Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Toilet talk

Once again, I'm big in Bombay, this time on Rediff. I have to admit: I'm amazed by the outside world's fascination with the mechanics of using a public toilet or living without water or otherwise adapting to life as a squatter. My journey through the world's squatter communities was a privilege. I've never met a better or more honorable group of people. Conditions may be degraded in some communities, but the people are not. They have the courage to build, and are carving out a hopeful future in a world that wants to condemn them to bare existence.

Friday, March 25, 2005

Squatters in Baghdad

The UN's Integrated Regional Information Network just published a dispatch about housing woes in Baghdad

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Harvesting the monsoon

Low cost, logical, and simple. Even without municipal water pipes, water can be available through harvesting the rain.

Licensing 400,000 squatter homes

This report from Tanzania's Guardian newspaper notes a wonderful and novel approach to widespread squatting: the government "plans to upgrade squatter areas whose occupiers would be mainstreamed and granted right of occupancy and certificates of title." All told, some 400,000 families would gain legal status. One further question: more than 2 million of the 3 million residents of Dar es Salaam are squatters. Will this new government initiative also legalize them?

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Aasif Sartaj, from Squatter Colony, writes in

My friend Aasif Sartaj, who just turned 21, lives in Squatter Colony, a community not far from the railroad tracks in Malad (E) in Mumbai. His father built a bamboo and reed hut there in the 1960s, and has slowly transformed it into a sturdy two-story poured concrete townhouse. Every house in the community now has water and electricity and toilets.

Aasif's thoughts on his city's recent experiment with demolition of squatter communities in its attempt to remake itself as a South Asian Shanghai should be read by every politico in the city. He feels that the politicians have created a false dichotomy. To Aasif, Mumbai can modernize with it's squatters instead of driving them from their homes.

"I think Mumbai/Bombay should make its own recognition. It is obviously one of the most rapid improving cities worldwide. I believe Mumbai should be modernised and they should remove poverty, but not poor people, as some of the corrupted political leaders try to do. Poor people can't afford the maintainence and all the expenses that come along with flats and big plots, so they sell it and get shifted to the chawls or huts again. So there should be some planning or strategy which will help the poor guys to survive. To me, [the large] population is a weakness of India, but it can act as a benefit if they utilise the amazing manpower they have. The only reason why India has been backward is the lack of literacy and proper feedback given by right people, there are still some remote areas where people still don't have electricity and they are still 100 years behind time so we need to hold their hands to get advanced."

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

More money, more of the same?

Reuters makes much of a new South African strategy to fight the growth of squatter communities. I’m all for pumping federal money into homebuilding and creating quality domiciles. But adding 200 million rand to a 7 billion housing budget amounts to a mere 2.8 percent increase. And the article fails to note whether the new homes will be affordable to squatters even with the increase in housing subsidies. Again the question is: can government harness the work poor people have already done in creating their communities.

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Squatter riots, then a solution

These three stories from the Agence France Presse news agency date back to October-November 2004. I missed them at the time, but they seem revelatory now.

They show how Turkish squatters defend their turf, even battling with police to save their homes. The fact that the demolitions were halted, and the Mayor made a deal to save the squatter neighborhood demonstrates the power that organized groups of squatters can wield over local politicans. In a country where 38 percent of the housing is squatter-built, politicians had better pay attention. Prime Minister Erdogan's plan to battle the gecekondu neighborhoods sounds ill-conceived. It would be far better (not to mention more cost effective) to work with squatters to better their communities.

Police, residents face off at Istanbul squatter area
28 October 2004
Agence France Presse
ISTANBUL, Oct 28 (AFP) -

After manning burning barricades all night, about 1,000 residents of an Istanbul squatter area protesting against the demolition of their homes were engaged in a tense stand-off Thursday with security forces outside the suburban Pendik city hall, an AFP photographer saw.

After repeated clashes Wednesday with police trying to protect municipal demolition teams as they razed 14 houses built illegally on state-owned land, residents of the area on the Asian side of Istanbul stayed up all night, erecting barricades of upended utility poles, garbage cans and burning tires.

They hurled sticks, stones and bottles at armored police vehicles that powered through the barricades, which they rebuilt as soon as the security forces left, reporters at the scene said.

Paramilitary gendarmerie units were called in overnight and cordoned off the area, an AFP photographer at the scene said, but let through a peaceful procession of about 1,000 people, including women and children, who marched on the local city hall to demand an end to the demolition.

A tense stand-off ensued when police blocked their path but an arrangement was reached allowing a delegation of 20 representatives of the Ertugrulgazi neighborhood to proceed into the municipal building for talks with Mayor Erol Kaya, which were still continuing after more than two and a half hours.

In Wednesday's clashes, neighborhood youths -- many said to be militants of a left-wing extremist group -- fought pitched battles with police, who responded with tear gas and baton charges and arrested four people.

Scores were hurt on both sides, press reports said, but none seriously.

Television crews and press photographers also came under attack from the demonstrators and several news teams at the scene Thursday reported that they were assailed by stick-wielding youths.

Uncontrolled urbanization and a steady population flow from the countryside to urban areas has resulted in entire neighborhoods of illegally built homes mushrooming in and around Turkey's major cities.

Known as "gecekondu" (built by night, in Turkish) areas, they generally house people of rural origin who eke out a living in the city, often at menial jobs.

Some of the neighborhoods are razed while others manage to negotiate deals with local governments to ensure their survival and profit from occasional amnesties to flourish and grow into entire suburbs with their own schools and businesses.


***
Deal defuses tense stand-off between Istanbul police, squatters

28 October 2004
Agence France Presse
ISTANBUL, Oct 28 (AFP) -

A potentially explosive stand-off between security forces and the inhabitants of an Istanbul squatter area was defused Thursday when city authorities and residents reached an agreement after nearly three hours of talks, officials said.

The deal came after more than 24 hours of clashes between police and dwellers of the Ertugrulgazi neighborhood in suburban Pendik, on the Asian shore of this city of 12 million, who were protesting against the demolition of their homes, which were built illegally on state-owned hand.

"There will be no more demolition in Ertugrulgazi," Pendik Mayor Erol Kaya said after meeting representatives of the residents who manned burning barricades all night and pelted police vehicles with sticks, stones and bottles.

The violence overnight and Thursday morning followed pitched battles Wednesday between neighborhood youths and police trying to protect the municipal demolition teams that bulldozed 14 houses.

The residents stayed up all night, erecting barricades of upended utility poles, garbage cans and burning tires and hurling projectiles at armored police vehicles that powered through barricades that were rebuilt as soon as the security forces left, reporters at the scene said.

Paramilitary gendarmerie units were called in overnight and cordoned off the area, an AFP photographer at the scene said, but let through a peaceful procession of about 1,000 people, including women and children, who marched on the local city hall to demand an end to the demolition.

A tense stand-off ensued when police blocked their path but an arrangement was reached allowing a delegation of 20 neighborhood representatives to proceed into the building for talks with Kaya and Pendik's acting sub-governor, Fahri Keser.

"We have dispelled rumors that the entire neighborhood will be razed," Kaya told reporters, explaining that the houses knocked down on Wednesday had been built on land earmarked for a public school.

The families who were left homeless will be housed in new lodgings to be erected jointly by the residents, the municipality and the Pendik sub-governorate, Kaya said.

The deal was greeted with cheers and applause by the waiting crowd, which dispersed peacefully, and residents could later be seen clearing the barricades.

In Wednesday's clashes, neighborhood youths -- many said to be militants of a left-wing extremist group -- fought with police, who responded with tear gas and baton charges and arrested four people.

Scores were hurt on both sides, press reports said, but none seriously.

Television crews and press photographers also came under attack from the demonstrators and several news teams at the scene Thursday reported that they were assailed by stick-wielding youths.

Uncontrolled urbanization and a steady population flow from the countryside to urban areas has resulted in entire neighborhoods of illegally built homes mushrooming in and around Turkey's major cities.

Known as "gecekondu" (built by night, in Turkish) areas, they generally house people of rural origin who eke out a living in the city, often at menial jobs.

Some of the neighborhoods are razed while others manage to negotiate deals with local governments to ensure their survival and profit from occasional amnesties to flourish and grow into entire suburbs with their own schools and businesses.


***
Turkish PM faces big housing challenge
01 November 2004
Agence France Presse
ANKARA, Nov 1 (AFP) -

Violent clashes between police and residents of an Istanbul squatter area protesting last week against the demolition of their homes have revived a debate over the state of housing in Turkey, which the government has vowed to improve.

The clashes, in the neighbourhood of Ertugrulgazi in suburban Pendik, on the Asian shore of the city of 12 million, came as police tried to protect municipal demolition teams as they razed 14 houses -- so-called "gecekondu" (built by night, in Turkish) -- built illegally on state-owned land.

The Turkish government led by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is waging war against the "gecekondu", which generally house people of rural origin who eke out a living in the city, often in menial jobs. The houses are built without any respect for hygiene and security standards.

The evacuations regularly cause clashes between police and tenants, although rarely on the scale of those last week which involved pitched battles.

The houses are the result of uncontrolled urbanization and a steady population flow from the countryside to urban areas has resulted in entire neighborhoods of illegally built homes mushrooming in and around Turkey's major cities.

The wild urbanisation was tolerated by successive governments which, for political ends, gave the inhabitants amnesties, usually in the run-up to elections, allowing them to stay and letting people who built the houses off the hook.

Under Erdogan's plans some of the neighborhoods are razed while others manage to negotiate deals with local governments to ensure their survival and profit from occasional amnesties to flourish and grow into entire suburbs with their own schools and businesses.

A lucrative underground housing market has sprung up, rushing up houses to meet the demand.

Although the potentially explosive stand-off between security forces and the inhabitants of an Istanbul squatter area was defused on Thursday when city authorities and residents reached an agreement after nearly three hours of talks, Prime Minister Erdogan faces a long-haul addressing a problem papered over by successive governments.

A small shop owner living in his premises jammed between two "gecekondu" in the area of Altindag in Ankara, was laconic when asked about the lives of people living in the neighbourhood.

"Our children go to school. We all have running water and electricity either legally or not, but it's ok...This is not really a gecekondu. We have been here for generations. It is an old neighbourhood, that's all" the 50-year-old man said.

For both electoral reasons and with a view to meeting the standards of the European Union, which Turkey badly wants to join, Erdogan's government recently attacked the issue, voting through a law which introduced penalties of up to five years jail for those who build the illegal houses.

Some 38 percent of Turkish houses are said to be built without authorisation.

So a massive task remains ahead building social housing to house those thrown out of their illicit homes, in a country in which 10 million of the 70 million population live below the poverty line.

The government has announced that it will build hundreds of thousands of social houses over the next few years for the most needy families, with the help of long-term credits.

It has also made clear it is opposed to the construction of new "gecekondu", ruling out a new amnesty.

Buy a cell phone, help the poor

African Leaders Back Tech Tax to Help Poor Nations Hmmm. The 'trickle down' approach. Abdoulaye Wade, Senegal's President, says the tax is designed "to empower the South with information technology equipment, telephones, fax machines, the Internet and to ensure training on how to use them." But technology is not necessarily the most crucial thing for people on the wrong side of the digital divide. All depends on how much money is banked and how it will be used. Otherwise, someone will have to invent a new phrase: whitewashing and greenwashing and, now, high-tech poorwashing.

Monday, March 14, 2005

The social divide in Rio

This story of Sergio Martins, a resident of favela Pantanal who works as a security guard in luxurious Leblon, in Rio de Janeiro, ran in the Guardian (thanks to Edesio for spying it and sending it my way.) While it's misguided to describe the favelas as "a sea of ramshackle shanty housing," Sergio's take on Brazilian society is devastating: "The currency of the rich in Brazil is indifference and humiliation," he says. "They wish you a good morning, but they pay to keep you and your service at a convenient distance."

Thursday, March 10, 2005

The forgotten killer

Another story that's not only a squatter matter. Britain's Independent newspaper reports on the increasing numbers of people who are contracting malaria -- and the fact that a new strain of the disease is resistant to the age-old treatment.

Mitumba

Mitumba, or second-hand clothes, may not seem specifically a squatter issue. But all across Africa, the poor survive wearing western cast-offs. Most of my friends in Kibera bought second-hand stuff because the price was right. And some had businesses retailing the cast-offs in local markets. They would buy bales of used clothing downtown at the massive Gikomba market and, with a tiny mark-up, make a profit re-selling in Kibera. This article from the East African Standard shows that the government has raised the per-kilo tax on mitumba -- a move that is causing some wholesale prices to spike upwards 50 percent.

While it may be true, as a merchant tells the Standard, that the government's policy is counterproductive, and is "rendering millions of self-employed people jobless," the issue is complex. Kenya had a reasonably thriving needle trade until deeply discounted mitumba blanketed the country and priced most of the local manufacturers out of business. It would be hard to argue with the tariffs if the government was seriously attempting to rebuild this shattered industry instead of simply siphoning off money from a lousy economy. But that's a big if.

And there's another issue here: It's likely that the bulk of mitumba items being sold around Africa were donated by Americans and Europeans who thought they were making charitable contributions to the poor rather than stoking a profitable industry. Which means that there are most likely brokers in the U.S. and Europe making money on this trade too. That's a real scandal.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Listening to the poor

In addition to documenting the unconscionable evictions that have already taken place in Kibera and other squatter areas of Nairobi (hundreds of homes near train tracks and under power lines were slated to be summarily demolished), "Listening to the Poor? Housing Rights in Nairobi, Kenya," (pdf available here) the report issued on March 3rd by COHRE, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, raises many questions about the United Nations plan to upgrade Soweto Village in Kibera.

In particular the UN and other agencies seem to have failed to seriously engage residents in planning their own future, as these two quotes indicate:
· "In Kibera, literally all the groups and individuals talked to during the fact-finding mission lacked accurate information about the Government’s plans."

· "Many residents see themselves as passive, limited beneficiaries, if at all, of the intended upgrading program."

This is a deep flaw in the work to improve Kibera. It may be true that Kenya does not have a tradition of public participation in the political process. But that doesn’t mean that well-meaning agencies should be afraid to try to engage residents in planning for their future. The way forward is bottom-up, not top-down. COHRE calls for "an institutional framework and budgetary support that allows communities to organise upgrading, with government support for the process. Residents should be able to choose appropriate tenure systems, access necessary credit and receive protection against possible violence and harassment from other actors during the process."

The group also urges the government to bring public services (water, sewers, and electricity) into squatter areas.

The Swiss-based NGO has provided a useful overview of the issues that plague the mud hut neighborhoods where 2/3 of Nairobi’s residents live.

Death Ends Fun

Dilip D'Souza has posted a summary of civil engineer and urban planner Shirish Patel's ideas about Mumbai's squatters. Though sometimes silly (ending rent regulations to help squatters is a neocon staple and a ridiculous canard) it is a thought provoking reflection. Here's a paragraph worth cheering:

"For [the] poorest of the poor there is no option other than to identify Government-owned lands — whether by BMC [the city government], the State or Centre, the Port Trust, or any other Government organ — demarcate this into pathways and plots and allot these to them to live on. Water supply, sanitation and solid waste disposal must be provided as essential services. Densities will be low but this cannot be helped. The occupants should be permitted to build on these plots up to Ground and one upper, over time, as and when their finances permit. The plots should be open to mortgage and access to housing finance, like any other properties. At some future date, if the property is to taken up for redevelopment at a higher density, the owners should be able to recoup whatever they have invested, as in any other redevelopment."

Monday, March 07, 2005

Making business for the poor

Bangladesh's Financial Express newspaper reports on a UN study of how entrepreneurship can work for squatters. Here's a relevant paragraph:

The private sector is central to the lives of the poor and all poor are consumers. The report says that across the globe poor consumers pay more than the rich. In Mumbai, slum-dwellers in Dharavi pay 1.2 times more for rice, 10 times more for medicine and 3.5 times more for water than do middle class people living at the other end of the city. An innovative private sector can find ways to deliver, low-cost goods and services to demanding consumer across all income ranges.

While it's true that the poor are consumers and are very entrepreneurial (visit your nearest squatter community and you'll see hundreds of small businesspeople buying and selling things every day -- even in communities where people live in mud huts or on the pavement), it's a fantasy to think that multinational corporations, with a little guidance from NGOs, can become benign. It's an outrage that the poor must pay triple the normal price of water or ten times the usual price for medicines, and no tweaking of the supply chain will change that.

Slum rehab cost may delay projects

The Mumbai newspaper Mid-Day says costs will delay the program to get squatters new homes.

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Evictions in Kenya

The East African Standard on government-sponsored forced evictions of squatters in Nairobi.

Saturday, March 05, 2005

slam dunk funk

Another compilation of favela funk, released late last year at a party at a Brazilian club in London, is available here. Again, I haven't yet heard it, so can't vouch for its authenticity, but I like the publicity description: "grabs you by the hips and never lets go."

human rights vs. slum upgrading

The news from Kenya isn't encouraging. The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), an NGO based in Geneva, Switzerland, has just issued a damning report showing that, with the UN-sponsored upgrading on the way, the government's demolition of hundreds of mud huts in Kibera was "a clear violation of the Convention Against Torture and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights." You can find the report here (beware, though, that I found that I could not open some of the documents after downloading them.) COHRE argues "for a rethinking of the design of the Kibera upgrade project with better representation of residents, protection against evictions and a greater focus on water, sanitation and refuse disposal." Sounds sensible. More on this when I get a hard copy of the report.

Photos of a West African Squatter Settlement

The Guardian's John Vidal offers a photo tour of Makoko, a squatter community in Lagos, Nigeria that " polices itself, defends itself from outsiders and keeps to itself."

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

favela chic

From allafrica.com, read how designers are hitting pay dirt in the slums. When I was living in Rocinha, some savvy neighbors used to joke that the things that favela dwellers are wearing this year are always purloined and presented on the runways in Milan and New York the following year -- at amazingly high prices. Ah globalization...or perhaps it's better to echo the unemployed Cape Town resident quoted in the article and call it by a more straightforward name: "daylight robbery of the have-nots"?

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Mumbai as Shanghai or as Bansai?

The situation of squatters in Mumbai has been both alleviated and made more complicated. Congress Party officials revolted against the Maharastra State Chief Minister's policy of demolishing tens of thousands of shanties (newspapers estimate that 90,000 homes have already been destroyed) and, after many complaints, Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi stepped in and ordered the demolitions to cease. But as soon as they won this reprieve, the squatters discovered another sell out: the Chief Minister vowed that no new housing for the poor would be built within the city limits (one report noted that the government had located land 60 km out of town.) What's more, the minister admitted that he had no idea where the government would get the money to construct as many as 800,000 homes on more than 5,000 acres of land (his estimate that this would cost R 24,700 crore -- or about $5 billion -- seemed designed more to outrage the middle class than to be realistic.)

Here are a few other commentaries and articles:

former prime minister weighs in with his thoughts

squatters to pay for new homes

the contradictions of modern Mumbai