Mary Racelis Ateneo de Manila University

Urban informal settlements in Asia make up significant proportions of city residents

In Asia-Pacific , 1,211,540,000 slum dwellers ,or 43.2% of total urban

population (UN-Habitat 2004/05: 107), or 242,308,000 households In 2003, proportion of slum dwellers in the urban population ranged from 17% in Thailand to 92% in Nepal (UN Habitat 2004/05, Figure 5.5: 109). Informal Settlers in selected mega cities: Bangkok 1.2 million (1993); Manila 2.5 million (1998), Jakarta 7 million (2002) (EASRD 2004) Except for Sub-Saharan Africa at 71.9, Asia has the highest regional percentage and absolute numbers of urban informal settlers in the world

Negative views about the urban poor toward informal settlers in the 1960s have shifted significantly in more positive directions today: squatter to citizen
Right to the city
Long struggle for secure tenure, on-site residence near

employment, basic services, resettlement compensation, participation Urban poor have resisted eviction, especially relocation to distant settlements

Negative to positive: informal economy

View of informal economy as inappropriate to or a

drain on modern cities shifting to recognition of its vitality in Asian cities and its many contributions to the urban economy E.g. Hawkers/street vendors; small-scale manufacturing (doors, windows; sandals etc), services (pedicab drivers, tire repair, tailoring, food stalls, barbering, etc); tax payments to policemen for space Social capital as peoples key adaptation for survival and improved lives

Negative to positive: womens roles

Womens capacities as microenterprise managers:

credit, training, access to markets; empowerment As savers: Community Funds, Savings Funds Income directly to children and household Double burden of production and reproduction; gender also means men

Negative to positive shift: differentiated urban poor populations

Recognition of out-of-school youth as a population

needing assistance: scholarships, vocational training, alternative education to counteract crime and drugs Increasing attention to older people: geriatric health, burial assistance, pension, income Childrens participation Ethnic/religious minorities Migrants ; disabled

Negative to positive: comprehending peoples realities and priorities

Slow realization by authorities that urban poors highest priority is

employment and shelter location, not houses in distant settlements Pressure for onsite/near-site detached or two-storey attached units Resistance to medium and high-rise housing: informal hh earning limited, amortizations difficult, poverty increases; except for betteroff poor, under-the-table resale and return to informal settlement Increasing value of land in the inner-city and commercial developers power threaten access to in-city land and housing for the urban poor

Some reasons

Strong urban poor community organizing

Effective planning, implementation, monitoring by the

community; demand-making, negotiating, mobilizing demands from below, protest rallies and uprisings NGOs (and some political parties) instrumental in forming Peoples Organizations, Homeowners Assns; Urban poor federations; information access Civil society advocacy to listen to the voices of the poor and to mobilize them for participation

Women as effective urban poor leaders

Highest level of motivation: on frontline for child and

family wellbeing Initially less threatening to authorities than men; good negotiating skills Women-dominated micro-enterprise income as theirs to dispose of increasing their options, capacities and self-realization Builders of dynamic community links and networks; social capital Support to education of girls

NGO/Civil society involvement

NGOs (and some political parties) instrumental in

forming Peoples Organizations, Homeowners Associations; Urban poor federations; Coalitions Global evidence of efficacy and sustainability in community-generated initiatives, drawing on indigenous knowledge and local experience; people as stakeholders Advocacy: listen to the voices of the poor; media support Academics and post-development social theory

Local government decentralization

Recognition of the poor as voting constituents:

enhanced accountability, transparency Understanding of local situations; greater chance of dialogue between community groups and officials; listening to community proposals Land allocation for social housing -- tenure, location, costs, feasibility, basic services issues

Economic incentives from LGU/City (often with national support) to poor households
Partnerships in labor exchange for government-funded

construction of potable water and drainage systems; health, early childhood, greenhouse and community centers; public toilets; classroom repairs, road-paving, energy schemes like methane gas production from garbage dumps; waste recycling Loans and grants for self-help housing improvement and rental schemes; conditional cash transfers targeting

Inclusive governance: participation of community residents in decision-making and policy formation

Designated seats on local government councils,

housing boards and committees on procurement, land use; women-specific slots Leaders of POs/community organizations/HOAs running for local political office as village or city councilors: accountability to poor constituents men, women, children, youth, elderly Participation in crafting of City Development Loan Funds, City Shelter Code, and relevant legislation; Countrywide networks linking city groups

Rapid growth with greater flexibility of small and medium-sized cities

More land available for social housing

More manageable participatory processes

Greater flexibility in devising pro-poor policies than in

large and mega- cities International donor funding because greater likelihood of success

Frequency of massive disasters linked to climate change affecting urban poor most severely
Flooding, tsunami, typhoons/cyclones, earthquakes, fire

take their toll in informal settlements, but also show community resilience and self-mgmt capacity under stress Disaster risk management programs underway generating greater commitment to and closer contact between local authorities and people: issues of safety, communication, house rebuilding, reconstructing livelihoods and transport, safety net schemes, community based data acquisition and monitoring, etc. HOWEVER, also occasions for officials to justify large-scale evictions to distant sites, generating community resistance

Private-public-community partnerships
Housing construction: e.g. Habitat for Humanity,

Gawad Kalinga, Church-generated housing (Phil); CODI (Thailand), ACCA/ACHR (15 countries 107+ cities; 748 community projects, $5,170,000 for 3 yrs) Micro-enterprise/income generating programs/ marketing and value chains Health, family planning, nutrition, environment, waste management, gender empowerment programs with community ideas, labor, time, money

Advice for Government and the Private Sector

Lessons learned
Support community organizing and locally generated initiatives

Strengthen womens involvement in economic, social, political and environmental spheres; reorient traditional male roles Welcome NGOs to help communities organize, network and partner with government in demandmaking; revise government audit regulations to facilitate NGO community involvement

Lessons learned (contd.)

Develop pro-poor-friendly governance institutions in local

and national government structures responsive to community initiatives. Enhance locally-initiated funding schemes but enable community organizations to gain access to and training in how to utilize external loans and grant funds (NGO-asstd) Enlist assistance of academics in participatory research and technical support for community-based problem identification, data collection and analysis; facilitate access to and training in new electronic and social media use for community action and advocacy

Caveat: Significant breakthroughs for poor people have happened but still far to go

From Asian Coalition for Housing Rights/ACCA Program: Asian Coalition for Community Action for community upgrading in 107, now150, Asian cities (Second Yearly Report of ACCA December 2010)

Implemented by people
Based in concrete action Driven by real needs

Citywide in its scale

Strategic in its planning Done in partnership Aiming at structural change

Finally, four experienced presenters will bring out these points in vivid detail at the Breakout Panel to follow:
Mr. Francisco Fernandez, President, Pagtambayayong,

former City Administrator, Cebu City Mr. John Hummel, former tourism network leader, SNV Asia Ms Do Thi Thanh Huyen, Country Director, ENDA, Viet Nam Mr. Omar Saracho Aguilar, Urban Development and Climate Advisor, Mercy Corps

Aim: create state-society synergy in which public agencies and mobilized communities co-produce and co-finance for greater equity and sustainable outcomes (E. Ostrum 1997; P. Evans 2002:21)