes in Poor Settlements

Major social and physical changes have taken place in both formal and informal
settlements in Asian cities. In the informal settlements, the changes have been more
marked. For an informal settlement to survive there are two basic requirements. One,
security of tenure, and two, infrastructure, especially water and electricity. To acquire
these communities have had to organise themselves and form associations. In many
countries giving a formal shape to the organisation is necessary so that it can be taken
seriously. As such, many organisations are legal persons and have elections, audits and
rules and regulations. This brings about a major cultural change in poor communities and
establishes a more equitable relationship with state and formal sector organisations.
Over the years communities have also learnt that they cannot acquire infrastructure and
tenure security simply by lobbying politicians. Where a level of de facto security is
available, they invest large sun1S of money in building their own infrastructure and
improving their homes over tilne as they feel these investments increase their tenure
security in addition to providing a better environment. Their struggle for tenure security
brings them in conflict against a powerful developer's lobby supported by bureaucrats and
politicians that wish to evict them and build on their land. It also brings them in conflict
against a lobby of consultants, contractors and government planners who promote
insensitive projects which ultimately displace them. Therefore, increasingly residents of
informal settlements opt for taking the matter to court or seeking the support of the press.
These actions again create a new type of leadership in these settlements and bring the
informal settlement closer to the formal processes. A number of important judgements have
been given by the courts in this process which are considered "pro-poor" and are important
precedents for future court actions.
It has been observed that in the processes described above, those settlements which
have external support have a greater chance of success. For example, where NOOs and
professionals have given technical support to communities, infrastructure quality has been
much better and its cost has been cheaper. Insensitive government projects that displace
people have also been abandoned or altered if communities have been able to present
estimates of damage that the projects would cause along with viable alternatives. Again,
such estimates and alternatives have invariably been prepared by concerned professionals
and NOOs. Also, in the struggle of informal settlements against the land hungry, politician-
bureaucrat-developer nexus, the press and NGOs have played an impOI1ant role and
communities are learning to access this support increasingly.
However, the lnost iInportant change that has taken place in poor formal and informal
settlements is that trade, COlnmerce, manufacturing and education has developed in them.
This, along with the struggle against the various lobbies that operate against them, has
produced a large number of leaders and activists who are constantly in touch with formal
sector agencies and service providers. What is also important is that this leadership and its
activists belong to the second generation of infonnal settlement residents. Unlike their
152
Ar(f Hasan
parents or grand-parents they are not pioneers. They have a claim on the city and have an
urban culture. Hence, it is not in their nature to accept Inarginalisation quietly, and much of
the violence and conflict that Asian cities face today is the result of the marginalisation of
the second generation of informal settlement dwellers.
The state agencies, more often than not, do not know how to relate to this new
leadership. This is because the manner in which the state thinks and functions has not
undergone more than just cosmetic changes whereas sociological change in the informal
settlements is imlnense. Because of this state functionaries are uncomfortable with the new
leadership and it is this leadership that is increasingly determining the economy and the
politics of low income settlements.
The urban middle classes have also increased in a big way in most Asian cities and
their residential, recreational and social sector demands have had to be met. The scale of
this middle class evolution can be judged from the case of Karachi whose middle class has
increased much less than that of most other major Asian cities. In 1973, there were 51,000
households in Karachi. Of these, 18.85 per cent were categorized as middle income. In
1980, the figure had increased to 25.22 per cent of 1,046,991 households and in 1989 it
was 68.1 per cent of 1,618,000 households. The housing and related needs of such a
rapidl y increasing middle income population has created immense problems for Asian
cities. The cities have found it difficult to keep pace with this demand. Private sector
developers have stepped in to service these needs and in the process they have become a
very powerful lobby that grabs all land that is available. This lobby also acquires land
meant for amenities, legally or illegally and displaces informal settlements. The profits
involved in this middle class developlnent are enormous. These profits are used to buy the
support of bureaucrats and politicians for the legal or illegal activities of the developer's
lobby. Most political parties during elections are funded by this lobby and many of the
policies in support of this lobby, especially related to financing the activities of the
developers, have evolved are a result of a powerful developer-bureaucrat-politician nexus.
There is evidence to suggest that in Inany countries drug money is laundered through the
real estate business.
Land has therefore, become a very ilnportant issue in the management of Asian cities.
A number of groups are struggling to protect land and to use it for the welfare of the city
rather than for pure commercial purposes. Also, there are attempts to introduce a process
of transparency in all land transactions which is constantly sabotaged by the developers-
bureaucrat-politician nexus.
Infonnal Service Delivery

The formal sector, both state and private, cannot service the needs of the Asian cities,
especially of the poorer settlements that lack political clout. As a result, a number of
services are delivered by the inforn1al sector in Asian cities. This informal sector has a
close link with the informal settlements. The most i1nportant function that the informal
sector fulfills is the creation of jobs and employment. In most Asian cities over 50 per cent
of jobs are generated in this sector and in certain cases they may be as high as 76 per cene.
With inflation and recession (in many countries both of these are in double figures) formal
sector industries let out piece-meal work through small contractors to families in informal
settlements. As such, they bye-pass laws related to the minimum wage, working hours and
153
employment regulations. In addition, nUlnerous small workshops and manufacturing units in

the more established informal settlements produce consumer items for the city as a whole
and for formal sector industry, and increasingly for its international partners. Also, surveys
suggest that most skill development related to manufacturing, light industry and
management of businesses is developed within the informal sector itself through
apprenticeships. These skills are then transferred to the formal sector and upgraded if
necessary. The major problem that informal businesses and manufacturing units face is the
absence of credit and advice for the expansion of their work and production. Whenever
they require funds they have to borrow at exorbitant rates of interest from the open market
(so they borrow only small funds for short periods) or from the middlemen and contractors
who exploit their labour4 • Where funds at normal bank rates have been made available
through NOOs, almost always without colateral, the informal business have expanded,
generated jobs and faithfully paid back their loans. Without the labour force and the
entrepreneurs of the informal city, most urban economics of Asian countries would
collapse.
In nlany Asian cities, informal sector loans also finance transport. It is through such
loans that the Karachi and Jakarta Inini-buses, Manila jeepnis and Dhaka rickshaws are
financed. These modes of transport are the backbone of the transport industry in these
cities. The infornlal sector has invested billions in this process. The relationship between
the financiers of these modes of transport, their owners, the police, and the transport
department of the city is also informal and is not based on any larger transport plan.
However, in all these cities there are transporter's associations that constantly negotiate
with government agencies so as to guard their gains and present their claims. They have an
understanding of delivering transport to the poor at affordable rates which government
agencies do not seem to have. Again, in cities such as Phnom Penh and Bangkok, there are
informal motorcycle taxis that, in the absence of formal sector provisions, take care of the
transport needs of the city.
In delivering land and housing the informal sector's major probleln is not the acquiring
of land but of acquiring tenure security for the land that has been acquired. Even where the
land can be purchased by people living on it, credit for land purchase is not available to the
poor because they can offer no collateral and because they are not "loan-worthy".
However, housing quality has improved wherever de-jure and de-factor security of tenure is
available. The vast nlajority of these houses are constructed by small building contractors
or skilled masons (with support from the house owners) who live within the settlements and
who often provide materials on loan and cash loans to their clients as we1l5 •
Again, in ahnost all Third World Asian cities, residents of informal settlements
organise to manage the solid waste disposal within their neighbourhoods even if there is no
security of tenure. In addition, in most Asian cities there is a large informal sector which
collects and recycles all inorganic solid waste. This generates considerable employment and
takes care of the Inajor problem related to the disposal of inorganic materials.
In many South and South-East Asian cities, the provision of warehousing and storage
has not kept pace with the expansion of wholesaling and in the case of port cities it has not
kept pace with the expansion of cargo handling. Here again, an informal sector provides
these facilities and labour for theln. Again, in most informal settlements health facilities are
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Art! Hasan
provided by informal private clinics, many of them practicing traditional medicine. Also,
where government facilities are not available, schools are also opened by the informal
sector and are surprisingly affordable to the residents 6 •
4. The impact of Grassroots reality, globalization and neo-liberal economics
The Impact of Grassroots Realit.y

Over the last 20 years, the attitude of governments to informal settlements and
practices has become one of comparative tolerance. Because of political expediency,
informal settlements in almost all Asian cities now officially have a vote, councillors and
services such as water, post offices, police stations, government clinics and schools.
However, the standards for infonnal settlement developments are well below those for
formal settlements.
In spite of these changes, the formal city residents and most planners continue to view
informal settlements as parasites, drug-pushers, criminals and land grabbers. This
perception has created difficulties in the implementation of many innovative government
projects and prevented them from expanding into national programmes.
Some of the more important state programmes are the Community Mortgage
Programme (CMP) in the Philippines; the Kumpung Improvement Programme (KIP) in
Indonesia; the Katchi Abadi (squatter settlement) Improvement and Regularisation
Programme (KAIRP) in Pakistan; and the Million Houses Programme (MHP) in Sri Lanka.
In conceptual terms, the CMP is the most important of these programmes because it
provides loans to the communities not only for building a house but also for acquiring land
and infrastructure. The MHP was perhaps the more successful of these programmes but
once political support to it was withdrawn, it could no longer operate effectively7.
It is not necessary to describe these programtnes since their objectives and

methodology are well known. However, apart from the MHP, the other three suffer from
the same problems. One, that they are on too smal a scale to make any difference to the
over-all housing and settlement situation. Two, comlnunities require technical advice and
managerial support to access these progralnmes and to implement their part of it. Such
support is not available from government institutions. In the rare cases where such support
has been provided by NOOs and concerned professionals, a large measure of success has
been achieved 8 • And three, state inputs regarding infrastructure have been poor in quality
since contractors and their government supervisors do not consider work done for low
income communities as important and communities do not have the expertise to supervise
this work or the political power to prevent it being substandard.
Most Asian cities have some form of a master plan. However, in the planning process
the representatives of the poor and informal settlements and the informal sector service
providers are never involved. Their point of view and their interests are not considered and
the immense knowledge that they have on how the city really functions is not made use of.
Consequently, most urban planning, physical, social or economic, is based on wrong
assumptions, most of which are drawn from the First World planning experience. It must
be said, however, that formal sector representation in the planning process is also absent
155
for the most part. However, if the planning decisions are not in the interests of the private
formal sector, they are in a position to sebotage them.
As a result of the non-involvement of the poorer and informal settlement communities

in city planning, insensitive projects that displace communities are constantly approved and
often funded by international agencies. In addition, infrastructure development plans do not
document or accept the work that has been done by the communities at their own cost. The
powerful informal sector lobbies related to land, transport and solid waste, do not become a
part of the plans related to their respective sectors. And the politician-bureaucrat-developer
nexus is able to sabotage those aspects of development plans that are not in its interest.
The above process is aided by the fact that most planners and administrators are
conventionally trained and do not have an understanding of and links with the informal city.
Their main objective is to integrate the informal within the fonnal. If this happens (luckily
it can not) then the poorer sections of the city will not be able to afford the cost of urban
services, and jobs for large sections of the urban population will not be generated.
The Inlpact of Globalization

Almost all Third World Asian countries have been subject to structural adjustment and
have adopted economic policies based on neo-liberalism. As a result of this, many of them
are embarking on privatisation of service provision, education and health. In all these
sectors previously there have been major government subsidies, both in operation and
maintenance and in setting up of services and institutions. In most countries structural
readjustment and the new market economy has been accompanied by inflation and
recession. All these factors have led to an increase in the cost of services and the curtailing
of government expenditure in the social sectors and in the development and 0 & M of
physical infrastructure for the future. In addition, land has at last become unashamedely a
comodity, and its sale or acquisition at subsidised rates for house building for low income
groups, is going to be increasingly difficult.
The result of these policies is that the urban poor and the informal sector which caters
to their needs, will have to find new ways for acquiring land and developing services for
the poor. There is no doubt that as a result of these policies, infonnal settlements are going
to increase and that their location will be well outside the city and on subdivisions of
agricultural land or in ecologically unsuitable areas. Also, there will be a further
densification of existing settlements. The informal sector will have to produce consumer
items (such as soap, shoes, garments, automobile spare parts etc.) in larger quantities and
cheaper prices, not only for residents of low income settlenlents but also for those of lower-
middle and middle income settlements. This process has already begun, in both South and
South-East Asia.
However, the most serious result of these developments is going to be the further
division of the city into poor and rich areas. More so because neo-classical economic
policies have introduced a powerful corporate sector as an important player in urban and
national economics. Its life-style and culture is one of affluence and it has introduced a First
World physical and social environment in its work and residential places. This conflicts
with the reality, not only of the poorer settlements, but also with that of the less affluent
planned areas. This process of division is well on its way in many Asian cities. The rich
156
Ar?fHasan
increasingly live in ghettos, surrounded by armed guards and security services. Their
recreational, educational and cultural institutions and activities are now also being located
within their own areas, separated from the rest of the city.
What impact this is going to have on the poorer sections of Asian cities or what their
response will be is yet to be understood. However, there are a few trends that are
important. One, that the poorer settlements are producing more aware and educated
activists and leaders who have a close link with formal sector institutions. Their awareness
level, and those of their supporters, are helped considerably by the media revolution. Also,
that an increasing number of professionals, NGOs and concerned individuals are forging
links with the informal city, researching into its problems and lobbying on its behalf. Yet, it
has been noticed that their links are stronger with the more developed informal groups and
settlements and that their relationship with the really marginalised groups, soon becomes a
patron-client relationship. In addition, the power of the informal sector, both as an
independent entity and as a support to formal sector institutions and processes, is
increasing. And finally, in the political process, the vote bank of the poorer settlements is
resulting in the prolnotion of a populist political culture. All these trends, conflict with the
neo-liberal policies of the state and with their emphasis on privatisation and market values
for land and services.
There are other conflicts as well. Globalization has also produced an economic boom
through the investment of international capital of Asian cities. This boom has taken place in
cities that had the skilled human resources and political conditions that could support
international investment. However, this boom has not been able to replace the informal
sector, and after the South-East Asian crisis, the indications are that it is unlikely to do so.
The South-East Asian crisis has also made it obvious that international investment needs
financial discipline, backed by rules, regulations, laws and institutions, that are missing in
most Third World Asian economies. The free market is not free afterall.
Another factor that has emerged as a result of globalization and its repercussions, is the
emergence of a powerful lobby of consultants and contractors. Most large urban
development projects today are built on the principles of Build, Operate and Transfer
(BOT). Many of them have part financing by governments. This part financing is usually
acquired through loans from donor agencies. The donor agencies ususally appoint their own
consultants for the design of these projects. The BOT contractors normally have the final
say in the shape and form of the project. As a result, the shape and form of Asian cities are
increasingly being determined by projects that serve the interests of the consultant-
contractor lobbies. The emphasis seelns to have shifted from management and from
building on what you have to large scale physical development involving high technology.
The Poverty Alleviation Agenda

To mitigate the adverse effects of the new agenda described above, the poverty
alleviation concept is being promoted and applied in a big way. The effect it has having in
Pakistan is, to say the least, alanning for both the formal and the informal city. The term
poverty alleviation is creating a mind set that increasingly ignores the causes of poverty and
seeks only to address their effects. The fact that poverty is the creation of macro and micro
level economic and physical planning is conveniently set aside.
157
In the urban areas this mind set has already created a de-facto situation where two
different methodologies, one for the rich and the other for the poor, have evolved. They
have different standards, technologies and procedures of iInplementation. For the poor
areas, the technologies and standards are still in the process of experimentation and
exploration and are as such half baked.
As a result, official plans in Karachi for instance, give the poor areas as compared to
the richer areas, less water per capita; poorer road specifications; open drains and soakpits
for sanitation instead of underground water borne sewerage; and less public open space per
capita although the poorer areas have higher population densities. In addition, in the rich
areas private health clinics administer immunization whereas in the poor areas
immunization camps are set up although most poor areas also have private practitioners.
The architecture of government facilities, for the rich and poor areas has also started to
differ considerably. The list of differences in planning standards and procedures is endless.
These trends, most of which are now being supported by poverty alleviation programmes,
along with the privatization of university education, are dividing our cities for good and
creating conditions for social strife and civic conflict. There is a need, above everything
else, to question the financial allocations that considerably favour the richer areas rather
than the shared institutional, recreation and cultural spaces of the city centre and the low
income residential and work areas. Here it must be said, that unlike the past, there are
strong lobbies in the urban areas today that, if supported by legislation, can pressurise the
state into changing its inputs and planning processes so that they are more equitable.
Unfortunately, most of these lobbies have also started to look at our cities as two separate
entities which require two separate forms of development.
The methodologies and strategies of a number of important NGO development projects

are being promoted for poverty alleviation planning. The fact that the principles and
procedures developed by these projects are equally valid for the richer areas of the urban
centres is completely ignored.
The mind set described above has entered Pakistani universities, research organizations
and most NGOs. Pakistan has been invaded by poverty alleviation experts and loads of
money for poverty alleviation programmes. From the looks of it, it seems that we will soon
have poverty alleviation as a subject at the university level, and after that we will have our
own poverty alleviation experts.
Any policy orientation related to poverty alleviation must take into consideration the
issues discussed above.
The Habitat Agenda and its Implenlentation

In 1996 at the second Habitat conference, the nations of the world comnlitted
thelnselves to six important things. These were; adequate shelter for all without
discrimination; sustainable human settlelnents (socially and economically equitable and
integrated); agenda for enablement (decentralising authority and resources, promoting
access to information); gender equality; financing shelter and human settlements; and,
assessing progress (support to UNCHS). However, it must be said that this agenda is not
the agenda of Asian governments who are now cOlnlnitted to neo-liberal economistic
policies.
158
Artf Hasan
Even if that were not ture, given all that has been said in this paper, the Habitat agenda
cannot be implelnented unless the issues discussed above are addressed in a realistic manner
and that can only happen if there is a political will to do it. This political will can be
pressurized into existence by an informed and technically supported civil society. It is often
said that if effective local government is created, and its capacity and capability is
increased, and if devoluation of power takes place, then appropriate planning and
management of cities will be possible. However, in the opinion of this author, devoluation
of power without a change in the mind set of the politicians, planners and the methodology
of planning, will not bring about any major changes and nor will it necessarily result in a
change in land policies and project identification and development priorities. For this to
happen a number of important steps will be required and these are discussed in the
conclusions.
An increasingly active civil society

All over Asia, civil society is becolning increasingly active. Previously, civil society
intellectuals were concerned with political and constitutional issues. Now however, there
are numerous organizations that are pressing for the institutionalization of social and
economic change and for better governance. There are also organizations that have
developed an advocacy role for more appropriate planning and implementation procedures
and processes. Some NGOs in the Asian context have also come of age and their work and
lessons from it are far too large and important to be ignored. These NGOs are increasingly
being drawn into the planning, implementation and management processes in Asian cities.
They have also become an important link between low income communities and the
establishment. There is a urgent need to strengthen this movement in the Asian urban
context because it alone can bring about the necessary political dialogue that can change the
planning and mangement of our cities and make it nearer to social and economic reality.
In India the work of Society for Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SP ARC) in
collaboration with Mahila Milan and the National Slum Dwellers' Federation, which began
in Bombay, has now expanded to over 21 cities. Its methodology has been accepted by the
state as a viable alternative to government housing policies. Its contact with communities
throught India has also made it a partner for the developn1ent of large scale urban projects.
The Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) in Karachi plays a similar role to SPARC. Also in Karachi,
the the Urban Resource Centre (URC) analysis govermnent plans, holds forums of interest
groups and questions government planning with alternatives which have a populist bias.
The work of the OPP and the URC is described in Appendix 2 and 3. URCs, similar to the
one in Karachi have also developed in Colombo, Nepal and Cambodia. In Korea, the Urban
Reform Centre, has recently been inaugurated by the the Citizen's Coalition for Economic
Justice and in Thailand the Urban Community Development office is changing the
relationships that produce conventional planning and management.
It has been noticed, that all the above organizations, have required technical support
and guidance from professionals so as to produce plans and methodologies of development
and management that are compatible with the sociology and economics of Asian cities in
general and of the urban poor, who form the vast majority of Asian cities, in particular.
Getting appropriate professional support has not been easy since almost all professionals are
159
Globalisation, Urban Form. and Governance
trained conventionally. Therefore it is important that professional education undergoes a

change and deals increasingly with the urban socio-economic reality of Asia.
The case of Karachi

Karachi is a typical Third World Asian city with a populist political culture. About 50
per cent of the city consists of informal settlements created by the illegal subdivision of
state land by middlemen. An additional 20 per cent of the population lives in formally
planned settlements who have built their homes informally through financial and technical
support of small contractors. They have also acquired their infrastructure informally
through "self-help".
The city requires 79,000 housing units per year. However, an average of about 26,000
housing units per year have been produced through formal processes over the last 5 years.
The rest of the demand has been met through informal and illegal subdivision of state land
or through densification of existing homes and settlements. As such, the informal
settlements in Karachi expand at the rate of 9 per cent per year against a total urban growth
of 4.2 per cent per year. Due to the support given to the housing process by informal
contractors, the housing stock in the informal settlelnents in Karachi has improved
considerably between 1969 and 19869 • This work of the informal sector in housing and
land delivery has so far not been integrated into official planning and nor has it been
supported. Every plan over the last 45 years has attempted to curtail or finish off the
development of katchi abadis and every plan has failed to do so.
A survey of 136 Karachi katchi abadis was carried out by the Orangi Pilot Project.
These katchi abadis have a total of 79,426 houses in 8,479 lanes in them. 81.6 per cent of
these lanes have built sewer lines at their own cost and over 90 per cent of the homes have
linked themselves illegally to government water supply systems. The people and their
councillors had invested over 203 million rupees (US$ 3.4 million) in this work. However,
this work is never integrated into official sewage and water supply systems being planned
and implemented under various programtnes which are supported by international loans. If
they were, the projects would be a fraction of their present costs; they would be completed
in a fraction of the tilne it takes to cOlnplete theln now; and the poor, instead of the
contractors and consultants would be their beneficiaries.
The informal sector also plays a very important role in the provision of transport in
Karachi. 72 per cent of Karachi's commuting public uses 13,500 mini buses. These mini
buses have been purchased by individual operators with loans from the informal sector. The
operator pays for them in installments over a three to four year period. The payment he
makes is about three to four times the actual cost of the bus. So far the operators have paid
over 27 billion rupees (US$ 450 million) for buses whose actual cost is less than 12 billion
rupees (US$ 200 million). These buses operate on about 750 kilometers of roads. There are
no bus terminals, depots or workshops for them and the roads serve these purposes causing
huge traffic problems. Government plans never try to improve these services or to integrate
them appropriately in city transportation planning. It is worth noting here that a recent plan
for a mass transit system for Karachi is going to cost over 39 billion rupees (US$ 650
million) for a 13 kilo meter light rai1 10 !
160
Arif Hasan
Karachi generates about 6,000 tons of solid waste every day. About 2,600 tons of this
is separated and recycled through informal processes at over 400 recycling units. The
yearly turn over of these units is 1.2 billion rupees (US$ 20 million) and they provide
employment to over 40,000 fatnilies. Solid waste management plans of the local
government not only totally ignore this reality, but actively work to destroy it.
The most important role of the informal sector in Karachi is in job generation.
According to the Karachi Master Plan 2000, just over 76 per cent of the population of
Karachi works in the informal sector. In 1972 this figure was 66 per cent. Informal sector
business houses and manufacturing units are mostly located in informal settlements or in the
formal areas of the inner city and port. Surveys of the informal settlements of Orangi
(carried out by the OPP) which have a population of one million plus, show that there are
42,000 small workshops and businesses in the settlements which employ about 150,000
people or over 50 per cent of the work force. Because of this, almost 68 per cent of Orangi
residents work within their hOlnes or walk or cycle to their work places. No formal sector
loans are available to these informal units with the result that they cannot expand their
businesses and generate more jobs and better incomes. However, it is because of these
informal job and income providers that Karachi's class cOlnplexion has changed over the
last few decades and the lower middle class has becotne the dominant group11.
Similarly surveys of Orangi show that there are over 400 private clinics in Orangi and
only 18 government and formal sector health facilities. In addition, there are only 72
government schools and over 700 private schools, most of them set up initially as informal
ones. Yet, there are no governtnent programmes for supporting private health facilities or
using them for preventive health purposes; or for supporting the creation and operation of
private schools through teacher's training, loans for physical improvements, or
development of appropriate curriculum.
Karachi's port activity in 1951 was 2.8 million tons per year and 96 per cent of it was
by rail road. The entire storage capacity for this activity was available at the Karachi Port
Trust storage tenninals. In 1991, this port activity was 26 nlillion tons and 78 per cent of it
was by road. Formal sector storage facilities could only accomodate 50 per cent of the
need 12 • The rest of the need, both for warehousing and cargo terminals, have been fulfilled
by informal arrangelnents in the old city where old building have been torn down and
replaced by warehousing on the ground floor and male only labour dormatories above.
The most serious problem in Karachi however, is the rapid consumption of all land for
comtnercial development through a powerful politician-bureaucrat-developer nexus. Even
historic buildings of considerable cultural importance are being demolished illegally and
being replaced by commercial complexes by this nexus. This is denying the city space for
much needed infrastructure and for low income housing. It is also denying the city space
for recreation and community and cultural activities. Even in the informal settlements open
spaces are being occupied and there is a constant struggle between informal settlement
residents and land developers to present this from happening. In this struggle, many lives
have also been lost. The main problem that communities have in protecting open spaces is
the absence of access to landuse plans, land ownership papers, corridors of power and to a
system of justice in the courts of law. Connected to the land issue is the promotion of
grandoise projects consisting of expressways and mass transit systems that displace people
161
Globalisation, Urban Forn1 and Governance
and do not build on what already exists or on what people are doing. It seems that
Karachis' planners and its politicians consider Karachi's needs as only commercial and
residential and that too for the income groups who can pay for them at inflated prices.
In recent years, a number of Karachi professionals and middle class citizens have come
together to struggle against what they call "the land mafia" and against insensitive
government projects that do not solve the problems of the city. In this struggle, their main
support comes from the informal city consisting of community activists from informal
settlements and the informal service providers. Where this struggle has been aided by
professionals and scientific research, there has been considerable success against deeply
entrenched vested interests 13.
Two organisations, both NGOs, have had a considerable impact on government

thinking (if not policy) in Karachi. These are the Urban Resource Centre (URC) and the
Orangi Pilot Project (OPP). The Urban Resource Centre does research on Karachi's
problems with the involvement of the infonnal city actors and thus, this research has a
strong populist bias. It has created a space to share this research through forums with
community representatives, informal sector service providers, professional and academic
institutions, and government planners and bureaucrats. This has resulted in a understanding
on how the city really functions and the press has taken up these issues (for profile of URC
see Appendix 2).
The Orangi Pilot Project on the other hand, carrying out research on the processes in
informal settlelnents and tries to understand who-does-what-and-how and who-gets-what in
the process. It also identifies constraints and potentials in the process and supports the work
of the people and the informal entrepreneurs through technical advice, credit (no grants)
and managerial advice. As a result, its work has iInproved environmental conditions in
informal settlements and created a lnore equitable relationship between government
agencies and c01111nunities on the one hand and between small entrepreneurs and loan-harks
and fonnal sector contractors on the other hand (for profile of OPP see Appendix 3).
7. Conclusions
The discussions in the fore-going sections establish a number of points. One, that
planning, development and management in Asian cities has little relationship to the ground
reality in these cities. It is dominated by the interests of a powerful politician-bureaucrat-
developer nexus which is being further supported by the free market economy promoted by
globalization. Two, that a powerful non-formal sector with strong formal sector links is
providing urban services to the poorer sections of society because the state and formal
sector are not in a position to fulfill their responsibilities. This sector is expanding, and
where it is supported by technical knowhow, it improves its quality and scale of work.
However, it is not represented in the planning and implementation process of urban
development. Three, that a new leadership has developed in the less advantaged sections of
the urban population. This leadership has urban culture and values and is aware and
educated. However, it does not have access to the corridors of power where decisions are
made. Where it is supported by NGOs and by infonnation, it is able to protect the interest
of its constituency. Four, an increasing number of NGOs and citizens' groups are involving
themselves in research advocacy work and questioning conventional planning concepts and
162
Ar~f Hasan
strategies. Their questioning bears fruit if it is supported by alternatives and for this they
require professional help.
As mentioned earlier, it is believed in most quarters that the problen1s of Asian cities
can be overcome if effective local governments, which have capacity and capability, are
established and power is devolved to them. However, the trends seen1 to suggest that
institutional change that is compatible with social and economic conditions, will not come
about unless the trends mentioned in the paragraph above are supported and or regulated.
What is required is strengthening of civil society and increasing its role in decision making.
This can be done by taking four important steps, either before or along with any devolution
of power. These steps are: One, a space for interaction between government agencies,
interest groups (formal and informal) and comlnunities must be created, nurtured and
institutionalised over a period of time. This means that citizens and interest groups have to
be supported by scientific research and the media so as to interact effectively with
government agencies and deeply entrenched vested interests in the development,
consultancy and real estate business. Two, all plans at city, sector and or neighbourhood
level must be publicised at the conceptual stage and objections and suggestions should be
invited especially from formal and informal interest groups, professional and academic
institutions, and from the beneficiaries and victims of the plans. Only after this process,
should detail work on the plans be undertaken. Three, steering committees for various
policy decisions, plans and implelTIentation processes must be created. These steering
committees must have a representation of NOOs, relevant fonnal and informal interest
groups (for example, for transport related plans, representatives of the formal and informal
transporters must be on the committee) and professional expertise in them. In addition,
these committees lTIUSt have executive power. And four, all public sector institutions must
prepare and make public a list of their real estate holdings, its current and proposed landuse
and market value. Such real estate holdings should by law only be used for the benefit of
the city and its poorer sections of the population and not as a commodity or for the
development of cOlnmercial cOlnplexes. In addition, no landuse change should be permitted
without proper public hearings and again decisions on them should only be taken by
committees of interest groups, NOOs, concerned professionals and representatives of
cOlnmunities which are likely to be effected.
In this manner, the emphasis on increasing the capacity and capability of government
agencies will be replaced by an emphasis on transparency and accountability. As it is the
old agenda of increasing capacity and capability has failed miserably in spite of huge
investments in it. This is because the assUlnptions in government planning, especially when
dealing with the non-formal processes, were not based on reality and an understanding of
how they function. In addition, the emphasis has also been on getting the non-formal sector
and poor communities to support these government plans (prepared with the support of
powerful formal sector lobbies) rather than the government plans supporting the good
practices of the non-formal sector and regulating the bad ones sympatheticaly.
However, to make the four point agenda outlined above successful, it is necessary to
understand how the informal sector functions, who its actors are and what are the
relationships between these actors and between the informal sector and the formal
institutions. Unless NOOs, interest groups and concerned professionals are armed by such a
163
research, they will not be able to play their role which is crucial to the success of such an
agenda.
For the agenda to be successful, it is also necessary, that professionals and

administrators who understand both the formal and informal processes and are sympathetic
of the former, should take over as city planners and bureaucrats. This can only happen if
academic institutions that train professionals and administrators change their curriculum and
anchor it in the larger social reality of the city and in its political context. Where changes in
curriculum have taken place, changes in policy and implementation procedures have shown
signs of developing within a decade. Such changes also result in the development of people
and environmental friendly consultants and planners.
I1 Monte Cassim: The Housing Demand-Supply in Asian Metropolises: Dawood College-Aga Khan
Program, Karachi
Kenneth Femandes: Forced Evictions and Housing Right Abuses in Aisa 1996-97: City Press, Karachi
2 Arif Hasan: Seven Reports on Housing: OPP-RTI, Karachi, 1992
Karachi 76 per cent, Bombay 65, Jakarta 60. Quoted in Urban Housing Policies in a Changing Asian
Context: City Press!ACHR, Karachi, 1997
Akhtar Hameed Khan: Orangi Pilot Project Programmes: OPP-RTI, Karachi, 1994
Arif Hasan: Study on Karachi's Fringe Areas: (unpublished) Karachi, 1988
- Johan Silas: Housing in Surabaya
- Aromar Rav: in a paper presented at a PLAN Conference in Sri Lanka, 1994
6 Akhtar Hameed Khan: Orangi Pilot Project Programme: OPP-RTI, Karachi, 1994
Susil Sirivardana: An Analysis of Poverty Alleviation Through Community Based Programme in Sri
Lanka: paper presented at the RWCBP-UPA Seminar at Kuala Lumpur, May 1994
Example, the ADB funded sewage project under the Karachi Special Development Plan in Orangi, 1994.
See Arif Hasan: Working With Government: City Press, Karachi, 1997
According to the Karachi Master Plan 2000, in 1970, 17.62 per cent of the Karachi housing stock of
490,000 houses was of a non-permanent nature.ln 1986, only 8.4 per cent out of just over one million
houses was of a non-pennanent nature.
10 Figures provided by the Urban Resource Centre, Karachi, 1997
11 According to the Karachi Master Plan 2000, 14.42 per cent of Karachi's 51,000 households in 1973 were
classified as the lower-middle income group. In 1989, 31.4 per cent of Karachi's 1.6 million households
belonged to this group.
12 Figures provided by the Urban Resource Centre, Karachi, 1997
13 In Karachi, the Lyari Expressway Project, which was going to displace 125,000 households has been
shelved as a result of community-NGO efforts.
164
ArifHasan
Appendix 1
Table 1
Annual Housing Target Supply Capacity and Estimated Demand
Ammal Annual Supply Capacity UNCRD Target Target Supply

Target '90s Supply Deman Demand
Estimate Gap dGap Gap
Demand
Public Private People Total
Sector Sector Co n') t. Supply
Karachi 50,000 20,000 10,000 - 30,000 137,665 -20,000 -87,665 -107,665
Delhi 130,640 32,147* 21,378 100 ** 53,625 135,690 -77,015 -5,050 -82,065
Colombo - 1,345 167 8,069 9,581 34,417 - - -24,836
Dhaka 117,600 21,631 11,060 - 32,691 316,511 -84,909 - -283,820
198,911
Bangkok 62,500 10,111 15,500 - 25,611 74,795 -36,889 -12,295 -49,184
Kuala 15,080 11,609 6,996 - 12,662 28,579 -2,418 -13,499 -15,917
Lumpur
Jakarta 60,000 17,723 51,010 - 68,733 143,576 8,733 -83,576 -74,843
Manila 66,000 40,813 - - 40,813 82,686 -25,187 -16,686 -41,873
BeWng 80,000 21,964 - - 21,964 72,964 -58,036 7,036 -51,000
Seoul 67,000 - - - 79,467 137,432 12,467 -70,432 -57,965
Total 648,820 177,343 116,111 8,169 375,417 1,164,315 - - -789,168
304,454 481,078
Average 72,091 19,705 16,587 4,085 37,541 116,431 -33,828 -53,453 -78,916
* Maximum Annual Supply Capacity_ Average Annual Supply Capacity (1985-90) is

16,877 Unit
** Co-operative Group Housing
Source: Monte Cassem, Kyan Sunn Wynn: from a paper in Housing Parameters,
Architecture and Planning Publication Centre, Dawood College, Karachi, 1991
165
Table 2
Population Growth Trends
Period - 1 (1971-81) Period ·2 (1981-91) PrQjection (2000)

,
Number %age Number Ch~mge %age Number Change %age
Increase Increase Increase
per per per
Annum Annum Annum
Karachi 5,200,000 5.40 (a) 8,190,000 2,990,000 6.39 12,066,000 3,876,000 4.4
Delhi 6,220,400 5.30 9,109,400 000 4.64 12,809,000 3,700,500 4.06
Colombo 3,920,000 1.20 4,833,000 913,000 2.33 1,126,000 2.33
~
Dhaka 3,344,000 3.54 (b) 5,143,~~~ ~, 99,000 7.68 (c.) 11.097,000 tti54,000
Bangkok 5,570,000 2.87 (e) 6,204,000 634,000 2.27 (t) 7,308,000 04,000
Kuala - - - - - 1,378,000 2.00
Lumpur
Jakarta 6.071,748 3.68 8,254,035 2,182,287 3.59 10,500,000 2,245,965 2.72
Manila 5,926,000 4.94 7,832,000 1,906,000 3.22 10,351,000 2,519,000 3.22
Beijing 8,783,744 1.45 (1) 10,211,000 1,427,256 1.25 - - -
Seoul 8,364,000 5.99 10,287,000 1,923,000 2.55 2,000 2,305,000 1.87
Total 53,399,892 70,063,435 16,663,54 82,682,000 24,208,465
3
Average 5,933,321 7,784,826 1,851,505 10,335,00 2,689,829
0
a) : Figures of 1972-81
b) Figures of 1961-74
c) Figures of 1974-81
d) Based on trends of 1961-81
e) Figures of 1980-85
f) Figures of 1985-90
g) Figures of 1995-2000
h) . Figures of 1995
i) Figures of 1971-79
Source: Prepared by the author and Architect Noman Ahmed from case studies of Asian
cities developed for the UNCRD's Third International Housing Training
Seminar (TIHTS), Nagoya, 1991.
166
Table 3
Population Living Squatter Areas
'70 '80 Most Recent ('90s) 2000 (Projection)

Squatter Total %age Squatter Total %age Squatter Total %age Squatter Total %age
Populatio Populatio Population Population Population Population Population Population
n n
Karachi 2,000,000 4,634,000 43.16(a) 2,600,000 6,529,120 39.92(b) 3,400,000 7,525,960 45. 18(c) 7,070,000 10,600,000 66.6
9
- -
=
Delhi 279,000 4.065,600 6.86 439,560 6,220,400 7.06 1,065,600 9,109,400 11.70 -
Colombo - - - - - 195,072 4,833,000 4.04 - -

Dhaka 200,000 2,289,000 8.79 500,000 3,344,000 14.95 700,000 4,344,000 16.11 1,017,000 5,143,000 19.7
7
Bangkok - - - 222,000(d) 6,344,830 3.50 222,665(e) 6,485,661 3.43 - -
Kuala 175,300 - 204,750 - - -
Lumpur (t)
Jakarta - 42,500 7,859,270 0.54 44.000 8,254,035 0.54 130,000 10,500,000 1.24
Manila 721,000 4,355,766 16.55(g) 1,646,000 5,926,000 27.77 2,385,000 7,832,000 30.45 5,247,000 10,351,000 50.6
9
BeUing - - - - - - - - -
Seoul - - 677,600 10,045,954 6.75 - - - -
Total 3,375,300 15,344,36 6,332,410 46,269,574 8,012,337 48,384,056 13,464,000 36,594,000
6
Average 675,060 3,836,091 791,552 6,609,939 1,144,620 6,912,008 3,366,000 9,148,500
a) : Figures of 1978; b) Figures of 1985; c) : Figures of 1988; d) : Figures of 1986;e) : Figures of 1987;
t): Figures of 1976;g) Figures of 1973;
Source: Prepared by the author and Architect Noman Ahmed from case studies of Asian cities developed for the UNCRD's Third
International Housing Training Seminar (fIHTS) , Nagoya, 1991.
167
Appendix - 2
Profile of Urban Resource Centre, Karachi
The Urban Resource Centre (URC) was set up in 1989. Its general body and executive
comn1ittee consists of urban planning related professionals, representatives of NGOs and
grassroot community organisations and teachers at professional colleges and universities in
Karachi.
The objectives of the URC are to create a space for interaction between CBOs, NGOs,
professionals, private (formal and informal) sector interest groups, academic institutions
and governn1ent agencies so as to increase awareness and make planning more responsive
to social and environmental issues. To make this possible, the Centre carries out research
on all major urban development projects and problems in Karachi and then holds forums in
which the government planners and the beneficiaries (usually the rich) and the victims
(usually the poor) of these plans are invited. This interaction has generated debate and
discussion in the press and brought about substantial changes in how problems and planning
are viewed by government agencies and different stakeholders. The URC also holds forums
in which poor communities interact with each other and identify their problems and how
they can be solved. The URC then puts these communities in contact with relevant NGOs
and professionals who can be of assistance to them. The URC's work is published through
reports and a monthly publication entitled "Facts and Figures" which gives details with
statistics of what has transpired in Karachi during the last month.
As a result of URC's work, the Karachi Mass Transit Project was n10dified considerably
because of pressure from citizen's groups and was made more environmental and cost
friendly. Also, due to the information and alternatives supplied to communities living on
the Lyari River corridor, the Lyari Expressway, which was going to uproot 125,000 people
was abandoned. The Expressway project has been replaced by the northern bye-pass for
which the URC pressed. In addition, some communities have begun to build their own
sewage systems, and/or to monitor government work in their localities effectively, because
the URC put them in contact with the OPP and resource individuals.
The URC also has a training programlne for young people in low income settlements so
that they can actively assist their communities through technical and Inanagerial support.
Appendix - 3
Profile of Orangi Pilot Proj ect, Karachi
Orangi Pilot Project has been working in Orangi, a low income settlement of one million
population in Karachi since 1980. OPP considers itself a research and training institution
whose objective is to analyse outstanding problems of the poor living in Orangi and through
action research and extension provide solutions. OPP believes in the development of
existing managerial and financial potential of an area. It promotes community organisation
and management by providing social and technical guidance to collective action. In 1986,
the OPP's sanitation and housing programme were converted into OPP-RTI and its credit
programme into the Orangi Charitable Trust (OCT).
168
Artf Hasan
Based on the above principles, the OPP operates the following programmes.
a) Low Cost Sanitation Progranune:
This programme enables low income families to construct and maintain an underground
sewage system with their own funds and under their own management. For this
programme, the OPP provides social and technical guidance (based on action research),
tools and supervision of implementation. The OPP's work has shown that people can
finance and build underground sanitation in their homes, their lanes and neighbourhoods.
This development is called "internal" development by the OPP. However, people cannot
build "external" development consisting of trunk sewers, treatment plants and long
secondary sewers. This only the state can provide. In Orangi, people have invested Rs
73.15 million on internal developtnent in 5,823 lanes consisting of 87,734 houses. The state
would have spent over six times this amount to do this quantum of work. The programme is
being replicated in 7 cities of Pakistan by NGOs and CBOs and in 49 settlements in Karachi
by the SKAA. As a result of the programme, infant mortality in those parts of Orangi that
built their sanitation systems in 1982, has fallen from 130 per thousand to 37 in 1991. A
number of projects of government-OPP collaboration have or are being implemented where
the state is building the external and the communities, supported by OPP, are building the
internal infrastructure.
b) Health Programme
The OPP's health programme consisted of developing women's organisations at the lane
level in lanes that had built their sanitation systems. A mobile team of experts gave advice
to such organisations, through discussions and meetings, on common diseases in Orangi,
their causes and ways of preventing them. It also gave advice on hygiene, immunization
and family planning. As a result, 90 per cent of households that were part of this
programme, imm unized their children and over 45 per cent faInilies adopted birth control.
However, the OPP could not reach more than 3,000 falnilies through this method and the
proj ect was revised.
The revised model has now been introduced under which the health programme imparts
training on primary health and vaccination to local lady teachers, managers of family
enterprise units and doctors in private clinics thus anchoring the programme institutionally
in schools, private clinics and family enterprise units. A health centre is operated at OPP
office which provides vaccines and family planning supplies to the activists in these centres.
c) Family Enterprise Economic Progranmle
This programme is run by the OCT which was formed in 1987. The OCT borrows from
commercial banks and then on lends to small family businesses but without red-tape and
collateral. These loans vary between Rs 1,000 and Rs 75,000. The aim of these loans is to
increase production and generate jobs. Loans are usually given to people who have
expertise in what they plan to do or are already operating businesses. Interest is charged on
the loans at the current bank rate of 18 per cent. Presently, there are 6,016 units being
supported by OCT loans of Rs 110,701,260. Out of these Rs 80,450,626 have been paid
back with a mark up of Rs 19,706,611. The recovery rate is 97 per cent. The World Bank
has also given a grant as a revolving fund for the programlne.
169
d) Education Project
Opp tries through social and technical guidance to improve and upgrade the physical
conditions and academic standards of private schools in Orangi. Physical improvements are
made with loans from OCT and advice from OPP's sanitation and housing programme.
Academic improvements are made by arranging teacher's training through existing relevant
organisations; provisions and use of libraries and audio-visual aids; and publication of
manuals and guide books.
Financial support is extended during three stages of establishment of these schools. One,
a small start up grant of Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 for setting up the schools. Two, within a
year the school is institutionalised and then arises the need for physical expansion. This
amounts to Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000. This support is very important for the survival of the
school. And three, loan for upgrading is needed as the school is by now a formal education
institution and can take loans which can be repaid through its incolne.
OPP has provided 356 loans to such schools. Teacher's training through Allama Iqbal
Open University is also being coordinated. The education entrepreneurs also hold their
monthly meetings at OPP office, where they share infonnation on registration and teaching
methods.
e) opp Housing Programnle
OPP's low cost housing programme provides loans and technical assistance (based on
research) to building component manufacturing yards in Orangi so that they can mechanise
their production, improve their products, train their staff and increase their production. In
addition, the programme also trains Inasons in using the new technologies and components
that are being developed at the manufacturing yards. Also, house builders are given advice
on how to relate to the manufacturing yards and masons and also advice on design, light,
ventilation and other hygiene related design aspects. To provide such advice, the OPP is in
the process of training para-professionals who are mostly young unemployed youth from
the Orangi comlnunities and who will then be paid by house builders or those who want
improvement to their homes to help to assist them. The OPP housing programme thus tries
to create a more equitable relationship between the actors in housing drama, as a result of
which housing has imprOVed in Orangi.
f) Impact of opp Programme
International and government agencies, NOOs and CBOs are all in the process of trying
to replicate OPP progratnmes or develop their programmes on OPP principles. So far,
working with government has not been very successful except at the level of some projects.
However, work with some NO Os has been most successful. The n1ain constraints in the
replication of OPP concepts is one, the absence of appropriately trained technical persons in
low income comlnunities; and two, the difficulty of conventionally trained bureaucrats and
professionals in government to relate to the social dynamics of low income groups.
170
18
Multi-utilities and horizontal monopolies in the provision of

urban infrastructure.
Abstract
The privatization of the Inain public utilities in Brazil has been followed by the
formation of multi-scope corporations, dealing with a varied portfolio of services originated
in different sectors. This contrasts with the traditional state supply structures of public
utilities, whose monopolistic character used to be associated to their vertical domination and
economies of scale. Privatization associated with the functional unbundling of urban and
regional infrastructure networks has given rise to horizontal forms of monopoly, involving
potentially high impacts over urban structuring, social equity and environmental
sustainability of cities. In this paper I propose some possible implications of this trend
regarding the case of the Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo (Brazil), in light of the past
impacts of sector oriented decision-making over the urban structure. At the end I propose a
basic research agenda aimed at promoting social control over strategic information
regarding public infrastructure networks, in order to mitigate the impacts of private
horizontal monopolies over urban structure and environment.
Public utilities and urban structuring

The coordination of policies and targets defined under the logic of each infrastructure
and public utility segment operating in a given territorial jurisdiction has always been a
difficult challenge to the planning and management of environmental, regional and urban
systems. In Brazil, the accelerated expansion of the coverage of infrastructure networks
during the last 30 years took place predominately within the institutional framework
deternlined by a federal act passed in 1967, known as Decree 200. According to this act,
the Executive power was entitled to create state corporations aimed at implementing the
governmental policies free froIn the bureaucratic inhibitors that used to characterize the
governmental actions. Each sector would be organized around governmental holding
companies or chief corporations that would coordinate the actions of their subsidiary or
connected cOlnpanies in a hierarchical structure ranging from the national level until the
maximum capillarity at local level. That model was applied for electricity,
telecommunications, energy, transport, water, sanitation, and all branches of basic industry
considered as strategic for development. That model brought outstanding efficiency
improvement and supply expansion in all sectors of infrastructure and public utilities in
Brazil, but caused a remarkable magnifying of each sector's logic at the expense of the
regional and local systems of planning and Inanagement.
171
Globalization, Urban Forms and Gouvernance
Municipal and metropolitan policies have been, as a rule, frustrated by the asymmetry
between their current managelnent instruments - e.g. master plans, urban regulations - and
the power share de facto overtaken by the public utilities in what concerns the urban and
regional structuring. The powerful state utilities would not subordinate their plans and
strategies to the guidelines of local or regional master plans, unless these guidelines were
fully matched with the preferred alternatives previously defined under a strict sector's
logic. This asymmetry would in some cases be directly translated into political power,
when the regional branches of the state utilities had the role of parallel powers to local
administration.
Theoretically the private managelnent of utilities would alleviate this tendency, by

reducing their political interference over extra-sectorial matters. However, the question is
not so simple as to associate the exercise of political power to the sole governmental status
of the utilities. Past relationships between government and public utilities in Brazil show
that power asymmetries and undue political involvelnent have more to do with the
economic and territorial relative weight of the utility than with its state or private
ownership. Strong and well-organized structures supplying highly disputed outputs, despite
their ownership status, are likely to concentrate more bargaining power than small
municipalities. Within this prospect, the formation of horizontal multi-scope private
monopolies would certainly aggravate this tendency.
The coordination of multiple sector's activities has always been a difficult task for
urban and regional managers in Brazil, and this is likely to become harder where multi-
utilities are concerned, for the economic regulations do not cover abuses that would
otherwise be inhibited. In countries with a stronger regulatory tradition than Brazil - like
the U .S. and the U.K. - there are two typical situations under which economic activities
may be set-up under econolnic regulation: i) the competitive activities, generally protected
by the antitrust provisions to ensure cOlnpetition; ii) the activities inherently organized as
monopolies like most of the infrastructure networks and public utility selVices related -
regulated by specific bodies aimed at counteracting the effects of the monopolistic
condition. One of the basic conditions for an effective regulation of public utilities is to
have the scope of the regulated activities well defined and unmixed with other non-
regulated scopes. If the limits between regulated and unregulated scopes are lax, cross
subsidization of the competitive niche at the expense of the captive market is likely to take
place. This is what has been demonstrated by studies like Bishop, Kay, and Mayer (ed.,
1995a, 1995b) about the recent processes of privatization and regulation in Britain. And
when this sort of horizontal mUltipurpose monopoly is created, the specific regulator -
lin1ited by the strict scope of its formal regulatory duties - is not entitled to restrain possible
privileges and abuses derived from this practice. The multi-purpose utility would then be
free to horizontally dOlninate the public utility selVices in the whole jurisdiction.
This sort of monopoly, not controlled under specific public utilities' regulation, has not
by and large been considered as a competency of antitrust law. As a rule, antitrust law is
aimed at inhibiting the concentration of econolnic activities in terms of market
concentration and vertical domination of successive segments of a whole productive
process. But the formation of horizontal monopolies over diversified urban and regional
public utility selVices do not imply any of these two classic situations: from the standpoint
172
of each isolated scope the company has no market dOlnination, since this domination is
considered in terms of national or macro-regional market share (as opposed to local or
micro-regional); from the stand point of vertical dOlnination, antitrust law is not applicable
either, since the domination is based on functions which are parallel and diversified in
scope. This way, it is as defined a particular form of market domination, which has been
barely or not considered at all by both public utilities regulatory systems, and by antitrust
laws. Even less, they have so far been considered by regional and local entities responsible
for the performance of the whole of the urban services in their jurisdictions.
Despite the primarily economic perspective under which these processes of horizontal
domination have been studied, their outcomes over urban and regional structuring are
undeniable. The horizontal domination of multipurpose utilities over a regional or local
terri tory determines an ensuing domination of urban land use and structuring that has an
enormous potential to affect social equity, environmental sustainability, and development
alternatives in urban complexes as ilnportant as the Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo.
During the twenties the British-Canadian company Sao Paulo Light and Power defined
some of the major vectors of urban structuring in the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Region. The
whole of the water resources strategy in the region was decided according to the logic of
hydropower generation, that included the reversion of a river flow towards the Atlantic
slopes to southeast, and the creation of two large reservoirs in that area. For the sake of
operational control of flows and diversions, the utility was entitled to dominate the
waterfronts along the river, and would later make a lot of money from real estate
businesses in a highly valorized area. Apart from the domination over the waterfronts, the
utility would also manage the main urban water supplies, and flood control measures.
Connected to electricity supply, the utility controlled public lighting and electric tram
systems. The Light and Power Con1pany of the twenties used to be a typical multi-utility,
virtually unregulated, with strategic control over the key services to metropolitan life. Its
involvement with real estate businesses included the development of highest valorized
neighborhoods of Sao Paulo city, along the southwestern tramlines. At that time, the Sao
Paulo municipal authorities did not establish rules for the harmonization of different
services with the regional and urban structures.
Within the institutional system now associated with privatization and independent
regulation, the harmonization between private and public interests would to a large extent
be attributed to public utilities' regulators. To accolnplish this role, regulatory entities
should have a clearly proactive character, incorporating long term planning and
preventative measures within their tasks (Williams et al ii, 1998), Capillarity, social
control, and close collaboration with urban and regional managelnent systems are basic
requirements to the public effectiveness of utilities' regulators.
Municipal governments and micro-regional organizations - e.g. metropolitan councils

- have been strengthened by the Brazilian federal constitution of 1988. In spite of this,
there is no urban policy coordinated with the new institutional organization of public
infrastructure and utility services. The process of institutional restructuring of urban
planning and management must include a new distribution of power, and be based on
instruments able to assure the prevalence of the urban / regional objectives over each
sector's objectives. This includes less dogmatic visions about virtues and vices associated to
173
Globalization, Urban Forms and Gouvernance
either private or state operation of services, opening the way to mixed solutions according
to the specificity of each case.
From the public standpoint, what actually matters is the effective exercise of social
control over the urban systems, regardless to their state or private operation. And this
depends - apart fro In the very political motivation and organization - on the objective
knowledge of the priorities and strategies for networks and services. The research agenda
on public utilities and regulation held by academic networks may play a central role in the
organization of regulatory bodies integrated with urban, environmental and social policies.
This role is associated with the capacity of these institutions to evaluate strategies and
performance from a broad social and environmental standpoint, beyond the strict yardsticks
of sectoral efficiency and immediate user's satisfaction.
Research agenda
Information about infrastructure networks and public utilities involve cost and time-
consuming procedures. Infonnation asymmetries are one of the main reasons for regulatory
failure, even within those countries whose institutional systems have been taken as
worldwide paradigms. Vickers & Yarrow (1986); Kay, Mayer and Thompson (1989);
Bishop, Kay, and Mayer (op. cit.) have systematically studied regulatory organization of
public utilities in Britain, and shown the importance of information asymInetry as a central
challenge to be overcome by regulators. Similar problems have been reported by scholars
dealing with the American regulatory organization (Swann, 1988; Williams et all ii, op.
cit.), and some of their roots shown in the seminal work of Neale (1960) about antitrust
regulation in the U .S. and the U.K .. In what concerns Brazil's recent re-entry into the
private market of public services, there are no specific studies on the performance and
social impacts of its brand new regulatory systems. There are, however, retrospective
analysis about sectoral regulation along the developmentist state (Infurb, 1995; Silva, 1996,
1997) that report a clear tendency of regulator'S capture by regulated, despite the state
relatedness of both. And the new regulatory bodies aimed at regulating private operators of
public services have not shown, so far, to rely on safer grounds in what concerns capture
risks.
One possible prospect of independent information generation is the development of

follow-up systems to trace utilities' actions and strategies, similar to the works of the Public
Services Privatisation Research Unit (see PSPRU, 1996) linked to the British lab or
federations CCSU, UNISON and TGWU. By means of the Public Services International
and in association with Brazilian unions of public services, the Research Group on Urban
Information at the University of Sao PauIo - INFURB-USP has got in touch with
PSPRU, and has as one of its objectives for 1999 to establish a basis of systematic follow
up on policies and strategic operations of public utilities working in Sao Paulo. The
specific objectives of this follow-up are linked to the urban and environmental insertion of
utilities, and not so much to their commercial and financial features. However, the former
could not be achieved without a reasonable concern with the latter.
The main specific relationships and questions to be possibly clarified under this
research agenda would be:
174
Ricardo Toledo SUva
1. Infrastructure supply and real estate businesses, including the spatial identification of
the main supply concentrations in quantitative and qualitative terms;
2. Technological and managerial integration between different scopes of infrastructure
and public services - e.g. electricity, telecommunications, water supply, sanitation,
public transport and gas - and the impacts of their integration in terms of their joint
supply structures, and of each of their single scopes;
3. The applicability of urban management instruments in the planning and regulation of
public services supply in the Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo, with special concern
to the impacts of these supplies over the metropolitan urban and environmental
structures;
4. The attitudes of sectoral regulators regarding issues that involve widespread public
interest, with special regard to those affecting metropolitan development, social equity
and environmental sustainability;
5. Sectoral priorities in increasing supplies: diffusion of basic capacities versus
diversification / quality improvement of services aimed at those social groups who
have already assessed basic capacities.
References
BISHOP, M.; KAY, J.; MAYER, C. (1995a) - The regulatory challenge. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
BISHOP, M.; KAY, J.; MAYER, C. (1995b) - Privatization & economic performance. Oxford University
Press. Oxford.
Brasil, Reptiblica Federativa do. Decreto Lei nO 200, de 25 de fevereiro de 1967, corn os textos alterados ou
suprimidos pelos decretos lei nOs 900/ 1969, 9911 1969 e 1093/ 1970. Dispoe sobre a organiza<;ao cia
Administra<;ao Federal, estabelece diretrizes para a Reforma Administrativa e da outras providencias.
Brasil, Reptiblica Federativa do. Lei nO 8987, de 1995. Dispoe sobre 0 regime de conscessao e permissao da
presta<;ao de servi<;os ptiblicos previsto no art. 175 da Constitui9ao Federal e da outras providencias.
INFURB-USP - Nlic1eo de Pesquisas em Informa<;oes Urbanas da Universidade de Sao Paulo (1995) -
Fundamentos e Proposta de Ordenamento Institucional. Serie Modemizacao do Setor Saneamento. Vol 1.
Secretaria de Politica Urbana e Instituto de Pesquisa Economica Aplicada. Ministerio do Planejamento e
Ontamento. Brasflia.
KAY, J.; MAYER, C.; THOMPSON, D., edit. (1989) Privatisation and regulation: the UK experience.
Oxford University Press. London.
NEALE, A.D. (1960) - The Antitmst Laws of the United States of America. A study of competition enforced
by law. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Public Services Privatisation Research Unit PSPRU (1996) - The multinationals bid for public services. The
privatisation network. January 1996. 46 p.
SILVA, R. T. (1996) - Elementos para a regulacao e 0 controle da infra-estmtura regional e urbana em
cenario de oferta privada dos servicos. Tese de Livre-Docencia. Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo.
Universidade de Sao Paulo.
SILVA, R.T. (1997) - The environment and infrastructure supply in Brazil. Em Burgess, R.; Carmona, M.;
Kolstee, T. - The Challenge of Sustainable Cities. Neoliheralism and Urban Strategies in Developing
Countries. Zed Books. Londres. 1997. Pgs. 89-108.
SWANN, D. (1988) - The retreat of the state. Deregulation and privatisation in the UK and US. Harvester -
Wheatsheaf. Hertfordshire.
VICKERS, J.; YARROW, G. (1989) - Privatization: an economic analysis. The MIT Press. Cambridge,
Mass.
WILLIAMS, J.; BORROWS, J.; DALY, S. (1998) - Small water company regulation. Choices for
commissions. The NARUC Staff Committee on Water. National Association of Regulatory Utility
Commissioners. Washington D.C.
175
19
Global pressure and the enabling city. The case of Rotterdam
Gerard Wigmans
1 De-industrialisation and the service sector as compensation

Rotterdam, with 600.000 inhabitants, is the second largest city of the Netherlands.
After World War II, the recovery of this bombed city has been spectacular. A completely
new Central Business District has been built, and the pre-war transit-oriented Rhine
Harbour has been developed into the largest seaport of the world, and corrlbined with a
huge petro-chemical complex. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Rotterdan1 regional area was the
growth pole of the Dutch economy.
After the oil crisis of 1973 economies world-wide were confronted with a recession.
There were signs of de-industrialisation, world-wide growing unemployment, regional
differences becoming more prominent and the financial carrying capacity of national and local
authorities coming under severe pressure.
The de-industrialisation process affected Rotterdam, which has many traditional
(harbour related) industries relatively negatively. Rotterdam lost 33.000 jobs in the 1970s
and another 16.000 in the 1980s. The most spectacular development was the loss of
between 15 and 20 thousand jobs in the shipbuilding and transport industry, once a strong
interlinked industrial complex.
Soon after 1979 -the year of the second oil crisis - the unemployment rate in
Rotterdam ranked among the highest in the country.
The economic recession and unemployment in the late 1970s in Rotterdam stimulated
the local government to look for new opportunities to improve the economic carrying
capacity of the city. The urban economy became the central concern of urban policy. This
break with the previous policy, got form in 1987 in the note 'Vernieuwing van Rotterdam
(Renewal of Rotterdam)"l The international development of 'the modern economy' is
proposed as decisive for the future development of the city and is consequently taken as the
point of departure for the formulation of a new urban policy. The continual increase in the
tertiarisation of the employment structure is named as the startingpoint of the new spatial-
economic policy.
2. Central control and urban economy

The steering efforts shifted towards an economic dynamic, which under the conditions
of post modernity developed a flexible and volatile character. This character made it
difficult for Rotterdam to position itself (over a determined period), and to present itself as
an attractive city for the sectors of the tTIodern economy.
177
The complexity and unsurveyability of the dynamics of the urban economy lead to the
grouping together of all departments responsible for economic policy and those that are
involved with economic activities of the city. Knowledge of the economy, experience in
negotiation with market parties and financial means were grouped together and the
promotion, relations and access to networks were placed under one central control. Thus the
Rotterdam City Development Corporation (OBR) is established.
Diagram of the establishment of the Rotterdam City Development Corporation (OBR)
GHR GB (so)
dS + v 1990
OBR 1991
GHR (Gemeentelijk Havenbedrijf Rotterdam) = Municipal Port Management Rotterdam

GB (Grondbedrijt) = Real Estate Department
EZ (Economische Zaken) = Economic Affairs
DMK (Dienst Midden & Kleinbedrijt) = Services for small and medium business
dS + V (dienst Stedenbouw en Volkshuisvesting) = Urban Planning and Housing Department
OBR (Ontwikkelingsbedrijf Rotterdam) = Rotterdam City Development Corporation
Haven = Harbour
Stad = City
As can be seen in the diagram, the area of concern of the City Development
Corporation is in principle focussed on the urban area. The land policy of the Rotterdam
Municipal Port Management (Gemeentelijk Havenbedrijf Rotterdam) is relatively
independent from this. The Port Management manages the port and its industrial and
distribution area.
The City Development Corporation is active mainly in the stimulation and modernisation
of urban economic development and the design and implementation of land policy (distribution
and ground lease). The objective is to create a multiform and internationally attractive city. In
order to attain this objective the City Development Corporation provides an active, often risk-
bearing contribution to spatial planning, projects, supporting economic activities, creating
employment and providing an attractive climate in which to live and work.
Simultaneously a new tense relationship has developed between the Urban Planning and
Housing Department (dienst Stedenbouw en Volkshuisvesting ) and the City Development
Corporation. The Urban Planning and Housing Department focuses primarily on the spatial
coherence between the urban functions of the city and is mainly busy with plan development.
178
Gerard Wigm,ans
The City Development Corporation is especially concerned with the creation of attractive
conditions for project development initiatives that will give a revitalising impulse to the city
and projects that can position the city in the spectrum of the modern economy.
3. Strategic projects
An enormous reorganisation of the financial means of the local government has taken
place in Rotterdam in the past decenium, in order to 'free' investment funds for the
2
realisation of the new policy priorities.
The city of Rotterdam had to vie for the favours of potential residents as well as those
of prospective companies. The availability of an attractive housing environment and cultural
climate, a complete and varied package of facilities, adequate services, and good
accessibility form decisive factors within this competitive struggle among cities. The city of
Rotterdam had to becon1e part of the European networks and infrastructure, offering
attractive opportunities. These pressing demands, which relate to the city's program,
became high stakes and prerequisites within the city's physical-planning policy.
The city's main task was to show itself off, to develop as an attractive area, a place
worth visiting, worth living in, worth investing. Rotterdam had to be put on the 'map'.
Projects that have been tackled since the second half on the eighties have been started
specifically from this perspective. The two most important projects will be discussed
shortly. These are firstly the first generation project: Kop van Zuid and the recent second
generation project: CS/HST.
Kop van Zuid

Where once port activities flourished, an extension of the city-centre
will be developed.
Kop van Zuid
• metropolitan '·
development plan
a
• ilarge-scale and
high-qual ity
• creating spin-ofts
to surrounding
old districts
179
Globalization, Urban Fom1. and Gouvernance
First generation project: Kop van Zuid

Before 1987 the programmes for the fonner harbour area (Binnenhaven-
Spoorhavengebied) was aimed solely at the real needs of the adjacent residential areas
where urban renewal was taking place. These programmes consisted of affordable housing
aimed at the target group that was developed together with the residents(organisations). The
area has after 1987 nonetheless become the syrrlbol of the shift in policy when the strategic
project of Kop van Zuid was launched.
An ambitious renewal program was started. The assignment is the development of a
new housing and office environment that will meet standards of quality set at the
international level.
A new network of main roads, the reconstruction of a new underground railway
station, and the connection with the city centre effected by the Erasmus bridge, make this a
prime area for the development of high-grade office space, dwellings and city centre
facilities.
Second generation project: CSIHST

A new strategic project is Rotterdam CS/HST (Central Station/High Speed Train). This
concerns the optimisation of Rotterdam CS as a qualitative elninent public transport
junction and HTS-stop, whereby the desired effects partially overtake the level of the city.
It is concerned with the strengthening of the position of the Randstad as a whole in the
European urban network. The opportunity is taken to radically restructure the area
surrounding the station, in line with the European trend to invest heavily around HST-
stations in a new type of settlement and residential environment for enterprises and people.
At the same time the entrance to the city is given a robust quality impulse. An infill where
an important role is given to offices, residential, amusement and provision for an extensive
transferi um is envisaged.
The strategic project Kop van Zuid and the planned project CS/HSL in the city-centre
involved the main investments of Rotterdam. Beside these types of projects, cultural projects
also get more and more attention in the urban policy. More money is put into the stimulation
of a tourist industry and the attraction and development of all kinds of events such as the
Rotterdam film festival and the world harbour day. Thus the improvement of the image of
Rotterdam is given strong support.
All these new activities should not be seen as compensation for the industrial employment
opportunities that has by and large been lost in Rotterdam, although this should not be
undervalued. These activities should firstly be evaluated as new attraction factors, as attempts
to create a high profile and to position Rotterdam with respect to other competing cities.
Culture has become a production factor, especially in cities that want to transform into a focus
of information technology. This idea is clearly present in the policy niveau of Rotterdam.
Hall shows that the cities which are pre-elninently confronted with the negative
consequences of the de-industrialisation process of the seventies and the eighties -the old
industrial and harbour cities- show the strongest initiatives to change their own images,
especially where their image is not positive. The disappearance of the traditional industrial
base creates to a certain extent an incentive to create a new image. The road has been cleared
in a way. "Precisely because so Inany cities are seeking new roles as they move from the
industrial to the informational era, precisely because the old locational constraints ( ... ) are so
much less significant, cities are free to compete which each other for activity that is, within
limits, footloose. Because of the new freedom, cities can shape their image so as to develop
completely new activities of national or international significance. ,,3
180
Gerard Wigmans
Investment locations Rotterdam 4

meters
I. Rotterdam CS/HSL
2. Afronding Kop van Zuid o 1000 2000 3000 4000
3. Noordrand in samenhang met AI3/AI6
4. Diverse projecten ontwikkc1ing Binnenstad
5. HSL
6. RandstadRail Zoctermeer en HOV naar
RidderkerklDrechtsteden
7. Verbreding AI5
8. Herslructurering stadswijken 0
9. Herstructurering havenlerreinen~
Hron: OTB-hewaking van gq.:evcns van de gemceJl{c R.ollcrti;ull
4. Some implications
The ideology of the present urban policy

The overriding line of thought in urban policy is that primacy should be given to
investment initiatives that lead to econolnic prosperity. On the basis of this welfare and
social goals can be achieved. Through growth in prosperity, financial means come available
to the city managers to use for these (dependency) goals.
A proj ect approach to the city

The focus on the city as a relatively closed off spatial entity has shifted to the city as
sum of projects in specific localities in the city. Together with this public space and the
localities in the city are in the first place evaluated and categorised according to their
specific qualities as settlement areas for different market segments and target groups.
The open-ended character of public investment

The current urban policy aims at specific sectors that require important financial
reserves with regards to current risks and are taken at the expense of other interventions in
the city. In Rotterdam this is especially true for the strategic project of Kop van Suid. The
uncertainty of the interest of the market results in public investment in this area taking on
an incalculable and risky character. The determination of the duration of the project
remains a precarious (and arbitrary) matter in relation to an undeterminable market
environment.
181
The Kop van Zuid as strategic project makes a huge financial claim on local public
spending. 70% of all land exploitation together is spent on Kop van Zuid. This is at the
expense of other projects and needs in the city. Indirectly this is such an essential project
for Rotterdam, and takes up so much funding that stagnating and problem areas are
developing elsewhere.
The urban policy emigrates

The focus of the urban policy has shifted to the needs and desires of a selected target
group that do not have to have a direct link to the city. The local population as a whole does
not form the point of departure of the housing policy. The policy is focused on those
categories that are important from an economical perspective. The urban development
problem is orientated primarily and preponderantly on the target groups who have historically,
culturally and with regards to traditional settlement factors no need for a direct link with the
city. The 'specific potential of the city is compared to that of other cities. The competitive
position plays a determining role in the choice of which urban development problems are
addressed.
A dual track approach

It is suggested that there is a tendency for a separation between economic policy and
social policy that leads to a divided treatment of space in the city. With economic policy a
sectoral approach aimed at the economic sector dOlninates; a policy that is externally
orientated on economic developlnent and transformation on country and European scale,
outside of the 'narrow minded cadre of the community boundary'. It is predominantly
offensive and speculative in character and aimed at future potential.
The social policy is locally bound and especially aimed at existing urban dwellers and
facilities on ward- and sub-municipal niveau. The social policy is topical and orientated to
the problems of sub-areas of the city and operates on a small spatial scale. With this policy,
the sub-municipality is active especially in the executive problem-solving sphere. s
In the emulation strategy choices have been made in favour of investors in particular
the office market and high-class residential housing. Parallel to this attention for living and
housing in the traditional older urban neighbourhoods has lessened. However the stressing
of the more powerful actors in the urban game ignores the problem in the older areas which
may eventually seriously harm the goals of city marketing.
Positioning in the post-modern. economy: the search for identity (identities)

The urban renewal policy of Rotterdam is aimed at accelerating the metamorphosis
from industrial (harbour) city to post-modern city. The position of service city, knowledge
city and telecom city, (but also as culture city and events city) fits into this perspective. The
vision of the future of Rotterdam (and many other cities) is seen as the solution for urban
revitalisation. In this sense Rotterdam has set it's stakes high (public investment, risk
participation, location supply, etc.).
There are suggestions of a kind of 'objectively' felt need to become part of the post-
modern economy. The importance of the service economy and information technology for
the city is seen as essential for the revitalisation strategy. The motivation behind this is that,
within the 'new economy' productivity and competitive power of regions and cities are to a
high degree determined by their ability to link their information potential and
cOlnmunication technology with the networks of the most important world cities on national
and international level.
182
Gerard Wigm,ans
Rotterdam rose to the occasion with the making of networks. But in how far this has
touched an international dimension in the fields of conlmunication and information
networks has still to be seen.
It is nonetheless true that the self-created survival plan (from industrial harbour city to
post-modern city) has legitimised the adaptations in the city. But this is also based on a real
perception of the transformation that is happening in the economy.
Rotterdam: The enabling City6

The contraction of space means that the various 'communities' around the world have
been forced into competition with each other. The result has been localised competitive
strategies and a growing awareness of what makes a place special and gives it a competitive
edge. Such a reaction is far more concerned with the identity of the place and locations in
the city, with reference to its unique qualities in an increasingly homogeneous but at the
same time increasingly fragmented world.? It is against this background that Rotterdam too
has started to position itself as a 'place with its own identity'. Rotterdam goes to
considerable lengths to secure the position it desires. Rotterdam becomes an enabling city.
The vulnerability to market fluctuations is increasingly incorporated in the City
Development Corporation. The logic of the market mechanism becomes increasingly
intrinsic to its structure.
The enabling city focuses on the market's flexible laws of motion and responds to that
'market's desire for flexibility. The enabling city makes risky investments in order to
continue playing a role in the network society. Competition is intensified by the enabling
attitude of cities. The existing flexible freedom of movement is stimulated. The turnover
rate of public investments in the factors of production felt to be necessary to continue
playing a role in the modern economy, threaten to accelerate. The process of flexible
accumulation and the vulnerable pattern of urban investments become interconnected and
reinforce each other. The enabling city is therefore the label for the post-modern city that
provides the ideal support for this accumulation process.
The city supports a flexible network economy within which links are established
between the categories tilne and space. The notion of 'the city as motor of the modem
economy' is giving way to a post-modern reality: 'the city as enabling choice of location
within a network economy,.8
Notes
1 Gemeente Rotterdam, Vernieuwing van Rotterdam, 1987.

2 The freedom of local government with regards to financial policy is restricted in the Netherlands. About 70-
80 precent of income is made up of central government funding.
3.p. Hall, Forces shaping Urban Europe, Paper Conferentie 'European cities: growth and decline', Den Haag,
april 1992, p. 11.
4 H. Priemus, R.C. Kloostennan, B.W. Lambregts, H.M. Knlythoff, J.den Draak, De stedelijke
investeringsopgave 1999-2010 gekwantijiceerd. Naar econorniscl1e vitaliteit, bereikbaarheid, sociale
cohesie en duurzaatnheid, Delft 1998, Deel 2 p.17-18.
5 Rotterdam has a decentralised council. The city is divided into eleven sub-municipalities, each with its own
council.
6 G. Wig mans , De facilitaire stad. Rotterdams grondbeleid en postmodernisering, Delft 1998.
7 Compareer D. Harvey, 177e Condition of Postmodernity. An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change,
Oxford 1995.
8 Compareer M. Castells, 171e Rise of the Network Society, Oxford 1996.
183
Globalization, Urban Foml and Gouvernance
Key facts Rotterdam
Surface
Surface area: 304 sq km, 204 sq km of which land
Population
The popUlation of Rotterdam: 600.000 persons,
of whom 240.000 non-Dutch citizens, divided among 147 nationalities
The popUlation of the Rotterdam region: 1.160.000 persons
62.500 inhabitants of Rotterdam, 29 per cent of all tenants, receive a rent subsidy
Twenty-one per cent of the inhabitants of Rotterdam were born abroad
Housing stock
Housing stock: 281.577 units, 61.365 owner occupied
220.212 Rental housing
other dwelling-occupation 2,10
single family dwellings 60.000
multi-family dwellings 222.000
after-war dwellings 170.000
Ownership structure:
local authority and housing associations 162.031
Owner-occupied 58.761
Other 59.061
Working population
The working population of Rotterdam amounts to 237.000 persons
Rotterdam provides 260.421 jobs, 56 per cent of them are occupied by persons living outside Rotterdam
Over 100.000 Rotterdammers work outside their own city
Number of jobs of which:
Banking and commerce 46.000
Industry 36.000
Construction industry 13.000
Service industry 81.000
Public utilities 2.500
Transportation 44.000
Port 6.500
Unemployment rate 15 per cent
Offices
Office floor area: 3.247.575 sq m
Vacancy rate: 7,8 per cent
The floor office area has increased by 740.599 sq m between 1985 and 1997
Leisure
In 1995 Rotterdam's attractions were visited by 3.924.937 persons
Blijdorp Zoo with 1.204.351 visitors was the most popular one
The Rotterdam museums had 715.672 visitors in 1996
Municipality
The municipality of Rotterdam employs 18.280 civil servants, 879 of whom work at the Department of Urban
Planning and Housing (dS + V) 2.160 at the Department of Public Works and 338 at the Rotterdam City
Development Corporation
184
20
From Plaza de Armas to Shopping Malls
Diego Sepulveda
The Plaza de Armas is the foundation place of Santiago (1541). It was built according to
the Laws of the Indies. Shopping malls characterise the consumption culture of the end of
the XX century. Both are important landmarks in the lnetropolitan region of a country that
took advantage of the opportunities of the open market and its cultural, political and spatial
structure is influenced by globalisation. For most of the inhabitants of Santiago the centre
of the city remains the original foundation place although other locations exhibit symbols of
power, centrality and globalisation.
Between 1492 and 1550 the Spaniards founded many forts, villages and cities. Two
criteria were dominant to their location: the conditions of the site and the existence of a
concentration of the indigenous labour force. King Philip the Second signed the Laws of the
Indies in 1573 in order to regularise the physical form of the settlements. The Laws were
designed to control the process of town planning, rather than to give models for a spatial
product. It was based on a regular layout of streets, which was able to enlarge without
loosing its total design.
If it is accepted that "cities are made by societies", and that there is a relation between
space and society, then public space is a main component of the city and expresses societal
changes. With this it is meant that the public space is the element that structures and links
different activities, functions and movements in the city. Public space is related to society
and expresses how nature has been used and transformed, how material objects have being
conceived, produced and distributed, how goods and persons are transported, and how
individuals are connected to each other, and to their symbols. Through time there has been
a symbiosis between public space and the political, cultural and ideological structure that
differentiate one historical period from the other.
The public space during the colonial time was shaped by a society that differentiated the
Spanish, Indians and "mestizos". The public space expressed the power structure, with all
its symbolic elelnents around it, the church, the military corps, the merchant's residence,
and the artisans. There existed a clear definition of social groups as well as hierarchies in
the definition of streets, blocks and squares. The main idea was that a city must be different
from the countryside and that it should be identified with civilisation, which according to
the Renaissance ideology was order. The gridiron ensured control over the land granted to
the settlers and allowed for the creation of a network of open spaces and infill that could be
185
Globalization, Urban FOlm and Governance
described in legal and geometrical terms. The square occupied the centre of the town,
surrounded by arcades, principal buildings and governmental accommodations. The
Catholic Church occupied the core of the central square. The Spaniards demonstrated their
supremacy by placing a display of facades and towers around the central ring. The Indian
population could work in the city, but was not allowed to live in the centre. Mestizos and
free artisans located near urban tnarkets. They forn1ed the second colonial ring in the city
structure.
With independence (1810) the landowners and merchants became the centre of power,
which were linked to trade with European cities. With the constitution of the Republic, it
was deemed necessary to give "lnonumentality" to the inherited city, in order to express the
spirit of the new nation. Public space played an important role, since the uniform gridiron
was altered for the opening of main avenues joining important landmarks. Arcades and
boulevards where constructed to strengthen the magnificence of the squares and to support
the main functions of the buildings: the central governmental, the palace of culture, the
cathedral, the court of justice, the Palace of Congress, the Municipal theatre, etc. Palaces
and houses were built along the avenues, the open spaces were designed as place of
encounters, for promenade, for parades, to enhance patriotism and courage. "The Alameda
de las Delicias, which is nearly three miles long and three hundred and fifty feet wide,
extends across the city from the Cerro de Santa Lucia to the Central Railway Station. From
a mere highway approach to the old colonial capital, it has grown to be the chief boulevard
of the modern metropolis, which has herself evolved out (?f the poorest conditions to become
the most chalming cities" (Wright, 1903).
During the whole XIX century, Santiago was developed according the City Beautiful
code. Several urban parks where build, Cousino Park (350 acres), Quinta Normal (350
acres), the Marcial Park, the Jockey Club, the Hypic Club were all inspired on the different
European styles and cultural movements (classicism, the Spanish baroque and even Arabic
styles) and contained a significant number of bad imitations and replicas of European
landmarks.
In 1900 the city had something more than 180.000 inhabitants and was a large modern
metropolis in the periphery of the world system. It had a tram line of 100 km and public
transport was extended with the "double deck" carriages. During this time a preoccupation
with town improvement developed due to the growing poverty in city suburbs. The concern
for sanitation was expressed in the canalisation of the river that cross the city, the extension
of water and the total electrification of streets and houses. After the 1906 earthquake that
destroyed the city of Valparaiso, the first National Housing Law was passed. This aided
the philanthropic action of building "houses for the poor". The Law stimulated the
introverted growth of the city, through the fractionating of lots at the interior of the
Spanish-block. Small closed streets and community squares containing tiny raw patio-
houses for workers and city newcomers were built. These community-squares were
mUltiplying in the residential fabric along the second ring and represented the private-public
space of the low-income community, the place of encounter, the place of domestic work,
the place of rest and of daily life. This was the origin of the Chilean social housing
residential pattern, it was called "cite" or the "conventillos". Many of these houses were
simple single rooms with collective services. Along the main streets, these residential
structures ended into two-story buildings where the wealthier people lived, and where the
186
Diego Sepulveda
formal commerce was situated. This introvert growth of the city lasted until the 40s. Until
this time the city maintained a certain balance between population and open spaces and
certain equilibriuln between the closed grid and the semi-public spaces in the interior. With
the development of public policies, housing production gaining complexity. The earlier
industrialisation of the country lead to the creation of different sectors in the city, related
to activities and residential purchasing power. Around First WW the capital city received a
large amount of investment as surplus from the saltpetre export. These benefits were
materialised in large infrastructure works and in the construction industry. The city
extended with the undifferentiated Spanish grid network, but lost the initial equilibrium of
closed volumes, landmarks and open spaces. The extension was transformed into an
anonymous immensity of individual boxes. This social segmentation of the city continued
through time and increased in intensity and complexity.
The starting of town-planning introduced zoning and regulations through the Master Plan
(1940). After the Second WW, the process of diversification of the industrial production
started, when the continental-wide economic oriented strategy of IIdesarrollismo" was
introduced. This gave a new ilnpulse to industrialisation and to the state control of the
economy. This strategy produced a significant demographic and urbanisation impact, since
large numbers of unemployed peasant moved to the cities looking for better living
conditions. These large masses settled illegally on the border of the city and in
overcrowded areas all over the city. The residential function moved out of the centre to
better places with the consequent abandonment of the old mansions to different uses. In this
time the modern school, with functionalist ideas of building the city, got a foothold,
reshaping the city, giving an unmistakable touch to the rich new suburbs as well as to the
social housing developments of the working class. The severity of the separation of
functions was materialised in the extension of the city and produced opposite results to
those stated as goals and objectives. Segregation was accentuated instead of diminished.
Space became fornlless, neutral and without a whole that contains it, it became spaceless
and elnpty. The functionalist ideas applied in Santiago, in its misuse of space, destroyed the
closed block, eliminating the cultural domain of the closed semi-public space of the "cite".
It created a no man's land, generating in their proposal a desolate sensation of wilderness
although these spaces were occupied by high storey blocks.
In the period 64-70 a government with new political ideas of cooperativism and "the
revolution in liberty", followed. The main development strategy was modernisation of rural
areas, industrialisation and the opening up of industries to international capital. This gave a
big impulse to rural development and the modernisation of the city. The state assumed the
main role in the production and financing of large infrastructure, urban renewal and
transport including the construction of the city underground. Large inner city areas were
demolished and rebuilt with high residential towers (Remodelacion San Borja). Self-help
housing for the very poor was improved and social housing for working class was
continued. The functional urbanism ideas continued, but were now supported by rational
ideas of mass production of housing and prefabrication. These ideas were closed to
paroxysm of the depersonalisation. Bauhaus approaches were seen in the repetitive towers
on central areas, the hundreds of '1100' and '1120' apartlnent blocks placed in line like
boxes for the workers, and the large site and services developments in the poor suburbs for
the marginals. The different Ministries and sectoral offices made piecemeal contributions to
the construction of the city, housing, infrastructure, schools and roads. Public space lost its
187
structuring character and just remained as empty spaces accommodating zoning standards
and urban regulations. The development strategy also contributed to extend the city and to
lower densities. At hand of land speculators, the city grew by leapfrogging and public space
was diffused in unpaved streets and no man's land.
The socialist government in 1970 placed a value on public space through an integral
conception of the city. The CORMU (Corporacion de Mejoramiento Urbano) reversed the
urban renewal conceptions of the previous government and integrated the marginal areas
into the city. The CORMU started with a program of public equipment, construction of
parks, urban centres, civic centres in the large urban periphery. Importance was given to
the expression of civics and citizenship (plaza del Pueblo). These were used as structural
elements, creating new centralities and landmarks in the immensity of anonymous self-build
settlements. Instead of building large urban renewal projects in the central areas, small
renovations were started in specific locations to reinforce the urban character creating
commercial space and symbols. The approach of Alexander of transformation in "small
doses" wi th a strong component of the participatory urbanism was followed. This is visible
in the renewal of several city-centres and in central-peripheries. (ie.Portal Alamos).
With the military government in Chile an aggressive neoliberalism was established which
impacted strongly on the social and urban structure. This model corresponded to a
transnationalised capitalist modernisation, oriented towards external markets. Industries
were closed and in the short term the middle and popular sectors were excluded. These
sectors continued in a sustainable impoverishment process, one of the most remarkable
regressive systems of income distribution. During the first period form 1973 to1985 the
city was ordered according to incomes. Forced evictions of thousands poor inhabitants
living in central areas to the periphery took place and several measures were introduced to
strictly differentiate zones according purchasing power: privatisation of public services and
transport, de-regulation of urban development, land becoming a market commodity,
administrative decentralisation, elilnination of metropolitan power, municipalisation
(creation of 32 local authorities), privatisation of housing production, privatisation of
education, pension funds and health. The process of counter-urbanisation of middle and
high incomes from the central areas was strengthened, the central area continued to decay
and impressive high rise post modern new centralities were created around new residential
developments attracting the modern specialised service with them, along highways and
metro stations.
During the second period from 1985 to 1990, a more nlatured economic period started
with the recognition of the failure of orthodox neoliberalism. The approval of the National
Urbanisation Law by which land is returned to its social function and a new impulse is
given to housing was significant. Notwithstanding these changes, the social polarisation
continued and the political crisis was exacerbated. Social unrest grew against
authoritarianism. Political violence was expressed in the street, an expression of the re-
appropriation of the street, but economic violence resulted from the privatisation of public
space and the creation of urban ghettos. Public space started to loose its function as
encounter and became a place to move, to rush, to path through. The consumption ideology
of free-market 'solved' the question of community encounter, or place of reunion and
meeting through the creation of a new urban element: shopping malls.
188
Diego Sepulveda
"The shopping malls produced a new urban typology and a new way to conceive the
city. In contrast with the modernist ideologies, the shopping mall is part of the end of the
"progressist" cycle of economic decadency and the withdrawal of the State. Because is the
transformation of a city that does not need to expand or homogenise but functions by
contrast and fragmentation. The shopping mall requires that the "white city" is still thought
of as being homogenous. Although to become homogenous means the expulsion of the
population beyond the geographic limits; the shopping mall lives from the contrast, because
the order and security that in demanded as a new value in this post modern city, is lacking
in public space. The shopping mall offers this value in its own closed world" (Gorelik
1994)
With the return to democracy in 1990 a lTIOre humanistic approach towards globalisation
and modernisation is claimed, although competition and private initiative remained as
important flags for public policies and production of goods and services. The Metropolitan
Intercommunal Strategic Plan of Santiago establishes the main guidelines for the regulation
of the city, the protection of the environlnent and reversing social segregation. The strategy
is to increase the efficiency of the city, to Inake full use of the infrastructure, to compact
the city structure, to control the city growth, and facilitate mobility and accessibility to and
from and inside the city. The instruments are flexible zoning and regulations; a subsidy
system for developing special locations particularly the city centre; the development of a
efficient transport city; the creation of subcentres; incorporation of ideas of development
corridors of mixed activities to support centralities. The development of public space is an
integrated objective and is meant to achieve centrality and to return quality of urban life to
citizens. Important instrUlnents to implement the plan, are the new attribution of the
metropolitan authority in the organisation of the Regulator Plans of all Municipalities, the
creation of special offices for Public Spaces and the extraordinary development of the
unified financial housing system.
The Regulation of the Urban Space the Chilean Law

The Regulatory Plans, which regulated amongst others, the open spaces, has a long
planning tradition in Chile and were used until 1973. However with the anti-regulatory
ideas of the Seventies, planning in general became obsolete. The administrative
decentralisation assigned the attribution to local governments to implement development
and sectoral plans and enforce their own building regulations. The metropolitan government
lost the regulation power and the whole area was divided into 32 Municipalities. Because of
the conflicts that were created with these unregulated conditions, the National Policy of
Urbanisation was passed in 1985, and Municipalities were enhance to regulate the urban
consolidation. Special cases were the high income municipalities (Providencia, Las Condes,
Vitacura) in which the building sector was particularly active and the unregulated urban
development was affecting ownership rights, (incompatibilities of land uses, intensity of
land uses, views, noise and traffic jams) affecting land prices, quality of life and the
historical patritnonium. These municipalities developed land use and transport regulations
(Master Plans) to prevent externalities of agglomeration and intensification.
In the low-income municipalities the situation was quite different since local authorities
have seldom budgeted to cope with the growing needs of an increasing population. The plot
per plot self help is the only way of building and the property tax collection is insufficient
to manage the public spaces which remain empty and underdeveloped. The only public
189
spaces which can be planned and developed are those attached to social housing
development.
The National Policy of Urbanisation's (1985) main goal was "the search for a more
effective land regulation and infrastructure delivery strategy in order to improve urban
productivity and the position of low income sector". The new policy regulates the
subdivision of urban land, the infrastructure, the city services (including parks, green areas,
and community areas in general) and was meant to facilitate community participation as
well. It aims to use land intensively, and to increase productivity of services, infrastructure
and transport. Therefore it gives advantages to urban consolidation and urban renewal. The
Law and Ordinance fixed the limits of a "consolidated area", a "developing area" and
"special areas". The consolidated area is totally covered with urbanisation, and therefore
standards for subdivision of land, land occupation rates, building factors, streets and open
space, services are determined. The Law embodies a sort of demographic projection (for a
10 year period) and the size of the population to be incorporated into the consolidated area
through urban renewal processes. The population density of each IIdeveloping area" has to
be equal or bigger than to the average density of the adjacent consolidated area. The criteria
to determine location of developing area amongst other factors considers the market
tendencies and the feasibility and costs of road and services extensions. Rehabilitation and
renewal became municipal responsibilities regulated through the provision of a legal and
technical framework and the provision of an economic stimulus for private initiatives.
In 'renewal' areas, the Municipality intervenes directly in order to acquire the empty
land 'to assemble the lots where necessary for the building conditions stipulated in the
ordinance and the Master Plan for each case. Once this task is performed the state auctions
these lots according to conditions that assure its future construction through private
enterprise. The state also regulates the form in which entrepreneurs have to compensate the
COlTIlTIUnity on the social costs that the new urbanisation would generate outside the
consolidated area. The Law established the amount of urbanisation cost paid by the
developer and also fixes the minimum number of dwellings delnanded for each sub-area,
and indirectly fixes the amount of public space to be reserved in order that this development
could be self-sustained with services and infrastructure facilities.
In 1994 the Metropolitan Inter-communal Regulator Plan and the Strategic Plan for
Santiago were approved. Both are flexible instruments for co-ordination and management of
the whole Metropolitan area (4.500.000 inhabitants) and the Municipality of Santiago
(250.000 inhabitants). Each of the 32 Municipal governlnents that form the Metropolitan
area, must design or actualise the Master Plan according to the general framework. The
urgency of completing this task has been demanded by the different sectoral interest,
government, public opinion and specially by the powerful Chilean Chamber of
Construction. The lack of definition and spatial norms are causing several conflicts of
interest. The construction of new highways, strategic city projects and zoning including
densities and use of land (building factor, occupation rate and heights) are the most
important aspects affected by the new environmental laws. The definition of public space
and street width are enhanced by air pollution indicators of Commission of Environment, as
well as traffic regulations, and open green areas established in the Metropolitan Regulator
Plan. The municipal Master plans lTIUst be approved by the Local Municipal Council, the
Ministry of Housing and Town Planning, the Metropolitan Municipal Council and fin all y
by the General Control Office of the Central State (Contraloria General de la Republica).
190
Diego Sepulveda
The Ministry of Housing and Town Planning (MINVU) is attributed with the planning,
design and construction of urban parks. This competence started in 1992 with the Program
of Urban Parks. Since that date the MINVU have built 17 new parks most in areas of
extreme poverty, which proved an efficient performance. These urban parks are design in a
participatory fashion with the communities and its social organisations. However an
uncertainty exists on the longevity of the existing and programmed investments and on the
level of effective satisfaction of the expectations and needs of the comnlunities. Once the
urban parks are built the administration and maintenance is transfer to the private sector or
to the local adlninistration, in the case of Santiago the administration and maintenance is of
the Ministry itself. Given the financial limitation of most of the municipalities and the
various responsibilities regarding public programs (schooling, training, health, local
services and green areas), there are always other priorities that delay the maintenance of the
new public spaces.
Conclusions
An immediate stage of my research is to conceptualise the different dimension of public
space on the current condition of liberalisation, which to my belief is not necessary in
conflict with participation, solidarity and ethics.
Several definitions and conception will be analysed and confronted with the regulations
and instruments that the two study-cases Santiago and Cordoba provide. At this point of
the first preliminary reading of the case of Santiago, the following different dimensions can
be identified:
An integrated dim,ension qfpublic space, by which we can conceive public space (Arrese
1998), as a continuous spatial network that interconnect all the points of the city, qualifying
the buildings, the activities that surround them and the specific functions that embrace in its
frame. These functions are all those collective functions and of social character that makes
contemporary urbanity: fronl the spaces for destination and circulation and exchange of
persons good and services, to those belonging to civic, social cultural and recreational
activities linked to the citizen life. The public space is non-detachable from its opposite
pair, the private space. The one shapes the other, it is a strict counter form. The weakness
of one will seek compensation in the potentialities of the other. From these shared
capacities and interconnections arise complex notions of community and privacy, that each
particular city and culture have rewritten in its own fashion.
Public space as essential factor for the creative strengthening of the city. This can be
considering as a Great City Project: since public space provides a significant mechanism to
enhance valorisation of the site and the articulation potentials of an urban project. Not only
for the iInmediate resident themselves of a given location, but for the users and the rest of
the citizens. This relational potential must be confinned with urban design and as all other
elements of the built environment, must be verified by the use and the social acceptation of
the project.
Public space as opportunity for creation (?f centrality and as elem,ent for an integrated
m.obility. This dimension is related to the goals and objectives of strategic - participative
planning. We understand that the creation of centralities have not only the objective to
recuperate certain central functions of decaying centres, but are also oriented to change the
191
Globalization, Urban Forn1, and Governance
scale of the city, to articulate and qualify the urban peripheries and to supply an image of
modernity to the territory. For Borja and Castells " infrastructure and transport systems do
not guarantee mobility, although they are unavoidable. The creation of a conglomerate of
qualified tertiary activities does not automatically produce centrality. Only the existence of
accessible, safe and polyvalent public space and equipment supplied with aesthetic quality
and symbolic force, this is to say culturally significant can create centrality." (Borja &
Castell 1997). Santiago's example of rapid multiplication of shopping malls into low
income areas, provides the opportunity to analyse whether the creation of centrality is due
to the internodal location and to their integration with other nlissing functions (post,
telephone, advertisement, cinemas, money banking machines, etc). Also this analysis can
extend to formal aspect of the design. It can be questioned for instance whether the semi-
open forms including arcades and boulevards are not culturally better rooted for popular
sectors than closed introvert buildings. The example of the revitalisation of the Plaza de
Armas boulevards (1998) and the Sao Paulo Arcades of the Fifties are worthy of analysis
(Comin 1998).
Another cultural dimension Qf public space is the architecture Qf the site, since public
space is the principal collector of the urban life and plays an important role in the
understanding of the city, the cognition of the functional structure and the significance of
the form. It is also, as all other urban spaces, a creation of lnankind and its culture. It is a
limited space, moulded according to human needs. It therefore poses as architecture. The
public space differs froIn buildings because they are temporal, they show harshly the values
of each historical time, its aspirations, and cultures. It is the fascinating place of lights, of
encounter, of business, its movement, and flows, the reflection of anonymous crowds, with
noise and odours. It is also the place of the homeless, of public protest, of the street
vendors, of prostitution and violence, of marginalisation and sadness.
Public space projects as an opportunity for urban renewal, able to provide innovative
forms for financing and other resources for the management of the city. It includes some
benefit that could mean the incorporation of administration and maintenance of public space
as component of social oriented initiatives, where the participation of the different urban
actors is essential. Analysis of international examples of best experiences in the
management and administration of public space such as the Prospect Park of Brooklyn and
the Corporation for the Popular Recreation of Cali will be essential.
Public space as an opportunity to produce citizenship, as Borja points out "its

distribution more or less unequal, its articulating or fragm,enting conception of the urban
tissue, its accessibility and its centrality potential, its .symbolical value, its polyvalence, the
intensity of its social use, its capacity Qf creating employm.ent, the importance of the new
public users, the self-esteem and the social recognition, its contribution to give "sense'l to
urban l~fe, etc, are always opportunities that never should be forgotten in order to promote
the constitutive rights ana duties (political, social, civic.s) Qf citizenship. (Borja 1997)
tI
Bibliography:
Arrese, Alvaro.1995"Espacios Publicos en Buenos Aires" Reflexiones,Secretaria de
extension Universitaria.FADU-Universidad de Buenos Aires.Diciembre1995.Buenos Aires
Borja, Jordi.1997."Cuidadania y Espacio Publico".Centre de Cultura contemporania de
Barcelona.
192
Diego Sepulveda
Carmona , Marisa. 1990"National Urban development policies in Chile" Trends of urban

restructuring in Latin America. Publikatieburo Bouwkunde,Delft University of
Tegnology.Delft.
1993 "Balancing growth,poverty and the envioroment",Publikatieburo
Bouwkunde,Delft University of Tegnology.Delft.
CEPAL,(Comision Economica Para Latinoamerica y el Caribe),1998,Cuidades
intermedias en America Latina y el Caribe:propuesta para la gestion urbana.MAE,Ministerio
degli Affari Esteri Coperazione Italiana. Julio 1998,Santiago de Chile.
Gorelik, Adrian.1990"Paseo de compras. Un recorrido por la decadencia urbana de
Buenos Aires",Punto de Vista N.37.Julio de 1990,Buenos Aires.
1994"La Cuidad de los Negocios",Punto de Vista N.50,Noviembre
1994,Buenos Aires.
Leon Balza,Sergio. 1998."Conceptos sobre Espacio Publico,gestion de proyectos y
logica social:reflexiones sobre la experiencia chilena".Revista EURE.VoI.XXIV,N.71 ,pp.27-
36.Marzo 1998.Santiago de Chile.
Suarez Odilia.1995"EI espacio Publico", Reflexiones,Secretaria de extension
Universitaria. FADU-Universidad de Buenos Aires. Diciembre 1995. Buenos Aires.
Vergara,Alfonso
De las Rivas,Juan 1986, Urbanismo de Ideas,Direccion de Urbanismo y medio
ambiente,Diputacion Floral de Vizcaya.Spain.
Wright ,Marie Robinson, 1904. The Republic of Chile,Published by George Barrie.
London.
193
21
Missed Opportunities for Citizen Participation within

Development Planning in South Africa
Maria Schoonraad
Introduction
Planning in South Africa has been confronted with radical change over the past five
years, influenced both by external pressures and internal dynamics. Not only has it had to
cope with globalization but with the change to a democratic government. Globalisation has
accentuated the differences between rich and poor and government policy has not been able
to remedy this.
My thesis has grown from working with impoverished communities for the past seven
years both in the role of advocacy planner and as consultant for the local authority. I have
also had the privilege to stand with one foot in the ideological debate about the desired
change in the planning system and with the other in the implementation of the new system.
To my frustration good intentions in planning debate does not necessarily have any results
in reality and planning has served to create expectations and to fragment rather to integrate
demands. My thesis will explore ways in which social justice1 can be achieved within the
context of internal and external change.
The background of planning in South Africa

Two forces have shaped planning in South Africa, based on its historic links with land
surveying and the British system of land use control:
• the notion that planning is concerned with functional and technical aspects and thus
devoid of social issues, even though the relation between society and spatial structure
was recognized, and
• to serve the interest of market forces
This has resulted in an urban pattern that is characterised by explosive uncontrolled
low-density sprawl, fragmentation and separation. The consequences of these
characteristics, in cOITlbination, on the lives of the majority - the urban poor- are savage2.
The historic isolation of South Africa over the past three decades has resulted in few
international ideological, technical and political debates having permeating the system with
implications for the policy sector and urban development programs. South Africa has also
been closed for international investment.
195
With the approach introduced by the new government, by which the significant
contribution of urban development to the national development strategy is recognized, new
concepts such as citizen participation, strategic planning and the development of public-
private partnerships are introduced. This has brought new challenges and opportunities. It
seems however that planners have not come to grips with these new challenges and have
relnained the hand maiden of capital and the unquestioning functionaries of government
policy.
New opportunities and old constraints in urban planning

The forces of globalisation have aggravated this. The external process of globalisation
has resulted in a pattern, typical of fourth world cities, characterised by international
capitalism, poverty and social exclusion as described by Castells3. The following structural
adjustments, are occurring:
• At regional and metropolitan level a deconcentration of highly developed technology

finns, specialised services and headquarters of international firms towards special
locations with accessibility in terms of international transport and communications, is
noticed, together with a growing polarisation of the main metropolitan agglomerations.
This process has been called Dispersion within Concentration.4
• At urban level a rapid de-industrialisation is noticed of firms affected by the opening of
the market and the insistence of protectionist measures of the state. With declines of up
to half of the industrial workforce in some subregions and an absolute decline in
industrial production and employment throughout the region.5
• A significant increase of tertiary activities, from specialised services, government
administration to informal activities related to COlnmerce, retail, transport and street
vendors.
• A decline of the central areas, due to exodus of headquarters of international firms and
high income residential counter urbanisation, the growing socialisation of externalities
and severe lack of financial resources of the state.
• A tendency towards segregation of residential functions and low density sprawl in spite
of policy discourse towards integration, compaction and functional intensification.
The combination of these processes occurring in the metropolitan areas, creates

different social dynamics and stimulates the development of different visions about society,
social development and planning in the various city segments. We can identify two opposite
conditions, the manifestation of rapid modernisation in specific locations of the consolidated
urban structure and expressions of rapid physical decay and social marginalisation in others.
In the first case a growing ideological tendency towards the sublimation of free market
principles and liberalisation, oriented towards the maximisation of opportunities generated
by macroeconomic changes can be found. These ideas accept multi-raciality and show signs
of growing social mobility. In the second case the predominant ideas regarding the
adaptation of the welfare state to the conditions of structural inequalities, considering new
ideas on redistribution of income and urban regulations to realise the social function of land.
With the opening of the borders, there has been a major influx of unskilled labour from
Africa and an outflow of skilled labour to Europe and America, injecting more complexity
to the ideological problem. In the first instance it contributes to the worsening of the
196
M aria Schoonraad
employment and living conditions in poor areas and in the second instance the lack of
skilled labour restrains the possibilities of industrial reconversion and innovation of the
productive activities. This, coupled with the significant increase in housing needs,
residential infrastructure and services backlog, the decline of state revenues, the tendency
towards privatisation, the non-payment of services, the failure of the financial sectors to
extend circulation to the non waged sectors and informal activities, is shaping the complex
scenario where urban planning takes place and where tools for the implementation of social
policies must be developed.
Recent institutional changes have brought a complete shift in the working and
composition of government and also in decision making, planning policy and planning
implementation. Policies on all levels and within most sectors are being adjusted to increase
efficiency and productivity to contribute to economic growth and meet the needs of all the
people. Policy has been adapted along the lines dictated by the ANC government which has
been influenced by its background as a banned liberation organisation, its links with
communism ideologies and trade union movements, the ideal of pan-africanism and the
African renaissance and its massive grassroots support. This has created a number of
contradictions and conflicting interpretations of the government policy. In general terms it is
a government that recognises the need for growth to achieve redistribution and address
structural disadvantages. It is a government that is cOlnmitted to grassroots participation,
although the need for central intervention in order to redress past inequalities is recognised.
It is also a govern ment comlnitted to short term delivery to maintain its current populaIity
but who understands the need for long tenn restructuring and the sacrifices which have to
be made in the short term.
Preliminary conceptualisat.ion of current planning framework

The powers and responsibilities on the different levels of Government have been
reassessed and restructured to face the new challenges. The three-tier government structure
has remained but there has been a general shift towards centralisation of power and
devolution of responsibilities. Policy is defined on the higher levels of Government and
in1plementation is decentralised towards the lower levels of Government. Housing policy is
an example where most of the developlnent of policy, programs, funding, selection of
beneficiaries and approval of projects have remained the responsibility of the central and
provincial government, the direct implementation (land allocation, infrastructure, services)
is the responsibility of the local government and research, technology, project management
and design in the hand of the private sector, through tendering.
Variolls policy documents have been forthcoming from central and provincial
government, most notable with regards to development planning are the Development
Facilitation Act, the Local Government Transitional Act Second Amendment, White papers
on housing, economics, urban developlnent, land reform, water and sanitation, transport
(which promotes the development of regional economic corridors) and the environment.
On provincial government level the physical strategy subscribes to principles and

general objectives to maintain the infrastructure base of the province and addressing basic
land, housing and service needs, the physical sector focuses on strategically providing
infrastructure and services to support economic growth and development. The strategies are
197
geared at addressing regional differences and give attention to underdeveloped areas. As a

flagship project Gauteng (pretoria-Johannesburg) has identified a four-point plan that
supports regeneration and development of the inner city and underdeveloped residential
areas.
On local level, the Local Government Transition Act and the Development Facilitation
Act are developed as mechanisms to speed up the implementation of the Reconstruction and
Development Programme and to guide development at local level. A process of integrated
development planning has been prescribed as a way of maximizing the impact of all
development interventions that government makes. More specifically, it is a tool that may
be used to reconstruct South African cities after apartheid' as it aims to 'provide sustainable
growth, equity and empowerment of the poor'. 6 The integrated development plan is a
strategic plan that has the following main features7 8:
• Integrated development planning refers to a process of planning 'which takes a range of

sectors, development activities and actors into consideration. It adopts a holistic
approach to the tools available to undertake such a process of planning and, on this
basis, attempts to construct linkages between financial planning, infrastructure
investment planning, service delivery, inter-govermnental relations and so on.
• The spatial plan is linked to new principles for urban from which are propagated in the
belief that this will promote equality in terms of access and opportunity and will aid in
the empowerment of disadvantaged communities. These principles are:
• residential and employment opportunities in close proximity to or integrated with
each other;
411 a diverse combination of land uses;
411 discouragement of urban sprawl and the development of more cotnpact cities;
411 the correction of historically distorted spatial patterns of settlement;
411 to encourage environmentally sustainable land development practices and processes;
• to intensify and densify land use along of development corridors.
III Procedural and institutional issues are of utmost importance. Two organisational
components of critical importance are identified as:
III The existence of an organisational/management structure that can implement, co-
ordinate, monitor and evaluate developments within the framework of the respective
planning objective.
411 A community participation/consultation structure which is representative of all
stakeholders within the respective communities to serve as a conduit for community
inputs in the formulation of the respective planning objectives and the effective
execution thereof.
• A multilevel interaction of consensus/agreements has been organised between the
Metropolitan level, the Local Govemtnent and the Planning zone in relation to a
common vision, four environments (physical, social, econon1ical and institutional), a
spatial framework, the financial plan and human resources. The IDP guidelines requires
a managerial vision towards development and the planning process is based on a system
of informed community consultation, which is done through an iterative and integrated
process. In this process inputs from the community are balanced with technical inputs:
On the one side technical inputs which combine departmental input, expertise and
baseline information with regards to the formulation of status quo report and spatial
198
Maria Schoonraad
fralnework, on the other side the community inputs with regards to the vision, the
SWOT (strengthen, weakness, opportunities and trends) analysis, community needs,
criteria and priorities.
l1li It also contains the concept of participatory budgeting which is one 'where a community
participates in the drawing up of local spending priorities, based on a consideration of
needs and resources ... It will allow the community to reflect their needs and also give
them some sense of ownership and pride in the IDP of their area. '9
The reality of the implementation of int.egrated developnlent plans

With the implementation of these policies, several inconsistencies have come to light.
Although the fundan1ental base of policy is not flawed, the reality has proven that there is a
gap between the well-meaning policy discourses and the implementation thereof, with
disastrous implications for the urban homeless and poor.
Disregards for econonlic issues

The jump from centralized driven planning to comlnunity planning has been taken to
the extreme and the one dimensional planning oriented to the poor have not considered
urban development advantages such as efficiency, urban productivity and accessibility
adequately. Policy measures reflect the general goals of elimination of supply and demand
constraints, increased popular participation and adlninistrative decentralisation, but the
implementation of these goals have highlighted the inconsistency and gap between
macroeconomic discourse and local implementation.
Lack of technical expertise

Fundamental significance has been attached to policy, institutional and managerial
reforms but little importance is given to materialisation and the technical approaches for
achieving these goals. Proposals remain on a general and abstract level.
Too nlany needs but no way in which to address it

The process of participation has led to the creation of unrealistic expectations. In stead
of a strategic plan, the authorities end up with an extensive list of needs based on immediate
experience in stead of long tenn goals such as urban restructuring and sustainability. There
is an expectation that the governtnent will provide although 70 % of local councils are facing
bankruptcy. The non-payment of services is aggravating this situation still further.
Communities have to be educated to take on their responsibilities as citizens.
The conflicting importance between local and city-wide issues

There is no clear indication on which issues should be addressed at the various levels.
The role of participation on the various levels has also not been clarified. There is no
discrimination between the role-players and the inputs given on various levels, and
community representatives are consulted on all issues.
The fallacy qf participation

Although participation plays a very important role in the integrated development
process, its ineffectiveness gives the impression that it is done for political justification.
Public participation has taken the place of rigorous debate on housing typology and urban
restructuring.
199
The process of citizen participation has been prescribed and is invariant for all levels of
planning and for all communities. These processes are logically intimidating for the novice
and inputs received are usually by government departments or local councils, formally
organised groups, academics and technical experts. A linear process in western fashion does
not necessarily fit all communities and can in some instances do more harm than good. This
is exacerbated by the inconsistency of committees: the lnembers constantly change and there
is hardly any feedback, with new members often coming into the meeting with no
background. In stead of being empowered people are disempowered by 'overparticipation'.
A strategic plan without developnwnt control

There are no effective measures to ensure that the aims of the strategic plan are
achieved. Capital is still being invested in localities that do not comply with the guidelines
of the strategic plan. This has serious cost implications with regards to the provision of
infrastructure and negates the long-term sustainable development of the city.
The notion (~f development and culture

The notion of strategic planning and its suitability given the specifics of the South
African situation has not been resolved. The planning process has been taken from
international experiences and agendas and is not necessarily applicable to the South African
context.
The end product of this lengthy and costly exercise is a document that is general in its
content and vague in its implementation strategies, that is ignored by capital and has left the
community with expectations that cannot be addressed because of a lack of funding.
Issues that should be addressed

My thesis will start with the conceptualisation of the main elements in the metropolitan
context, in which the various social, political and economic dynamics are developing and
will be focused particularly on the local level of strategic planning, where basic needs are
addressed. It will focus on resolving certain conflicts within the process of strategic
planning and on guiding planners and citizens in this process. The aim is to take citizen
participation from its current politicized form to one which 'fosters human development,
enhances a sense of political efficacy, reduces a sense of estrangement from power centres,
nurtures a concern for collective problems and contributes to the formation of an active and
knowledgeable citizenry capable of taking a more active interest in governmental affairs. '10
Citizen participation has to become an instrument for
• power and influence;
• externalisation and dialogue (where individuals confront each other and adjust their
wants and desires, thus creating a common ordering of individual needs and wants into a
single vision of the future in which we can al share11 and creating a culture of
negotiation and dialogue12);
• learning and consciousness raising' 13;
• exposure (because it is through exposure to others that we learn to weigh what is
important and what is not).
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Maria Schoonraad
The conflicts that have to be resolved, in order to attain this, are:
.. Conflicts between the different levels of planning
.. Conflicts between the technical and experienced knowledge
.. Conflicts between felt needs and financial realities
.. Conflicts between theoretical or abstract ideas and implementation

.. Conflicts between those who have power and the powerless and between individual and
group needs
.. Conflict between enablement and political acceptance
.. Conflict between stability and change or between the current and the future
These conflicts are not seen as poles. 'In general thinking in polarities can be dangerous:
It can reduce the dialectic to a simple dualism, where notions become bipartite. This is
exactly what happened to the notion of participation during the rise of welfare capitalist
liberal democracy. Thus lacking normative integration the notion of participation has for
long been subjected to a battle on two flanks of a barrier which is in fact a bridge. '14
This thesis will also focus on the role of the professional as the changing context wherein
planning operates demands new skills from the planner. IS 16 It will thus attempt to address
the issues of citizenship, empowerment and correcting social imbalances within the context
of change and globalisation.
Harvey, D. 1978. Social Justice and the City. Blackwell Publisher: Oxford
2 Dewar, D. 1996. The Urban Housing Issue. Free market Foundation Monograph 12. Johannesburg.
3 Castells, M. 1998. End of Millenium. Blackwell Publishers Ltd: Oxford.
4 Tomlinson, R. 1996. The Changing Structure of Johannesburg's Economy. In Harris, N. & Fabricus, I.
Cities and Structural Adjustment. University College London: London.
5 Mabin, A. Brotchie, et al. 1995. Cities in Competition. Longmann press: Melbourne.
6 Planact. 1997. Guide for Integrated Development Plannin~. Unpublished
7 Pretoria City Council. 1998. Integrated Development Plan for Pretoria
8 Pretoria Metropolitan Council. 1997. Strategic Metropolitan Development Framework.
9 Planact. Op Cit.
10 Pateman, 1970:42. Op cit.
11 Sennet, R. 1990. The Conscience of the Eye: The Design and Social Life of Cities. Faber & Faber:
London.
12 Bolay, J et al. 1996. New Opportunities: Participating and Planning. Caracas. p.15.
13 Gotze, J. 1998. Democracy in the Urban Context. http://www .gbar .dtu.dkrit~jg/democracy .html
14 Gotze, Op Cit. pA
15 Burgess, R. et al. 1997. The Challem"!:e of Sustainahle Cities. Zed Books: London. p.160
16 Turner, JFC. 1997. Learning in a Time of Paradigm Change: The Role of the Professional. In Burgess, R.
et al. 1997. The Challenge of Sustainable Cities. Zed Books: London. p.168
201
22
Waste politics in local environmental plannillg
MargaritaPacheco
Introduction
This paper is part of a process of researching alternative visions to build integrated
waste management approaches at the local level. Waste Politics, as a specific cultural
expression, could be an alternative path to generate options for environmental policies
where waste becomes a sustainable and integrated resource.
The household would seem to be the appropriate unit at which to analyse family waste
behaviour, this being considered the "up-stream" level of waste production at which waste
can be considered 'non-waste', or a resource for reuse. The household is a significant waste
production unit in which waste production behaviour and attitudes are seeds for sound
"waste politics"at collective levels.
The analysis of this conception needs a conceptual framework and a methodological

outline for a research project within the Alfa Ibis Research Atelier. A preliminary
hypothesis is the starting point for such a research project: an environmental policy
framework that deals with waste planning and management within a sustainability paradigm
ought to be built on an understanding of relevant cultural factors. The general objective
then is to build a conceptual framework on cultural dimensions of waste production and
management at household level. This note seeks to open a discussion for an academic
debate on this issue.
A socio-cultural point of view to define waste could become interesting for an

imaginative discussion. Planners, policy makers, political scientists, psychologists,
anthropologists, sanitary engineers, natural scientists, NGO researchers and small and
medium enterprises (SMEs) are, among other social actors, members of particular cultural
settings and, as individuals also belong to a household unit. As citizens, we are concerned
for the global effects of unsustainable collective and individual waste management and
related behaviour.
Waste politics and waste policies are, in this context, two concepts included in the
definition of culture. Both concepts determine behaviour and induce regulations. In this
sense, we search to contribute with an alternative vision to waste regulatory frameworks
that could induce ethical approaches in day-to-day life behaviour. We are currently
203
working to concretise the research methodology so this paper should be understood as a

step to design the architecture of the ideas presented above.
1" Why " Waste Politics " is relevant in local environmental planning
Urban Environmental Planning and Management (EPM) was enhanced as a political
global issue at the World Urban Forum in Curitiba and thereafter in Agenda 21, presented
and signed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED)
in Rio de Janairo in 1992. In 1998 the European Community continued with this effort
(Atkinson and AlIen, 1998). By the beginning of the millennium we are committed to be
imaginative with alternative visions for sustainable urban scenarios in the different
hemispheres.
The Sustainable Development Paradigm (Brundtland, 1994) and the Agenda for
Change (Centre for Our COlnmon Future, 1993) referred to the need of transforming
disruptive relations between natural and built environments but timid changes have occurred
since the basis of the production and consumption patterns have been hardly touched.
Resource consumption behaviour, as a cultural feature of modern society, is at the

heart of the problem. Now, our civilisation needs to evolve towards other forms of urban
behaviour and resource management to achieve sustainability.
To exit from a broad scepticism that sustainable development will ever be achieved, we
need to contribute with the building of increasingly sustainable cultures adapted to local
physical conditions. Increasing awareness of differences of social values and of threats on
natural patrimonies are provoking a growth of regional identities. These are trends that are
questioning the centrality of power and the national decision-making process.
Environmental problems generated in cities and within cities are acquiring their specific
trends and they now lie at the heart of political debates. Waste is one of the priorities within
this debate.
The careful planning and management of urban resources includes waste as an issue
needing further analysis in each particular cultural context: waste and cleanliness have
different meanings and potentialities in each cultural setting and management formulas are
specific to each socio-political context.
The long-term planning and management of waste processing requires the assumption
of social monitoring practised by citizens, men and women. It is essential to preserve what
is left of resources increasingly in demand by the present urban lifestyle. Monitoring can
become a way of making waste politics and should be included in waste policies.
Since UNCED, international and national agencies have launched monitoring

programlnes and "observatories", proposing quantitative indicators to make the follow-up
of environmental planning. This should include waste production and management taking
into consideration "cultural indicators" that influence behaviour.
The influence of religious principles, gender education, symbols and values concerning
dirt and cleanness, health and sanitation, the concept of time, of regional identity, of
traditional power structures and political forces involved in the organisation of the habitat,
204
Margarita Pacheco
are among others, elements of the culture to take into account. We would select three of
these elements to analyse waste as a cultural issue: political forces, gender and household
spatial organisation.
Gender monitoring and evaluation of local environmental conditions could be a form of

thinking about the long-term development of the city or of a district within the city. This
exercise could become a means to practice what we consider making "waste politics" a
culture-identity issue. A sense of belonging to a place and to a local culture, a feeling of
being identified as an individual, are elements of humankind that induce the preservation of
natural and built environments. Most of them are currently affected and threatened by all
sorts of wastes thrown freely into the land, into the watercourses, into the bodies of people,
animal and plants. Polluted air is one of the most significant wastes affecting human health
at city level..
"Waste Politics" could become a significant means to keep informed stakeholder

groups on the state of local waste production and its effects on ecosystems and on
population health conditions. It should open spaces for discussion, information, and
exchange of knowledge and innovative views on the future. It should permit to negotiate to
monitor and evaluate present and future situations, and to propose bottom-up adjustments to
regulations and collective behaviours.
NGGs, community-based enterprises, political parties, associations and other forms of

collective gathering should increase their "control " (or power) on engagements agreed
within the context of local agendas and other forms of environmental planning at regional
and national level. "Waste Politics" as a dynamic force should maintain social monitoring
on public decision-making. Negotiations between the public and the private sectors that are
held during the formulation and implementation phases of local agendas are expressions of
"waste politics".
Waste politics and waste policies are different and have to be clearly explained. The
research will analyse why they are both cultural expressions and when and where they
are relevant to local environmental planning. As Professor Augusto Angel has repeated in
n1any of his dissertations, culture could be defined as "a platform permitting adaptations to
the environment". (Angel, 1995). A non-sustainable culture will destroy the environment
and the civilisation itself. It is self-destructive.
In this definition of culture, politics and policies are two means of expression to build
platforms oriented towards transforming unsustainable behaviour related to waste
production so they minimise the danger of self-destruction.
Experiences in medium-sized cities in Colombia and Switzerland could illustrate forms

of performing "waste politics" and waste policies as regulatory frameworks specific to
cultural factors. The selection of the case-studies will be the next step of this paper.
2. Diversity of waste concepts within local environmental planning

As a bottom-up process, a Local Agenda or environmental action plan should permit a
broad intervention of stakeholders searching to apply the precautionary principle in their
205
habitat. Waste Politics performed by Agenda stakeholders should be useful within the
scenario of waste prevention. To be involved in "Waste Politics" means to understand the
potential dangers of waste and dirt generation in each social context. The tropics and the
Northern Hemisphere present different clitnatic conditions to dangers generated by types of
urban waste.
The concepts of cleanliness, pollution, danger (Douglas, 1966) and health related
issues (WHO, 1998), and their interaction within the planning process, are key concepts to
analyse by different stakeholders. Cultural definitions of these concepts and options of
understanding the danger of wastes should be analysed to facilitate the conceptual
framework of an integrated waste managenlent approach.
Waste politics and waste policies are concepts currently under analysis. They involve
citizen's organisations, business sectors, public sectors at different levels, negotiations,
decision making, dissemination, implementation, monitoring and adjustment of collective
and individual concern for waste and dirt, cleanness and beauty, but different timings. All
are cultural factors determining household lifestyles and ways to relate to waste production.
Implementing Agenda 21 principles

By the year 2000, half the world's people will be living in cities (Agenda for Change,
1993)
Agenda 21 Principles (UNCED, 1992) proposed a framework to guide urban policies
at national and local levels. These principles are being implemented in many municipalities,
in the north and in the south. The ilnplementation depends largely on political will at many
levels, on the comprehension of the principles and in the possibilities of interpreting them
in each urban context. The principles are based on the fact that population growth is
increasing as poverty and environmental degradation. Is that the world we want?
Agenda 21 proposes a conceptual fralnework for waste policy making and waste
politics:
III - Principle No 4- Changing Consumption Patterns

III - Principle No 6- Protecting and Promoting Human Health
III - Principle No 7- Protecting and Promoting Human Settlements
III - Principle No 19-5afer Use of Toxic Chemicals
III - Principle N02I-Managing Solid Waste and Sewage
III - Principle N024-Women in sustainable Development
III - Principle N024-Children and Youth in Sustainable Development
III - Principle N030-Business and Industry
With these elements, many questions are to be answered. Among them, we can list
some to discuss in the network of the Alfa Ibis Research Atelier:
III What are the criteria to select case-studies to test the hypothesis? How to make a
relevant selection of ongoing processes and what is the pertinent scale for the analysis?
III Cultural expressions are present at household unit, neighbourhood, and city/region
levels. Which is the level for the analysis of cultural factors?
206
Margarita Pacheco
l1li How significant is the social monitoring and evaluation of environmental policies to
induce changes in waste regulations and behaviours?
., Global climatic changes have increased urban environmental problems:
l1li flooding, droughts, desertification, energy shortages, health problems, stress, loss of
regional identity, unsustainable behaviours.
All these phenomena have contributed to open a broader discussion on the relationship
between culture and the environment. They are also linked with poverty and population
growth in cities. What is the role of waste managelnent in this trend of climatic changes
affecting the world?
l1li Awareness and commit1nent of mass media and education on environmental issues have
induced some cultural changes towards participation in local planning. Are these new
trends in policy making?
!Ill Human Rights and Gender perspectives have been introduced in the analysis of a
"healthy environment "(WHO, 1998). How could they influence "waste politics"?
., Decentralisation has given local authorities and social organisations a mayor role in
environmental planning (Agenda21, chapter28). They have proposed integral
approaches to solve cleanness according to cultural settings. Are these approaches taken
into consideration in the city regulations?
l1li Forms of spatial organisation are needed to re-shape options for urban sustainability.
Tenure and land use are cultural factors to take into consideration for a sustainable
urban form. How are they affecting local environmental planning and waste
management?
l1li What is the role of the private sector, in particular the medium and small enterprises?
These and many more questions are confronting planners with the viability of Agenda
21 principles and the sustainable development paradigm.
3. Driving forces for urban sustainability
Waste Politics (WP) could be defined as a social performance in local environmental

planning. : As a cultural expression involves political statements, engages individuals and
groups who are permanently producing waste and are accepting technological options to
manage it.
The aim of WP could be to minimise resource use and to increase driving forces for a
sustainable future. WP takes the example of nature: residues can become non- residues with
a new function. In built environments, WP could have an ambitious goal of transforming
behaviours and proposing new options for a better relationship between societies and
nature.
WP should become a creative force able to propose sustainable scenarios and ways of
implementing action. (I.e. A goal of reducing to 40% the volume of waste for final disposal
and a goal to increase to 35 % the waste production to be re-used). These are political goals
in local planning that need to be understood by the population.
207
To be achieved, educational strategies are necessary to change consumption attitudes.

It implies a conceptual change in the definition of waste and its management. Waste as a
resource has political connotations and thus influences local environmental planning.
Waste minimising attitudes, as cultural factors, need to be analysed in up-stream waste

production and end-of-the-pipe levels. Existing practices should be useful to illustrate forms
of expressing waste politics and their effect on culture and new environmental values.
Bibliographic references
Atkinson, Adrian. The Urban Bio- region as a 'Sustainable Development' Paradigm. Third World Planning
Review. 1992
Angel-Maya, Augusto. "El Reto de la Vida". (The challenge to life), Serie Ecosistema y Cultura. Ecofondo,
Bogota, 1996
The Urhan Environment in Development Cooperation. A Background Study and an Overview. Commission of
the European Communities. Directorate General IB/D4. Environment and Tropical Forest Sector.
Prepared by A. Atkinson and A. Allen. Belgium, 1998.
Morin, Edgar. Introduction to Complex Thinking. 1996
Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger. An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. Ark, London, 1984
Douglas, Mary. Natural Symbols. Penguin Books. Sociology and Anthropology. Great Britain, 1978
World Health Organisation. Health and Environment in Sustainable Development. Five years after the Earth
Summit. Executive Summary. Geneva, June 1997
Waste Consultants Working Papers. Van de Klundert, A, Lardinois 1. Building an Integrated Sustainable
Waste Management Concept. (Urban Waste Expertise Program, Gouda) (1995-2001)
Agenda 21. UN CED. Rio 1992
Steward, Julian. Theory of culture change. The methodology of multilinear evolution. University of Illinois
Press. Urbana, Chicago, 1955
Environmental Values. Volume 7, Number 3, August 1998
Haan, C, Coad, A and Lardinois, 1. Waste, GTZ, ILO, SKAT. Involving micro- and small enterprises.
Guidelines for municipal managers. Turin, 1998
Keating, M. Agenda for Change. A plain language version of Agenda 21 and the other Rio Agreements.
Centre for Our Common Future, Geneva, 1993.
Pacheco, M. Recycling in Bogota: developing a culture for urban sustainability. Environment and
Urbanisation. Vo14, Number 2, London, October 1992.
Pacheco, M. Colombia's independent recyclers' union: a model for urban waste management. Green
Guerillas. Environmental Cont1icts and Initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean. LAB, Helen
Collison, editor. London, 1996.
208
Constructing Quality of through Participatory Research l
Paola Jiron 2 , Giulietta Fadda 3 and Daniel Jadue 4
Our urban context is characterised by a series of environmental problems including

segregation, overcrowding, infrastructure and equipment deficit, usage of spaces inadequate
for human life, inappropriate design and construction of public space and building sites, as
well as air, water land contamination, amongst other. All these affect the Quality of Life of
its residents.
Although the concept of Quality of Life represents important aspects in the lives of
human beings, it is difficult to define and measure it given the elements that determine it. It
is generally associated with objective conditions of the surroundings, excluding all the
subjective elements which derive from the social relations which occur in these places,
including expectations and perceptions. However, these elements are inherent to a more
recent nleaning of Quality of Life.
This paper emphasises the need to approach the study of Quality of Life using
methodologies that depict both its objective and sUbjective features. For this, this paper
proposes a definition of the concept of Quality of Life, which combines a gender
perspective to it and uses a participatory methodology to approach it. Although the research
that gave rise to this paper is still in course, some preliminary conclusions may be
forwarded regarding the methodology being applied, where a participatory approach
combines quantitative and qualitative techniques.
Within this framework, the concept of Quality of Life goes beyond a mere "level of
private life", since it is understood as an integrator of all the elements of the conditions in
which people live, including their needs and expectations as well as their satisfiers5 • This
concept has been developed with the aim of measuring and evaluating people's well being,
satisfaction or happiness. A "good" Quality of Life demands, amongst other things, the
availability of and access to social and public infrastructure and the maintenance of a
"good" environmental quality\ an environment free of major harm and contanlination.
However, although Quality of Life and Environlnental Quality overlap, they are not
identical: there are some elements of happiness that COlne from inner being of individuals
themselves. This means that there are persons who are happy even in the worse
environmental conditions and others who cannot be happy even in the best ones.
209
Considering that Quality of Life may be explained in terms of well being\ happiness or
satisfaction, it can then be recognised that it is necessarily subjective8 • Furthermore, as
human beings perceive problems and their possible solutions from different points of view,
or according to their socially deternlined roles, and satisfy their needs under different
criteria, a given experience of the same physical object may be perceived differently by
different individuals. This means that a determined environmental quality nlay imply
contents, perceptions or images, which vary according to gender relations, age, culture,
ethnicity, religion, etc.
Moreover, the gender relations within a given context affect the perception of Quality of
Life9 • Based on the fact that studies of Quality of Life generally imply comparisons between
lifestyles that characterise different groups, this research compares the relations between
men and women, the different age groups and the gender roles within the community.
These relations allow for individuals to perceive and behave in a differentiated manner
within the habitat of their neighbourhood. It is therefore possible to further enquire on the
diversity of Quality of Life perceived by different users of the surroundings.
Thus, the concept of Quality of Life is understood as a construct10 , in other words, it is a

social construction or a constructed object by a collective observer. In rigour, Quality of
Life only exists through the observer and his or her experience. It is not a set of material
conditions. It is not the Inere satisfaction experiences by an individual, but a dialectic
between what is being observed and the observable by a double observer: he or she who
observes the observations of the one who observes his experiencell . This is thus the purpose
of the study: to observe the observations of those who observe their own experience12 •
This way of conceiving Quality of Life may not be compatible with most studies which
mainly approach it in a quantitative manner (for instance, those that measure Quality of
Life via GDP). Further to the adopted concept, this research aims to go beyond quantitative
approaches by conjugating them with qualitative ones, to reveal the constructed object by
the collective observer. To allow for this conjugation, the Participatory Research Approach
has been used.
The Participatory Research Approach (adapted from PRA, Participatory Rural

Appraisal)13 is defined as a family of methods used to enable persons to present, share and
analyse their knowledge, experience and conditions of life14 • This knowledge generally
differs from that which observers present in their role as 11 experts ". This method was
chosen because it is flexible, participatory, adaptable, exploratory, enjoyable1S , iterative16 ,
inventive and empowering17, From the different methods possible in this approach, this
research applies the analysis of secondary sources, direct observation, conversations and
interviews with key informants, group meetings and workshops and a survey.
Within this methodology it is necessary to feed the collected information back to the
interested community. This implies that the analysis is to be carried out in the field in a
participatory manner. One of the most important aspects of the participatory analysis is the
triangulation of information, that is, the use of different sources and methods of obtaining
information. When the triangulation reveals an inconsistency of information, that point
should be explored further in a participatory way and possibly linked directly to the
resources and opportunities for solution. This information can also be useful to monitor and
evaluate activities and services 18 •
210
Paola Jir6n, Giulietta Fadda and Daniel Jadue
Fig. 1 includes a synoptic table synthesising the methodology 19. The first column
corresponds to the environmental elements selected as the most significant ones of the
habitat at the neighbourhood leve1. Understanding that the notion of Quality of Life is so
inclusive and that it covers great parts of an individual's life, Sheero recommends reducing
it to an operational level. Therefore, given the research I s objectives, the notion of Quality
of Life was reduced to those aspects directly related to the urban environment at the
neighbourhood level and particularly to those aspects connected to the outside of the
housing unit.
FIG. 1 SYNOPTIC TABLE

1. SIGNIFICANT 2. OBJECTIVE 3. SUBJECTIVE
ENVIRONMENT AL INDICATORS INDICATOR
ELEMENTS (Counting, measuring, (Observation,
illustrating, reports on questionnaires,
facts and environmental discussions)
conditions)
WOMEN MEN
Socio-demographic Characteristics
Previous Housing Perception
Current Housing Perception
Neighbourhood Perception
Community Environment Perception
Sense of identity and belonging
Income
Columns 2 and 3 correspond to the case study's environmental "conditions,,21 and

"quality,,22 respectively. Infonnation was gathered for each one of them, using objective
and subjective methods of measuretuent. In the latter one, the perception of women and
men was dissaggregated.
In participatory research, tnethods may vary in their sequence according to the needs and
local conditions. In this case, the first step was to select the case study. The criteria used
for this included: 1) socio-economic level of the population, giving priority to the most
deficient sectors in the Metropolitan Region; 2) condition of government housing
progranlme, given the impact which public policies have on the built environment and thus
on the Quality of Life of the population; 3) neighbourhood consolidation level, searching
for one which had a consolidated level of social organisation and that was built within the
first democratic transition period (1990-1994); 4) existence of organised and dialoguing
community. After analysing the statistical information from the National Statistic Bureau
and the Ministry of Housing, a neighbourhood which best satisfied the conditions was
selected. This was located in the District of Pudahuel in Santiago. After visiting the sector,
two neighbourhoods were selected: Poblaciones Estrella Sur and Roberto Matta.
Once the case was selected, different interviews were held with Municipal staff in order
to determine their perception of the socio-economic, environmental, housing and
organisational situation of the selected communities. The objectives of the research were
explained to them during the interviews, joint field visits and group discussions. Also,
different forms and dialogues were set to share the findings, given the novelty of the subject
211
to be studied. The possible benefits of formulating indicators of Quality of Life became of

interest to the local government and discussed in terms of future planning. It is important to
note that good local planning can greatly benefit from well-defined objective as well as
SUbjective indicators. The former can report of the physical situation of the environment,
and alert on possible damages. The latter can reflect the subjective perception of
environmental quality, which the inhabitants have. This information is useful for resource
distribution and for the improvement of the environment. The triangulation of all this data
will result in the Quality of Life Construct for the case in question.
The information related to the "objective indicators" has been obtained fronl various
sources including publications on the matter as well as data from public offices such as: the
Municipality, Health Services, Housing Ministries, Meteorological Offices, Environment
Commission, amongst others. The survey applied will also help gather information, which
may be used to identify objective indicators. In Figure 2 a plan to collect this data is
proposed.
FIG. 2. INFORMATION TO COLLECT

I INFORMA TION SECONDARY PRIMARY
SOURCES SOURCES
1 Socio-econnmic: population, demography, income, Municipality,
employment, services and municipal spending. National Census
2
HousinJ! Conditions: property tenure, basic services, Municipality, Survey
size, amI marg i nal units. Ministry of Housing
~h Conditions: basic information, mortality rate. Health Services Survey
4 Natural Environment: location, type of ecosystem, Municipality, Survey
meteorological information, dispersion conditions, Meteorological
topography, and environmental dangers. Service
5 Land Use: urban land use, land ownership, cadasters, Municipality
land use law, and land value.
6 Urban Transport: basic information, automobile Transport and
capital, type of motorised trips, emissions, accidents, Infrastructure
private transport restriction (flows, stops, scheduling). Ministry, Pol ice
7 Energetic Use: gross annual energy consumption, Electric Company
combustion emissions, interconnected electric Municipality, Health
network, electric energy provision, self-generated Service
urban elec,tricity, domestic usage, and energy prices.
8 Air Contamination: emission intensity, emission Health Services and Survey
control policies, quality of air, environmental Municipality
concentration, and monitoring, environmental health.
9 Noise Pollution: Noise levels, noise pollution control. Health Services Survey
10 Water and Sanitation: Water resources, underground Health Services, Survey
water extraction, future water resources, supply and Municipality, Water
provision, domestic sanitary installations, sewerage Company
system, industrial waste, water related contamination
policies, water quality monitoring, cost, drainage.
11 Solid Waste: total solid waste generated, municipal Health Services and Survey
waste, removal, municipal expenditure on waste Municipality
management, waste deposits, infrastructure for
dangerous waste treatment, waste management
policies.
Adapted from World Bank/UNDP in ICLEI (1996: 69-73)23
212
Paola Jir6n, Giulietta Fadda and Daniel Jadue
Using the above chart as base information workshops were carried out, acknowledging
the difference between "experts" definition of Quality of Life and the people's perception of
it in a specific context. Based on the experience of participatory research, different
activities were designed for these workshops.
In total, three workshops were organised with the aim of identifying the main elements
that the residents considered important to their Quality of Life. The notification for theses
workshops was made first by contacting the neighbourhood leaders, sport clubs, active
youth, mothers clubs, elderly groups, parents, shop owners, etc. A great diversity of people
were invited using individual invitations, particularly men and women of different ages, in
order to collect information from different points of view.
The workshops were carried out on two Saturdays, after agreeing on the best time and
date with most of the participants in a social house central to both poblaciones. The
workshops' preparation was thorough, with purpose specific elaborated material. The
interventions were tape-recorded, photographed and video taped. The researchers acted as
facilitators and observers.
The first workshop consisted of two activities. In the first, the participants were
separated in two groups: men and women to prepare cognitive maps. In these maps they
were to identify, analyse and discuss the places were they frequently go to and classify as
influential to their Quality of Life and give meaning to the different conflict spaces.
Simultaneously, the relevance of each spot to their daily life was discussed.
In the second activity "Organisation Game", men and women were separated into groups
again. The purpose of the game was to reveal central aspects of the historic, cultural and
organisational experience and knowledge of the organisation. The issues such as the origins
of the neighbourhood, its name, the preferences in it, the main celebrations, the way people
participate, amongst other, it was possible to recognise the sense of belonging and identity
with they have of their community.
After systematising the information from these two activities, a second meeting was held
and the game played was called "The Organisation Roulette". Men and women were mixed
in three groups for this exercise. The objective was to identify situations that the
participants considered relevant, in tenns of their Quality of Life, in their sector, this
included the analysis of the problems which affect the sector and the causes which provoke
them. With the use of a board, dice and cards containing affirmations of their Quality of
Life, the groups proceeded to discuss and classify them as true or false, those elements that
were considered lTIOSt important for their Quality of Life were then prioritised.
In the workshop discussion the participants identified those elements mostly affecting
their Quality of Life. These elements were the main source for the design of the survey
questionnaire applied on 220 cases. The aim of the survey was to measure the frequency of
these elements of Quality of Life for the residents. The sample was determined using data
from the 1992 Population Census, distributed according to sex and age. The selection of the
sample corresponds to the same neighbourhood distribution in 1992.
The questionnaire of the survey was designed according to the perceptions of Quality of
Life, in terms of the differential use and requirements between men and women of different
213
ages and their gender roles. This required of specific fonnat of questions in order to
evaluate the level of satisfaction, conformity, happiness, etc. in their habitat. The survey
questionnaire was elaborated with the help of experts and bibliographical material. This was
one of the tasks to which most attention was given in this stage of the research. The main
topics to investigate included: socio-demographic characteristics; previous housing,
characteristics and perception of current housing; perception of the housing unit and the
neighbourhood Oocation, equipment and services); community environment (security,
participation, social environlnent); final balance (possibilities of choice, identity,
advantages, problems and priorities); and income. The global analysis of this survey is
programmed for the second stage of the research and it will be done together with the
community.
Although definite conclusions cannot be forn1ulated at this point of the research, it is

possible to reflect on the pertinence and importance of the methodology that has guided it.
The methodology has greatly enriched deeper observation of the subject matter. This
became evident in the different workshops when inquiring on how people experience the
space. In this sense, it is possible to state that the space is definitely not neutral, that the
difference in perception between Inen and women were evident: the distances, schedules,
locations of infrastructure, strongly influence in the way Quality of Life is perceived.
Similarly, the age difference showed some disparity. Furthermore, some areas that the
observer may consider as priority problems, such as quality of air, were almost secondary
to the residents, perhaps due to short, mediUln and long-term impacts.
In summary, and using this as preliminary results that could be considered as base for
the construct defined, it was confirmed that in the evaluation of their Quality of Life, the
dwellers manifested serious apprehensions. These were mainly defined in tern1S of the lack
of green spaces, and leisure spaces, poor functioning of health services, education and
personal safety and in a dramatic way, the vast problems due to drugs, alcohol, and
delinquency.
1 This paper is part of the FONDECYT financed research project N° 1980865198, currently in course.
2 BComm, MSc., Academic, Instituto de la Vivienda, Facultad de Arquitectum y Urbanismo, Universidad de Chile,
Email: pjiron@chilepac.net
3Architect-Urban Planner, PhD., Academic, Facultad de Arquitectura, Universidad de Valparaiso, Email: jpc-gf@ctc-
mundo.net
4 Architect, Sociologist (c)
5 See Max-Neef et ai, 1986, "Desarrollo a Escala Humana, una opci6n para el futuro", Development Dialogue, Numero
Especial, Cepaur Fundaci6n Dag Hammarskj<ild: Suecia.
6 See notes 21 and 22
7 Nussbaum, M. and A. Sen, 1996, "lntroduccion" in M. Nussbaum y A. Sen (comp.). La Calidad de Vida, Fondo de
Cultum Economica: Mexico, D.F
8 M ilbrath , L., 1978, "Indicators of Environmental Quality". En UNESCO Indicators of Environmental Quality and
Quality of Life". Reports and Papers in the Social Sciences, N° 38.
9 Annas, J., 1996, "Las Mujeres y la CaUdad de Vida: l,Dos Nonnas 0 Una'!" en M. Nussbaum y A. Sen (comp.). La
Calidad de Vida, Fondo de Cultum Econ6mica: Mexico, D.F.
10 The tenn is frequently used in the sociological discourse. It refers to the logical construction used to indicate entities
whose existence is believed to be confirmed by the confirmation of the hypothesis or the linguistic systems to which
they recur, but that are never directly observable or directly inferred from observable facts (Abbagnano, N., (1987).
Diccionario de Filosofi'a. F.C.E. Mexico: 230).
I1 Rodrfguez, M, 1998, Personal Communication, October 31.
214
Paola Jiron, Giulietta Fadda and Daniel Jadue
12 The research "Quality of Life and Gender in Low-income urban sectors: Case Study of Santiago de Chile" proposes the
analysis of the relationship between environmental quality, Quality of Life and gender in a low income settlement in
Santiago to suggest indicators of Quality of Life of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood.
13 For further detail on this methodology see IDSa, (1997), "'Whose reality Counts'?", Some readings and critical
reflections on participatory approaches to development, Institute of Development Studies: Sussex. and IDSb, (1997),
"Some readings and Critical reflections on Participatory Approaches to development", Institute of Development
Studies: Sussex.
14 See IDSa, 1997
15 Since it uses games and techniques which make the observation activities fun.
16 Where research is understood as a process which feedback infonnation, is possible to be modified and checked as many
times as necessary.
17 Understood as a way in which the member of civil society, from inside, can make their own decisions and control their
lives.
18 See IDSa, 1997
19 For further detail see Fadda, G. and Jiron, P., 1998, "Calidad de Vida y Genero: una metodologfa para la
investigacion urbana". Ponencia presentada a la V Conferencia BienallSEE, Santiago, 15-19 noviembre de 1998.
20 Scheer, L., (1980), "Experience with Quality of Life Comparisons", in Szalai A. And Andrews F.M. (Eds.) The
Quality of Life. Sage Studies in International Sociology: 145-155.
21 Defining "environmental conditions" as those which can be measured objectively. For instance: level of cleanliness of
water, or air, m2 of green space per person, etc.
22 Defining "environmental quality" as that which refers to the qualitative aspects and is measured subjectively by users
I
perception. For instance: housing quality, infrastructure quality, etc.

2.'23 ICLEIIPNUMA (1996), Manual de Planificaci6n para la Agenda 21 Local. Una Introduccion a la Planificaci()n para el
Desarrollo Sostenihle. ICLEIIPNUMA, Toronto.
215
24
Public Space as a Resource for Urban Strategic Planning
Raul Di Lullo
1. Introduction
In places gifted by a generous Nature with a colonial past based on massive
exploitation of natural resources, these tend to be seen as plentiful and ever-recovering.
This distorted view is often mirrored by the failure to see the potential conditions of other
resources to become relevant in a development strategy.
The research proposal I am starting to work on argues that Urban Public Space is such
kind of a resource. In fact, public space is the physical support and a source of
opportunities for human activities and civic life; in so far as public space facilitates, is
indifferent to, interferes with, prevents, or helps to segregate or integrate them, socio-
cultural and economic values are attached to it. Public space then becomes a potential
vehicle to act upon the overall quality of urban life --hence upon urban competitiveness in
terms of socio-cultural fruition and economic performance. Besides, a strategic view to
urban development issues is adhered to, as a tool to gradually overcome obsolete policy
making and planning practices deepl y entrenched in peripheral socio-economic
environments such as the one where the main case sudy belongs in. The urban and social
fragmentation produced by the succession of development models adopted along time
together with the proverbial lack of power of local government administrations stand out as
major obstacles as n1uch as great challenges.
Within such a context, the research work has a three-legged purpose:

1. Academic: running in parallel to the generalized disregard towards public space, not
only as a potential development resource but even as a community asset, there is a
vacuum of theoretical and methodological appropriate knowledge. One aim of the
thesis is to construct a body of such pertinent knowledge.
2. Pragmatic: there is a definite personal interest in looking at ways and means of how to
act in an urban sector where good governance is plainly absent, where the different
urban actors navigate independently from one another and where individual (or
sectoral) interest is the overruling factor. A second aim of the thesis is to search for
possible courses of action to counteract this negative state of affairs.
3. Strategic: public space is a polisemic, multi-layered entity reaching practically
everybody in the urban scene, by virtue of which it provides a fertile ground for multi-
actor, cross-sectoral, trans-disciplinary ventures. A third aim of the thesis is to gain as
much knowledge as possible to allow for the proposition of a "scene of operations" , a
217
Globalization, Urban FOlm and Governance
concrete issue for an eventual interaction of the involved municipal governments with
the civil society and with neighbouring Municipalities.
2. Main Concepts
A brief theoretical discussion of key concepts for the research work is proposed here.
2.1. Urban Public Space

A quick consideration of various perspectives will be useful in so far as an operational
definition can be formulated. "Public" space refers in principle to a question of property
and eventually reflects the difficult relationship between the public and the private spheres
antagonizing for urban land, whereas "collective" space leans more towards the user, the
con11nunity (Farrando i Sicilia, 1993), defining it as the unitary system of spaces and
buildings within the urbanized territory, with a common use for extended portions of the
urban population (Cerasi, 1990). On the other hand, the concept of cultural framing of
urban space, in order to produce a visual representation of the city (Zukin, 1995), adds the
symbolic dimension which every human product carries along.
This research work is concerned with the exploration of the potentiality of urban public
space as a resource for strategic planning, and as long as many actors in the process of
urban developlnent are directly linked with it, "urban public space" will be understood as
the series of use and domain () attributes impinging upon collective life which, together
with particular physical configurations of spaces and built-up forms laden with a symbolic
charge, provides the scene to sustain the relationships of the citizen with the city and
constitutes an element of urbanistic intervention with a potential for urban improvement,
renewal, and revitalization.
2 . 2. Strategic Planning and Urban Management

Urban management is generally understood as the set of processes directed to
aniculate resources in such a way that the city can produce, work and be maintained in
order to satisfy the need for individual and collective consumption goods (Herzer, Pirez,
et.al. 1993),
A strategic view in its most restricted scope suits the resolution of conflictive decision-
making situations originated in the confrontation of different interests, in the search for
hegemonic consensus (Carrion, 1994), and in its broadest sense it allows for complex
interventions at a territorial scale, down to the intermediate, urban scale and the
implementation of smaller projects at the local scale with a strategic function in urban
development (Borja & Castells, 1977).
Several authors coincide in the main attributes given to urban Strategic Planning,
namely the ability to manage change, to adapt to a dynamic future, to create the best
possible future for a city and to construct or modify its image (Barragan Mufioz, 1990)
(Fernandez Giiell, 1997) (Borja & Castells, op.cit). Strategic Planning is a way of
conducting change based on a panicipatory analysis of the present situation and its possible
evolution and the definition of an investment strategy of available resources in critical
areas. A Strategic Plan is the definition of a city project which unifies diagnoses,
implements public and private interventions, and establishes a coherent framework for
movilization and cooperation among social urban actors; its result is a political contract
218
Raul Di Lullo
between public institutions and the civil society, rather than a set of regulations or a
government plan (BoIja & Castells, op.cit), .
2.3. Urban Governance

The multiplicity of actors taking part in the urban construction and development
processes frequently produces simultaneous competences over a particular segment of the
urban territory and/or with respect to a particular set of activities or urban functions. The
problem does not necessarily lie in the presence of such multiplicity per se but in the actual
possibilities for effective coordination and goal-setting. Our institutional tradition does not
excel in this regard, accounting for many and frequent uncoordinated interventions in the
urban public space even at times of a higher profile of the State in planning and
implementing roles. The present withdrawal of the public sector and its replacement by
private enterprises whose logic operates along the lines of the maximization of economic
profits may certainly exacerbate that negative tendency, but on the other hand their
entrepreneurial profile may facilitate the attainment of concerted actions. The specific
bodies appointed to regulate the private exploitation of public services should play a central
role in this new scene.
The concept of "governance" lies at the root of what is being discussed. Governance is
defined as the quality of governing, particularly in terms of the relationships between
government institutions and the civil society. From the point of view of the urban habitat
there will be a better governance in so far as higher chances for concertation are generated,
more advantages are taken froln opportunities, and limitations are more effectively
counteracted. In such perspective the reorganization and systematization of jurisdictional
questions, of orders of precedence, and delimitation of responsibilities is of utmost
importance. Accountability and transparency are also critical to achieve a better
governance. The opposite will happen as long as sectoral or individual interests overrule
collective concerns, as long as competence overlaps and jurisdictional matters remain
unresolved.
3. Case Study
3.1. Background
The nlajor case to be studied in the research work is the agglomeration of the Greater
San Miguel de Tucuman (GSMT). It is many respects paradigmatic:
A centre of regional importance since colonial times, Tucuman has grown as a

commercial, cultural and to a lesser extent an industrial pole in the northwest of Argentina.
Heavily dependent upon a single produce for decades (sugar cane and sugar production) and
at the same time the core of its economic base, after a period of relative bonanza and
institutional consolidation Tucuman suffered a continuing process of industrial and
infrastructural insufficient investment, technological stagnation, loss of productivity, and
rising social and economic conflicts. The crisis reached a peak in the late 60' s when several
sugar factories were closed down: the lowest population growth ever is recorded in that
period, with 7 out of 11 provincial districts showing negative rates (DPE, 1970). The crisis
left considerable traces not only in the economy but also in the social fabric. Political unrest
and economic instability, guerrilla warfare and military repression that followed all along
the 70's and early 80's did nothing but deepen the negative aspects. With the return to
219
democracy in 1983 a short period of hope opened but the infamous "lost decade" for Latin
America stigmatized the first constitutional administration after dictatorship. It was only at
the beginning of the present decade that, following the imperative of structural adjustment
and liberalization policies together with favourable winds in the international scene-a
gradual stability was achieved albeit to a high social cost: economic concentration stretched
the gap between the haves and have-nots to unprecedented levels, along with the advent of
the so-called "new international order" after 1989 and the remarkable reinforcement of
globalization processes.
On the other hand, the redefinition of economic spaces and the creation of supra-
national associations like MERCOSUR open up a wide range of challenges as well as
opportunities for development. Tucuman finds itself in a historical crossroads: on the verge
of loosing its traditional leadership in the region should it not become sufficiently aware of
the demands imposed by these new regional and extra-regional relationships, the challenge
of requalifying resources and redirecting development approaches has to be faced.
GSMT: some facts and figures for an overall characterisation

The Greater San Miguel de Tucuman, or "Area Metropolitana", is a conurbation of
regional significance in the Argentinian NorthWest. With ca. 800.00 inhabitants at present
(ii), it is expected to reach 1 tnillion by 2010. It already gathers over 60% of the provincial
population and will expectedl y take 2/3 of it in about 10 years (Di Lullo & Giobellina,
1996). Poverty is widespread: measured with the only available indicator CH) about 30% of
the metropolitan population falls within the group with unmet basic needs and 8% of the
households live in extreme poverty (Caminos et.al. 1996). A historic pole of attraction for
rural migrants GSMT features over 200 irregular settlements, scattered on a peripheral belt
and including spontaneous invasions, organized land occupation, and squatting in
unfinished or idle public housing schemes.
With no defined administrative boundaries as one entity, GSMT brings together 6

adjoining Municipalities and the urbanized areas of 10 "Rural Communities" CV). There is
no formal administrative, political or plannig supra-municipal instance although a number
of attempts have been made in the past. At present CICRAM (Council of Mayors and
Rural Commisioners of the Metropolitan Area) is the only ad-hoc, cross-jurisdictional
organ under which political and technical staff meet and eventually reach agreements
concerning the conurbation. Yet, it does not have legal status nor a formal functional
structure, which gives a rather limited scope for executive action and efficient decision-
making.
GSMT is located at an average altitude of 400 tnetres a.s.L on a shallow slope at the
foothills of Sierra San Javier to the West, an eastern outreach of the Andes and a major
landscape feature with key ecological functions, while another salient geographical feature,
the river Sali, crosses it from North to South towards the East The urbanized area, covering
up a total of 13.000 hectares, follows in general the checherboard layout imposed since it
was moved in 1685 from its original foundation site in the 16th. century. The perpendicular
axes of the generating grid fall close to the cardinal points, with streets oriented N-S and E-
W. This apparently trivial characteristic originates a central distinction in one of the major
components of public space, both in the clitnatic and landscape dimensions: on the one hand
sunlight and shades do make a difference between ones and the others as the day progresses
and seasons come and go, with consequent changes in spatial character and physical
220
Raul Di Lullo
comfort; on the other hand, the Sierra San Javier is always visible in the background at the
western end of E-W streets, constituting a landmark for orientation as much as an
appreciated aesthetic value.
The territory is not eavenly served by infrastructure utililties: while electric power and
potable water reach a coverage of about 95 % of the urbanized area, natural gas and
sewerage networks round about 40 %. Expectedly, educational and health services, as well
as the widest range of options to travel by public transportation concentrate heavily on the
foundational inner city and the first 19th. century extension ring, within a rectangle of
about 2.5 by 2 kilometres (around 500 hectares).
3.3. Public space, territorial control and governance

Morphological, functional and administrative aspects of urban public space are largely
rooted in the very first processes whereby cities come to life, and certainly influenced by
the model(s) followed in their subsequent development. Thus, both origin and growth are
basic components of the urban matrix.
GSMT, developed out of a head town founded in the 1680's, shows the strong imprints
left by its origin in morphology, land use, public space components and shape, and
definition of domain realms. The strict checkerboard pattern, with its geographical centre
occuppied by the major open space (the central Plaza) around which religious and
government buildings together with residences of notable citizens were laid out, imposed an
iron structural schema still largely recognizable in the urban morphology as well as in the
equally strict demarcation of public and private space.
Such legal demarcation is materialized in the first major component of urban public
space: the street. Visually reinforced by the prevailing compactness of continuous built-up
rows along both sides in the consolidated areas, gradually dissolves towards the periphery
by virtue of the presence of less compact bulding types, lower densities, and informal
constructions. So, onto an invariable "legal domain map" public space does change, at least
as a perceptual experience: the private yields to the public realm a sort of adjoining semi-
private space. A particular architectural feature belonging to the traditional 18th and 19th.
century townhouse produces a silnilar effect in more consolidated areas: the zaguan, a side
or centered shady corridor "carved out" in the built-up mass to give access to the house
proper. But apart from these appendices punctuating the continuity of the building line, the
street channel dominates the configuration of urban public space.
The second Inajor component of public space are "surface elements" such as plazas
and parks of variable sizes; incidentally forecourts and smaller receding spaces can also be
found, but they rather constitute "accidents" in the urban tissue. In this respect GSMT
does not score high: although at first sight, and definitely at bird's-eye view it looks
dominated by greenery thanks mainly to street trees, private gardens, clubs, sports fields
and open lands, the ilnage is misleading from the point of view of open space as a public
utillity. Screening the existence of such spaces according to a few criteria (area equal or
larger than 0.5 hectare, with free public access and under municipal jurisdiction, equipped
with very basic facilities and showing some kind of maintenance), just around 90 units can
be detected ranging from the very lTIodest neighbourhood square up to the only urban park
of metropolitan significance, with 196 hectares designed by a celebrated French landscape
architect at the beginning of the century. An overall calculation indicates an average of 5.6
221
sq. metres/ inhabitant, quite distant from WHO's desirable standard of about 15 sq. metres/
inhabitant (Di Lullo & Giobellina, op.cit).
A rough, provisional account of streets, squares and parks circumscribed to San
Miguel de Tucuman (the head and most important Municipality in GSMT) averages ca.
25 % of the urban tissue. It is a significant proportion of the overall territory upon which no
clear, comprehensive and coherent set of rules actually exists and is put to work. A key
distinction needs to be made here: the formal existence of a bylaw or municipal ordinance
in juridical terms does not ensure per se its enforcement in practice, let alone its coherence
with other legal instruments inside the same government or with those issued by other
Municipality within the conurbation. The issues of governance and management are central
and cannot be overlooked.
An attemp to render measurable the elusive components of "governance" was made

following a very simple methodological principle, that is, looking at the various
recognizable agents performing a role in the urban construction and development process
and mapping out their different concerns (territories over which they have some decision-
making power). A representative sample was taken for this purpose, containing
characteristic features of an urban fabric in the process of metropolization: more than one
municipal jurisdiction, both consolidated and peripheral areas subject to consolidation or
urban expansion, structuring elelnents such as a river or highways, and areas with non-
urban land uses. After scrutinizing such an area of about 4600 hectares, an astonishing total
of over 80 different organizations and agencies with some sort of competence over the
whole or fragn1ents of that territory were identified: 3 Central Government organizations, a
set of not less than 35 sections of different branches of the Provincial Government, 17
agencies of the major Municipality in the area plus an average of 7 dependencies from
each one of the remaining 3 Municipalities involved, 8 major private enterprises providing
urban services, and a few other smaller industrial companies. Many sectoral overlappings
and functional duplications were also found, mainly in the fields of road planning and
construction, transport, environment, energy, public works, education, health, tourism,
sports, cadaster, civil defense, and community development (Di Lullo & Giobellina,
op.cit).
Not less than 25 of those organizations, both in the public and private sectors, are
directly related to the n10st notorious elements of public space. The two major public
administration levels involved (Provincial and Municipal governments) are based upon
hierarchical, vertical structures branching down in parallel streams with no horizontal
connections apart from the formal ones at the top, executive heads. This model is not at all
suitable to handle situations like the one described above: both levels overlap thematically
in at least 6 areas of competence, which renders the whole situation unmanageable in
practical terms, preventing to establish reasonable governance conditions over the urban
public space.
222
Raut Di Lullo
4. Conclusions
Decreasing public investlnents together with privatization of urban services and parts
of the urban fabric, the decline of impoverished middle classes, and the intrinsic incapacity
of the urban poor to operate beyond close territorial and functional limits contribute to the
fragmentation of urban space. Subject to forces exerted by the many different actors who --
jorm.ally or in/ornlally-- have a say and act on it, public space is either abused oj in many
ways, or simply neglected and even not acknowledged as a public good.
Uncoordinated interventions, meager maintenance, primacy of individualism and

disregard of regulations and ordinances are but some of the most noticeable problems. On
the other hand, the severe lack of enforcement power suffered by local governments is
proverbial --even in times prior to deregulation and State reform-- and adds to the
generalized strain produced on urban public space.
Bibliography
Barragan Mufioz, J. (1990): "La plani{icachjn estrategica como recur.\'{) de las ciudades ante la competencia
interurbana"; Procedures of the XVI Meering of the Spanish Association for Regional Science, San
Sebastian.
Botja, J. & CasteIls, M. (1997): "Local y Global. La gestion de ias ciudades en la era de la infonnacion";
UNCHS and Santillana S.A. Taurus, Madrid.
Caminos, et.al. (1996): Documento de trabajo nr. 1196,' Dir. de Estudios sobre Niveles de Vida y Pobreza.
Sec. de Programacion Economica de la Nacion, Buenos Aires.
Carrion, F. (1994): "La gestion urbana: estrategias. dilemas y retos"; Revista Interamericana de
Planificacion, vol. XXVII, nr. 107-108.
Cerasi, M. (1990): "El Espacio Colectivo de la Ciudad",' Oikos-Tau S.A., Barcelona.
e) in terms of both "legally formal" and customary rights over a particular piece of territory
(ii) projected from 1980 and 1991National Census
e ii
NBI: "Necesidades Basicas Insatisfechas"
)
iV(ij "Comunas Rurales", another local administration besides Municipalities, with no legislative body and
an executive officer elected by the population, but accountable to the Provincial Government.
223
25
New relations between in and out in urban space
Yvonne Mautner
"
Laerte, FoLha de S PauLo, 6112/1998

This report on the relationship between the inside and the outside of low income
housing 1in Sao Paulo is a partial outcome 0 f a research that was carried out through a
couple of years at the FA UUSP. It is partia] because some data, essential to build up a
picture of new deve]opments in industria] output, and on household consumption wil1 be
only released on the first months of 1999; and they are important to relate the image
captured in low income houses by the cameras of students to the growth of the nationa] and
multinational output of industries producing, in particular, furniture (home made) and
electro-electronic appliances (foreign based) in Brazil. 2
The results of this survey carried out between 1994 and 1997, on the interior of slums,
squatter settlements, council houses and periphery of Sao Paulo, focusing the furniture
which is used in popular houses, highlighted the intensity with which these houses were
invaded by the last generation of electro-electronic appliances (such as CD players),
simultaneously with a massive increase of TV sets and VCR-so
Between the sixties and the eighties the proportion of domestic appliances consumed in
Brazil had sensibly increased: the number of radios from 62 % to 80 %, the number of
refrigerators from 23 % to 63 % and televisions from 9 % to 73 %. Faria and Silva (1983),
225
Globalization, Urban Forms and Governance
followed up these numbers and also the "paradox" of the time: the fall of the level of wages
and at the same time, the growth of household income, that could be only explained through
the progressive insertion of women in the labour markee.
If we take the percentage of electro-electronic appliances at the time of the survey

(1992), in the urban areas of the State of Sao Paulo, 93,2 % of house owners had radios,
91,2 % refrigerators, 91,9 TVsets and 42 % washing machines. If we consider only dwellers
who earned between one and two minimum wage per month (100 to 200 US dollars), the
proportion of these same appliances were respectively: 87,3 %, 80,7 %, 80,7 % and 17, 1 %.
So the penetration of these goods in the lower income brackets, in 1992, was higher than it
was nine years earlier (1983) on average for the whole population in Brazil. (see table I,
PNAD,1992, in Appendix).
All these numbers show that the level of consumption among the lower income
population is not insignificant and brought a relevant discussion to the seminars at FA U: a
better comprehension of the success of shopping centres in peripheral areas, as well as the
lack of design within Brazilian furniture industry, as attested by the awful quality of
furniture in popular houses.
Why is it that big industries envolved with furniture mass production consider design
'superfluous'? This is possibly due to the historical divide between technology and design in
peripheral countries. Nothing prevents, apparently, the practice of design for mass
production. On the contrary, it is widely known that the sector of durable goods (local
representatives of multinational industries), take design as an decisive tool of production and
marketing.
According to Coutinho and Ferraz (1994:331), the furniture industry in Brazil is a

traditional industry, presents a profile of low competitivity, but it produces the bulk of the
supply for the home market and provides a great deal of jobs4 • Most of the production units
are small or medium size and many work with a high degree of technological disparity,
where low and high techniques co-exist within a same production process5 • So as in the
textile industry, it is possible to make pontual investments in isolated spots of the production
line, whith the recult that machinery and technological processes of different generations
work together in a same plant. The production process is verticalized, with a big variety of
products. The modernization of the industry is based on the imported machinery, basically
from Italy and Germany.
Michel Amault, designer and former owner of an important furniture factory, Mobilia
Contemporanea in Sao Paulo during the 60s and 70s told during an interview about the
'export model' of the furniture industry6:
"Brazil has a quite large production potential/, .. /four or five big enterprises/ ... /that is
what usually happens: an American or an European guy arrives in Sao Paulo, with a chair
under his arm and wants to have some 200.000 units made in five or six month. So, he takes
it to Sao Bento (south of Brazil), where something like four or six of these guys arrive daily.
They go to a bunch of industries within the same region and place an order in each one until
the number of chairs they want is met. The order is for chairs being an exact copy of the one
they have brought under their arms. Brazil produces and exports an astonishing amount of
furniture (wood and cheap labour) in this way,/ .. ./exports furniture, but not design. "
226
Yvonne Mautner
In the same way as washing machines or freezers differentiate income levels inside the
houses, the same occurs with some basic services outside, at the urban level. Although the
distribution of infrastructure became more even over the urban area in the last 10 years, that
still leaves great problems with accessibility, sewage and telecommunications. In 1992 still
18 % of the urban area of the State of Sao Paulo lacked sewage system, and this percentage
rises to 26 % among households with an income between 1 and 2 MW. The numbers for the
lack of telephone were respectively 70% and 91 % (PNAD, Sao Paulo, 1992)
With respect to housing, there is no production of popular houses for the market, the
bulk of them is self built, either on plots which are properly bought on the market, or on
invaded land. Even slums are self built at the periphery. The quality of construction is poor,
and poor are such essential conditions of social reproduction as infrastructure in transport
and sewage as well.
The production process in the furniture and building industries have some similarities:
they both use intensive labour and abundant native raw materials, and they are home based
industries and therefore submitted to the hostile environment of ups and downs of Brazilian
industrial policies and financial system7 • As to the production of durable goods, it is
relatively new in Brazil and its development followed other paths.
Changes in the Brazilian industrial structure after the 1950s made it necessary to
introduce the production of durable goods, which became more and more accessible to
people through a broad diffusion of the consumer credit system. In 1981, Pamplona8 quotes
Wells 9 :
"the high degree of diffusion of "modern goods" in the (Brazilian market) lead to a
revision of the size of this market/ .. .land as a great number of low income households have
access to 'modern goods', it is difficult to see the expenditure pattern of rich and poor
families as totally distinct or antagonistic" .
Introduced during the 40s into the life of a select layer of Brazilian society after a first
round of imports, TV sets started to be produced in the country (lnvictus, Semp, Phi1co), at
the end of the 50s and the beginning of the 60s, dependent only -but crucially-- on the
import of the cathod-ray tube. In the same way as in other leading or 'modern' branches of
the home industry (cars, electronics, computers, optical fibre), the television industry was
gradually lead to banckruptcy, bought out by or 'associated' to foreign capital.
The name of this process, which appeared in the form of a pressure of foreign capital to
compete with these industries in our home market, was imperialism, as we used to call it at
the university, in the wake of the 60s; and with it came immediatly associated such ideas as
unequal chances, and unequal exchange, international exploration and profit expatriation.
Nowadays, within the context of 'globalization', there is a whole set of very similar
procedures at work, but their effect was presented by the president of the Central Bank as an
advantage of the present situation: one could expect a sensible growth in foreign investment,
because Brazilian firms "are cheap for any international standard" .
Entering a popular settlement in Sao Paulo, be it in the periphery, a shanty town or a

slum, and taking a look into the houses, gives a very concrete picture of the impact of the
historic 'globalization' process in a peripheric metropolis. High levels of consumption of
227
Globalization} Urban Forms and Governance
durable goods, which are based on widely accessible consumer credit (where for example, it
is not the price of a TV set which matters, but whether or not the monthly instalment of its
payment fits into the salary) contrast with self built houses, lack of infrastructure. These
latter are basic needs which, for different reasons, are far from beeing' so easily accessible
for the lower income brackets, that make up about half of Sao Paulo' s population. Housing
because it never became a commodity, infrastructure because it depends on the discretionary
powers of unconcerned local governments. Thus the precarious though necessary built
environment --the outside-- shelters the modernity of ubiquitous household appliances inside
the houses, plugged into the one really universal urban infrastructure: electric power.
References
COUTINHO, Luciano e FERRAZ, loan Carlos (coord, 1994) Estudo da competitividade da industria
brasileira, Ed. da Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Sao Paulo.
DEAK, Csaba (1988) "The crisis of hindered accumulation in Brazil" BARTLETT INTERNATIONAL
SUMMER SCHOOL, Ciudad de Mexico Proceedings, London, 1989
FARlA, Vilmar, SILVA, Pedro (1983) "Transforma95es estruturais, politic as , sociais e dinamica
demognlfica: a discussao", PRIMEIRO CONGRESSO LATINO-AMERICANO DE POPULACAO E
DESENVOLVIMENTO, Mexico, DF
LOSCHIA VO SANTOS, Maria Cecilia (1995) 0 movel moderno no Brasil Studio Nobell FAPESPI
EDUSP.
MAUTNER, Yvonne (1991) The periphery as a frontier for capital accumulation PhD Thesis, Bart-
lett School of Architecture, and Planning, UCL, London
PAMPLONA, Telmo (1981) 0 interior da cas a proletaria, ambiente urbano-industrial, MSC,
FAUUSP
WELLS, l. R. (nc) "Subconsumo, tamanho de mercado e padr5es de gastos familiares no Brasil"
Estudos CEBRAP 17
3 FARIA,Vilmar, SILVA,Pedro (1983):16

.f According to Arnault, Bergamo (one of the biggest furniture industrie in Sao Paulo) produces 15.000 sets for
sleeping rooms/month. Ponto Frio ou Casas Bahia (shops that commercialize furniture) sell 600 to 800
dining sets/month.
5 ABIMOVEL (Brazilian Association of Furniture Industries) classifies the enterprises in the following way:
micro, small and medium, depending on the number of employees, respectively: less than 15, from 15 to
150, and more than 150. The distribution of these firmas in Brazil according to this classification is: 10.000
micro, 3.000 small ones and 500 medium sized.
6 Interview with Michel Arnault, furniture designer, for the production of a video at the FAUUSP's Video
Studio.
7 See Csaba Deak's "The crisis of hindered accumulation in Brazil" (Deak, 1988), which shows how the
Brazilian manufacturing industry is constantly and purposefully fragilized as a condition for the
reproduction of the country's elite society.
8 PAMPLONA, Telmo (1981) 0 interior da casa proletaria, ambiente urbano-industrial, MA Dissertation,
FAUUSP
9 WELLS, J. R. (nd) "Subconsumo, tamanho de mercado e padr6es de gastos familiares no Brasil" Estudos
CEBRAP 17.
228
Appendix
Estado de Sao PauIo, 1992

Private households/classes of monthly inconle/ durable goods
Classes of monthly household income

~ ate « Ia ~ 2a % 3a ~ Sa 10 a ~ mais ~
Tot % % sir sld ~
al ISM 2SM 3SM SSM 10 SM 20SM de 20 end. eel. 22
Pop. 790 413

, WO I 106 1 168 2 201 2 9975 1 4457 5. 10 1 171 2
Urbana 1714 899 .2 267] 2.69 3957 3.46 6826 1.35 2060 5.5 742.6 05 6 7646 .4 376 .2
2
fogao 783 9 401 ~ 993 9 105 9 167 9 200 9 9919 S 4441 9 10 9 169 9
9531 9.2 141 6.9 104 9.0 5190 9.2 8058 9.5 2491 9.5 92 9.4 12 9.6 3660 6.3 783 9.1
filtro de 520 6 192 , 494 4 595 5 104 6 145 7 8301 ~ 3986 8 53 4 140 8
H2O 4538 5.9 216 6.4 527 9.3 796 6.0 3223 1.8 6253 2.4 36 3.2 77 9.4 421 9.6 289 1.9
radio 736 9 319 875 8 966 9 158 9 194 9 9856 S 4393 9 86 8 164 9
3313 3.2 000 7.1 824 7.3 637 0.9 0734 3.7 4276 6.6 10 8.8 23 8.6 910 0.7 999 6.3
TV 720 9 307 . 809 8 941 8 154 9 192 9 9808 S 4433 9 83 7 165 9
9291 1.2 825 4.4 577 0.7 086 8.5 8040 1.8 9109 5.9 31 8.3 15 9.5 715 7.8 793 6.7
geladeira 726 9 304 809 8 928 8 157 9 195 9 9911 S 4457 1 83 7 165 9
2831 1.9 635 3.6 602 0.7 352 7.3 8365 3.6 5456 7.2 97 9.4 05 00.0 723 7.8 796 6.7
freezer 110 1 119 J 351 3 367 3. 110 6 283 1 3174 3 2487 5 47 4 518 3
0657 3.9 67 .9 08 .5 10 5 094 .5 959 4.1 27 1.8 89 5.8 85 .4 18 0.2
maq.lavar 331 4 574 171 1 236 2 515 3 104 5 7455 7 4042 9 23 2 119 6
8872 2.0 06 3.9 488 7.1 868 2.3 975 0.6 4628 1.9 85 4.7 41 0.7 117 1.5 564 9.8
Source: PNAD,
1992, Sao Paulo
Globalization yesterday and today
Csaba Deak
Changes ... generally take a long time in secret before they sud-
denly make themselves felt on the sUiface. A clear survey of the eco-
nomic history of a given period can never be attained contempo-
raneously, but only subsequently ...
Engels, 1885, p.9
'Globalisation' is one of the most successeful catchwords of neo-liberalism since

'privatization'. Its precise meaning remains to be established, but whatever it is,
globalisation claims -or should claim, to command any respect-- to first, be referring to a
new development in contemporary societies across the world, and second, be illuminating
for an understanding of the nature of the transformations the aforesaid societies are
currently undergoing and for an assessment of the prospects open to the same.
An exploration of its meaning and an assessment of such claims might follow three
main steps. The first, a summing up the concrete processes which have been ascribed as
leading to, or stemming from or yet making up globalization; then the second, to confront
these with a historical perspective of contemporary capitalism; to then in the third step
proceed to a qualification of the theoretical status of the concept of globalization. This is the
plan of this paper, with an addition: in the end, it refers to the specificities of the meaning
and the role of 'globalization' in peripheral countries, in the example of Brazil.
What globalization is
Let us sum up of what has been described as being the main elements of globalization
in the overabundant literature on the latter (which frequently include some sort of criticism,
even though mostly half-hearted). One good account of them comes from Stephen Gill
(1993),1 fronl which the data on world exports in the table below are taken. 2
The two really striking developments shown in these tables are an about six-fold
increase of world trade volumes in real terms (allowing for about 365 % inflation during the
period), equivalent to an average rate of growth of about 4.8 % yearly; and a drop of the
US' share in it from 17% to 12 %, more than offset by an increased share of both Europe
and Japan, so that the central (,Trilateral') countries' share rose about 20 %. Further, in a
concluding section, Gill refers to qualitative changes that would have led to globalization:
231
Table l/a
Exports, FOB, billions of current US$
1950 1960 1970 1980

Trilateral 34.0 81.0 214.0 1224.3
US 10.1 20.4 42.6 220.7
Japan 0.8 4.1 19.3 130.5
W.Europe tot 20.1 51.0 136.0 806.1
W.Europe ext n.a 25.6 44.1 256.1
West Germany 2.0 11.4 34.2 192.9
United Kingdom 6.3 10.6 19.3 115.2
World total 60.8 128.3 313.9 1855.7
Table lib
Exports, as proportion of GNP and of world total
% of GNP % of world
exports
19501980 1950 1980
Trilateral 7.3 17.2 55.9 66.0
US 3.5 8.4 16.7 11.9
Japan 5.6 12.5 1.3 7.0
W.Europe tot 13.8 25.1 33.1 43.4
W.Europe ext n.a 8.0 n.a 13.8
West Germany 8.5 23.5 3.3 10.4
United Kingdom 17.0 22.2 10.4 6.2
World total 11.7 21.2 100.0 100.0
Notes: Trilateral= USA, Canada, EEC and Japan. Western Europe

tot: including intra-European trade. Western Europe ext: excluding
intra-European trade. 'World' total excludes inter-trade amongst:
China, Mongolia, North Korea and North Vietnam (from 1976,
Vietnam).
Source: M Ushiba et al (1983) Sharing international responsabilities

Trilateral Commission, New York, quoted in Gill (1993),
The turn of the decade fundamentally transformed the global economic, political and
military landscape. The collapse of the Soviet Union, the unification of Germany, the Gulf
War, and finally the intensification of European integration: these changes were crucial
componenets of an unprecedented redrawing of the geopolitaical map of the globe (p.272,
my emphasis).
To these one might add a deepening of cross-boundaries interwovenness of capital

(without, however, any corresponding international mobility of labour), a relative increase
of the weight of financial services in GNP-s and some build-up of supranational State-like
institutions.
These are portentous transformations; however to hail them as 'unprecedented' makes

one wonder whether the Thirty Years' War, for example, was not fought for too little. A
232
Csaba Deak
striking feature of both quantitative and qualitative changes invoked above is their
short-sightedness: their reference is in fact a relatively short period of growth (which
appeared to many at the centre of world capitalism as prosperity and stability) allowed by
post-war reconstruction. Putting them into a broader historical perspective should allow a
reassessment of such transformations.
Before globalization, or: what is really new

To start with, this is perhaps the place to recall that in the view of Samir Amin
globalization started in earnest by 1492 and became rapidly dominated and later associated
for good with capitalism as such - although I would not imply as he seems to do, that either
of the two gave birth to the other:
(If we are required to pick a date to lnark the birth of the modern world,) I should
choose 1492, the year in which the Europeans began their conquest of the planet -military,
economic, political, ideological, cultural, and even, in a certain sense, ethnic. But the
world in question is also a world of capitalism, a new social and econolnic system, qua-
litatively different from all previous systems in Europe and elsewhere. These two traits are
inseparable, and this facts call into question all analysis of and responses to the crisis of
lnodemity that fail to recognize their sinlultaneity. 3
Samir Amin, 1992
The planetary empires carved out by European countries in succession (in which "the
sun did not set") were certainly 'global', as were the rivalries and wars that went with the
bid by competing countries for world domination, of which the Thirty Years' War referred
to earlier was one and brought no less change than the demise of the Iberian empires and
the rise of the Channel countries (France, Holland and England) to world predominance.
Compared to this, the changes referred to above by Gill are minor adjustments rather than
'unprecedented redrawing' in the geo-political configuration of word capitalism. As to the
expansion of international trade and its concentration, let us recall that it is no more than a
recomposition after the disruptions caused by World Wars I and n. In fact, British exports
(which then made up two-thirds of world exports) climbed from just 5-6 % of the National
Product in 1688 to about 9-11 % during most of the first half of the nineteenth (with a
temporary swell to 14 % during the Napoleonic Wars), to then rise to a peak of 23 % by
1870 - a figure approached only by Germany and the UK itself in 1980, and then they were
not the biggest GNP of the world. This was the US, with a meek 8.4% share of exports in
its GNP. And that quite apart from the fact that the US never achieved even one-third of
total world trade, half of what Britain had mustered at the height of its power.
As for financial expansion, it became so important already after the restructuring of

capitals during the Great Depression of 1875-95 that Engels, having sensed it, thought it
worth providing a supplement to his edition (1895) of the third volume of Capital entitled
"The stock exchange" (the word 'finance capital' was to be coined later for the same
thing). Then in a rapid succession, Hobson produced Imperialism (1902), Hilferding
Finance capital (1910) and Bukharin Imperialism and world economy (1915). By the same
time arose also the controversy over ultra-imperialisln or inter-imperialist rivalry. At issue
was the question whether there could be a 'peaceful capitalism', as sustained by
Kaustky and his social democrats. Lenin summed it up in his "Introduction" to
Bukharin's Imperialism and world economy with his usual verve:
233
Globalization} Urban Form and Gouvernance
Particularly as regards Kautsky, his open break with Marxisln has led hiln to dream
about a "peaceful capitalism". If the name of ultra-ilnperialism is given to international
unification of national (or, more correctly~ state-bound) ilnperialisms which would be able
to eliminate the most unpleasant, the lnost disturbing and distasteful conflicts such as wars,
political convulsions etc, which the petty bourgeois is so much afraid of, then why not turn
to innocent dreams of a cOlnparatively peaceful, comparatively conflictless, comparatively
non-catastrophic ultra-imperialism?
Lenin~ 1915
If we add Ernest Mandel's Late capitalism, Aglietta's A theory of capitalist regulation

and van der PIJL's The making of the Atlantic ruling class, of which the latter is the most
recent and it is already more than fifteen years old, we have a framework for analysis and
interpretation of contemporary capitalism that account for most of its main characteristics.
Thus world trade, finance capital, imperialism, the question of transnational formations and
an interpretation of contemporary society as late or intensive stage of capitalism are all
available for an account of current developments within a historical perspective and from
the framework of dialectical materialism. That is a great deal indeed to throwaway for an
empty abstraction such as globalization.
What globalization means
One of the great events of 'globalizatiooon' was the signing of a new GATT after the
'Uruguay round' of negotiations or eight years of haggling, on 15 December 1993. It gave
good examples of the elentary fact that its meaning depends on who is looking at or
speaking of it. In particular, the meaning of GATT was anything but 'global'. Thus, the
central countries representative commemorated:
I
Today the world chose opening and cooperation instead of uncertainty and conflict.
Peter Sutherland, GATT, Director-Generat
... while less enthousiastic echoes came from ex-colonies:

Frankly, we must say that the results of the Uruguay Round left us at times with mixed
feelings.
Luiz Felipe Lampreia, Ambassador of Brazil to GATT (ibid.)
"He was not alone in this austere mood If reported the main business newspaper in
Brazil. - "The developing nations [sic] in general complained that they got very few
concessions especially in agriculture and textiles.11
Id. (ibid}.
Divergence over the interterpretation of the current process does not prevent the
'concept' of globalisation and its companions from rising to hegemony. In stead of
capitalism --and its crisis--, we got globalization, sustainable growth (forever?) and the end
of history. Being a-historical abstractions, these pseudo-concepts prevent interpretation,
critique and scope for change of the current state of society. In this way, globalization may
not have a meaning, but it does serve a purpose: the maintenance of the status quo in
contemporary society. In practical terms, globalization is either presented as cause of
unpalatable effects of the current crisis -Is there increasing 'social exclusion' anywhere?
Blame it on globalization- or it is posited as an ultimate contingency that forces otherwise
234
Csaba Deak
well-meaning governments to take such measures as cutback on welfare, 'deregulation'

which leaves free hand to big capital or the dismantlement of labour organization. In this
way it hinders political action of the individual or the development of social forces which
would challenge the worst effects of class domination: how could a society within a
nation-State stand up to such 'general trends' as globalization etc, which transcend the
national level?
The name of such produce, ideas which promote inaction, offer an apology of the
existing order, and thereby promote the maintenance of the status quo, is ideology. Any
contribution to ideology is of course a precious reinforcement to the edifice of
contemporary society, the 'governability' of which became a concern since the exhaustion
of the post war boom by the late 1960s.
Globalization, in the centre and att the periphery

In this light 'globalisation' appears as an ideological product which along with its
companion pseudo-concepts litters much of academic and intellectual production in social
science. Somewhat surprisingly, it performs the same role -that is, reproduction of the
status quo-- at both ends of world capitalism: at the centre of world accumulation or at its
periphery. The difference is in what is being justified/reproduced: bourgeois society with
its intensive accumulation there, elite society with its hindered accumulation5 here.
At trhis point the advantage of a meaningless word (a pseUdo-concept) come into full
light. Globalisation can be invoked to justify financial deregulation in central countries as
easily as fixed exchange rates coupled to central bank administered 25 %-plus interest rate
in the periphery ~ it can prompt heavy government spending in R&D and in physical
infrastructure (liberalism notwithstanding) there and squander public assets by 'selling'
them out to private capitals, home based or foreign, here. In the urban agglomerations, it
can justify massive investment in infrastructure for high finance and big capital
headquarters, preparing competitive 'world cities' in the core of world capitalism, whereas
it can also vindicate the lack of the most elementary investment in the name of depleted
resources of the nation in view of the requirements of global integration, at the periphery.
While it argues for increase in productivity of labour without a corresponding rise of the
subsistence level at the core, it can be invoked equally easily in favour of the reproduction
of the hindrances to the development of the productive forces in the periphery.
References
AGLIETTA, Michel (1976) A theory of capitalist regulation New Left Books, London, 1979
AMIN, Samir (1992) "1492" Monthly Review 44 (3):10-19
BUDD, Leslie (1998) Territorial comp[etiotion and globalization: Scylla and Charybdis of
European cities" Urban Studies 35-4:663-85
DEAK, Csaba (1985) Rent theory and the price of urban land/ Spatial organization in a capitalist
economy PhD Thesis, Cambridge
DEAK, Csaba (1988) "The crisis of hindered accumulation in Brazil" BISS 10 -BARTLETT
INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL, Cidade do Mexico, Proceedings BISS 10,. London,
1989
ENGELS, Friedrich (1885) "Introduction" in Marx, Karl (1850) The class struggles in France
1848-50 Progress, Moscow, 1979
FAINSTEIN, Norman & FAINSTEIN, Suzanne S (Ed, 1982) Urban policy under capitalism
235
(Urban affairs annual review, Vo1.20) Sage, Beverly Hills, Ca

GILL, Stephen (1993) "Neo-liberalism and the shift towards a US-centered transnational hegemo-
ny" in OVERBEEK, Henle (Ed, 1993) Restructuring hegemony in the global political economy/
The rise of transnational neo-liberalism in the 1980s Routledge, London
LENIN, Vladirnir I (1915) "Introduction" to BUKHARIN, Nikolai (1915) Imperialism and world
economy Merlin, London, 1972
MANDEL, Ernest (1972) Late capitalism Verso, London 1978
Monthly Review, The Editors (1992) "Globalization - to what end? Parts I-Il" Monthly Review 43
(9-10)
PIJL, Kees van der (1984) The making of the Atlantic ruling class Verso, London
1 A short list chosen among those taking a more critical stance could include Samir Amin (1992, among the
most clearly critical), Les Budd (1998, which includes implications on urbanism) or Henk Overbeek's
anthology (1993, which includes Gill just referred to) but the literature on globalization is really
extensive.
2
3 Irrespective of such close analytical association of Europeans and capitalism (could there be such thing as a
European ideology?), it is worth remembering that whatever is happening nowadays, it happens in and to
capitalism.
4 Gazeta Mercantil, 93.12.16:1 "Diminui 0 protecionismo". GATT: General Agreement on Trade and'
Tariffs, renamed shortly after WTO: World Trade Organization.
5 An elite society, of colonial extraction, must perpetuate the pattern of colonial production (in which a good
part of the surplus is constantly creamed off by the metropole), by submitting the imperative of
accumulation in capitalist production to th~ principle of surplus expatriation (whereby accumulation
becomes permanently hindered, whence its name) or else lose the material basis of its reproduction and
face its own transformation into bourgeois society (see Deak, 1988).
236

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Table of Content

Part 2 Globalization Adjustment and Spatial Change

Part 3 Environment, Sustainable Urban Form and Social Issues

Part 4 Urban Governance, Strategic Planning and Culture

17 City Opportunities and Management in Asian Cities 149

The ALFA-IBIS Research Atelier

The research tean1

Globalisation, Adjustment and Spatial Change

• Carmen Ledo (Ph.D Research)

Environment, Sustainable Urban Fonn and Social Issues

• Maria Schoonraad (Comparative Research)

The network support systeln.

UNIVERSITY OF SAO PAULO

UNIVERSITY OF BUENOS AIRES

Conference: Globalization, Urban Forn1 and Governance

The content and organisation

development. The purpose of the Symposium is to examine the arguments surrounding

First Day: Globalisation, Adjustnlent and Spatial Change

Second Day: EnvirollDlent, Sustainable Urban Form and Social Issues

Wednesday 27h January

8:45 Cqf(ee and Registration

14:00 Csaba Deak: Urban Infrastructure and Social Form

Friday 29th January

ALFA-IBIS NETWORK COMPARATIVE PROJECT

The cities involved in the Research Atelier Alfa-ibis, are:

ALFA-IBIS research framework

Marisa Carmona, Rod Burgess and Ricardo Toledo Silva

GLOBALIZATION, INFRASTRUCTURE AND URBAN FORM

Burgess, Marisa Carmona and Theo Kolstee, Bouwkunde Delft 1996

1. Main research linkages and theories

What is new and what is old in the late 90's.

The new international model

The rise of urban productivity as the goal for urban intervention

Globalisation and MarginaHsation

forces of an increasingly open, integrated and cOlnpetitive global economy. Everywhere

The case of the Netherlands

The case of Latin Anlerica

N on-agncult·ural E mpoymen t Struc ure In f A menca (%)

Informal Sector Formal Sector

The case of South Saharan Africa

2. IDENTIFIED RESEARCH TOPICS

In the prospect of current global transformations, attention must be given to narrow

2.There is a growing recognition of the relationship between global adjustment

production, monopoly capital, centre-periphery dichotomy, formal and informal

6. Another topic is how to improve sectoral policies to enhance country competitiveness.

decentralisation in order to improve environmental protection, restricting urban growth and

7. The increasing environmental concern both in developed as in developing countries

areas alive.(Valenzuela 1997) Nowadays the unpredictable response of land markets to

Portes, Alejandro y Lungo, Mario (coordinadores); Urbanizacion en el Caribe, FLACSO,

Farina L. (1994) El Sistem,a Financiero de la Vivienda. Paper presented to November CEPAL

La Insidiosa Globalizacion. El Pais, 29 July 1997.

Globalisation and Spatial Restructllring.

Macroeconomic pressures together with technological factors, specially in the field of

1 Red Iberoanlericana de Investigadores sobre Globalizacion y Territorio (RlI)~ see Seminario

Globalization, social exclusion and spatial change.

Sueli Ramos SchifJer *

The effects of internationalization of the economy are assessed, with particular

I. Principal aspects of econonlic globalization.

The economic stagnation of the leading countries, expressed by the downgrading of

Table 1. Inflows of foreign direct investments.

Developing 20310 18 081 30780 47757 77387 149 000

Therefore, the parameters involved in deciding FDI allocation to developing countries

11. Globalization and social exclusion.

uneven development. It encouraged interdependence, but it was asymmetrical. All too