Changing Informal Settlements in Latin American Cities

Informal urban settlements, which have long characterized the urbanization process in Latin America, expanded dramatically during the 1950s and 1960s. By the 1970s, large South American cities housed from 25 percent to over 50 percent of their inhabitants in informal settlements (Portes and Walton, 1981). Simply defined, urban informal settlements are low-income residential areas that are built incrementally by their owner-occupants and are initially illegal due to either land invasion or private subdivision in contravention of official planning regulations. Unless eradicated, they tend to become accepted and legalized by government, evolve in appearance and land use, and, in many cases, are increasingly difficult to distinguish from other low-class residential areas. Given the eventual heterogeneity of (initially) informal settlements, distinction from other housing types for statistical purposes has been less common and less relevant during the 1980s. This chapter reviews the changing character and role of urban informal settlements in Latin America during the 1980s. Mter briefly placing informal settlements within the context of the urbanization process, it focuses on two central issues: informal "self-help" housing and the political and social organization of informal settlement residents. A final section explores prospects and needs in the 1990s. Generalizations for the whole of Latin America are necessarily precarious, as the urbanization process and the role of informal settlements have varied from country to country. Equally, the severity of the 1980s economic crisis varied as did government economic and housing policies to face it. Differences in political regime, sociocultural characteristics, and geographical conditions will also leave their imprint. Nevertheless, certain similarities emerge, which will be highlighted in this chapterArticle aim: Review of the literature, situation of informal barrios in Latin American cities in the 1990s. Book description: This collection of 17 essays written primarily by Canadian scholars and Latin Americans residing in Canada is organized into three parts: "Economic Prospects and Central Policy Issues;" "Society, Economy and Ecology: Toward Equity and Sustainability;" and, "The Sustainability of Democratization." Most essays deal with overall issues such as hyperinflation, income distribution and redistribution, trade and industrial policy, and the informal economy. Others look specifically at Brazil (Amazonia), Chile (the redemocratization process), Argentina ("An Underdeveloping Country"), Mexico (economic restructuring), and Cuba (prospects for change). Despite the title, most essays are retrospective reflections of the "lost decade" of the 1980s, with some speculation on the implications of that decade for the following one. Over most essays hangs the cloud of the foreign debt crisis which remains unresolved. Surprisingly, none of the authors deals at any length with how that crisis can be unraveled. The editors' introduction states that the authors "are, on the whole, not optimistic concerning the prospects for Latin America in the 1990's." This applies to both economic and political affairs. They present substantial data to justify their pessimism, with which this reviewer cannot really disagre