The UN Habitat World Cities Report 2016 is a document containing some quite staggering figures. One of the most astonishing is the 3 billion people that will be living in informal settlements by 2050. A significant number of these substandard houses will be in Africa and Latin America, where the suburbs compete in terms of expanse and density with the cities of developed countries.How should we deal with the numerous problems involved in these degraded neighbourhoods and which, very often, are built by their own inhabitants? Each country, even each settlement, is a unique case. The local culture and even the history of the cities in which they emerge form part of their idiosyncrasy, which does not allow for the establishment of global solutions.The experts gathered by the Right to the City panel during the Smart City Expo World Congress 2019 did have some ideas in this regard. Fundamentally different, but precisely because of this, they need to be studied in more detail.
(Delft)LINK: investors and owners to address the absence of decent housing


Barrio 31: an ambitious action plan based on integration
https://youtu.be/qnjMSNAQoUQVilla 31, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is a radically different settlement. With a population of over 40,000 people, this neighbourhood or villa miseria (shanty town) follows the classic Latin American dynamics marked by large numbers of impoverished workers. Since it emerged in the 30s, it was first home to European immigrants and more recently to those from other South American countries, which have been added to a substrate which, after numerous failed attempts to eradicate the settlement, now has the local ties of an established neighbourhood.The urban planning characteristics of Villa 31 are those of a settlement that has been gradually built by its inhabitants with no respect for municipal regulations. Its streets are home to a large number of small businesses, from barber’s shops and food stores to workshops, located next to the homes in the shadow of the Dr Arturo Umberto Illia Motorway.Likewise, the problems of Villa 31 were (and still are) those of any settlement marked by poverty: robberies, violence and drug addiction. But above all, social exclusion. Lacking well-structured services, its inhabitants had few opportunities to prosper, intensifying a problem that has been embedded for decades.This situation is changing thanks to one of the most important action plans to combat marginality ever carried out in Argentina. Now known as Barrio 31, this district is undergoing a series of major actions aimed at improving the health standards of the area, strengthening the social fabric and boosting its economy, while formally incorporating the settlement into the city of Buenos Aires.Diego Fernández, Secretary of Social and Urban Integration of the government of Buenos Aires, highlighted the guidelines of this ambitious programme to eradicate marginalisation. The first step is the granting of title deeds. A large number of the inhabitants living in Barrio 31 did not own their properties, therefore, the city council has regularised this situation with the signing of title deeds, a tool that is common in other settlement consolidation plans.