Urban growth in Latin America and its sustainability

Hertha Firnberg Position T 1 Urban growth in Latin America and its sustainability Waltraud ROSNER 09.03.1999 In the last five decades most Latin American countries have undergone a change from mainly rural structured societies to highly urbanized ones. After the fast growing of the national capitals, later it was specially the secondary centers which showed a high population growth. While most of the Latin American primate cities already have declining growth rates, those of regional centers still show high levels. This rapid concentration of the population in the cities has put an extraordinary strain on the local and national resources as well as on the governments which are hardly able to meet the needs of city dwellers. Due to the severe ecological, social, economic, and political impacts of the urban growth processes, the demand for a more sustainable development gets specially important for the urban context. The proposed research project aims at comparing the urban growth processes of two nonmetropolitan coastal cities (Chiclayo-Peru and Fortaleza-Brazil) in different environmental, socio-economic, cultural and political settings. In particular, the consequences of the urban growth to both the socio-economic and ecological structures of the cities will be examined. Concerning the city`s functional change, a special emphasis will be laid on the increasing informal sector of the cities. In this context it is not only important to analyse its problematic impact on the natural and social environment but also to determine its role in the respective urban development. Although in many Latin American cities the informal sector represents more than 50% of the urban work force and thus contributes to the reduction of unemployment and poverty - an important goal of sustainability - it is mostly ignored by the urban planning. In the sme way the negative impact of many informal activities on the environment is not seriously taken into account. The crucial question is therefore: Is there any possibility to combine the informal sector and urban planning in spite of its inherent contradiction? The present project intends to contribute to the essential question of combining sustainability, in terms of human development - which means also economic development (including the informal sector as a main economic force) -and the conservation of nature as a support for the satisfaction of the basic needs of the majority of the population. In order to achieve this objective, it is specially important to enforce the environmental consciousness of the respective urban actors and to integrate them into the dicision making process. The project will meet this demand by organizing workshops and establishing a special platform, which should provide an opportunity for the respective parties to elaborate a common solution. In this sense the proposed project is not only of scientific interest, but it also has a considerable pragmatic component, as it provides an important base for planning institutes and local governments for their decision - making and moreover strenghtens their cooperation with the different urban actors.

Summary: The negative socio-economical and socio-ecological consequences of the rapid growth of regional metropoles in Latin America are heavily intensified by the absence of a serious and integral urban planning and administration. The role of the informal sector for the urban development is still being neglected by the public administration. Informality is not only a structural feature of the Latin American economy, but also a widespread basic attitude. In its diverse expressions at all levels informality turns out to be a characteristic element of control of the urban development, which is mostly not being confronted by a systematic and efficient planning. In the analysed cities the urban policy as well as the urban administration itself is so impregnated with informality, that there cannot be expected to emerge comprehensive strategies towards a sustainable urban development. Aims: The general aim of this research project was to analyse the consequences of fast and uncontrolled urban growth for the socio-economical and ecological structure of regional metropoles and the implicit constraints on the way to a more sustainable development. The innovative aspect is an analysis of the role of the informal economic sector in the context of urban growth and to what extent it is integrated in, or excluded from, the urban planning and local politics. An analysis of the various socio-ecological impacts of the urban informal sector on the city should show its importance for the viability of a sustainable development of Latin American cities. Results: In both analysed cities - Chiclayo (Peru) and Fortaleza (Brazil) - population has multiplied by more than ten fold in the last 50 years, which has resulted in a considerable physical expansion of the respective urban areas. The fast and uncontrolled growth has lead to a socio-spatial segregation and marginalization of the poor population, which is not seriously taken into account by the urban administration. In both cities the official urban planning institute has been dissolved (Chiclayo 1995, Fortaleza 1999) and the duties were distributed to the different departments of the municipality; in this way a potentially integral and coordinative urban planning has been sacrificed for the benefit of the individual power ambitions of local actors and decision makers. In relation to the increasing informal sector it can be observed that its negative impact on the socio-economical and socio-ecological situation of the city has increased due to the lack of urban planning. In either of these cities there could be identified effective strategies towards the formalisation of informal spheres of life. Since informal, semilegal or illegal acting has turned to be a normal part of daily life, wether in terms of informal activities or illegal land-occupations, people live with a certain degree of illegality without recognizing it like this. Due to this high acceptance, ultimately also by the official administration, informality has impregnated all spheres of daily life and proofs to be a considerable constraint for a sustainable development.