MORPHOGENESIS OF INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN CHILE Víctor Alegría
MORPHOGENESIS OF INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN CHILE
Víctor Alegría Student ID: 959877
MSD Thesis Submited for Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements of the Degree of Master of Urban Design
Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning The University of Melbourne Semester 02, 2020
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my supervisor Prof. Kim Dovey, not only for his insightful guidance and feedback through this research, but also for introducing me to the challenge of studying urban informality during the MSD Manila Travelling Studio. I also thank Elek Pafka and Tanzil Shafique for their valuable comments before the completion of this document. I am grateful to Diego AlegrĂa, for his continuous revisions of my English writing. And a special thanks to my beloved Natalia and Dante, without whom this trip would not have been so fruitful and fun. 4
Content List of Figures
6
1. Introduction
7
Research Questions
7
Informal Urbanism
8
Urban Morphology
10
Informal settlements in Chile
12
Multi-scalar Mapping
14
2. Metropolitan areas
17
Santiago
18
Greater Valparaiso
22
Antofagasta 25 Greater iquique
28
3. Informal Settlements
32
Villa San Gabriel
32
Campamento Felipe Camiroaga
35
Villa Balmaceda
39
El Boro
42
4. Dicussion
46
Metropolitan Patterns
47
Topography
49
Access Network
51
Buildings and Lots
52
Occupation and intensification
55
5. Conclusion
59
Bibliography 60
5
List of Figures 1.1
Conceptual framework to map formal/informal mixed morphologies
2.1
Informal settlements increase 2011-2018, Chile.
2.2
Santiago
2.3
Eradication of informal dwellers (1979-1985) and Location of Social
15 17 19
Housing in Santiago (1979-1994)
21
2.4
Greater Valparaiso 23
2.5
Antofagasta 27
2.6
Greater Iquique 29
3.1
Villa San Gabriel, Santiago 33
3.2
Villa San Gabriel 1ha
3.3
Campamento Felipe Camiroaga, Greater Valparaiso 36
3.4
Campamento Felipe Camiroaga 25 ha 37
4.1
Factors that impact morphology of informal settlements
46
4.2
City comparison, percentage of informal and mixed morphologies
48
4.3
Topography and access network 50
4.4
Access network morphogenesis diagrams 52
4.5
Buildings and lots 1ha
4.6
Patterns and constrains for informalization of social housing 57
34
54
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1. Introduction Being the main mode of urbanization in many cities of the Global South, informal settlements enable access to affordable housing for the urban poor. Despite the magnitude and implications of this phenomenon, a deep comprehension of the kind of urban environment that such self-organized practices produce is lacking. In fact, if informal settlements are recognized as a mode of production of public space and affordable housing (Dovey, 2019), then it is crucial to advance our knowledge about the logics, patterns and practices that underpin these processes and of the capacities of these settlements to be consolidated and upgraded.
Through multi-scalar mapping, this thesis investigates the properties of informal urban morphologies and the morphogenic processes that generate them. By examining 4 different cases in Chile —where informal settlements have been dramatically increasing during the last decades— this study sheds light on the logics and patterns that emerge from a range of informal morphologies. Furthermore, the research explores the relations and factors at play in the emergence of informal urban design, opening directions for future investigation.
Research Questions The aim of this study is to have a better comprehension of informal urbanism in Chilean cities with a focus on urban morphology and morphogenic processes. At a metropolitan level, the objective is to study the various mixes of formal/ informal morphologies that take place in the city. Key questions are the following: to what degree is the informal production of urban space present in Chilean cities? What kind of patterns are evident in informal settlements location and growth? Furthermore, what set of spatial relations are taking 7
place between the formal and the informal city?
At a micro-scale level, this research seeks to comprehend the factors that influence the morphogenic processes of the informal settlements in Chile. Through a comparative mapping that shows the emergence of informal architecture and urban design frameworks, this study intends to answer the following questions: What kind of incremental construction defines the informal addition of buildings? What are the patterns that emerge from the informal street network and how do they relate with the formally established grid? What kind of public space is produced? What type of codes are visible and how do they mediate the informal urban growth? And finally, what are the commonalities and differences of the informal urban morphology across diverse geographies, locations and social context within major Chilean cities? Overall, the aim of this study is to understand the underlying spatial logics that produce a given urban form, and how this form establishes an urban framework that is susceptible to be formalised and upgraded, determining the future expansion of the city.
Informal Urbanism Urban informality refers to the set of practices that produce architecture, urban design and planning through self-organized processes that occur outside the control of the state. Often categorized as marginal and inferior, the fact is that informality enables urban poor to access jobs, livelihoods and affordable housing that the market or the state cannot supply. Global south cities are recognized by the capacity to absorb part of their growing population through informal settlements, which host near a billion people across the globe (UN, 2003).
Informality should not be conceived as something separated from the formal
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sector. As Roy (2005) have argued, urban informality should be understood as a mode of urbanization that operates across a series of transactions and relationships with the formal sector. This mode of urbanization is so pervasive that has been defined by Alsayyad (2004) as a “new way of life” for many citizens. A clearer understanding of informality goes beyond the binary distinction of the formal and informal, as they are always imbricated or intertwined in a twofold condition (Dovey, 2016, p. 218). Regarding informal settlements, it is key to distinguish various forms of production, which generate ‘in between’ conditions: informal settlements become formalised and formal settlements become informalised (Dovey & Kamalipour, 2018b). Rather than a singular process, the development of informal settlements depends on a series of relations between topographies, infrastructure, climate, culture, economics and politics (Dovey & King, 2011).
Informal housing is a complex phenomenon that is based on incremental decisions and adaptations. In 1972, John Turner argued that housing is a verb, meaning that housing
for the urban poor is a process that implies
empowerment and autonomy about their means of life. Incrementalism is a key aspect to understand how informal settlements develop. Incremental urbanism describes the process of emergence of an informal architecture and urban design through a multiplicity of decisions and micro-adaptations that are not guided hierarchically (Dovey, 2014). While the increasing intensification of the process can lead to slumming conditions, it is also true that incrementalism can be the key for upgrading. In fact, informal dwellers are capable to produce innovative, highly adaptable and cultural sensitive housing solutions (Lizarralde, 2015).
Being produced through micro-scalar adaptations does not mean that informal settlements are detached from larger systems as cities and regions. They are complex adaptive systems that are interconnected at multiple scales, producing synergies at higher levels (Dovey, 2012). Davis (2006) have claimed 9
that informal settlements can be seen as a product of global capitalism that reinforces modes of exploitation. At the same time, informality can be seen as an efficient way to manage urban poverty by a creative entrepreneurialism (Soto, 2000). As well, condition of tenure produces different conflicts and issues that impact the way informal settlements are produced, upgraded or eradicated (Durand-Lasserve & Royston, 2002; Payne, 2001; Payne et al., 2009). Here, the challenge is to look for interconnections at different levels and have a better understanding of what kind of urban design is generated by informal modes of production.
Urban Morphology Urban morphology seeks to understand the relationship between urban form and the dynamics and conditions that shape it. There is a broad history of research on this field, which comes from the earlier work of Cozen (1960) and Muratori (1960) on
typological studies. More recently, space syntax
theory has become a recognized attempt to link urban form and social behaviour, mainly through street topological analysis (Hillier, 1996). In fact, urban morphology has evolved as a field that is capable to dialog with other disciplines and expand the scale of analysis to larger metropolitan areas (Moudon, 1997). Today, there is a common understanding on what kind of studies can be done by analysing the built form, including pattern recognition, autonomous theories of change and connections to non-formal conditions (Scheer, 2015).
Generally, morphologists identify buildings, plots, streets and blocks as the basic elements that define urban form (Marshall, 2005; Scheer, 2015). As Moudon (2019) has noticed, it is crucial to understand the interrelationship that those elements generate between each other, which means to recognize the nestedness that characterizes them, e.g., buildings are contained in
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plots, and plots in blocks. Furthermore, examination of those basic elements allows making comparisons between different places at the same time period (synchronic) or tracing changes of a same location by examining different development stages (diachronic) (Scheer, 2015). A notable study of patterns over time has been done by Marshall in Cities, Design and Evolution (2009), examining how planned and unplanned processes have co-produced varied urban orders. Even though the formal and informal city has the same urban elements, they are not produced similarly. While the formal city usually develops from a planned street network, informal settlements grow from the spontaneous accretions of buildings and rooms. Having a better understanding of how typical urban elements interact in informal morphologies is key to the present study.
Currently, there is an emergent body of literature that explores the production and properties of informal urban morphologies. A broad range of authors have focused on mapping informal settlements through technologies of remote sensing data and GIS (Baud et al., 2010; Graesser et al., 2012; Kuffer et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2020). To some extent, this approach is progressively considering intermediate conditions between the formal and informal. In this way, Dovey and Kamalipour (2018b) have proposed a more complex categorization to identify various forms of informal mixed typologies through visual analysis of aerial photography.
On the other hand, micro-scalar studies of informal settlements are necessary to comprehend dynamics of small adaptations and increments. New scholarship is attempting to address the complexity of informal settlements micro-morphologies, focusing on a set of spatial attributes such as visibility, grain size, increments, street network and interfaces (Dovey & Kamalipour, 2018a; Dovey & King, 2011; Jones, 2020; Kamalipour, 2020; Kamalipour & Dovey, 2019; McCartney & Krishnamurthy, 2018). Advancing on that direction, Dovey et al. (2020) have recently compared the morphogenic process of five 11
informal settlements from different cities of the Global South, opening a rich framework for investigating the conditions of informal settlements that become slums or their capacities to be effectively upgraded. Building from that, the current research seeks to provide light on the different processes and forces that shape the morphology of informal settlements in Chile.
Informal settlements in Chile Like in many Latin American cities, informal settlements in Chile have been a way to manage large waves of internal and external migration. Generally, research has been focused on the study of informal settlements in Santiago and other metropolitan areas of the centre of the country. A first body of literature refers to the historical processes that have influenced the formation of the campamentos1 , their impact on the expansion of the city and influence on housing policies during the second half of the 20th century (Arellano, 2005; De RamĂłn, 1990; Hidalgo, 2004; Kusnetzoff, 1987).
During the 1990s, subsidized housing policies adopted in Chile were the basis for the reduction of informal settlements in many cities. However, from 2011 informal settlements have progressively increased and become a means to manage access to affordable housing. A second corpus of literature have studied the effect of neoliberal land markets, subsidised housing programs, international migration and structural inequalities in this new wave of urban informality (Brain Valenzuela et al., 2010; Celhay & Gil, 2020; Contreras et al., 2019; LĂłpez-Morales et al., 2018; Morales MartĂnez et al., 2017). This second stage have extended the research to other cities of Chile, specially at the northern territory, and have challenged the assumption of 1
Campamentos (encampments) is the common name used in Chile to designate informal settlements. It denotes a fragile and paramilitary character, that comes from the land invasions made by revolutionary political movements during the 1970s (Hidalgo, 2004). Today, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning defines campamento as a settlement made of eight or more families living on an irregular land tenure, lacking at least one of the three basic services (electricity, drinking water and sewage system) (MINVU, 2018).
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informal settlements as enclaves of poverty and exclusion. Recently, Celhay and Gil (2020) have argued that informal settlements can produce ’better geographies of opportunities’, becoming an alternative to the social housing programs. In the same line, Brain et al. (2010) discovered that most of the interviewed informal dwellers in their research are above the poverty line, and have chosen this alternative due to better location, access to job and less crime rates. An interesting study carried out at the northern territory, demonstrates how informal dwellers are completely integrated in the urban dynamics, advocating for recognizing informal settlements as interdependent parts of the city (Imilán et al., 2020). Related to the productive capacity of informal settlements, what stands out is the research of Vergara and Arias (2019), which describes processes of corporativism and growing autonomy in a self-organized community in Antofagasta (north). Notwithstanding, there is also concern about the vulnerabilities and hazards that informal settlers are exposed to (Castro et al., 2015; Ojeda et al., 2018).
There is a third scope of research, which seeks to understand the urban morphology and micro-adaptations that informality produces. Latest studies in the ravines of Valparaiso attempt to map and document the progressive consolidation of the informal settlements and the strategies that are adopted to access basic services (Ojeda et al., 2020; Pino & Ojeda, 2013). Pino and colleagues (2013) have showed how family groups access land in the escarpments and drive a common pattern of plotting and infill. Other authors have focused not only on informal settlements, but also in the informalisation of social housing and the solutions adopted by self-construction processes. While Jirón (2010) has claimed that the additions and encroachments in social housing buildings can be seen as a failure of housing programs, O’Brien and Carrasco (2018) have compared the architecture and construction standards produced by incremental accretions in three different settlements in Iquique (North), exploring the capacity of residents to transform their habitat. Perhaps Hillier et al. (2000) developed the only attempt to study how urban design 13
at multiple levels influences the capacity of informal settlements to reach social and physical consolidation. By comparing 17 different settlements in Santiago, they discovered how the urban layout and its integration with the rest of the city determine their capabilities to perform in the local economy.
In summary, there is a promising effort to investigate urban informality in Chile from a wide scope of approaches and at different scales. There is a common understanding of how informal settlements are not only a consequence of neoliberalization and migration processes, but also a means to deal with those issues in a creative and productive manner. However, research in this field remains centred in a small number of cities and many assumptions are done based on the findings obtained in Santiago. A deeper understanding of urban informality at the different territories is needed, as well as a robust body that explores how informal architecture, urban design and planning are generated in Chile.
Multi-scalar Mapping Mapping is a powerful tool for urban studies that allows morphological analysis and case comparison through the extraction and juxtaposition of certain layers of information (Dovey et al., 2018). As a complex phenomenon, urban informality cannot be reduced to one single scale, having several implications at different levels, from the metropolitan scale to the microscale of buildings and interfaces. Consequently, the main method for research will be multiscalar mapping based on data available through aerial photography. The key source for this is Google Earth, complemented with Google Street View (when it is available) and web searches for each case study.
A first step is to map the different typologies of informality at a metropolitan level. A key point here is the recognition that is not possible to make a binary
14
distinction between the formal and informal morphologies, as they are always interconnected. According to that, this part of the research will be based on the work of Dovey and Kamalipour (2018b). They propose a framework that considers different mixes of formal and informal morphologies based on the degree of formality of both street/block layout (urban design) and buildings typologies (architecture). Instead of mapping only what is considered slums or informal settlements, a wider range of mixed morphologies reveal how informality is embedded in the formal city.
According to this method, metropolitan maps show four categories2
of
formal and informal typologies within a framework of 20x20 km and 30x30 km in the case of Santiago. This enables to capture the different patterns of
1.1 Conceptual framework to map formal/informal mixed morphologies Adapted from Dovey and Kamalipour, 2018
2
Dovey and Kamalipour have developed a framework that includes nine different multi-scale typologies that distinguish various mixes of informal and informal architecture and urban design. With the purpose of making maps readable and clear, the in-between typologies of formal and informal mixes have been collapsed in formal mix and informal mix as they indicate in their research.
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location, extension and typologies of informality at a metropolitan level. A second step is to map informal settlement at a meso-scale and micro-scale level. The aim is to understand the morphogenic processes of representative cases of informal settlements found in each city. Based on the work of Dovey et al. (2020), buildings footprints, lots and access networks are mapped from high resolution aerial photographs of 4 different dates. Here, cases are mapped at different scales depending on the extension of the settlement, the density of the buildings and the level of coverage. According to that, 25ha (500 x 500 m) scale applies to understand how street networks evolve, how land is appropriated and what patterns of incremental construction can be found. For a micro-scale analysis, a framework of 4ha (200 x 200 m) or 1ha (100 x 100 m) is employed.
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2. Metropolitan areas Chilean housing policy has been internationally recognised to be successful in quantitative terms, by being able to provide shelter for informal dwellers through a housing subsidy model. This approach has led to a consistent reduction of informal settlements since the 1980’s through the provision of segregated housing complex and neighbourhoods, mainly located in the urban periphery. However, data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning (2018) shows a considerable increase of informal settlements in most of the Chilean cities during the last decade (Figure 2.1), due to the high cost of housing rent, the need of independence, low income and lack of employment.
170%
Greater Iquique
182%
Antofagasta
23%
Greater ValparaĂso
-23%
2.1 Informal settlements increase 2011-2018, Chile. Adapted from Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning (MINVU), 2018
17
Santiago
This study focuses on four major urban areas of Chile: Santiago, Greater Valparaiso, Antofagasta and Greater Iquique. These metropolitan areas drive important economic activities for the country and concentrate most of the population of their regions. Santiago stands out as the economic and administrative centre of the country, hosting near the 35 per cent of Chilean population. Another important criterion for selection was not only the actual number of informal settlements in those cities, but also the remarkable increment that they have suffered in the last decades between 2011 and 2018: the regions of Valparaiso, Antofagasta and Atacama have increased the number of informal settlements in 23, 182 and 170 per cent, respectively (MINVU, 2018). Lastly, the selection was also based on the available data: being able to find historic aerial photographs for a case study in each city was fundamental.
Santiago Santiago is the political, administrative and economic centre of the country and one of the most global cities of Latin America. With near 7 million people, it is home of the 35 per cent of the country’s population. It was founded in 1541 according to the Laws of the Indies for the Spanish colonies in the Americas. The chosen location was the Mapocho River Valley, where conditions for agricultural activity were optimal due to the fertile land and climate conditions. Industrialization processes occurred during the 19th century and key urban infrastructure was developed. Rural-urban migration made the explosive expansion of the city possible across the 20th century. Recent decades show urban growth driven at the same time by the consolidation of central areas and by a predominant dispersed territorial expansion (de Mattos et al., 2014). The city continues with a highly sociospatial segregation that is expressed in many ways, including how and where informal settlements have developed.
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30 x 30 km INFORMAL
INFORMAL MIX
FORMAL MIX
FORMAL
CENTRE
STUDY AREA
Based on Dovey and Kamalipour, 2018
i/m
200 m
m/F
m/F 2.2 Santiago Photos: Google Earth
3 km
The poor population in Santiago has been historically segregated to the urban periphery. At the beginning of the 1970s, the informal settlement dwellers represented the 17 percent of the capital population, occupying 10 per cent of the urban area (De Ramón, 1990).
The map reveals how informality is clearly constrained at the west and south of the city and some pockets at the north (Figure 2.2). It is interesting to note how the formal mix patches tend to match the areas where social housing was delivered by the state during the 1980’s and 1990’s, after the massive informal dwellers evictions that occurred during Pinochet’s dictatorship (Figure 2.3). Most vulnerable population was relocated to the periphery, forced to live isolated within areas with lack of infrastructure and public investment (Kusnetzoff, 1987). From that period, the state has been successful controlling land invasions and encroachments of large groups of families. Although the housing programs that have been delivered since the 1990s have had relative effectiveness, the continuous urban expansion and location of social housing segregated from employment and social networks remain an issue (Hidalgo, 1999; Hidalgo et al., 2019).
From that period, informality in Santiago has suffered a process of invisibility, as it occurs by an incremental process of room-by-room accretions and new buildings at the back of the lots. Through the informalization of the formal city, dwellers are able to absorb family growth or make room for productive activities. A common typology is individual rowhouses of one or two storeys with incremental accretions at the backyard and front yard. Another type of informalization arises in social housing complex, where room additions occur at different levels in collective buildings. In those cases, common public space tends to be encroached and appropriated through room accretions at the ground floor. In few cases it is possible to detect street encroachment through extensions of rooms or fences. Those typologies are typically found together 20
in larger neighbourhoods, forming monofunctional zones of residential use. By informally adding new rooms and spaces, residents are able to introduce new uses, like shops, groceries and workshops, increasing the functional mix of their neighbourhood at a walkable scale. It is important to note that through this method it is not possible to map internal subdivisions that occur extensively at many parts of the city, including the centre.
Eradicated families
Number of families
Relocations
Relocated families
2.3 Eradication of informal dwellers (1979-1985) and Location of Social Housing in Santiago (1979-1994) Source: E. Morales and S. Rojas. (1986) and R. Hidalgo. (1999).
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The few patches of informal morphology occupy a negligible area in comparison to the other mixed morphologies. They mostly appeared recently and show an emerging pattern of pirate subdivisions and land invasions occurring on interstitial spaces. The two bigger informal-mix patches, one at the northwest corner and the other at the south-east one, correspond to fast quasiformal subdivision of farmland. Data reveals that they started at 2019 and 2018, respectively. It seems relevant to note that the larger yellow patch at the east relates to a land reclamation that started at July 2020, where a group of families invaded a closed landfill due to the economic crisis raised by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Greater Valparaiso This urban agglomeration, located in the Region of Valparaiso, is the largest one after Santiago. Its population goes near one million people, who represents the 6% of the country population. Its main cities are Valparaiso, the oldest one in the region, and ViĂąa del Mar, both located on the coast.
Founded in 1544 at about 125 Km form Santiago, Valparaiso has its origin as the main port of the capital. It became a mayor harbour for international trading during the 19th century. After the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, Valparaiso faced a period of decay due to the decrease in port economic activity. During the 21th century, the city has continued as an important port for Chile and has been raised as a ‘cultural city’, famous for its street art, art festivals and cultural heritage. Valparaiso urban form is determined by its geographical and topographical condition. The concave configuration of the bay, the narrow coastal plains and the steep hills and ravines system create an amphitheatre-like layout and a rich urban morphology. Informal settlements are located at the ravines and hills, where families or small
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20 x 20 km INFORMAL
INFORMAL MIX
FORMAL MIX
FORMAL
CENTRE
STUDY AREA
Based on Dovey and Kamalipour, 2018
i/m
200 m
i/m
m/m 2.4 Greater Valparaiso Photos: Google Earth
2 km
groups organize progressive invasions of vacant land (Pino & Ojeda, 2013).
Meanwhile, ViĂąa del Mar has a flatter condition that defines its urban growth during the 19th century, followed by an expansion to the hills during the last decades, driven by formal and informal urbanization. In fact, ViĂąa del Mar concentrates the largest number of informal settlements in the region. They have followed a silent and incremental process of occupation since the 80s, completely different to the more combative approach occurred in Santiago during the same decade (Arellano, 2005).
The map shows mainly Valparaiso and ViĂąa del Mar urban area. It is clear how informal settlements are located at the fringes of both larger cities, driving a considerable portion of the urban expansion (Figure 2.4). Formal mix corresponds mostly to informal residential growth that has been incrementally consolidated and formalised, preserving the morphological conditions of the irregular streets. The zone at the north-west and close to the port and city centre, is mapped as formal mix due to the intricated spatial pattern that respond to the steep slope of the topography. Close to some informal settlements, the formal-mix areas at the southwest represent formal housing that has been informalised by incremental additions.
In Valparaiso, informal-mix morphology is extensively occupying the escarpments of the hills and some depressions of the numerous ravines that run across the city. The linear growth of the settlements responds to this geographical condition and depends on the expansion of the roads that enable car access. Although these areas have been incrementally urbanized, there are still several locations without basic services and at serious risks of landslides and bushfires. In fact, most of the informal settlements in Valparaiso are located in the Urban Forest Interface Zone (UFIZ), without access to drinking water and heavily socio-spatially segregated for the rest of the city (Ojeda et al., 2020). 24
ViĂąa del Mar presents a more distributed pattern of informality, with larger patches of both formal and informal mix. At the south of Los Placeres ravine, the mayor waterway in the map, informal mix shows similar patterns with Valparaiso, with settlements occupying the escarpments along the hills. This is the case of the informal settlement Campamento Felipe Camiroaga, one of the biggest in the city that has grown along the expansion of a main road since 2011.
Meanwhile, at the northeast part of the city, the largest informal-mix patch represents one of the major informal settlements in the region; the Campamento Manuel Bustos. Located in a wide depression with soft slope, aerial photographs indicate a rapid expansion of this settlement from 2019. The current growth shows a quasi-formal pattern of streets and subdivisions, which occupies an extensive plateau, where only few buildings have been constructed. This introduces a different pattern of informal growth, probably related to a black-market operation, which varies from the typical progressive occupation of the hills.
Antofagasta This city is a mayor port city in the north of Chile, with a population that reaches almost 400,000. Located about 1,100 Km from Santiago, it is the capital of Antofagasta Region, which holds the second largest GDP of the country. The region’s main economic activity is mining, mainly linked to copper and lithium extraction. In recent decades, construction, retail and hospitality sectors had experimented a considerable increase. However, despite the international investment and economic growth, the elevated cost of living has influenced the increasing of social inequalities and has dramatically raised the gap between income poverty and multidimensional
25
poverty (Daher, 2015). Antofagasta urban form emerges from its foundation in a flat bay in 1866 as a strategic node for Bolivian saltpetre exportation. It was incorporated to Chilean sovereignty after the War of the Pacific at the end of the 19th century. Its growth is contained by the narrow and elongated coastal plain between the sea and the coastal range. This geographical condition determines the land scarcity, high density and the social segregation between the north and the south, as well as the risks that face population located in the periphery over the escarpments (Daher, 2015).
The growing economy has attracted international migration, mostly from Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. International migrants represented in 2017 an 11 per cent of the population (INE, 2017), and around 60 per cent of the informal dwellers in Antofagasta are immigrants. As well as the local population, they have opted to live outside the formal housing market, due to the dramatic increase in rent prices (Vergara-Perucich & Arias-Loyola, 2019).
Antofagasta shows a clear pattern of informality distribution, which is located at the fringes of the city, towards the coastal range. The northern and southern areas of the city are highly formal, where urban expansion is occurring through gated communities and high-rise housing complex.
Huge patches of formal mix are located at the east of the city, where social housing has been informalised through the progressive accretion of rooms and storeys. The main typology is terrace housing, made by individual attached dwellings with front and back yard. These spaces are infilled with light construction and in many cases a third floor is added to the core house in form of room or terrace. Few streets spaces have been encroached, only when commercial activity expands to public space.
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20 x 20 km INFORMAL
INFORMAL MIX
FORMAL MIX
FORMAL
CENTRE
STUDY AREA
Based on Dovey and Kamalipour, 2018
i/i
200 m
m/m
m/F 2.5 Antofagasta Photos: Google Earth
2 km
Informal mix at the south and close to the city centre reveals an informal layout of streets that has been formalised through time. The street pattern is irregular and, in some areas, has low permeability. The houses are a mix of typologies due to the self-construction process. Most of the houses have 2 stories, and construction materials vary from durable, like concrete, to lighter materials such as timber or steel.
The more informal morphology is present at the fringe of the urban area, where informal settlements locate at escarpments with serious risks of debris flow. Due to the limitation of the topography, many of the informal settlements expand in a linear north-south pattern. They correspond to land reclamations which started by rapidly placing buildings of one room or some precarious structures. They progressively consolidate in an irregular pattern of buildings, lots and streets.
The social segregation is expressed in the spatial distribution of the informality, as it is displaced to the fringes of the city. Not only informal settlements are located at the periphery of Antofagasta, but also social housing that has been incrementally informalised through room additions and minor street encroachment.
Greater iquique Greater Iquique is configured as a conurbation that contains the capital of the Atacama Region, Iquique, and the city of Alto Hospicio. This metropolitan area has a population of near 300.000 inhabitants and is 1,760 km far from Santiago. Same as Antofagasta, Iquique becomes part of the Chilean territory after the War of the Pacific at the end of the 19th century. On the other hand, Alto Hospicio turned into an urban area just in the 1990s, when an explosive economic and demographic growth took place.
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20 x 20 km INFORMAL
INFORMAL MIX
FORMAL MIX
FORMAL
CENTRE
STUDY AREA
Based on Dovey and Kamalipour, 2018
i/m
200 m
i/m
m/F 2.6 Greater Iquique Photos: Google Earth
2 km
The rise of Iquique as a major port and urban centre is related to the saltpetre exploitation at the 19th century. Its old core holds significant architectonic heritage that is conserved from that golden time, constituting an important attraction for the growing tourist industry. Due to the collapse of the saltpetre industry at the beginning of the 20th century, the city suffered a huge decay that was reverted in the 1970s when a series of policies transform it as one of the largest duty-free ports in South America.
Alto Hospicio is located at a plateau 10 km away and 800 meters above Iquique. It has experimented a significant growth since the late 1980s, absorbing residential population, attracted by the copper mining activity and the port industry. Furthermore, it has been recognized as the fastest growing city of Chile, going from a population of around 400 in 1982 to more than 100.000 today. Although most of the growth has been absorbed by subsidized housing, informal settlements have consolidated in the last decades as an alternative way to access affordable housing in Alto Hospicio (Imilรกn et al., 2020).
A complex set of spatial relationships is revealed in the map (Figure 2.6). Firstly, it appears that informal settlements are highly constrained in Iquique, meanwhile in Alto Hospicio considerable portions of the city are driven by informal urbanization. Secondly, formal mix, which corresponds to the informalization of social housing, is quite widespread in both cities. Nevertheless, it seems important to note that Alto Hospicio is the only case of the studied cities where one of the informal typologies is found at the city centre (formal mix). Presumably, this phenomenon is due to the key role of subsidised housing in its recent development and how informality has been a way to absorb the explosive population growth.
A more detailed view of Iquique highlights two informal settlements at the 30
very fringe of the city, showing a linear configuration. Almost indistinguishable informal encroachments are found in the formal city, within the formal mix areas at the north. One of these formal mix patches contains the Quinta Monroy social housing complex, designed by the Pritzker Alejandro Aravena, which has been informalised with unpredicted additions and encroachments.
Alto Hospicio has huge patches of informality distributed mainly at the north and the south. Informal settlements have been mapped as informal mix, because they reveal a quasi-formal layout of streets and lots, which exposes a relatively high degree of organization. The greater patches at the north and south corresponds to vacant land and landfills that have been adapted to host progressive informal occupation. Aerial data indicates that they have rapidly emerge during the last years. The largest settlement at the south shows few plots and constructions in 2018, reaching an area of more than 100 has by the end of 2020.
Immediately at the south of the city centre, the informal-mix patch corresponds to one of the oldest informal settlements in Alto Hospicio, called campamento ex-vertedero, that hosts around 600 families according to the last national cadastral (MINVU, 2018). It seems reasonable to argue that its location at 30 minutes walking from the city centre supports the resilience of this settlement to be dismantled, despite the attempts that the state has took to reduce its population.
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3. Informal Settlements This section of the thesis describes in detail a case of study for each metropolitan area. The aim is to examine in detail the morphogenetic processes that shape the urban form of a particular informal urban morphology. The cases are selected to investigate the more typical morphological patterns that have been mapped in the previous chapter. Therefore, this study provides a varied range of informal morphologies, attempting to reveal the diversity of urban environments that informal practices can produce in Chilean cities.
Villa San Gabriel The first case study is located in La Pintana, one of the most deprived districts at the south of the capital. Created in the 1980s, under the neoliberal reforms of the dictatorship, its major purpose was to be home for more than 50 percent of the displaced population within the metropolitan area (Alvarez & Cavieres, 2016). As pointed out by Morales and Rojas (1986), the majority of the people that arrived in La Pintana were evicted residents from informal settlements. The district has grown with a high concentration of poverty and lack of employment. Attempts to promote social mix and attract investment have been unsuccessful, social housing being today more than 90 percent of the dwellings in the area.
Villa Gabriel (33°33’47.00’’ S 70°37’29.82’’ O) is a typical case of social housing that has been informalised through an incremental process of additions and encroachments. The street network is completely formal, consisting in major roads of 20 m wide and secondary streets of 14 m and 7 m that penetrate the blocks of 90 x 120 metres. There is substantial open space distributed in the form of squares, green corridors and soccer fields.
32
Study area
50 m
Typology 01. Housing building
Typology 02. Semi-detached house
Typology 03. Row house
3.1 Villa San Gabriel, Santiago Photos: Google Earth and Google Street View
20 m
60 m
100 m
Building footprint
Earlier
3.2 Villa San Gabriel 1ha Photos: Google Earth
Later
Lots
The map shows the morphogenic process of three different typologies: three storey building blocks that share common open space, two storey semi-detached houses and attached houses, both with front and back yard. Earliest data reveals the original layout with some initial changes: while the collective housing and the semi-detached typology present minor accretions, the attached houses have suffered more substantial additions at the back and front yards. It is in the intermediate stage of years 2009 and 2014 when intensive occupation of the common spaces has occurred in the collective buildings. Additional rooms of 4 x 4 m, 5 x 7 m and 3 x 9 m have been added at multiple levels. At the ground floor, what can be appreciated is the construction of fences or rooms to appropriate common space as a private yard or storage space. At the second and third floor, extensions can be new rooms or balconies. Solid construction appears at the ground floor, while additions at upper levels are made of light materials and steel structures that support the extensions.
It seems that the rule that stops further
encroachment is to maintain car access and to respect the right to extend of every unit.
Regarding the semi-detached and attached houses, the formal lots of 6 x 13 m and 3.5 x 14 13 m act as a boundary for the incremental growth. Street view confirms that most of the additions at the front yard correspond to roofs at ground floor. Few cases have added a room at this space to install a shop, directly connected to the main street. Additional rooms are added at the back yard, blocking light and ventilation at ground floor in many cases. It seems interesting to note that increments occurred faster on the smaller lots than the bigger ones. At the final stage, plot coverage is nearly 90% for both dwelling typologies.
Campamento Felipe Camiroaga Located about 4 km from ViĂąa del Mar city centre, Campamento Felipe Camiroaga is one of the largest informal settlements in the city, with an 35
Study area
500 m
3.3 Campamento Felipe Camiroaga, Greater Valparaiso Photos: Google Earth and T13
100 m
300m
500 m
Access network
Earlier
Later
3.4 Campamento Felipe Camiroaga 25 ha Photos Google Earth
Building footprint
Earlier
Later
extension of 31 hectares (33°03’10.04” S 74°32’51.51”O). It is estimated that 900 families live there, who have developed a strong community organization, formalised in twelve housing committees3. The campamento has its origin in 2011 and only 30% of the land is public and the rest is private. This situation has been an impediment for upgrading along the years, as the state has opted to not invest in private land.
The aerial database reveals in 2003 an older informal settlement on the north of the site, which has been established in 1990 (Techo Chile, 2018). The street network extends through two main paths across the top of the hills. 2012 photograph shows the rapid emergence of Campamento Felipe Camiroaga and an increase of building footprint coverage in the oldest part. The existing paths were fundamental to establish the location of the new buildings and influenced the generation of secondary roads. At this stage, the plots are not clearly demarcated, and the constructions are grouped in a linear pattern along the roads. During this period, a key element is the consolidation of a wide public space, associated with a community building. A connection between the two main road appeared, improving east-west accessibility.
In 2016 a new portion of the settlement is developed at the south of the public space. The street network shows new connections between main roads and pedestrian laneways that provide access to new portions of land. Individual lots of around 20 metres deep and 10 metres wide are clearly established. At the same time, buildings have augmented their area through incremental additions reaching 96 sqms footprint in most of the cases. The typology is mainly one or two storeys detached dwellings with a front setback and space for a large yard at the back. This open space is commonly used for work or food production. Lightweight construction materials such as wood are mostly 3
Community organizations that group families together to obtain social housing solutions and/or housing improvements through the application to subsidy programs.
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employed.
The morphogenic process is strongly influenced by the topography and existing roads. The linear pattern of the settlement responds to those conditions and produces a low coverage footprint with considerable open space. The street network reveals a lack of east-west permeability due to steepness of the slopes and the presence of dense vegetation. This reinforces the north-south direction and constrains the expansion of the settlement.
Villa Balmaceda Villa Balmaceda is one of the largest informal settlements in Antofagasta (23°35’59.46’’ S 70°22’15.97’’ O), with an area of 15 hectares and a population of around 1.000 families, which are mostly immigrants from Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. The distance from the coast is just 2.2 km and from the centre is 6 km. Located on escarpments at the fringes of the city, it is exposed to landslides and debris flow. The presence of high voltage towers across the settlement is another risk, which forced the eradication of 100 families located near them in 2018.
The land reclamation took place in 2015, when group of families decided to occupy the vacant land. Practically the whole extension of the settlement was established at this stage, giving space for future infill. The settlement emerges from an existing network of tracks that provides car access to the hills. The vehicular roads were adapted and consolidated as major roads of 6-8 mts wide, while secondary roads of about 3-4 mts growth from them in a ‘comb’ pattern. The main road runs from north to south, climbing up the hill in diagonal and switches back then to reach the highest point. Although the settlement is adjacent to a formal street network, there are few intersections where the formal streets penetrate straight to the settlement. This semi-
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Study area
200 m
Villa Balmaceda, Social housing.
Villa Balmaceda, Informal settlement
3.5 Villa Balmaceda, Antofagasta Photos: Google Earth and Google Street View
100 m
300m
500 m
Access network
Earlier
Later
3.6 Villa Balmaceda 25 ha Satelite images: Google Earth
Building footprint
Earlier
Later
organized grid forms large blocks of about 150-300 mts long, where secondary roads infiltrate as laterals from the main roads. Some pedestrian paths are visible from 2016, providing a small increment of permeability.
Buildings were located along the tracks, following the contour lines of the topography. One to four room buildings were established at the beginning, giving room to a rapid process of incremental occupation and additions. Light construction materials such as timber and light steel frame predominate and a maximum of two storeys is appreciated. In this case, buildings tend to appear first, and then plots of about 5 x 15 m and 5 x 20 m. At this stage, lot coverage is extensive, ranging from 70% to 100%. In 2020 demolitions promoted by the state have occurred at central parts of the settlement, due to the risk produced by the presence of transmission towers.
The analyzed area also covers part of a social housing neighborhood at the west, that has been gradually transformed. The typology corresponds to individual lots of 15 m deep and 5 m wide with two story row houses of 60 sqm. Earliest photograph reveals substantial additions mainly in the backyard, reaching a plot coverage of 66 per cent in general. More than 10 years later the lots have been covered almost completely in most of the cases. Street view data shows mixed construction of reinforced brick and light materials. Few cases in each block have added a third floor to the original core house.
El Boro The last of the settlements is El Boro, located between social housing neighbourhoods and industrial zones, is one of the largest informal settlements in Alto Hospicio (20°15’24.69’’ S 70°05’30.48’’ O). It occupies an area of around 60 hectares of public and private vacant land and most of the population are migrants from southern Chile and neighbour countries, 42
Study area
200 m
3.7 El Boro, Greater Iquique Photos: Google Earth; D. O’brien and S. Carrasco (2018) and INEDH.cl
40m
120m
200m
Access network
Earlier
Later
3.8 El Boro 4ha Satelite images: Google Earth
Building footprint
Earlier
Later
Lots
such as Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela (O’Brien & Carrasco, 2018). Actually, El Boro designates a group of about 24 smaller communities that have progressively claimed the land during the last five years. These smaller social units are expressed as larger blocks that layout the general urban structure. Constant attempts to stop the squatting and eradicate some groups have been taken by the state, however they have completely failed and the settlements continue growing.
Aerial data shows an extensive plotting of the area at the beginning of 2016. The layout is made by wide roads and long blocks of about 100 to 300 metres and two lots wide. The plots are regular, of about 16 metres deep and 8 metres thick. By the end of 2016, only a large portion at the west and other few blocks were successfully occupied; the rest of the plots were completely erased.
During the next period of development, the plots became rapidly infilled and new land come to be claimed in the same areas that were plotted previously. The layout tends to follow the traces of the earlier subdivision and plots emerges before the construction of the buildings. In this second and more informal stage of development, block configuration is less consistent, being found blocks of one lot wide and two lots wide. Roads are at least 8 meters wide, providing easy car access and multiple connections to the formal street network. Different from other informal settlements, exclusive pedestrian laneways are hardly found and there is no change in the street layout once it is established. By the middle of 2020 infiltration of vacant land continues and plot coverage is very high, reaching 90 to 100 percent in many cases.
Buildings are mostly made of light prefabricated materials and have only one storey in most of the cases. Neighbours have managed to access power by informal connections, get rubbish collection and have regular supply of individual and collective waters tanks (O’Brien & Carrasco, 2018). 45
4. Dicussion In general terms, this study shows how the urban form of informal settlements is derived from a combination of social and spatial factors that influence their morphogenetic processes. At a metropolitan level, the identification of different mixes of informal morphologies highlights the fact that informality is embedded in Chilean cities in various ways and proportions, occupying considerable areas of the city. At a micro-scale level, the morphogenetic study allows to reveal how these forces produce different urban configurations with specific logic and patterns.
There has been identified three – but not exclusive- key factors that impact the morphology of the informal settlements: terrain, existing infrastructure and form of land occupation (figure 4.1). While the first two are clearly identifiable through the aerial data and street view, occupation requires further investigation. In this sense, some degree of speculation will be necessary to develop the case comparison and to give some explanation about the findings. The aim is to explore the set of relations that are established between the
4.1 Factors that impact morphology of informal settlements
46
topography, the occupation process and the existing infrastructure as a way to unpack the rules and codes that generate the particular arrange of streets, lots and buildings in each case.
Those aspects are discussed below with more detail, with the aim of continuing the discussion opened by Dovey et al. (2020), and to challenge the preconception of informal settlements in Chile as an homogeneous set of chaotic and deprived enclaves.
Metropolitan Patterns Trying to map informal morphologies beyond the binary conception of formal/ informal increases the complexity of what we consider as informal urbanism. Metropolitan maps reveal that substantial areas of each city are developed through different mixes of informal architecture and urban design.
In general, informality tends to be restricted to the periphery. Informal settlements appear as informal and informal mix morphologies, usually at the fringes or at interstitial land. The first corresponds to informal settlements with substantial plot coverage and an intricate street pattern, and the second, to more organized subdivisions and in many cases with a quasi-formal street layout. Formal mix, which most of the time relates to the informalization of social housing, occupies a substantial area across each city.
An interesting finding is that usually informal settlements emerge close to neighbourhoods with substantial informalization. A possible explanation is that those areas are yet suffering some degree of segregation and usually are close to underutilized land. Furthermore, these communities may tolerate or even support informality much more than middle and upper-middle class neighbourhoods.
47
30 x 30 km
20 x 20 km
20 x 20 km
20 x 20 km
4.2 city comparison, percentage of informal, informal mix and formal mix morphologies
At the same time, some differences stand out from the maps. An evident one is how in Santiago informal settlements seem to be highly controlled and constrained in comparison to the other cities. This is not surprising due to the high centralization that the country suffers. As the administrative power is enormously concentrated in its capital, more effort and resources are displayed to eradicate urban informality there. It seems that in the regions informality is more tolerated, and it is easier for the state to turn a blind eye. At the same time, looking at the regional capitals, wider patches of informal settlements appear in Greater Valparaiso and Greater Iquique, while in Antofagasta, informal settlements are smaller and present a linear growth along the city fringe.
Finally, it seems important to highlight that the biggest informal settlements are founded in the conurbations of Greater Valparaiso and Greater Iquique, with around 110 and 80 hectares, respectively. They emerged in the last couple of years and are still rapidly growing. In both cases they correspond to semi-organized developments where a quasi-formal street layout and fast subdivision has occurred. It gives the impression that a new pattern of fast and extensive informal subdivisions is emerging in Chilean cities, rising the need for further exploration and research to comprehend this phenomenon.
Topography Firstly, topography appears as a determinant factor on how land is occupied and how incremental construction develops. Self-organized groups of families tend to occupy marginal and inaccessible portions of land, like the cases of Felipe Camiroaga and Villa Balmaceda, where the escarpment condition defines the co-evolution of the street network and buildings. Existing trucks give access to the steep terrain and determine the initial establishment of
49
buildings and the subsequent development of streets and lanes. While in Felipe Camiroaga the rugged topography produces a meandric pattern of streets that climb the peaks and descend to the depressions, the extended slope in Villa Balmaceda is initially colonized by a main road that switches back to the top, framing the further development of new streets and lanes. A different situation is found in El Boro, where flat land close to an industrial area is occupied for semi-formal subdivision. Plains and farmland allow rapid plotting of the land without major investment of resources and time to adapt the terrain.
While the literature has primarily focused on topography conditions related to risk management, natural hazards and visibility of informal settlements (Castro et al., 2015; Dalu et al., 2018; Kamalipour & Dovey, 2019), the current study gives insights on how urban design is produced in difficult topographies and what kind of morphological patterns emerge from the incremental occupation of escarpments, recognizing that informal households are capable of developing sophisticated ways to inhabit difficult terrains.
Campamento Felipe Camiroaga
Villa Balmaceda
4.3 Topography and access network Contour lines extracted from Google Earth
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Access Network Existing roads are a key infrastructure that enables the occupation of the land. Firstly, they provide a direct connection to the formal city, allowing the transportation of goods and construction materials. Secondly, buildings tend to arise along existing roads at the first stage. Thirdly, they act as a framework from which new streets and lanes will evolve.
In less organized settlements, buildings and streets network co-evolve. As Dovey et al.(2020) have noted, lateral street and lanes expand with a ‘comb’ or ‘fishbone’ structure from the streets that are first established. Streets with car access are usually 8 m wide, while pedestrian laneways between buildings are commonly 1.5 to 2 m wide. Although escarpment settlements show those pattern, Felipe Camiroaga has a linear growth, where streets and lanes extend from the main road and, in some cases, loop to reconnect with the main road. In Villa Balmaceda, streets and lanes depart from the main road, penetrating the long blocks and forming cul-de-sacs at the end (Fig. 4.4).
On the other hand, in more organized settlements the street layout is established at the beginning. In the case of El Boro, streets have car access and are relatively well connected to the formal city. The layout departs from the roads left by the industrial activity in the area, establishing a more regular grid that produces long blocks of one and two lots wide.
Lack of permeability seems to be an issue across all the studied cases. Location of buildings maximizes the opportunity to arise connected to the existing roads, forming long blocks of around 150 – 300 m at the first stages of the development. Secondary roads and pedestrian laneways emerge in a second stage, responding to the addition of buildings and the expansion of the settlement. They provide more connections across the network and make 51
more land accessible for new dwellers. Even in formal housing buildings (Villa San Gabriel), the additions and encroachments can negatively affect the local street network, by blocking some connections and by appropriating common open space.
Campamento Felipe Camiroaga
Villa Balmaceda 4.4 Access network morphogenesis diagrams
Buildings and Lots The relation between buildings and lots is a key component of urban morphological studies (Scheer, 2015). As Dovey et al. (2020) have noted, informal settlements develop particular relations between the emergence of buildings and plots; in many cases of the Global South, the building becomes the plot or precedes the plotting operation. In the current study, evidence suggest that lots can be found in most of the informal settlements 52
in Chile, framing the buildings and private open space. Nevertheless, this does not mean that they are generated in the same manner. In the cases of Villa Balmaceda and Felipe Camiroaga, plots emerge progressively after the construction of buildings. Here, it seems vital for land reclamation to rapidly occupy the site by constructing a precarious shelter. After some degree of security, plots provide clear boundaries between each neighbour and defines the final street wide. On the other hand, in the case of El Boro, plots come first, producing the street network as they appear. Because this settlement shows higher level of organization, it follows a semi-formal way of production, where urban design frames the incremental construction of buildings.
Regarding buildings type, the unique case that produces a detached house typology is Felipe Camiroaga, resulting in less plot coverage, of about 30 to 50 per cent with substantial open space in many cases. To some degree, it is arguably a more rural configuration, where families can grow vegetables or animals at the backyard or have space for other productive activities that become their livelihood. The rest of the informal settlements generates a more intense occupation of the lot, reaching 90 to 100 per cent at final stages.
Although in social housing lots are formally established and maintained, some ambiguity arises in the informalisation process of the collective buildings (Villa San Gabriel). In this case, the additions and encroachments disturb the common space by an informal appropriation process. Units at the ground floor extend their domain by fencing or constructing new rooms, subdividing the common space and privatizing it.
Finally, a key finding is that light materials such as timber and steel predominate in the construction of buildings and incremental additions. It is possible to offer some explanations about this distinctive fact that markedly differentiates informal housing production in Chile from other parts of 53
Villa San Gabriel
Campamento Felipe Camiroaga
Villa Balmaceda
El Boro
Building footprint 20 m
60 m
100 m
4.5 Buildings and lots 1ha
Lots
the Global South and Latin America. Firstly, Chilean territory suffers from high seismic activity due to its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Hence, light construction is recognized as an efficient resource to construct safe structures that can survive major earthquakes. This also explains the fact that two storeys seem the limit for self-built housing. Secondly, tenure plays a role in defining the degree of construction durability. On the one hand, light materials enable a rapid construction to claim land and are easy to recycle for future adaptation or upgrading. On the other hand, solid construction can be found only in social housing with legal tenure, where additional rooms are added at the ground level or upper levels with confined masonry. And thirdly, it can be said that Chilean informal dwellers conceive informality as something essentially temporary, without a real possibility of becoming permanent.
This point may be explained by the recent history of evictions and relocations carried out by the dictatorship, and the subsequent housing policies of the 1990s, which reinforced the notion of informality as something that should be rapidly erased. Informal settlements in Chile are usually conceived as inferior, substandard and precarious. In fact, campamentos (encampments), the word that Chileans use to designate informal settlements, reveals that fragile and temporary conception, in comparison, for example, to barrios (neighbourhoods) or villas (villages), that are used in Venezuela and Argentina, respectively, which show a more stable and permanent idea. It is not surprising that in those countries durable construction is the rule for informal buildings.
Occupation and intensification While occupation refers to how land is claimed or accessed, intensification describes the process of how the settlement increases density by the
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incremental infill of plots, vertical additions and streets encroachments. Some informal cases (Felipe Camiroaga and Villa Balmaceda) occupy the land very rapidly, stablishing the extent of the settlement at the first stage. The underlying logic is to claim as much land as possible, creating capacity to absorb future growth by filling in the gaps. Conversely, El Boro shows an incremental process of occupation, where new areas are progressively added, following the existing street and plot pattern.
Regarding intensification, northern cases (Villa Balmaceda and El Boro) develop a faster infill and a higher plot coverage, which reaches approximately 90 per cent. The case of Felipe Camiroaga has considerably lower coverage, between 30 and 50 per cent, responding to bigger lots and a detached building typology. In all the three cases, building height can reach 2 storeys. On the other hand, the informalization of social housing occurs at a slower pace, generally reaching complete coverage after a decade. The slowest intensification process is found in collective housing buildings (Villa San Gabriel), where there is a need for more sophisticated construction.
The informalised housing buildings in Villa San Gabriel deserve a more detailed comment. Here, micro-spatial adaptations transform the original architecture, extending the units by the addition of rooms, balconies and fenced yards. It can be suggested that a delicate process of negotiation and adaptations take place between neighbours, as the extensions can appear at the ground level or upper levels without a defined sequence. Frequently, additions at the ground floor are predominant, as they are easier to build and take the form of rooms or fenced yards. The condition is to not obstruct entrances, formal sidewalks or car access. Nevertheless, additions can start at the upper levels, where an external structure needs to be erected, usually made of steel. When this happens, the capacity to extend the lower levels is reinforced, as these units can use the new structure as a framework to infill. To some extent, rather than acting as a finished social housing unit, this 56
Formal street as limit for extension.
01a. Collective housing
Internal street as limit for extension.
Appropriation of backyard at ground level.
01b. Collective housing
Incremetnal accretions in row houses.
02. Single housing unit 4.6 Informalization of social housing Photos: Google street view
typology acts as a core plus typology, due to the embedded capacity of multiplying the space and infrastructure departing from a basic core. Furthermore, when upper level units erect a structure to support new rooms, the typology performs as a shelter plus project, enabling a framed extension of the lower units. This phenomenon resonates with Turner’s claim of housing as a verb (1972), challenging traditional approaches to social housing and urban informality. Informal dwellers are capable to see an embedded capacity of expansion and growth in formal structures that even professional designers and policy makers are usually unable to imagine.
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5. Conclusion This research demonstrates how multi-scalar mapping is a powerful way to understand how urban informality produces architecture, planning and urban design in various ways. Morphogenetic processes of informal settlements have been examined to provide insights about the factors that influence a given urban form, such as topography, existing infrastructure and modes of land occupation.
Given the limitations of this minor thesis and the available data, rather than providing a conclusive statement about how informal urban morphologies are generated in Chilean cities, this study opens directions for further research. This involves widening the spectrum to other Chilean cities, particularly at the southern territory, given the various geographical, social and economic differences. Another necessary scope will be the broader investigation and surveying of the organization of these communities, to get clues about processes of occupation, tenure, informal codes and other relevant issues. Regarding the upgrading and social housing design and planning, this study reveals some challenges to better understand the way informal dwellers transform and adapt their habitat. Deeper research in that direction could bring useful information for better design and policy making. Informal processes of urbanization require deeper knowledge about what kind of urban outcomes are generated; how some settlement become slums or what capacities exist for future upgrades. As an extended mode of urbanization, if not the most prevalent, the challenge for urban design is not only to comprehend how informality infiltrates the formal city, but to understand how informality produces the city.
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MORPHOGENESIS OF INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN CHILE Víctor Alegría