Rapid urban growth in the Andes. Perception by and participation of local people

The key objectives of the UN-HABITAT programs Localizing Agenda 21 and Sustainable Cities, which especially target secondary cities, include the strengthening of citizen participation in urban planning and aim at participatory problem-solving through inclusive processes and pro-poor governance. Against the background of rapid urban growth of Andean secondary cities, the United Nations` goals call for realization in sensitive society-environment systems of developing mountain regions characterized by scarce settlement areas and zones of high-density land use. How is present and future urbanization perceived and assessed by periurban - often indigenous - agricultural communities that may be considered part of a Luhmannian reciprocal and autopoietic system? By what means can those community-based assessments be incorporated into processes of land-use planning, improving it towards social inclusion? The proposed project aims at designing and applying an innovative decision-support approach. Land-use dynamics in the periurban interface of two Andean cities will be analyzed for the 1980-2010 period - by classifying satellite images and using a cross-tabulation matrix - and put into context with socio-economic and biophysical indicators of driving forces by means of a logistic regression analysis. Using an empirical-statistical modeling component and 3D-visualization techniques, scenarios of future urban growth can be built and exemplified in order to carry out perception based participatory ex-ante appraisals, which incorporate semantic differential questionnaires, community based fishbowl discussions and SWOT analyses. The expected results and implications comprise a thematic, methodical and normative dimension. First, it widens the level of knowledge on current trends in Andean urbanization (e.g. peri- and exurbanization), evaluates the applicability of associated theories (e.g. autopoietic systems theory, theory of fragmented development) and assesses social and environmental impacts of rapid urban growth on mountain valleys. Second, it amplifies and improves the canon of methods for community participation in spatial planning and policy making (e.g. strategic environmental assessment of land-use plans) and hence enables low-conflict development through increased acceptance of community based authorities` decisions. Third, Andean societies will be sensitized for both, social inclusion and pro-poor governance as well as for urban growth`s opportunities and threats regarding the ecologic and economic dimension (e.g. effects on periurban agriculture) of sustainable development - objectives claimed by the United Nations.

This project was headed by Axel Borsdorf and carried out by Andreas Haller. In the last months of the project, Falk Borsdorf joined the research team to bring the perspective of an intercontinental comparison. The main aim of this project was to achieve more knowledge on the perceptions of the periurban farmers on the rapid urbanisation processes in Andean valleys. In doing so, the researchers identified the cities of Huancayo Metropolitano in the Peruvian Andes and Popayn in Colombia as ideal examples for a case study research. Methodologically, however, the aim of the research team was to develop a participatory method of making local participation in planning processes more visible. This was achieved by the use of photomontages and GIS-based land cover maps. In the course of the project, the team of researchers managed to publish six scientific papers in several peer reviewed journals.