Shanty towns are housing units of irregular low cost self constructed building material erected on illegally seized lands. Local municipalities will not support these communities with urban planning and utilities. Cities have grown to meet these towns, resulting in violent demonstrations when occupants are evicted as their homes are seized and razed.
Squatter settlements represent a critical concern for the future of urban life, already more than 1 billion people live in unsuitable housing. Without legal access to water, electricity, and an educational system residents (mostly of whom are employed) have little chance of moving on. An architectural response to the problem would have to improvised for variations in climate and available building material. Self-sustainable adaptability in the urban scale for planning and growth, and unit scale for occupant habitability. As opposed to slums, these towns are places of hope, scenes of a counter-culture, with an encouraging potential for change and strong impetus. Squatter camps, imijondolo, barrios, favelas, bidonvilles, gecekondu, khoshash, or zhopdi, are the new suburbs now confronting metropolis. The city must take ownership and give legitimacy to this style of unmanaged urban growth for the health of its citizens. Unlawful settlements are starting to organize politically, this should start changing public policy in many developing countries (their built environment will change, which is the only constant). Thus architects, designers, and urban planners will have to be prepared for a new urban fabric suburb constantly in flux.
This reminds me of a project I saw at the AA. The project proposed a new terminal for the Mumbai Airport. The big problem with that, there are 100,000 people living on the government property surrounding the Landing strip. Instead of evicting the residents, the projects worked to connect the airport functions with community facilities that the shanty town required. I think the work may be documented in an AA agendas publication, if I find it, I'll pass it on.
ReplyDeleteOK, so what do you propose? A system that will address this situation in any aplication, regardless of specificity? I strongly suggest that you do not choose this tack, as it is dangerously open-ended.
ReplyDeleteInstead, choose a particular place, and study it properly, understanding that while some of its problems stem from global concerns, the way in which they play out in this particular instance are always local, and so might be the solutions.
It's up to you to set this up, through proper research of a place. Look at Teddy Cruz's work in Tiajuana and San Diego as an example of an architect's solution to these issues. I like Craig's description of the Mumbai airport as a similarly appropriate approach.
(Btw, why go outside of this country? There are plenty of places in the US, including areas close to here, where the poverty is as intense as any favela or gecikondu).