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“Inclusive Cities and Access to Land, Housing, and Services in Developing Countries,” Urban Development Series: Knowledge Papers, World Bank’s Social, Urban, Rural & Resilience Global Practice, 2016

Abstract

I2UD produced a research paper titled “Inclusive Cities and Access to Land: Housing and Services in Developing Countries.” The World Bank-supported project addressed how global disparities in income, wealth, and opportunity, experienced worldwide, have contributed to social exclusion and spatial segregation in cities in the Middle East, North Africa, Latin America, Central America, and Western Asia.

The final report—authored by Mona Serageldin and I2UD staff, and published in 2016 by the World Bank—documented examples of successful inclusionary policies, programs, and initiatives by public agencies and NGOs with a special focus on cities in Latin America and the Middle East. The report discussed the difficulty in organizing integrative projects. It underscored the shortcomings arising from acting on one dimension of inclusion while ignoring others.

Documents include a workshop presentation from January 2014, with a final draft from April 2014, along with the final report from February 2016.


[Excerpt: Index for the Final Report: “Inclusive Cities and Access to Land, Housing, and Services in Developing Countries.”]

The Growing Importance of Inclusion in Urban Areas
1.1 Defining Inclusion
1.2 Measuring the Dimensions of Exclusion: São Paulo’s Exclusion/Inclusion Indicator Mapping

2. Trends Affecting Social Inclusion in Urban Areas
2.1 Demographics
2.2 Mobility and Migration

3. Infrastructure and Public Services: A Powerful Tool to Promote Social Inclusion
3.1 Rethinking the Approach to Slum Upgrading and Regularization of Informal Settlements
3.2 South Africa’s Municipal Infrastructure Grant Program (MIG)
3.3 Access to Public Services: Social Missions in the the República Bolivariana de Venezuela

4. Restoring the Social Function of Public Space
4.1 Rio de Janeiro’s Favela Bairro Program

5. Access to Land: A Critical Factor at the Core of Inclusion and Exclusion
5.1 Regularizing Tenure in Informal Settlements: Impacts on Social Inclusion
5.2 Impacts of Property Registration on the Inclusion of Informal Settlers
5.3 Integrated Projects to improve the Living Environment: The Role of State Agencies 16
5.4 Egypt’s Informal Settlements Development Facility (ISDF)

6. The Erosion of Inclusive Options for Affordable Housing
6.1 Affordable Housing and Spatial Segregation in Chile
6.2 Looking to Rental Markets as Instruments of Inclusion

7. Generating Revenues to Finance Urban Improvements: Land-Based Financing
7.1 Cuenca’s Improve Your Neighborhood Program

8. The Right to the City
8.1 Implementing the Right to the City in Brazil
8.2 National Legislation and Local Implementation: Colombia’s Policies of Decentralizing the Improvement of Lower Income Settlements
8.3 An Emerging Urban Agenda in the Middle East
8.4 Recife, Brazil (ZEIS)

9. NGOs and CBOs as Strategic Partners in Driving the Implementation of Inclusionary Programs
9.1 Grassroots Initiatives: A Rights-Based Approach
9.2 SEWA
9.3 CODI, Thailand

Concluding Remarks
References
Appendix 1: Indicators of Urban Exclusion and Inclusion in São Paulo, Brazil
Appendix 2: Property Tax and Registration in Middle Eastern Countries
Appendix 3: Statistical Appendix
Appendix 4: Resources

See related I2UD projects below

Project Year:2014-2016
Project Type:Research Paper
Geographic Regions:Latin America and Middle East / Venezuela / Recife and São Paulo, Brazil / Chile / Colombia / Mexico / Syria / Egypt / Morocco / Tunisia / South Africa / Thailand
Reports:
—
Authors:Mona Serageldin; Sheelah Gobar; Warren Hagist; Maren Larsen
Sponsors:World Bank
Categories:Informal Settlements and Urban Upgrading
  
ID:2014_04_001

Related I2UD Projects

I2UD Digital Library Study Guide: Understanding Informal Settlements and Slum Upgrading, October 2024

Gallery 4: Chile: Santiago, Concepción, and Talcahuano (1992-1993)

Galleries 6-7: Egypt: Cairo and Helwan (1986, 1990)

Gallery 16: Venezuela: Caracas (1989)

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“Qassioun Urban Development Strategy and Improvement Plan,” Technical Framework for Damascus, Syria, 2006-2008

Abstract

A 2006 project consisted of an urban development strategy and improvement plan for the informal settlement of Qassioun in the City of Damascus, Syria. I2UD’s development strategy provided a coherent framework for the development of an integrated plan for the whole site and more detailed plans for each of its constituent parts.

An informal urbanized area housing a population of 200,000 in 2006, Qassioun extended over 6 kilometers in the mountain range overlooking Damascus’ civic and business center. The settlement was characterized by steep slopes, dense settlement patterns and geotechnical and seismic risks. The development plan included the protection of a historic area, two regularized sub-districts, the informal settlement, facilities on the undeveloped high plateau, and a relocation site for families living in zones with high seismic risks.

Project Year:2006-2008
Project Type:Technical Development Strategy
Geographic Regions:Damascus, Syria
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin; Christa Lee-Chuvala; Carolina Morgan; Alejandra Mortarini; Daniel Tsai
Sponsors:European Union Municipal Administration Modernization Project (MAM)
Categories:Reconciliation and Development
  
ID:2006_00_007

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I2UD Digital Library Study Guide: Understanding Informal Settlements and Slum Upgrading, October 2024

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“Land-Related Issues, Dhaka, Bangladesh,” Urban Sector Strategy Report, for Dhaka and Chittagong, Bangladesh, 2006

Abstract

In 2006, Mona Serageldin and other I2UD team members prepared the report on “Land-Related Issues, Dhaka, Bangladesh” for the World Bank. The project formulated an urban sector strategy summary for Dhaka and Chittagong, Bangladesh, emphasizing employment generation and poverty reduction.

The report was based largely on fieldwork in Dhaka and Chittagong, consisting primarily of interviews with residents of slums, evaluation of squatter settlements and informal areas, meetings and interviews with government officials, meetings with NGOs and micro-finance institutions, and visits to key projects.

The report discussed in detail the urban land market in Bangladesh, defined the different types of land tenure held by urban dwellers, assessed the role of local and district authorities in land management, evaluated land-related impediments on housing and development finance, and highlighted issues related to access to land and services by the urban poor.

Project Year:2006
Project Type:Development Strategy
Geographic Regions:Dhaka and Chittagong, Bangladesh
Reports:Land Related Issues, Dhaka, Bangladesh: (Mona Serageldin, April 2006)
Authors:Mona Serageldin; Arif Ahamed; Felicity Chan; Christa Lee-Chuvala
Sponsors:World Bank
Categories:Informal Settlements and Urban Upgrading
  
ID:2006_01_001

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I2UD Digital Library Study Guide: Understanding Informal Settlements and Slum Upgrading, October 2024

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“Development Corridors and Urban Development Strategies” and “Slum Improvement Strategies and Social Inclusion,” Presentations by Mona Serageldin, 11th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, São Paulo, Brazil, 2004

Abstract

Mona Serageldin authored a presentation, “Development Corridors and Urban Development Strategies,” for the 11th UN Conference on Trade and Development held in São Paulo, Brazil in June 2004. Her speech addresses the challenges affecting urban management and development at national and local levels.

Additionally, Serageldin presented a slide presentation titled “Slum Improvement Strategies and Social Inclusion” for a panel on Metropolitan Policies, Urbanization and Regularization of Informal Settlements at the conference. This presentation details a case study from South Africa, reviewing slum upgrading efforts, national expenditures, and housing patterns. Photographs depict people and neighborhoods, economic enterprises, and housing in South Africa.

[Excerpt: “Development Corridors and Urban Development Strategies,” pages 1, 2, 4-5.]

1.0 Positioning Cities in the Increasingly Complex and Competitive Global Economy
“Europe took an early lead in exploring the urban configuration that would result from unification and economic restructuring. The French National Planning Agency produced, in the late eighties, a landmark study ranking cities according to indicators of strength in the high-tech and high-value added sectors. The resultant diagram delineated the major economic regions and growth nodes in Western Europe. The main transportation corridors linking the larger centers, act as the backbone of the system, structuring networks of interlinked cities and channeling development along their alignment.

1.1 Structuring Development Corridors
Throughout the decade of the 90’s, globalization reshaped patterns of production, leading to the emergence of interlinked clusters of entrepreneurial businesses working through strategic alliances. Looking at Montpellier, France and the region around the technopole as an example shows that each economic cluster has its own pattern of spatial interconnections and dispersion based on functional, physical and virtual links. Technological innovation and fierce international competition are constantly reshaping these patterns, adding and eliminating whole categories of businesses and redirecting the flows of private investment to new and more advantageous locations.”

….

2.0 Coping with unprecedented mobility and large migratory flows
“Attempting to slow the growth of the metropolitan areas in order to divert population and activities to lagging regions is ill advised. Such policies have met with little success at a very high cost to the nation. Their wisdom is to be questioned at a time when unprecedented mobility has multiplied the capacity of the larger centers to contribute to the development of by-passed regions and economically distressed areas. Commuting from surrounding villages and towns, migration from rural areas and small provincial towns, lifts people out of poverty and contributes to channeling large flows of remittances to these lagging regions.”

Project Year:2004
Project Type:Conference
Geographic Regions:São Paulo, Brazil (Conference Location)
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin
Sponsors:United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Categories:Informal Settlements and Urban Upgrading
  
ID:2004_06_001

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“Migratory Flows, Poverty and Social Inclusion in Latin America,” Research Report by Mona Serageldin with Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), 2004

Abstract

Mona Serageldin researched and wrote the report “Migratory Flows, Poverty and Social Inclusion in Latin America” in collaboration with authors from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) in 2004. The 2004 paper was published as Chapter 7 in Urban Futures: Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction (Nabeel Hamdi, ed.). Sida partially funded the collaboration through a grant, with the purpose of documenting two additional case studies in Central America: León, Nicaragua and San Salvador, El Salvador.

This project emerged from a previous study, funded by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University, to document the impact of human migratory flows on across Central and South American nations. See related content in the I2UD Digital Library: “Reintroducing the Spatial Dimension in the Planning and Management of Latin American Cities,” Lecture by Yves Cabannes (Project ID: 2003_03_001).

Documents include a Proposal, Executive Summary, two Final Reports from February 2004 (CUDS) and August 2005 (I2UD), and a Bibliography in Spanish.


[Excerpt: Final Report, Executive Summary, “Migratory Flows, Poverty and Social Inclusion in Latin America,” February 2004]

1. Introduction.
“Current poverty reduction strategies in LAC (Latin American Countries) underestimate the impact of migratory movements and remittances on social inclusion and do not fully include migration as a component of their strategies.”

“Some Latin American municipalities have launched creative initiatives in this field and their experience is well worth reviewing. To date little documentation of these efforts has been made particularly in terms of assessing the performance of the methods used and the impact of the monitoring on local development policies and governance.”
…
“Given the importance of migratory movements in Latin America, the findings will be of interest for local authorities as well as multinational and bilateral development organizations working in local development and poverty alleviation programs. This paper presents some preliminary findings of the study, which is still in progress, based on research and field documentation in Cuenca, Ecuador.”

Project Year:2004
Project Type:Research Paper
Geographic Regions:Latin America (Central America; Caribbean; Cuenca, Ecuador; Maracaibo, Venezuela; Mexico; León and Rivas, Nicaragua; San Salvador, El Salvador)
Reports:
Authors:Yves Cabannes; Mona Serageldin; Elda Solloso; Luis Valenzuela
Sponsors:Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)
Categories:Informal Settlements and Urban Upgrading; Urban Planning
  
ID:2004_02_001

Related I2UD Projects

Gallery 4: Chile: Santiago, Concepción, and Talcahuano (1992-1993)

Gallery 16: Venezuela: Caracas (1989)

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“Reintroducing the Spatial Dimension in the Planning and Management of Latin American Cities,” Lecture Presentation by Yves Cabannes, 2003

Abstract

In March 2003, the Center for Urban Development Studies (CUDS) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design offered a lecture presented by Yves Cabannes, the Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, as part of the Urban Management Program for Latin America and the Caribbean from UN-Habitat. The lecture covers past and current planning of spatial dimensions in Latin American cities and highlights the importance of spatial factors in social integration. It also touches on the significance of citizen participation and of partnerships among civil society, governments, and private sectors.

Presentation topics include:

  • Land use plans in the 90s;
  • (Mono) sector approaches to planning;
  • Strategic City Planning (Barcelona);
  • Influence of UN and Global Agenda in the 90s; and
  • Participatory Action Planning with spatial dimension.

The presentation addresses principles behind the term social inclusion, as “a multidimensional problem: territorial (physical), legal, social, cultural, economic and racial,” going beyond just poverty. The presentation detailed four examples of urban upgrading projects that sought to solve issues of social exclusion and housing shortages in Ecuador, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina.


[Excerpt: Presentation, Experiences 1-5, lessons in social inclusion from urban development projects in Latin American cities]

“Lessons from some experiences addressing at the same time the global development of the city, the inclusion of the poor communities in the perspective of building democratic, productive and inclusive cities.”

Experience 1: Comunidades, Fortaleza Metropolitan Region, Brazil.

Experience 2: Neighborhood Improvement Participatory Action Planning (City Consultation) in Mesa Los Hornos, Mexico City, Mexico, (1998-2000).

Experience 3: Mapping the social exclusion at city level: Exclusion and Inclusion Map of Santo André, Brazil.

Experience 4: The Spatial dimension of Social inclusion: Integrated Program for Social Inclusion, Santo André, Brazil.

Experience 5: Optimization of Vacant Land in Rosario, Argentina.
___

Project Year:2003
Project Type:Public Lecture
Geographic Regions:Fortaleza and Santo André, Brazil / Rosario, Argentina / Mexico City, Mexico / Quito, Ecuador
Reports:
Reintroducing the Spatial Dimension in the Planning and Management of Latin American Cities: (Presentation)
Authors:Yves Cabannes
Sponsors:Center for Urban Development Studies, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Categories:Reconciliation and Development, Urban Planning
  
ID:2003_03_001

Related I2UD Projects

Gallery 4: Chile: Santiago, Concepción, and Talcahuano (1992-1993)

Gallery 16: Venezuela: Caracas (1989)

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“Development of Infrastructure and Initiating of Sustainable Projects in Elim, South Africa,” Report for the 2001 UN-Habitat Best Practices Leadership Programme for Elim Historic Settlement, Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

The Center for Urban Development Studies (CUDS) at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design prepared a report “Development of Infrastructure and Initiating of Sustainable Projects in Elim” for submission to the UN-Habitat 2001 Best Practices Local Leadership Programme, based on the upgrading initiative that began in 1995 on the historic settlement of Elim in Western Cape, South Africa.

Primary initiative goals included:

  1. Upgrade the basic town infrastructure and services;
  2. Improve the living standards of the residents;
  3. Improve economic growth within the community;
  4. Preserve the historical character of the village; and
  5. Create employment opportunities, agriculture development, social health and sustainable community development in Elim.

The project assisted in upgrading sewage systems, streets and stormwater systems and the electrical reticulation system. Prior to these upgrades, sewage would flow through the streets and the town reservoir would often dry up in the summer months, causing a shortage of water.

[Excerpt: Summary, page 3]:

See related I2UD projects below

Project Year:2001
Project Type:Development Strategy
Geographic Regions:Elim, Western Cape, South Africa
Reports:Development of Infrastructure and Initiating of Sustainable Projects, Elim, South Africa: (Report, August 2001)
Authors:CUDS Team
Sponsors:United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UN-Habitat)
Categories:Informal Settlements and Urban Upgrading
  
ID:2001_08_001

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“Decentralization and Urban Infrastructure Management Capacity,” Research Paper for UN-Habitat’s Third Global Report on Human Settlements, 2000

Abstract

The Center for Urban Development Studies (CUDS) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design produced a research paper in 2000 that provided an overview of decentralization and infrastructure policy throughout the 1990s. The study noted the expanding scope for private sector involvement and the growing role of non-governmental organizations and civil society in the delivery of infrastructure services for informal settlements. The report served as a background paper for UN-Habitat’s Third Global Report on Human Settlements.

[Excerpt: Background Paper, August 2000]

1.0 Overview: This background paper is based on an extensive review of infrastructure initiatives implemented since the early 1990s in different economic, social and cultural settings. Recent trends are assessed and creative approaches presented. In each case, the challenges faced and the context within which infrastructure problems have to be addressed determined the range of options and the choice of strategies. The remarkable results achieved by Best Practices are highlighted with a special focus on the ingredients underlying their success.”

[Excerpt: Table of Contents, Background Paper, August 2000, p. 2 of 31]

  1. Overview
    • Decentralization and Infrastructure Policy
    • Decentralization of infrastructure services
    • Expanding the scope for private sector involvement
    • A growing role for NGOs and civil society
    • Challenges in the decentralization of infrastructure
  2. Decentralized institutional frameworks, participatory processes and capacity building
    • The role of regional and intermediary institutions
    • Strengthening local government leadership and initiative
    • Partnerships between municipalities and NGO
    • Community-based approaches to infrastructure services and neighborhood revitalization
  3. Financing investments in infrastructure services and neighborhood revitalization
    • Public/Private partnerships to finance infrastructure
    • The role of intermediary institutions in infrastructure finance
    • Privatization of infrastructure services: public utility companies
  4. Equitable Access to Infrastructure and the Empowerment of Poor and Marginalized Communities
    • Community-based financing of infrastructure projects
  5. Concluding Remarks
  6. List of references
Project Year:2000
Project Type:Research Paper
Geographic Regions:Global / None Specified
Reports:Decentralization and Urban Infrastructure Management Capacity (Background Paper, August 2000)
Authors:Mona Serageldin; Suzanne Kim; Sameh Wahba
Sponsors:UN-Habitat
Categories:Informal Settlements and Urban Upgrading
  
ID:2000_08_003
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“Housing Microfinance Initiatives,” Case Study for USAID Microenterprise Best Practices Initiative, 1999-2000

Abstract

Team members at the Unit for Housing and Urbanization (later the Center for Urban Development Studies) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design worked on the “Housing Microfinance Initiative” case study from 1999 to 2000, accompanying USAID’s Microenterprise Best Practices effort. The Unit produced reports to highlight the achievements of housing micro-finance initiatives around the world. Findings noted the challenges facing the extension of microcredit to poor households for funding shelter construction and improvements, land acquisition, and infrastructure provisions. Geographic regions covered include South Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Documents include a final report, a 1998 draft background report on Guatemala, an inception brief, multiple summary and synthesis reports, supporting overviews, and case studies with photos. Regional overviews address the broad geographic areas noted above.

See related I2UD projects below

Project Year:1999-2000
Project Type:Case Study
Geographic Regions:South Asia (India and Bangladesh) / Southeast Asia (Philippines) / Latin America (Guatemala) / Sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa)
Reports:
Authors:John Driscoll; Graciela Fortin-Magana; Christopher Rogers; Mona Serageldin; Sameh Wahba; Christine Williams; Kimberly Wilson
Sponsors:USAID Microfinance Office; Development Alternatives, Inc. (Bethesda, Maryland)
Categories:Urban Planning
  
ID:1999_00_001

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I2UD Digital Library Study Guide: Understanding Informal Settlements and Slum Upgrading, October 2024

Beginning in 1982, the Unit for Housing and Urbanization at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design hosted International Training Programs (ITP), an annual series of 2- to 4-week summer seminars designed to strengthen the decision-making skills of senior professionals in public and private agencies responsible for urban development.

The I2UD Digital Library holds curriculum materials for ITPs from 1988, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, and 1998:

The tradition of ITPs continued after 2000, when the Center for Urban Development Studies (CUDS) (a re-organization of the Unit) continued training seminars as International Education Programs (IEP) from 2000-2004:

Programs included inter-linked modules, lectures, case studies, interactive computer simulation models, site visits to urban projects, discussion groups and networking with professional counterparts from international metropolitan regions. Sessions had a modular format and structured team teaching, taught by a team of senior faculty and guest lecturers. Programs ended with a synthesis presented through a project evaluation exercise. Participants used case projects to examine strategies from the viewpoint of both public and private partners — to assess the feasibility and potential impacts of policies and projects on the community and the city. Presentations by guest speakers, representing U.S. and international agencies, NGOs, and community groups, were also integrated within the pedagogic framework of each module.

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“Preserving the Historic Urban Fabric in a Context of Fast Paced Change,” Research Essay by Mona Serageldin, 1998

Abstract

In this 1998 essay, Mona Serageldin responded to the Getty Conservation Institute’s “Agora Values and Benefits Inquiry” by examining the challenges of preserving historic centers in societies experiencing fast-paced political, economic, or demographic change. Documents include the 1998 report and a draft report with reference list. Contributing authors included Sameh Wahba.

Serageldin’s 1998 essay laid the grounded for the Institute’s ongoing directives from the late 1990s onwards. Her research drew clear links between the need to bolster urban populations during politically challenging periods and the need to protect historic cultural and architectural districts during times of unpredictable change. This dual approach attempted to navigate a cross-disciplinary approach to solving these issues, offering in-depth social and economic analyses. This perspective continues to be relevant in the present global environments, where the stressors of climate change and migratory upheaval necessitate complex planning to preserve valuable urban spaces.



[Excerpt: Mona Serageldin, Final Report, “Preserving the Historic Urban Fabric in a Context of Fast Paced Change,” p. 2]

“This essay looks at cultural heritage from the viewpoint of addressing the challenge of preserving historic centers in societies experiencing fast paced change. This situation is commonly encountered in newly independent states, countries undergoing economic restructuring and nations charting a course through difficult political transition. The cultural heritage contained in the historic cores of urban settlements is subjected to the interplay of two major forces:

1. The dynamics of development and transformation as they affect population movements and real estate markets.

2. The perceptual and practical links between people and their architectural and cultural
heritage.

“Rapid economic and institutional transformation subjects the built environment to varying degrees of strain which expose cultural heritage to risk. Concepts of preservation transferred from countries enjoying prolonged stability and growth often prove to be unaffordable and ineffective in preventing the onset of decay in historic cores. National development policies focused on economic issues do not adequately support conservation objectives and may even clash with them while the dynamics of real estate markets reinforce disparities in valuation between the old and the new. They create situations where the value of the land in accessible sites is depressed by the historic buildings standing on it because of their condition or use.”

“Appreciation of the built environment is partially conditioned by participation in the network of interlinked organizations underlying the social order: family and kin groups, ethnic, religious and political associations and even occupation and business interests. Rapid transformation causes strains and dislocations in these structures. Restructuring of production opens new fields and opportunities to acquire status and wealth independently of old systems. Reshaping the institutional and legal frameworks within which new and surviving organizations have to function creates new channels for upward mobility as well as new symbols of achievement and status. The mechanisms of self improvement and the experience of personal fulfillment are more or less profoundly altered.”
___

See related I2UD projects below

Project Year:1998
Project Type:Cultural Heritage Essay
Geographic Regions:Global / None Specified
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin; Sameh Wahba
Sponsors:Getty Conservation Institute
Categories:Historic Districts
  
ID:1998_11_001

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“Community-Based Urbanization and Favelas Rehabilitation Processes,” Case Study in Academy Editions, Architecture of Empowerment: People, Shelter and Livable Cities, for Fortaleza, Brazil, 1997

Abstract

Specialists at the Center for Urban Development Studies (CUDS) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, including Mona Serageldin, wrote the report “Community-Based Urbanization and Favelas Rehabilitation Processes” in 1997, published in The Architecture of Empowerment: People, Shelter and Livable Cities.

This housing case study of Fortaleza, Brazil examined the four interlinked urban programs in Fortaleza, which formed a coordinated framework for public and community action to address the human and environmental aspects of rapid urbanization. Programs combined capacity building, participation, civic engagement, and community-based management of local resources.


[Excerpt: Final Report, 1997]

“Fortaleza’s interlinked urban programs (Mutirão 50, Comunidades, Casa Melhor and the Integration Council) created a framework for coordinated public and community action addressing the human aspects as well as the environmental dimensions of rapid urbanization. The programs combined capacity building, participation, civic engagement and community based management of local resources. Fortaleza, the capital of the Ceara State, in the Northern region of Brazil, has a population of 2.5 million inhabitants, over half of whom live in more than 350 irregular settlements, known as “favelas”, lacking infrastructure and services. Rapid demographic growth and sustained migration from rural areas has fueled their proliferation. Since 1973, a new favela has developed every month . . .”
. . . .

“The goal of the Mutirão 50 pilot and the Comunidades programs is to create an interface for coordinated action by the different actors involved in urban development. The process capitalizes on the complementary roles of NGOs that have the capacity to innovate and lead an outreach and mobilization effort, and the public authorities that can foster institutionalization and replication of successful actions. The programs have 3 strategic objectives: to create a setting for self-built mutirões housing; to generate employment opportunities; and to set in motion a process of sustainable development.“

“The programs reinforce citizen participation and the autonomy of community based organizations by building up their capacity to negotiate with public authorities and broadening their vision and understanding of the wider socio-economic context. The Comunidades program is managed by a special commission, referred to as the Integration Council. It includes two representatives of each of the partners involved: the State, the municipalities, the university and the technical school, the NGOs and the community groups. . . “
. . . .

“Close ties to education and research institutions help develop innovative approaches to the three complementary and integrated action lines of the program: Housing construction institutional development and job creation. In light of the importance given to technical training, the collaborative effort with educational institutions is considered critical to the program’s success.”

See related I2UD projects below

Project Year:1995
Project Type:Research Paper
Geographic Regions:Fortaleza, Brazil
Reports:Community Based Urbanization and Favelas Rehabilitation Processes: (Final Report, 1997)
Authors:Mona Serageldin; Boguslaw Trondowski; Sameh Wahba
Sponsors:Center for Urban Development Studies, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Categories:Urban Planning
  
ID:1995_00_006

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“The Use of Land and Infrastructure in the Self-Improvement Strategies of Urban Lower Income Families,” Paper by Mona Serageldin, UN-Habitat Fourteenth Commission Report, May 1993

Abstract

A landmark paper by Mona Serageldin, “The Use of Land and Infrastructure in the Self-Improvement Strategies of Urban Lower Income Families,” was included in the the Fourteenth Commission UNCHS/Habitat Report and presented to the Commission in Nairobi, Kenya in May 1993.

This work presented the self-improvement strategies of families dealing with challenging living conditions as an “intricate and dynamic” part of urban development, conditions which planners should respect. Serageldin’s report drew on her long history of research on urban development in cities globally, using short narrative examples and photos to illustrate specific households in: Abidjan, Amman, Cairo, Jakarta, Karachi, Kinshasa, Quito, Mexico City, Rabat, Surabaya, Tunis, and Boston. The report was sponsored by USAID’s Family and Development Program and Office of Housing and Urban Programs.

Another essay on the same topic was published as USAID Seminar Brief No. 4, “How Urban Families use Infrastructure and Housing in their own Development,” in June 1992. This document summarized Serageldin’s seminar presentation for the USAID Family and Development Initiative Series in April 1992, relaying her indication of trends toward informal housing developments emerging in reaction to rapid urbanization in city populations and housing shortages increasingly becoming a critical issue for low-income families.


[Excerpt: USAID Seminar No. 4. “How Urban Families use Infrastructure and Housing in their own Development,” June 1992.]

“Keeping Families Together: Dr. Serageldin’s longitudinal research in Cairo illustrated the importance of a house as an asset that keeps families together. Vertical expansion of buildings provides space which can be used to house less fortunate family members, such as the elderly, at advantageous terms to all parties. In one case, the rental income saved by a widowed mother living on a relative’s top floor was spent on her children’s school fees while the income generated by this family member from a ground floor shop covered the family’s living expenses.”

Project Year:1993, 1992
Project Type:Research Paper
Geographic Regions:Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire / Amman, Jordan / Cairo, Egypt / Jakarta and Surabaya, Indonesia / Karachi, Pakistan / Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo / Quito, Ecuador / Mexico City, Mexico / Rabat, Morocco / Tunis, Tunisia / Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin; John Driscoll; María-Luisa Fernández
Sponsors:UN-Habitat; USAID
Categories:Informal Settlements and Urban Upgrading
  
ID:1993_05_001

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Related I2UD Photograph Galleries

Gallery 2: Côte d’Ivoire: Adjamé, Abidjan (1990-1995)

Gallery 5: Congo: Kinshasa (1989)

Galleries 6-7: Egypt: Cairo and Helwan (1986, 1990)

Gallery 13: Tunisia: Tunis (1978-1990)

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Design Studio 1993: “Rabat’s Urban Fringe,” Rabat, Morocco, Seminar Curriculum

Abstract

The Design Studio from Spring 1993, “Rabat’s Urban Fringe,” was led by Professors François Vigier and Mona Serageldin. The seminar focused on informal housing and the fringe region around the old city sections of Rabat, Morocco.

The seminar report includes the following five chapters on urban development in Rabat, Morocco, circa 1992:

  1. National Background
  2. The Process of Urbanization
  3. The Housing Sector
  4. Rabat-Salé: The Capital City, and
  5. The Southern Fringe of Rabat

Section 5 on the Southern Fringe contains an expansive study of squatter settlements, historic regions, and upgrading in Rabat, with details on squatter regions and upgrading activity zones, including an analysis of the social and economic impact of housing projects underway. A final section (5.5) details case studies of Doum and informal housing in Takadoum and La Butte.


[Excerpt: Table of Contents fo Rabat’s Urban Fringe, October 1992]

This document presents an overview of the Design Studio, authored by Vigier and Serageldin in October 1992, for use in the Spring 1993 Design Studio curriculum. This topic was reused from the Design Studio from 1989, “Rabat’s Urban Fringe,”  Urbanization Analysis of Rabat, Morocco, Seminar Curriculum (Project ID: 1989_01_001).

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Project Year:1993
Project Type:Urban Design Studio
Geographic Regions:Rabat, Morocco
Reports:1993 Design Studio: Rabat’s Urban Fringe (Report)
Authors:Mona Serageldin; François Vigier
Sponsors:Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture
Categories:Design Studios; Education
  
ID:1993_00_001

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Design Studio 1992: “Cairo and the Medieval City” and “Urban Regeneration in Medieval Cairo,” in Cairo, Egypt, Seminar Curriculum

Abstract

The Design Studio from Spring 1992, led by François Vigier and Mona Serageldin, focused on urban regeneration in the Medieval sector of Cairo, Egypt.

Two reports used maps and photos to propose preservation solutions for buildings in the Darb Qirmiz area, the Darb al-Asfar area, and the northern Gamalia region of Medieval Cairo. Teaching scenarios included realistic issues as well as illustrative examples. Students modeled these detailed surveys of Cairo’s historic districts in a collaborative report based on their study. This topic was repeated for Design Studios from 1998, 1999, and 2000, hosted by the Unit for Housing and Urbanization at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.

Documents from 1992 include a full Report on “Cairo and the Medieval City” prepared by Vigier and Serageldin, followed by a student paper on “Medieval Cairo” by Eurico Francisco and Georg Schrom. Also included is a contextual overview titled “Urban Context: The Greater Cairo Region.”

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Project Year:1992
Project Type:Urban Design Studio
Geographic Regions:Medieval Cairo, Egypt (Darb Qirmiz, Darb Al-Asfar, and Gamalia Quarters)
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin; François Vigier; Eurico Francisco; Georg Schrom; Jana Pereau; Katherine Dunham; Catherine Miller; Christophe Drumain; Siew-Leng Fun; Christopher Lane; Muhammad Abdus Sabur; Markus Leibenath; Yu-Hua Wang; Darlene van der Breggen; Stefanie Wagstaff; Samy Zaghloul
Sponsors:Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture
Categories:Design Studios; Education
  
ID:1992_00_002

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“Review of Ongoing USAID Shelter Sector Activities in Morocco,” Report for USAID/Morocco Office of Housing and Urban Programs, 1992-1998

Abstract

In 1992, the Unit for Housing and Urbanization (the Unit) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design contributed to a USAID/Morocco urban planning report, “Review of Ongoing USAID Shelter Sector Activities in Morocco,” to address challenges of rapid urbanization. These materials present a rich regional profile of public housing and land use in Morocco circa 1991-1992.

The Unit’s contributions from June 1992 presented an economic analysis with financial metrics on urban shelter programs, measuring the impact of two Moroccan agencies: the ANHI Low Income Housing Program and the Tetouan Urban Development Program. Research noted the increased demand for basic services in Morocco’s cities, like water supply and shelter, in connection to widespread unemployment and underemployment for the urban poor. Workshop elements outlined problems and objectives for future urban infrastructure programs, noting where public officials must make decisions to compromise the needs of urban communities with government economic priorities.

Documents include the final report (June 1992), with a summary by Mona Serageldin. Also included is a Phase I Report (January 1998) outlining a strategic planning workshop on supporting the long-term operation of ANHI’s programs, as well as an accompanying document containing documentation, references, and appendices.


[Excerpt: 1.1 Background – “Review of Ongoing USAID Shelter Sector Activities in Morocco” (June 1992)]

“The ongoing USAID shelter sector activities in Morocco were conceptualized in 1985 within a context of accelerating urbanization and massive rural urban migration. The urban programs initiated by USAID focused on priority areas:

— Rationalizing the land delivery process and regularizing informal land development.
— Institutionalizing sound administrative and fiscal practices in infrastructure management and finance and the delivery of urban services.
— Widening the scope of private participation in the shelter sector by increasing the production of affordable building plots and expanding the role of private developers of low cost housing.
— Reinforcing decentralization by strengthening local managerial capabilities and enhancing local revenues.”


[Excerpt: 1.0 Background – Phase I Report: “Strategic Planning Workshop” (January 1998)]

“ANHI is a state enterprise in charge of providing access to safe and sanitary housing for lower income families in Morocco. Its activities include the purchase of land, its subdivision and servicing to resettle squatters and to market affordable housing plots, as well as the upgrading of infrastructure in under-serviced and unserviced informal settlements. ANHI operates under the Ministry of Housing umbrella. It is headquartered in Rabat, Morocco and has nine regional offices throughout the country. Since its creation in 1984, ANHI has produced an average of 10,000 plots per year. ANHI’s land purchases and other investment cost are financed with beneficiary advances, foreign and local borrowing, and auto financing. It has benefited from US AID support through HG loans and grants, including the currently active HG loan of $100 million which allowed ANHI to increase production to 15,000 serviced plots in 1994 and 1995.”

Dersa, Vertical Expansion of Buildings with Ground Floor Micro-Enterprises. See more photo Excerpts, below.

Taza, Low Cost Housing with Commercial Ground Floor

Figure 6-4 City of Taza, Al-Qods 1 Project “Residential Plots, Commercial Lots, Community Facilities, Green Areas”

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Project Year:1992
Project Type:Report
Geographic Regions:Morocco
Reports:
Authors:Samir Kanoun (TSS, Inc.); Mona Serageldin
Sponsors:USAID Office of Housing and Urban Programs; International City/County Management Association (ICMA)
Categories:Informal Settlements and Urban Upgrading
  
ID:1992_00_004

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“Regularizing the Informal Land Development Process,” International Case Studies for the USAID Office of Housing and Urban Programs, Mona Serageldin, 1990

Abstract

In 1990, team members at the Unit for Housing and Urbanization (the Unit) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design authored a report on urban development case studies, “Regularizing the Informal Land Development Process,” for the USAID Office of Housing and Urban Programs.

The report focused on organizational disconnects between informal housing and formal planning development for urban communities, considering case studies on land development and legal considerations for nine urban municipalities across Asia, Africa, and the Americas: Navi Mumbai, India; Jakarta, Indonesia; Bangkok, Thailand; Mexico City, Mexico; Caracas, Venezuela; Cairo, Egypt; Amman, Jordan; Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Conakry, Guinea; Kinshasa, Congo; and Lusaka, Zambia.

Case studies discuss three points for each city region:

  1. Informal land development processes;
  2. Regularization of informal land development; and
  3. Legal and institutional frameworks for land regularization.

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Project Year:1990
Project Type:Land Development Case Studies
Geographic Regions:Navi Mumbai, India / Jakarta, Indonesia / Bangkok, Thailand / Mexico City, Mexico / Caracas, Venezuela / Cairo, Egypt / Amman, Jordan / Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire / Conakry, Guinea / Kinshasa, Congo / Lusaka, Zambia
Reports:Regularizing the Informal Land Development Process: (Mona Serageldin, October 1990)
Authors:Mona Serageldin; John Driscoll; María-Luisa Fernández; Laurent Perrin; Randa Tukan; Phoebe Manzi
Sponsors:USAID Office of Housing and Urban Programs
Categories:Urban Planning
  
ID:1990_10_001

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“Sustainable Improvement Strategies for Lower Income Urban Communities,” Upgrading Policy Plans for Amman and Aqaba (Jordan), Cairo (Egypt), and Karachi (Pakistan), 1990

Abstract

In 1990, the Unit for Housing and Urbanization undertook a project, “Sustainable Improvement Strategies for Lower Income Urban Communities,” focusing on upgrading strategies for low-income neighborhoods in Amman and Aqaba (Jordan), Cairo (Egypt), and Karachi (Pakistan).

The project was in collaboration with the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDC) in Jordan and the Department of Community Health at the Aga Khan University in Karachi. Co-funded by the Ford Foundation and UNICEF, the study assessed projects in Jordan and Egypt that demonstrated successful approaches to improving environmental quality in urban neighborhoods.

The assessments focused on determining the potential for empowering lower income households to improve their economic conditions and living environments through the provision of appropriate infrastructure services. In Karachi, the Unit funded a survey of low-income communities (see “Issues Checklist”).

Documents include an overall summary of the study components and a working paper on “Sustainability of Public Spaces,” prepared by Howard Trett for the Unit in December 1990, as well as component reports by region. Supporting documents are an outline of the research agenda, a quality of life “Issues Checklist for the Reassessment of Common Spaces,” and a background report on HUDC Municipal and NGO Support Options for urban development assistance to the studied regions.


[Excerpt: “Summary of Overall Study Components,” p. 1-2]

PROBLEM DEFINITION
“The World Health Organization estimates that 5 million deaths and 2 to 3 million cases of permanent disability are caused yearly by contaminated water, poor sanitation, air pollution and overcrowding. The cumulative impact of these conditions is the most severe for children in low income urban neighborhoods. It is estimated that a child born in a squatter settlement is 40—to-50 times more likely to die before the age of five than a child in an industrialized country. According to the UN, efforts to alleviate these conditions through conventional upgrading and sites-and-services projects, has reached only ten percent of the urban poor. This investment has been concentrated in 150 projects which sought to achieve replicability through lower standards and higher levels of cost recovery.”

“These projects, which necessitate central government subsidies in one form or another, are increasingly becoming unaffordable to nations burdened by heavy foreign debts at a time when decentralization policies are shifting the responsibility of providing services to local governments.”

“Municipalities in developing countries are attempting to cope with their new obligations by redefining their land development strategies, reorganizing their institutional structures and finding new methods of generating the financial resources necessary to provide and maintain urban services.”
…
“The ability of local government to respond to needs, and the effectiveness of the responses are linked to the capability to formulate and implement affordable improvement strategies which are also sustainable without a continuous infusion of public resources.”


PROJECT GOAL
“The research project seeks to identify, define and test strategies and methods to enable government authorities with private sector participation, to develop sustainable approaches to upgrading and maintaining urban environments in limited income communities. Special emphasis will be placed on defining strategies which have beneficial impacts on the quality of life for children and youths.”

PROJECT OBJECTIVES
– “Identify and select pragmatic approaches to sustaining environmental quality in low-income urban neighborhoods with particular emphasis on the needs of children and youths.

– Identify, select and define appropriate monitoring and evaluation criteria to appraise prevailing levels of urban environmental quality including health and sanitary conditions.

– Develop guidelines for sustainable improvement programs to be implemented by public authorities and non-government organizations.

– Train public officials and members of community organizations in assessment techniques and implementation of action programs for improving and maintaining environmental quality.”

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Project Year:1990-1992
Project Type:Policy Plan
Geographic Regions:Amman and Aqaba, Jordan / Cairo, Egypt / Karachi, Pakistan
Reports:—
Authors:John Driscoll; Mona Serageldin; Howard Trett; François Vigier
Sponsors:Ford Foundation; UNICEF; Unit for Housing and Urbanization, Harvard University Graduate School of Design; Aga Khan Trust for Culture; Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Jordan)
Categories:Informal Settlements and Urban Upgrading
  
ID:1990_01_001

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I2UD Photograph Collection, Galleries 6-7: Egypt: Cairo and Helwan (1986, 1990)

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“Financing Infrastructure Upgrading Programs,” Two Urban Development Research Papers, Mona Serageldin, 1989-1991

Abstract

In 1989 and 1991, Mona Serageldin authored two related papers on financing urban development for the Unit for Housing and Urbanization at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design: “Financing Upgrading Programs” and “Financing Infrastructure Upgrading Programs.”

The papers assessed the exchange components of local and foreign currency as cost factors in urban development upgrading projects, using municipalities in Jordan and Tunisia as examples. Serageldin focused on three main needs to establish effectively-financed upgrading programs:

  1. Construction of new infrastructure networks,
  2. Building and improvement of community facilities like schools and health centers, and
  3. Creation of homeowner credit mechanisms to improve residential properties.



[Excerpt: “Financing Upgrading Programs, November 1989”]

“…Upgrading is widely held to be the most effective mechanism to expand the supply of housing for limited income groups and improve living conditions for the urban poor. By providing the support infrastructure, it opens up opportunities for new economic activity.”

“Despite highly publicized haranguing by U.N. Habitat, housing is no longer viewed as a priority for public expenditure by international funding organizations and bilateral aid agencies. The debt situation in developing countries implies a widening gap between urgent needs and potential resources. Demographic pressure and the economic crisis have concentrated efforts on economic development and employment generation rather than social infrastructure.”

Project Year:1989-1991
Project Type:Research Paper
Geographic Regions:Global / None Specified
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin
Sponsors:Unit for Housing and Urbanization, Harvard University Graduate School of Design; USAID
Categories:Reconciliation and Development
  
ID:1989_11_001

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